Kudos! Very nice video… well done! I must say, your editing skills have much improved from previous videos you have posted!
The Hang Ten is owned by my parents. I commented you on one of your Hang Ten YouTube vids a few months back. Glad you enjoy the ride! They work very hard to keep it as well maintained as it is. They actually have the bottom car lights working on it now. I noticed in your video that they are not operating at the time you recorded the video. Fuse issue.
I told my parents about your videos and they are flattered that you think so highly about their ride. They have not actually seen your video yet, because they do not have a wireless net connection this week. I have sent my daughter the link though, so she can show them next week when they leave Meadowlands. She is traveling with them for the summer. Also, my brother, Patrick Wise, is the mic & music man on the ride. It is his voice on your video.
I used to operate a Rock-o-Plane, and we had a pretty serious accident once where the ride started with the door wide open! I wasn’t operating the ride at the time — just helping load cars. I pulled one girl out before the open door smashed against the stairway used to board the ride, and the other girl had to be backed down after I ran to press the E-stop. It was a pretty treacherous ride, and all the parents were screaming and pulling their kids off.
I am a personal injury lawyer suing a carnival company for brain damage sustained by a little girl when she slipped out of her restraint on the rockoplane. The ride operator’s excuse is that the lap bar clicks into the proper position automatically and there is no way my client slipping out could have been due to his error. I would love the opportunity to talk to you about how the restraint system works and if it is possible for the ride operator to put the lap bar into the wrong slat, allowing a little girl too much room so that she slips out.
If the restraint bar is properly working, it comes down on the lap when the door is closed, however if the patron holds the lap bar up as the door is being closed, he can overpower the spring and the bar will remain in that position till the door is opened. Teenagers sometimes do this to give themselves more room to rock the car. Was the girl 42″ tall? Was she with a larger person that would prevent the bar from comming down far enough to hold her in? Was the girl able to hold onto the bar? (physical limitations, arm in cast etc.) Not likely an operator error.
It is I used to liad one in the uk. If u don’t push the bar down and shut the door it will lock to high as happened once when a guy loading ours with no exp started. No injuries lucky enough I noticed it, gaffer reversed wheel and I put bar down, gave the chap a slap and we was ok.
Wow, that’s crazy! At least nobody got hurt. I remember a similar thing occurred when I was working at small amusement park a few years ago…although it wasn’t nearly as dire of a situation. It was while being showed how to operate a bumper car ride by a manager that really didnβt handle ride operations. The manager started the ride while some kidβs lapbar was wide open. I was like, βuhβ¦that kidβs bar is open.β The manager looked up, slapped the stop button, walked out onto the floor, put the kids bar down, and started up again; he didn’t even acknowledge that anything happened!
Great website…just wanted to comment on the Steel Pier, let it close. About 5 years back we went for a ride on the Spinning WildMouse, but we didn’t get very far! All was well as the car turned towards the lifthill, but upon connecting with the chain things went horrible awry. I felt the car connect to the chain with a lurchand a bump, heard some kerpatchata kerpatchata
noise as we were very slowly lifted about 10 feet up the hill when the chain suddenly snapped at the top of the hill, sending metal shrapnel flying down towards us. Luckily the car rolled back down the hill to avoild said shrapnel (uh..rollbacks anyone?). The shocked attendaents offered free wristbands but we were so shaken we just left, we didn’t know what else to do.
Jeez, yeah free wristbands seems like a good tradeoff for almost being injured! lol
Even though the place stunk I’d much rather see it become another, much nicer amusement park instead of redeveloping it into a hotel, casino or condo complex. I mean the place has been around since 1898 and has quite a bit of history with it.
“Most people would never make it out of the building due to their inexperience. However, sometimes you would see some hotshot rise up from the structure and hover 15 or 20 feet above the building. I doubt that thing made much money for its size and probably itβs cost, but it was interesting”
I went on it in 1995 or 1996 and I know I got back change from my ten dollars, I want to say it was only like 7 or 8 dollars extra to do it.
I got massive street cred with my friends for doing it. I fianlly went sky diving a few years ago and actually, I was in more fear for my life at Traction Park then I was when I did the real thing lol.
I was there! Cuckoo Haus was an abomination. The only thing cuckoo about this ride was the fact they excepted you to pay 4 tickets to get in. I found the exterior art disturbing, confusing, and at times vaguely racist. You know, the racist way that when in bad movies they try and portray the projects as all check cashing stores and chicken wing joints. Apparently the only thing in Holland is oompa bands and Kaiser Wilhelm II. WHY THE HELL IS KAISER WILHELM II ON CUCKOO HAUS?! Furthermore, I think the painted people of this supposed representation of “Holland” are angry about their depiction, as you may notice a man is emptying his chamber pot out onto the oompa band. Wait a second though, maybe a fun house called “the projects” might be a good idea too. We already know what would be on the front of it.
I remember going on Kingda Ka the first time in my life. It was a rush, but nothing like I thought it would be, rather tame in fact. Then I went on it again, this time waiting for the front. What a rush! If you happen to ride this coaster, the front is definatly worth an extra wait, don’t miss out! Also, keep your mouth slightly open, the wind rushes into it and your mouth fills with air rapidly, it’s great!
sounds very breathtaking or should i say breath giving:) since it puts air into your mouth. the fact is that i like to study rides and the ways people breathe on them. so it must be hard to breathe out but easy to breathe in on this ride in the front seat. am i right? the harder the rides are on us the better!
The poor ol’ SLC needs some love I guess. I think in their next crazed re-painting move, Six Flags will re-paint Dark Knight’s track periwinkle with burnt sienna supports. π
I’ll have to try the front row sometime. I’m typically too impatient to wait any longer than I have to but the allure of being blasted by a wind comparable to an EF2 tornado seems like it might be worth it!
Just to follow up on this comment, years and years later: I did indeed get a front row ride and it was fantastic. Best part is that it was on a slow night and I was the only one in the station waiting. The riders on the train coming back in basically got a re-ride and I got a front row walk-on!
I beleive doing the Aerodium garners some sort of post Action Park internet cred as well. lol Few can say that they have done one of Action Park’s three most infamous attractions: Cannonball Loop, Aerodium, and their bungee jumping. And I guess to some extent the ‘expert’ run of Alpine Ski Slide.
I guess I could see how the faux skydiving could be scarier, at least at Action Park. There’s just something about Action Park’s lax safety coupled with a giant whirling fan that might cause for alarm. Haha
These aren’t banned in Florida. I have seen several different models here, including ones named Gravitron (Amusements of America), ones named Starship 2000 (Hildebrand Rides), and even a newer Starship 3000 (Reithoffer Shows).
I remember this place, the roller slide was called the Aqua Scoot! I loved that thing. I personally never got injured in my multiple visits between 87 and 91, but I remember those guys with their shirts off and a nice Alpine Slide burn. Those looked like they hurt. This was a great stroll down memory lane, I look forward to going back someday. I am in the midwest now and hating it
Very sad. The Golden Nugget is the finest attraction the Wildwood Boardwalk has ever had to offer, and I doubt anything will ever match or surpass it. Its demolition will be a great loss. It would be great if someone with deep pockets would be willing to pay for the restoration and mandated upgrades to get the Nugget running again, before its too late.
