Anyone from NJ remember this place?

[Distantshore]

I was reading about the supposed first water slide with a loop in it, when someone pointed out it had already been done by this park:
http://www.weirdnj.com/stories/_roadside20.asp

The stories there are absolutely crazy. Anyone in/around NJ ever go there as a kid?

[jemsite]

Great article.. that brings back memories.

Action Park (now Mountain Creek) was a classic back then. It's amazing it stayed open that long. Like Great Adventure (at the time) it was littered with teens just hanging out with plenty of places to smoke or booze... not a family friendly place. Lots of bus trips from cities & summer camps would go there with basically no adult supervision.

That CEMENT-LIKE "Alpine Slide" was a classic (the only non water ride in there) that essentially every other rider got bad scrapes when riding.

They had alot of dangerous water rides... i can't think of one that was safe by today's standars. Like the article points out many visitors didn't even know how to swim! That tarzan swing description is no lie... you swung and dropped 20+ feet into the water which was an ICE COLD (mid-summer) natural spring and then had to swim like a half-lap to the ladder then climb 5-6 feet up a ladder onto the grass. LOL here was a similar enclosed tube ride with fast water that was semi-underground then shot you into another cold spring pond ...glen

[jim777]

Action Park! Oh yeah, everyone who went there got hurt, it was great! You always felt like you could go flying off a ride there. It was the kind of place that you couldn't get enough of if you loved scary rides, but was not really for little girls, as such
I remember getting a massive friction burn on my arm from a slide there because the pads you went down the slide on had basically worn down to paper due to friction.

Great Place!

[Hikey Mikey]

Originally Posted by jemsite

. . . That tarzan swing description is no lie... you swung and dropped 20+ feet into the water which was an ICE COLD (mid-summer) . . .

From the article: "The water was so cold that people would forget how to swim once they hit it."

[Hikey Mikey]

Another great gem of a quotation in an article full of them:

". . . a cluster of four or five short, fast water slides that ended by shooting you out into a lake. Various kids would fly out at various times, landing on each other or on some misplaced sharp rock. One of these vigorous "shoots" was particularly intriguing, as it would suck you in and then immediately make an abrupt 90 degree turn. Not a 45 degree turn. Not even a nice, slow, smooth, curvy 90 degree turn. No. It would literally slam you into a wall and toss you in a different direction and then project your young, gnarled body into a gooey pond of crying kids and water snakes. It was awesome."

[jemsite]

Originally Posted by jim777

Action Park! Oh yeah, everyone who went there got hurt, it was great! You always felt like you could go flying off a ride there.

hehe... even the water rides you felt as if you moved one muscle the wrong way you were doomed. it's mind-boggling in retrospect.

i read thru most of that article and i'd say most of the accounts were pretty truthful. i forgot they had the off-road 4-wheelers (honda odyssee .. google them... they had ATV balloon tires and easily flipped but did have a roll cage). the non-water section cost extra $$$ and from what i recall you had to be a little older (not a grade-schooler). that was the brilliance of the Alpine Slide since it was in the "water park"... jump in the cold spring to medicate your burnt/scraped body

[Distantshore]

Sounds like its amazing you guys are still alive,,,,but then by today's standards its amazing that many of us that grew up in the 70s/80s are still alive.

[ken_r152]

When I was a teenager I worked at an amusment park for a short time. Their rollercoaster jumped its tracks once and injured two people a long time ago. Every day before the park opened, they would test all of the rides and they asked me if I wanted to go on one of the test runs for the rollercoaster. How's THAT for excitement? It's a lot more exciting when you're not really sure you're going to come back in one piece. I declined the "favor" every time.

[ScottB]

I went skiing at Great Adventure, back in 1980 or '81, just after Playboy sold the resort.

I remember going on the trip on a Thursday afternoon. We almost got kicked off the bus, somewhere on I81 for smoking something in the bus restroom. I also remember the Sunday hangover during the 5 hour ride home to Baltimore. I just don't remember what happened while I was there!

[Freedom777]

I lived in the Apartment complex (Chalet Apts) right next to it when it was being turned into a golf course. But back when they were opened, I lived in Erial and we'd walk through the woods to jump the fence to get in. We'd collect the thrown away bracelets and superglue them together onto our arms and walk right in, we had just about all of the colors. I had a blast there... and speaking of getting hurt and the Tarzan swing....has anyone seen people not know when to let go and hit the deck on the way down ?....That was awesome - I miss the place. I never got in for the skiing though...wasn't really into it.

[DEADTUNES666]

The first time I was there, I was 13 (1982 for those wondering) for our 8th grade class trip. What a great place. I scraped myself up pretty bad on the slide as well. Not once, but a few time like a dumb @ss!!

They had a pool with waves in it...at the time that was the greatest thing I had ever seen...

I'd only gone 2 or 3 other times, because I lived in Jackson and spent all my time at Great Adventure...We were like "screw Action f*cking Park, our turf was G.A"