Hearing the news about the GOLDEN NUGGET which I enjoyed going on during the 60s and 70s when It was a newer ride, I don’t think I will ever go back there again, I miss all the older rides that are now GONE!
If you want to ride some surviving Bill Tracy dark rides, go to Ocean City, MD or Waldameer, Erie, PA. They both have a Pirate’s Cove walk-through, and OC MD has the Haunted House ride, and Waldameer the Whacky Shack ride. Yes, Hunt’s had a Whacky Shack, too but their’s was one level built in 1963, and Waldameer’s was built in 1970 and is 2-level. Also, the closed Joyland Wichita has a 2-level Whacky Shack, too which is in danger of being lost if someone doesn’t save the park. The Phantasmagoria 2-level ride at the now dismantled Bell’s Amusement park in Tulsa, OK was taken down and most props and scenery placed into storage for a new dark ride at a new Bell’s park that might open. The Fright Zone in Ohio (former West View, PA Haunted House) closed a couple years ago and the props and stuff are in storage at Conneaut Lake Park, PA which may not even reopen. There’s also a Bill Tracy dark ride at Lake Winnie in GA called Castle, they had a walk-through Whacky Shack that was torn down a few years ago, and the Haunted Castle at the former Miracle Strip Park in Panama City Beach, FL the cars, track and some props were bought by a guy in Birmingham, AL and used for a seasonal dark ride. The rest of the props are at a fire company in FL near Panama City. We lost 2 major seaside parks with Miracle Strip and Myrtle Pavilion. Pavilion came back, but it’s much smaller and missing the big rides like the roller coaster, Haunted Hotel, Pirate dark ride, Log Flume, and Rapids. The Haunted Hotel was TORN DOWN. Why do most parks care less about their dark rides and so quick to tear them down when the park closes or the ride becomes less popular or more costly to maintain? I’m going to miss the Golden Nugget. I rode it between 1980-1983, and again 1996-1998. At least they’re saving the props and scenery and mine carts.
@ Martin: One could only hope that would happen. The same could be said about many parts of Wildwood: Sportland Pier and Midway are two places that come to mind.
@ Herb: Yeah many of the older rides in Wildwood aren’t around anymore, especially dark rides. Wildwood used to have a number of them around and I don’t think any will be left after Nugget is torn down.
@ Robert: Great information there! I actually remember the Haunted Hotel at the Myrtle Beach Pavillion. I was only like 5 years old at the time and I remember being terrified of the facade with the giant skull, haha. It’s too bad I never got back down there before Pavillion closed. I’ll have to check out Ocean City one day; those dark rides at Trimper’s look great!
I was thoroughly haunted by a friend who killed himself while we were in a band together and the haunting some associated with a new infestation of these things. Another musician close to him who recorded this guy just before he killed himself had his basement studio infested by them suddenly as well. I wrote a novel based on this. These things do get in your mind!
Sorry to hear about your friend. It sure seems like cave crickets were solely placed on this Earth to drive people crazy. Luckily I haven’t seen any for about two years now…although I have seen several centipedes in the meantime which aren’t much freakin’ better.
Morey’s still has 4 dark rides, one of them a walk-through and they’re planning a new haunted walk-through for Mariner’s golf course soon. Also, there’s the Zombie World on the boardwalk, so I don’t think dark rides are dead yet in Wildwood. It’s just that most of Bill Tracy’s (and Fred Mahana’s-who did the old Morey’s Pier Haunted House 1972-1984 and Mariner’s Hitchcock Manor 1978-1981) work is just about gone in Wildwood, except for the Nugget props which most are going in Morey’s dark rides, and the Dr. Blood’s props from Sportland Pier, the building was razed Jan 2007, most of which are in storage in the old Woolworth/Randyland building that an arcade owner named Randy owns. I heard the Whacky Shack props from Hunt’s Pier are in storage somewhere in Wildwood, the building was razed early 1996 during the transformation to Dinosaur Beach, apparently the Catanoso’s didn’t want it and couldn’t sell it, actually Eric Princz (local artist owns a company Creative Design and Engineering) bought it but couldn’t get it moved off the pier so it was scrapped on site. Also, Castle Dracula was a great attraction, the Dungeon boat ride, too and it’s a shame it burned down Jan 2002. it was originally built 1977, and the old mill boat ride 1919.
Wow.. I thought I forgot about Action Park for good..
I had worked there for 7 years both seasons..
For the first few years I worked Food and Beverage, then ride attendant, Then finally once I was old enough and they had an opening I was allowed to work as a mechanic in motor world.. I rememebr breaking in the Lolas after they got new engines.. all we did was drive them up into water world and back down over and over again to break them in..
I remember the battle action tanks mechanics shop had some prototype or homebrew air cannon that would shoot a tennis ball from the tank cage well up past 94.. I wonder what happened to it. if anyone knows the make or has plans drop me a line.
I spent most of my time on the dock at the super speed boats, I remember one day clearly . There was an asian woman on the paddle boats in the adjacent pond and a lightning storm was rolling in. Unfortunately she panics and couldnt figure out how to work the boat controls..
we has one speed boat with a larger engine than the reast of them and it was our tow boat(for capsized recoveries) and a plaything for us to show off to the girls with.
I remember that we endedn up having two lifeguards stand on the edge of the foating dock that separated the two ponds, I disengaged the transom lock and headed straight at the dock head on.. because it was tilted my way it resembled a ramp, I then launched my boat onto and over the dock landing in the paddle boat pond. I then hooked her up with a line and towed her back to the area where the paddle boats were funneled into the boarding area.
The ride attendant girl hooked the boat with her boat hook and helped the woman out.. I was a hero for 15 mins.
In the winter I was a snowmaker.
I remember riding my skate board to work and having my mother pick me up after .. I lived in augusta so it was not a short trip… Fellow emploee parents passing by would often pick me up if they had the room so it wasnt too often that I skated the whole way.
I remember the first timecard system they put in.. you got a card with punch holes in it.. you’d slide it into the clock in the managers office, bang in a few codes and pull the card back out.. the funny thing was that if you didnt punch out say on friday night and then came back monday morning, you could punch out then back inand get paid for the weekend.. apparently one of the parks downfall was the accounting department.
Thanks for dropping by sigmaz; that was some great stuff! I always like hearing stories from Motorworld since I never really hung around in that section all that much and don’t really know the full details of that section. At the time I was too young to drive the cars or anything so I just stuck to the waterpark.
Also, skateboarding from Augusta to Vernon doesn’t sound like fun at all! Besides the fact that it’s a long trip, I would think that it’s very hilly as well!
The Cannonball Loop was opened. I rode the Cannonball Loop. My pre-pubscent friends and I would gawk at the holy grail of water slides everytime we went to the park. And one spectacular day my wildest dreams came true, they were actually asking for patrons to ride the slide. It’s funny how many people who bragged that they “…would totally do that!” had somewhere else to be when they were actually looking for riders. I volunteered. I was led up to the slide and then had my height and weight measured. The more I think about this, the crazier it becomes because I couldn’t have been more then 12 or 13 and my parents were no where around to give consent to their kid signing up for a suicide mission. When I got to the top of the slide the park attendant (who I doubt was an engineer) hit me w/ a garden hose to essentially lube me up in order for me to make it through. I prided myself on doing everything at “Accident Park” but this moment of truth was scarier then the rest. A crowd had formed as I got into the slide and I felt like Evil Knievel climbing onto a stars and stripes motorcycle. I got the go ahead and sent myself down the pitch black tube. When you’re sure you are going to die your mind records everything. I vividly remember the sensation of my feet going up as I realized “Here comes the loop!”. I remember being ecstatic when I had cleared the pinnacle of the loop, however the worst was yet to come. Apparently my sub 100 lbs body was not heavy enough for the ride and rather the sticking to the slide on the back end of the loop, I actually fell to the bottom of the loop. I smacked the back of my head on the slide and was nearly knocked unconcious. It was then I saw light as I sputtered out of the exit of the tube into the splash down pool which about 8 inches deep. I was able to orient myself enough to get to my feet and smile with pride as the stunned crowd cheered for the little kid who just went down the most dangerous water slide of all time. It was closed again within minutes and although I went to the park a dozen times after that day I never saw that slide opened again. I have no fear of amusement park rides after going on that death trap. There is nothing that will be built as dangerous and poorly supervised as the cannonball loop again. It was truly a perfect storm for water park aficionados.
That was a great story! Falling from the apex of the loop must have been just awful. At least you didn’t slow down and fall in the other direction however; then you would have been stuck in that section at the base of the loop. I can’t imagine how terrifying that would be, basically coming out of a momentary disorientation only to find yourself in some small dark space. lol
I use to looked forward to this ride every yr as a child. I grew up in Wildwood and this was my favorite ride. Hunts Peir was also my FAVORITE peir. A part of history of Wildwood Boardwalk as we know it will be no more. WOW, breaks my heart to know it will not be there.
The bubble bouncer ride my next favorite. So, So many memories of being on Hunts Peir. Wow!!
I have ridden the Zipper many times, I have to say it is the most intense ride I have even been on that didn’t make me sick. The one I rode at our local annual fair as as fast or almost as fast as the “fast” australian Zipper in your video. People shift their weight in the cars to see who can do the most consecutive flips. I saw one car do over 20 backflips in a row while moving before, and when they started to empty the ride car by car, they did another 40 or so backflips before theirs got to the bottom.
I agree on how the Zipper is very intense yet doesn’t really cause motion sickness. It must be the vertical motion because I know some people that have no problem on the Zipper but cannot take something like a Huss Breakdance which is all lateral motion.
Currently the new Alpine Pipeline is in 57 pieces and under a foot of snow, but I will be sure to get you the cutting edge images as soon as we get them. No upside down loops on this ride, but exciting none the less. Stay tuned and maybe you will be invited to the VIP event for the unvieling of the all new Alpine Pipeline.
Hey, thanks a bunch! I can’t wait to see the photos of this slide. If High Anxiety is any indication of what the type of thrills Mountain Creek is going for, then AP will certainly be great.
I worked there for several years as a lifeguard, and a few things.. The tarzan swing and the cannonball pools… The pools were only 15′ deep and yes freezing cold, they were fed from a spring fed lake at the top of the mountain. The bottom of the pool was not lined with anything they were concrete pools that had large rocks/boulders around them. The water was crystal clear. As a guard I would be able to sit on the stand (10′ tall) and I could spot and tell if there was a dollar bill on the bottom and if it was within 10 – 15′ of the stand I could tell you what denomination it was. it just seemed dark because of all the shade in the area.
The riptide slide was called Surf Hill… when it first opened the 2 left most lanes (looking down from the top, or the right most from the bottom looking up) were the “expert lanes” initially they had a ramp and I can remember going down with friends and family and it wasn’t uncommon to get 10 – 15′ of air off the things… landing was sometimes a bit tough, but I can remember people and us included doing flips and twists off that thing. The trick to it was to use more than one mat the more you had the faster you went. Too many people got hurt and they redid the ride to make it a much smaller ramp. the employees were able to secure a section of the new lining it’s was about 4 – 6″ thick and we cut 2 hand holds in the front of it… I wasn’t crazy enough but I knew and watched several friends going down using that mat… they would go so fast that they would end up hitting the first 12″ of the water puddle at the bottom meant to slow them down and it wouldn’t do a thing.. They would end up literally slamming into the padding at the end of the lanes hard… a couple of them hard enough that they needed help getting out from where the padding and the floor met.
Only 15 feet deep?! Aw man…that’s takes all the odd mystique out of the pool. lol Actually, I saw a photo of those pools drained on another site and it did look only 15-20 feet with slabs of concrete at the bottom. Although, I distinctly remember a lifeguard at AP saying that they were some 30+ feet deep, but I guess it was just to weed out anyone thinking they could do the attraction while not knowing how to swim well.
That Surf Hill story literally had me laughing! It just amazes me that Action Park thought it was a good idea to add in ramps for riders to rocket over. And then employees fashion up a mat made of that super slick crap, that’s just too much. I can just visualize the scene of some kid going at like 40mph head first and completely overshooting that little slowdown pool. lol It’s too bad they got rid of that slide…
i remember this exactly as he described. we would go every year when i was a kid. there was always people trying to find a mat, yet we would always have like 3 or 4 stacked. im glad you confirmed that it did make u go faster, i always wondered if i carried that extra wieght for nothing! lol man i wish this place was still around, i rode every ride there (except loop) many many times and managed to never get seriously hurt. i will try to find old picsand vids i knw we have somewhere and send in…
I remember one time when I was going down Surf Hill and after one of the bumps I went soaring into the air and landed two lanes over from where I had started and when we got to the bottom, I plowed into the kid who had been riding in that lane and ran right over him before I stopped.
I am very sorry, but I do not have a translation of this page in German. You can use Google to translate ( http://translate.google.com/ ), but the translation may not be very good.
Just came across your site and wanted to drop a comment to say thanks for the memories. I am from the Jersey Shore but moved to North Carolina in 1986. It was fun looking through the shore pictures in this article and reading about your road trip. Great article, well done.
It was also nice to see that things in Asbury Park are not as dead as I would have thought they might have been. I read an article on-line recently that painted a very bleak picture of Asbury Park. Your photos and commentary provided a much more positive outlook.
Also, seeing your site and reading about the history inspires me to post to my own site again….maybe even today.
You might find this interesting. I found your site linked in a Google alert I received on the term “Sea Girt.” When you traveled along route 35 during your trip you barely touched Sea Girt. If you hadn’t mentioned the term in your article I would never have seen the site. FWIW, thanks again.
Asbury Park has certainly come around in recent years. They’ve done a very nice job along the boardwalk, putting in stores, playgrounds and other things; some of the stores were pretty high end as well! I even remember seeing some of the restaurants along the boardwalk being packed with patrons. According to my sister, it’s a really nice beach spot in the summer as well; something that couldn’t have been said some years back.
As far as the Google alert, well…I guess it explains the odd influx of visitors coming right to this article from no referrer address and then spending about 5 seconds on the page. lol
Also, you should definitely start posting to your site again. I actually found the articles pretty cool, especially the one about the Adobe Kuler chooser. I only wish I knew about that when making this site!
I just read your article and I too can relate when it comes to the height rule and the dumb-ass parents wanting you to bend the rules just for them….over and over again. I used to work on the Himalaya in Ocean City, Maryland 2 years ago, and this lady wanted me to let her kid on the ride but he was way too short, so I wouldn’t let him on. In result, she kept trying to talk me into letting him on, but I repeatatly told her I couldn’t let her child on because he was too small, so she started to get a bit belligerent with me, but I kept my cool. Not only she was causing a scene, she was also holding us all up and the line.
This wasn’t the worst part. This chicken-shit guy who I was working with who was my best friend’s girl’s brother didn’t even bother to step in or find one of the security guards to help me settle this situation, instead he just quickly walked past us telling me that the ride was about to start. So I had to run back to my spot so the ride can start, but after the ride was over, the same bitch started with me again as she got loud and cursing me out telling me I was rude and everything, and all I did was my job. Once again, not a single person bothered to step in.
After she left, this fool who was so much help starts getting in my face and laughing telling me how pissed she was. A friend of mine who I was working for who was on break when this was going on, tried to talk to me trying to calm me down. I told my best friend about the situation last year, and he even found it to be strange that no one called any kind of security to settle the confrontation. As for the other guy (his girl’s brother who shall remain nameless) I do not want anything to do with him as long as I live, because there was no excuse for what he did…or should I say, didn’t do.
Seriously, those parents who would bargain to get their kid on the ride are some of the worst! I think ride ops should just be allowed to blatantly tell the truth in that situation:
Parent: βMy kid is only 5 inches short! Why canβt he ride?β
Ride op: βWellβ¦because he might fly the hell off, be severely injured or killed and Iβll get sued and/or thrown in jail.β
Nah, that probably wouldnβt work either; then theyβll break out the βwell he/she has been on this before and nothing happened!β Rides ops never winβ¦
By the way, I love your site! I remember stumbling across it a while back when making the Himalaya page for this site; thereβs a lot of great info there! Those old Reverchon models were some of the best; they seemed to run faster than the modern ones as well. Thanks for putting the site together!
I doubt it; Zippers now use a large, steel, bobby pin looking device as a backup lock. It’s nearly impossible for the door to fly open while the pin is in place. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Yeah… it’s got that triple door lock, with that big R-clip, or bobby pin as you call it. I’d be more worried with cracks in the hinges on the OTHER side of the door. π
I say this as the former ride op of the first zipper ever made, thus the most metal fatigued. (Model 1800, serial no. 1801, mfg in 1968)
My name is Jane E. McNutt. The Golden Nugget farewell ceremony was interesting. I am the Grand Niece of WC Hunt. My grandfather was Harry Hunt, was WC’s brother, and worked at Hunt’s Enterprises. My mother was Dorothy Hunt. Before my mom married my father, John McNutt there were sparks flying, because my father’s father of John J. McNutt’s and Son on Oak wired The Jack Rabbit and most of the island back in The Day. My brother remembers Kristen Steindl’s grandmother who Bud Hunt married -2nd marriage I think. That makes her related by marriage, not blood. Please check http://www.beachtheatre.org for my interview and accurate Hunt family history. Thanks for the forum. JANIE Del Haven -56 years old and rode The Nugget in 1960
i’ve successfully lives threw all of these lovely carni rides. (: all those rides and a few more are featured at Saint Greg’s Carnival in Hamilton, NJ. [ of course] in my town [ hamilton] that’s the best thing that happens here, next to the Italian American Fest, and September Fest, both have rides but are more for kids, not teens. which is a total DRAG by the way. any who, back to the carnival, it gos on for a week and i think two days. all the high schooler’s show up in all their parents cars, and all the kids rush to all the kiddie rides and games. they have a bunch of tricky skill games, and ofcourse the gambling wheel. two of the days they have the traditional fire works. then the raffels and such. back to the rides, the normal rides are the Tornado, Bob Sleds, Zipper, FireBall, Ride ‘O Fire, Scramblers, the ship thing, two ferris wheels, tilt- a – whirl, the tea cups, the spinning bears, the mini dragon roller coaster and such. The most thrilling ride there is the fire ball, sadly, everyone in our crappy little town lines up in THAT one line, thats it, thats the ride line. haha. but any way, the line stretches to the main entrace normally, and you wait for about 30 mins, get on a 2 min ride and then line up for the zipper ad repeat. but i must admitt, thats the best thing in this town to do in june. (:
hop i interested you and this wasnt a total bore, (:.
I remember snakes in one of the pools. I rode this tube down a long slide and half way down i fell of the tube landing painfully in the pool with less skin on my legs then when i started the ride with. But just when i thought my ride of death was over I see this huge snake swimming right at my face. I was only 8 and i couldnt swim very well, so their i was flapping my arms and legs screaming for help because of this snake and the fact i was bloody and in pain, and not one person came to my aide. All the children were pushing me down in the water and they were trying to get out of the pool, I though i was goin to drown or be attacted by this snake. THANK GOD for my older brother, because he pulled me out.
When i was 7 I rode 1 of their tube rides and i was going so fast my tube almost reared off the slope which was very high off the ground. Also the tide pool was the worst being so little the waves would knock me over and afew times a almost drown because the lifeguards were to busy watching the women then watching the children. The place always had nasty snake infested water and half the rides would brake down during the few hours you would spend at the part. Even the kiddie pool with those little bumper boats was a death zone. Once I seen one of the boats start to sink with a child in it, you would think that the lifegaurds would have leaped in the pool to get the kid out, but No the parent had to be the one to jump in and unbuckel the child before the boat sank drowning the kid… Though the park was full of danger, it still provided me with alot of fun and some great memories.
i rose the canonball loop. man that sucker beat you up.
I am curious if there’s any remains of action park left. was mountain creek built on the old site of AP? did they leave any remnants? is there anything to explore?
I don’t know if anything of Action Park is left actually. Everything in the waterpark was pretty much reused by Mountain Creek, and some of the most known attractions (Cannonball Loop, Aerodium, etc) were simply removed. I know they have one river attraction that pretty much sits un-used for the most part. The Surf Hill slides might still be “standing but not operating” as well but other than that I’m not sure.
By looking at Google Earth, it doesn’t look like Motorworld is around at all; at least I can’t spot any tracks or anything. You can check out Mountain Creek on Google Earth at ’41Β°11’24.78″N 74Β°30’30.55″W’ and see if you can see anything. That giant field just to the west of Mountain Creek might be where Motorworld was.
I took my kids to the old timers stomping ground on Tuesday – 8/15/12. Yes Mountain Creek is the old Action Park. Although alot of the attractions we rode are now gone they still have a few Action Park rides there. The Tarzan swing and Cannonball Falls are still where they were, and working. The Colorado River is still working. This is the ride in the big family sized tube. Only now you have to wear a helmet with a full face cage or you can’t ride. The Surf Hill is still working except that they toned it down quite a bit and its called Rip Tide Slide. It still is dangerous however. Back during Action Park there was very little water to stop you at the end of the ride. Now there is about a foot or so of water at the end, if you don’t lift your mat up, the water stops you dead. Now if your body stopped also it wouldn’t be bad. But as my wife and my 17 year old daughter found out the hard way. My wife literally went legs over head and flipped and my daughter went sideways running her legs over the next lane dividers and was cut, fortunately not bad. They took out the Alpine slide and put in an Alpine coaster which is open year round. If your under the age of 15 this might be cool, otherwise don’t waste your time. No I retract that statement, do it for the hell of it, you may enjoy it. The rides I was looking forward to were closed. They were Action Park rides that are still there. They were Thunder Run, The Gauley and The Rogue River. I haven’t found out why they weren’t operating. Thunder Falls was open. The Geronimo Falls section of the park is still open but has changed. They replaced the double white slides with one green slide. You still get an atomic wedgie on this. They closed down the male favorite Kamikaze slide, took out the wooden bridge and fenced in the pool area. They added a funnel ride called High Anxiety. This is the equivalent to Alien Invasion at Splish Splash. Well I think I touched on everything at the park. I found it to be as exciting as when I was in my 20,s.
Thunder run was open this week as well as a couple of weeks ago. The Gauley was closed after an incident earlier this season where a bunch of riders backed up near the end. It was a relatively minor incident, but there were like 4 news helicopters flying over the park afterwards since they had sent several people to the hospital (as a precaution).
Rogue River seems to have been closed all season, I’m not sure why.
Surf Hill was just opened a couple of weeks ago. They rebuilt the slide, as it had been abandoned about 5 years ago.
I’m actually a lifeguard at Mountain Creek now and it’s a ton safer although many of the rides have closed down. Some of the most recent changes are that Rogue River and Thunder Falls are basically permanently shut down. Working bottom of rogue river you can listen to people slam back and forth against the walls inside of the slide and it’s just terrible, better off keeping that death trap closed. Surf Hill is once again called Surf Hill and like it was said before there’s now a good foot of water at the bottom. The Colorado River you need helmets on now, but recently we test rode the old path of the ride however it will most likely remain closed. Well that’s a current lifeguard’s perspective.
Aw man, I can’t believe they closed Rogue River! That actually seemed like one of the tamer ones. The only thing that was bad about it was how it dumped riders into that open pool area. I remember if you were to assume the standard body slide position (legs crossed, arms crossed) you’d go flying down that slide and practically skip across the water at the end.
@Nick
Wow, they opened the alternate path on Colorado Rapids? If only they’d actually re-open that, as alternate paths made that ride interesting, even though it was rare you went down them.
I seriously hope they don’t permanently keep Rogue River and Thunder Falls closed. In 30+ years, the number if injuries, compared to other rides still open, is from what I understand really low.
Notice how the green slide is not as steep it used to be – or at least it looks like that, note the tracks underneath.
They really should make it as steep as it originally was – and put in a 2nd slide, which would also cut down on the longer lines on the busiest days… oh, and lose the name “H2 Oh No” /call it “Geronimo Falls” again – those three things would make the ride much more exciting, IMO.
I think Surf Hill is still Surf Hill – website and park map still indicated it as such.
The Rock-o-plane really needs to be returned full force to all carnivals!
And if they have to build new Rock-o-planes to either build their reserves and/or replace old worn out Rock-o-planes, they shall do so. The Rock-o-plane is one of my all time childhood favorites and I will ride it again if given the chance.
Yeah they do! These past few years I’ve only seen them at two different carnivals; they used to be at nearly every one!
Unfortunately, I don’t think Eyerly makes rides anymore. However there are some ride operators who have put a new spin on the ride by placing forward facing seats on it. I can’t find a picture though, I know one was called Sky Dancer.
Hopefully all u guys will see this…I’m looking for a ride that I remember being called American skyliner but these come up then I type the name..now this was similar to this ride ,we had the large wheel but the egg shaped carts were fastened on the spine of the wheel. They had two seats inside and a steering wheel at the centre made of metal. Turning the wheel would make the egg spin left or right around the circumference of the spine so u could turn the wheel as it was being loaded with people and balance yourself on the top of the spine, others were happy to sit upside down. So you see at the top of the wheel spine you are sat upright facing forward a sitter either side of the spine. Letting go off the wheel suddenly would cause the egg to just drop underneath the wheel spine left or right depending on which side u were at more. So it worked with gravity ..once the ride gets going you spin around the spine of the wheel going from upright at the top projection to upside down underneath the spine also as the wheel is spinning forward as it goes down and around you kind of spin and fall at same time..it’s quite horrendous fear factor…lol…do you know of this ride variation..this is the UK where I experienced it in a Norfolk town called kings Lynn.thankyou. it was by the very famous UK fairground people whose name I forget off hand but we’re the biggest in England. Not Boswells , not Grey’s another name Γ can’t get out of head at min..I’m sure it will come back to me.. lol thankyou
As a kid i have always had a strange fixation with roller coasts & amusement parks. Who knows why?!But I have to say that i have been obsessed with Action Park since i found out about it 4 days ago!
We only had a Wonderland (affiliated with Hannah Barbarah) out here in Australia & I was always a scaredy cat to go on any of the big rides!
HOWEVER! I feel so disappointed to have not experienced the ‘legend’ of Action Park. From everything I have read, it seems so ridiculous & intriguing, like a taboo movie about reckless teens!
As ridiculously conservative I am, if I had the chance to jump at any of these threatening rides, I totally would! The Cannonball Loop had my jaw dropped for hours as I read comments/experiences & studied pictures! I even showed my co-workers & their response was “……WTF.. how? wha.. HOW THE HELL WOULD THAT EVEN WORK?!” lol! “Exactly. Fucking insane”
I am sure the real experience isn’t as romantic as it seems- but to someone who has always been safe, always been scared of danger, this place seemed like a place that was so so wrong it was right!
Just want to say thanks for the indepth descriptions! It makes the idea of the place even more real! You have no idea how many people i have told about the place! Just out of sheer disbelief that something so dangerous could have existed for such a long period of time!!
Thanks for stopping by Lauren and thanks for the kind words!
“So wrong it was right”…I like that! It’s a pretty good one sentence summary of how Action Park was.
You know, I think something like the Cannonball Loop, while still crazy, wouldn’t be as insane if it were built today. Like if built in 2009, there would be definately be calculations, proper water drainage, correct pitches, etc; it would be studied up and down and over again until the most minor of faults were ironed out.
Back in the mid 80s it was probably just two guys sitting at a bar with one going “hey, let’s see if this will work!” Two weeks later their drawing scralled out on a napkin became Cannonball Loop! How did they know it would work? Well they didn’t until ‘John the Lifegaurd’ went down and didn’t die!
Even I can’t beleive some of the stuff that went down at Action Park even though I was there!
Man, the reason I’m never getting on one of these things is that scene from the Sandlot where they ride one of these and end up puking their guts out. Horrible, horrible scene, that was.
at least someone agrees but the one girl’s reaction was hilarious how she was screaming her guts out and it was not real all it was is just spilt pea soup, movie gel, baked beans, water, and oatmeal launched with paint guns accidentally hitting some crew members and the ”tobacco” just beef jerky and black licorice you really think that they were gonna give kids actual tobacco and the fake thing was WAY worse than the actual thing
There’s a special online discount for a Six Flags park that we’re planning on going to. It’s $31 bucks for each adult ticket (compared to $50 at the door) but when i was about ready to purchase them, i saw the Print ‘n Go option for $5.
Really? $5 for me to print them from my own house?
$36 is still better than $50 at the park but it’s still completely idiotic making me pay to print using my printer, my ink, my paper.
You know I was actually tipped off by some people over at another coaster site that a lot of parks have a similar charge for their print tickets; however SF is charging the most. I guess the parks treat it as a convenience fee of sorts, I mean I can’t really see any other reason for the surcharge.
loved that place went from 86 to 1990 loved motor wolrd and the indy cars fastest go cart ive ever been on got kicked off in 89 hit a cone or tire went over thew yellow line god i miss that place also went on aero ride first year it opened that was fun sad to see it in ruins ps any one know where i can buy one of those cars ?
This ride I personal don’t like it spins around really fast and you get whiplash like crash the first time you ride it you’ll not want to go on it anymore. But if you like REALLY fast rides you must go on this ride
Unfortunately I don’t have an official website for it but my town, North Brunswick, holds a carnival every June called the North Brunswick Youth Sports Festival. The rides are owned/operated by Amusements of America and they usually have the Space Roller. This year’s festival will be held Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14 and again Wednesday, June 17 through Sunday, June 21 at the Devry University on route 1. Try not to go on any of the Saturday night’s, they have fireworks shows which bring in just about the entire population of not only North Brunswick but all surrounding towns.
After doing a google search for water slide, I came across a youtube video of a loop slide in germany. I got curios and googled loop slide and found all this information on this ridicouls ride at action park! Since webates have sparked my intrest in action park and looking at pictures, I’ve relized this was a place my father use to vist. I have pictures of my parent visting this death trap.
Although the picuters show a water slide that was long and horzitial with long bumps. Can anybody tell wich ride this was?
It says Lights, Motors, Action! was added without taking anything out, but this is not true. An entire section of the Backlot Tour was gutted out in order to make way for LMA.
I still like the Loop -O-Plane . Great ride. Took many long rides on this. What I would like to do on this ride is to do over 100 revolutions in each direction for a total of over 200 plus.
I have seen many videos of the Inversion. I really can’t wait to ride this. This one I would like to take a real long ride on and at the same time while the ride is going top speed, having the individual gondolas flip at the same time. Give me the longest, most intense ride on this, 20 minutes plus.
I rode this ride once and only once. I was 14 and with my brother who had just turned 16. I remember we were waiting for everyone to load when all of a sudden the ride began. I must say it literally scared the life out of me. We were completly sideways the whole time and the only thing holding us in was a bar that didn’t even touch our bodies. We were pressed together against the hard plastic and I was screaming so hard I eventually lost my voice. I actually began sobbing at one point. We were going so fast everything was a blur. When the jackass carnie finally stopped he opened our bar and said “Oh wait the bar is broken sorry folks gotta wait for the next seats to come around.” I was dizzy, disoriented and actually fell to my knee’s to kiss the ground I walked on.
dude i wish the zipper at our carnival would go as fast as that Austrailian one. lol its not even scary, its probally one of the best carnival rides ever in existance and if you dont like thrill dont go on it everyone knows who dares to go on it knows that ther is a risk thats what makes it awesome dude fo sho π
Some are definately worse than others. I think the rim-driven versions where the wheel is permanently on an angle are the worst because the cars rock like crazy while getting up to speed.
ive ridden the fireball b4 and its like an o.k. ride but i perfer the zipper lol and sometimes when you go on and they like hold you upside down for like 15 secs or so you start to black out lol but its an ok ride so watev
i see you like matterhornΒ΄s
i have one and i buit in usa
snow ball express
is like new now and runs like a champ
if you like to see go to ride db (snow ball dance)
snow dance 4 in you tube
enjoy bye
Hi there I just stumbled across this site while reading up (geeking) on Breakdances. You’re right about the one that was at Astroland, it was the best operated I’ve been on outside of Europe. So sad it’s gone now :'(
It’s really funny reading about your American rides, they look so ghetto! heehee. Anyway I just wanted to confirm what you said about the third Bussink Evolution. It’s called ‘Imperator’ and is legendary over here. It’s the largest flat ride that ever travelled.
It did the German circuit for a long time but disappeared in the mid Nineties. Luckily it has made one or two outings since then but it’s still a rare sight. I’ve never seen it in person but from the photos it’s incredible to think that this thing is movable! It’s owned by Eberhard, who also own one of two Mondial Inferno’s. Their’s is called Airwolf and travels in Germany. The other Inferno is called Night Fly and can be seen in France.
Imperator is certainly an incredible ride; I also can’t beleive they managed to move it around so much in its heyday. Like, it might be a ‘traveling ride’ but I’ve also heard that it took something like 8-10 vehicles to move! Last I heard, Imperator is in China somewhere but no one has spotted it.
Now that Imperator is is MIA and Evolution #1 is effectively a park model, maybe it’s time for the mysterious third Evolution to make an appearence somewhere!
And yes, most American rides are ghetto looking but in their defense most were made in the 60s and 70s. However, there really hasn’t been many notable US manufactured rides since then. lol
I was doing a search on action park just to see what would come up and I came across this site. I was also curious about the “Cannonball Loop Slide”. I remember going there when I was a kid and seeing this crazy looking slide that had a loop, but the slide always appeared abandoned and completely shut down. I remember hearing stories that a woman snapped her neck in the loop, but these were all just rumours , or course. I find it so cool and fascinating to read the stories of the people who actually rode that slide, (and made it out alive) major props to you. π Would be great if someone posted up a video of the most dangerous slide ever created.
I had a lot of memories of Action Park going there as a kid, no major injuries, just a few head bumps and scrapes, minor compared to some people. I remember my brother tricked me into going down one of the slides in the lower area (in the freezing cold water). He said “oh it’s just a tiny slide”, little did I know that it had a 20 ft drop at the end of it. lol I was only about 9 years old, but I was a good swimmer. I remember the girl asked me before I went on the slide if I could swim and I thought, that’s odd why is she asking me this. lol I also remember the one tube slide next to that area, The Gauley, (I believe that was the name of it). It was fun, but you would sometimes get stuck in certain areas and have to push yourself down, and of course you would sometimes smash into people and sometimes pile up. I also remember the cannon slides which I ended up banging my head around one of the turns in the tube, then being spit out into ice cold water and barely being able to catch my breath. The wave pool was insane, the waves were oddly big, you could drown very easily if you weren’t a good swimmer. The kamikaze was surprisingly fast, probably one of the best slides at the park and the Geronemo Falls slides were crazy, at the end of the ride you had a dental floss for a bathing suit. π I definitely want to make it out to Mt. Creek one of these days just to experience the waterslide thrills once again…
I would really like to take some really long rides on this, more than 7 minutes plus on one ride and going over the top a high number of times. KMG really came out with a winner on this one.
I also hope that High Energy makes it to the United States. Love to take real long rides on this. Space Roller, rode this countless times and in some cases received some real long rides on this.
Hey Dave, when the Power Surge was at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights New Jersey, I made a bet with the ride operator that I could ride this over 100 times for the summer season. He took me up on that and got me on the ride when there was seats available. Sure enough I was successful in doing over 100 times.
Central Elementary School in Great Meadows, NJ will have a carnival on Saturday, October 3, 2009. It will be held at the Field of Dreams or at Great Meadows Middle School (if inclement weather). The carnival will run from 12-5pm. We have an awesome animal theme. There will be games, prizes, vendors, activities, moonbouncers, contests, and much more! The amazing band “Reverse Order” will perform. The event is a playground fundraiser.
@ ricardo: That is a beautiful matterhorn! I really like the light package and you seem to run it very fast as well…just the way they should be run!
For anyone who wants to see Ricardo’s Snow Ball Dance, I have the video under the Matterhorn section of this post.
@ Bruce: Inversion looks like a great ride and I’ve actually heard that one was sold to an American showman named Tim Casper of PBJ Happy Days Shows. I’m not sure where they run but at least the US has at least 1 Inversion for now.
They had a Tempest at my local fair. Yep, it had chains for seat belts. And you had to be 2 inches taller to ride it than you had to be for their Zipper. WTF?
If I could, I would like to attempt to take a four hour non-stop ride on the fastest Zipper in Australia. The thing is that I live in the US. If there is anyone who has this ride and is willing to set it at the fastest speed, I would really like to attempt to take at least a four hour non stop ride. What’s great is that you are at the mercy of the dynamics of the ride, where you have no control of the rocking and flipping. Anybody that is willing to speed up their Zipper ride and permit me to attempt a four hour ride can contact me at bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
Hi kind seen you like to find someone who can ride zipper with you for that long here in person if i was close to you here or i could i would do that for you and ride on xipper with you for that long in person and take ever bit of it as much as you can handly it for ride zipper for that long with you in person i would that be so nice you know get to ride on zipper for that long be so cool in person get to you know.David
@ DoD3 Brian: I sent two faxes to Tim Casper asking him if he could have his new Inversion appear at a few fairs in Florida, as of the last time I heard, the ride was to be delivered in December 2009. I’ve also contacted others urging Tim to consider this. I don’t know where you are, but in the winter there are many fairs in Florida, while at the same time, the rest of the US is cold. The Inversion is the newest ride that I would like to attempt to take a real long non-stop ride of more than twenty minutes. Anyboby who sees this and can be of furthur help, my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Here are some other of the most insane rides that I would like to go on and also take long record setting rides. They are Discovery, Speed Flip, Twin Flip, Hard Rock, Space Roller, Tango, Evulution, High Energy, Loop O Plane, Enterprise, Power Surge, Evolution, Experience, Extasy, King Loop(Shake),
Adrenaline, Skyscraper, Speed, Booster, Vortex and mentioned before the Zipper. On the bungee slingshots, Ejection Seat, Vertical Accelerator and Rocket. Anybody that has any pull and contacts, my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I’ll even attempt to ride the Loop-O-Plane for maybe a few hours non-stop, with the ride going at the fastest speed. Great Ride. If there is anybody that wants to take me up on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I know of one of the carnival companies that still has one. I’ve been on it many times and I would be receptive to attempting a two hour non-stop on this. If anybody wants to take me up on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I still can’t figure out what this person in the comment above is trying to bring out. Anyway my aim is to attempt to ride the Zipper for three or four hours, riding solo. The less weight in the cage results in more action. Hopefully some day this could have the possibility of happening.
i know i commented on someone elses comment, but i wanted to comment on this artical, its GREAT! the descriptions were pretty much dead on. what sucks is i had a lot typed up and some how it didnt get posted, now i dont remember it lol.
i loved this place as a kid. I started going ~90-91, which would make me about 10. im proud to say i went the last year it was open, since it says it was closed in 96. i moved to the south in 95 and swore i went back twice, but it must have been once.
we would run up and down thoses hills barefoot, which would burn and cut ur feet all up, but we didnt care. i loved this place because they didnt care about ur size or age for anything, and at 10 doing these rides you loved it. i rode everyride/slide except cannonball loop, (which was never open while i was there, thankgod cause my stupid young ass would have done it) many many times, avoiding serious injury somehow. my dad would never let me do the areododim for some reason, lol. the wiki says that it would bring u 6-7 feet up, but im here to tell u ive seen people go up higher then the building, i remember thinking to myself “he’s dead if he doesnt go back down correctly to land on the padding!” i loved every ride, some more then others, but top 2 was probly the cliff jump, and the tall ass strait down slide (which had a chain net covering the first 15′ or so down so u wouldnt fall out). i remember only weighing maybe 90 pounds, i wouldnt even be on the slide, it was a free fall till it curved out. im sad to find out these 2 rides are gone at the new mountain creek.
i did the motor park a little. wish i would have know the tennis ball trick, lol. i did wreck the cars though, being 12 in my memory of the motorpark, the only pedal i used was the gas (which was always on the floor). shot the tennis ball cannon many times, and yes the best part was shooting the helpless employees, lol
im gonna go back one day, but its so less appealing now that my favorite rides and others are gone, but my curiousty wont let me not go so i can look in theses areas and see what is or isnt there for myself. i’ve always wished it was still around, but in the back of my mind knew based on my memories that there was no way it could still be today(not in its true glory anyway). as i look back all i can think is “holy shit that really did happen!”
I’ve seen videos of the Hard Rock. Looks like a real great ride. I like the dynamics of this ride. Unfortunately this ride appears in the Southwestern part of the United States and is not at any of the fairs in Florida. I would want to attempt to take at least a three hour ride on this, as I really like insane rides that provide constant flipping motion. If anybody who sees this has any connection to this ride my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I’ve been on the Tango many times. This is really a fabulous ride. The seats could be better, but because the ride is great I overlook that. This is another ride that I would like to attempt to take a ride on this for several hours and set a record for the longest ride. Anybody who sees this and has any connections my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Tango is THE BOMB of a ride!! A true thrill from the moment your dangling feet leave the platform! MORE PLEASE!!!
Talk about being flailed around like a rag doll in the sky!!! Limbs literally flying everywhere! LOL! Sadly I only saw it once at the Cali State Fair years ago, but it certainly delivered the bang for the buck! Must have been on it 25-30 times that week.
I want one in my backyard!!
I wouldn’t wait more than 15 minutes for any ride, even a Top Scan or Capriolo. Usually if a fair is really busy I’ll just hang around and soak up the atmosphere and get some grub then come back when it’s a bit quieter (I’m kinda impatient in queues π )
The Rock n Roll Matterhorn looks good. Has some nice theming.
Yeah that was bad, but that 35 minute wait to get on the junky little dark ride was worse. lol
To be honest I can’t stand lines either but it was like either we wait in line or we don’t ride anything; it was just so ridiculously crowded! Even near closing, the lines were still bad.
I certainly have! Space Roller is one of my favorite rides actually. Fireball makes me a little nauseous though; I’m not into the swinging rides too much anymore!
Just give me a four hour non-stop ride on the fastest, most intense Zipper ride. Besides breaking the record for the longest ride, add in 250 non-stop flips,breaking the old record of 167, during the four hour ride. I’m ready to go for it. I’m sure that there is somebody that can acommodate me on this. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Jeannie nothing to be nervous about. You’re rocking and flipping as the cage goes forward and backwards. I’m sure that you’ve seen the ride operate. If you read my comments and I’m very serious that I want to attempt these marathon rides, your taking a three minute ride should be a piece of cake.
Go for it.
@ Do D3 Brian Here’s an update on the Inversion that Tim Casper purchased. I read that this ride will be on exhibit at the IISF Super Trade Show and Extravaganza in Gibsonton Florida. This will be taking place while the Florida State Fair is going on. My suggestion is after the trade show is over, bring the ride to the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City and open it up to the public. The Strawberry Fest. takes place about two weeks after the trade show and is about a 30 minute drive from Gibsonton. Where it goes beyond that I do not know. I did send Tim Casper a fax asking him to consider taking the ride to Plint City.
I would like to attempt to take a four hour ride on this. Great ride. Rode it many times and in some cases long rides at a few fairs in Florida. Looking to attempt to set a record for the longest ride on the Space Roller. E-Mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I’ve seen Keansburg Amusement Park before I moved to Florida. If I was to come back into the area I would really like to attempt to take a real long marathon ride on the Loop-O-Plane. My aim is to attempt to set a record for the longest ride, at least an hour, but could go for more. E-Mail bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I am looking to break the record by a healthy margin of the number of flips by a group from On Ride De, where they did 107 non-stop flips on the Top Spin. If anybody sees this and has connections, so this possible record setting ride could possibly take place my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. Target is 250 flips or more.
As I child my cousin and I went on the zipper repeatedly at the local fair, until one fateful ride when we flipped 40+ times over the course of the ride. Our previous record was 10 or so. I just remember a ton of loose change flying around our cart, my cousin counting the flips out loud, and me laughing hysterically at every flip. I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely love the Zipper. It’s the only ride I’ve ever been on that actually makes me laugh. It’s not scary at all. Every time I see it, I have to stop and go on it.
Unfortunately, the newer models have heavier cages to decrease the amount of spin and thus decrease the amount of pressure on the door. I went on what I’m assuming was a newer model about a year ago and barely spun at all, it was very disappointing. I guess the fact that it’s been 10+ years since that fateful 40+ spin ride and I’m probably twice as big now didn’t help. Never the less, I will stop and ride the Zipper any chance I get.
Does anyone know of a website that you can use to track down zippers near you? I live in Chicago, and I’ve seen a few carnivals out in the suburbs before, but very few of them have the Zipper.
I just read the write up on one that was beside one of the videos on the Discovery ride. Even though the spelling was in french, it was easy to interpert that some individuals set a world record by doing 412 flips in a 10 minute period. If anybody who reads this and has connections to a top spin type ride like the Top Spin, Space Loop, Mavrick or any other ride of this type, I would like to attempt to break that record. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I’d like to do it in the Discovery ride, but unfortunately this ride is not in the United States.
I remember going so often with my friends we used to plan trips to go mid week, when it was cold and cloudy. That way the park was empty. We would complete every ride before lunch, eat, and then repeat.
Surf hill was the best. The ramp in lane 7 and 8 were great but when the lines were long, we would fight, literally, for lane 3. it was the best. We would line up in lane 1,2,4,5. On βthreeβ we would run half way down the slide and jump onto the neighboring chute, claw at your friend who is already sliding, and jump in front of him who would grab you to slow you down. We were not gentle. The person who crossed the water at the end, in lane 3 won. Bruises ensued. Thankfully the laughter always beat out the contusions. Mitch once hit the water so fast he skipped over it and as he was about to ram the padding, he ducked his head and went right under. Four people had to pry him out. He was king for the day and operations on the slide never even slowed down.
I worked in Wharton and use to go there back in the late 80’s. We would get out of work at 3 and be there by 4. They use to discount after 3 or 4. It was always pretty empty people would be leaving at that time of the day.
Anyway, I’m surprised I lived. Beer sales were real lax up there, it didn’t matter how tanked or young (sometimes) you were.
Geronimo Falls was my favorite, saw quite a few lost tops from the girls that rode it. Everybody got a wedgie.
Tarzan Swings was great to watch folks get faced.
No place was really safe, I’ve read people use to meet up with snakes on the Miniature Golf Course.
Our Boss hated the place, everytime we went there. We would always be all banged up the next day (with leftover beer buzz),we were pretty much worthless for half the day. that’s if we even showed up.
Thanks For posting this Brian.
There will never be another place like Action Park.
Good Times!
God Bless Action Park!!!!!!!!!
The Evolution is ok. Rode this piece many times and wish it could be something more. The ride sensation is to predictable. Too much engineering involved which I feel takes the experience away. We have a couple of big fairs in California which feature both Evolution, and a Zipper. Zipper always out grosses the Evolution. Not bad for a ghetto ride.
I had a few friends of mine from Germany, visit the states. I brought to one of our local fairs. Our fair features everything including an Evolution, Tango, Experience, several other KMG pieces and a ton more. The first thing they wanted to ride was Zipper. They were blown away by its wickedness, and rode it several more times throughout the day. Funny thing is, they stayed away from the european built rides we had, and only wanted to ride the American versions.
Nothing notable? Gravitron is a classic and not from the 70’s. LOL. Tilt A Whirl by far is the classic of all rides worldwide.
You want to ride a good Thunderbolt? Go to Chicago, A company called Spectacular Midways has a Music Fest which I feel you will love. Its an older model but I know for a fact, the company babies that thing. It gives you IMO the smoothest ride ever. I’m a Flying Bobs, Music Fest, Thunderbolt, Alpine Bobs fan, out of all the ones I have ridden on. Spectacular’s is the best.
Powers Flying Bobs is Chance built. There’s actually a few chopped version Flying Bobs outhere these days. Gives that european look, and saves on set up, and tear down, and your second trailer is a 28ft pup oppose to the standard 40 foot second trailer.
The no single rider rule does suck, but with money hungry lawyers, stupid people, and fun loving insurance companies ready to raise your rate, this is why the no single rider rule is enforced.
I remember being on the cliff dive looking down at people swimming way too close to the divers and landing right next to them surprised no one was smashed there, but action park was the best thing ever built….new jersey must find a way to build something similar.
Also remember being scared as sh**, but saw everyone else was ok with it so when in rome!!!! LIVE ON TRACTION PARK
This site and reading peopleβs experiences bring back some awesome memories. Surf Hill and all the stories about people crashing into the padding, getting wedged into it and how the employees would eat at the base of hill while being entertained by the injuries are just remarkable. Hereβs my experience.
I get to the base of brand new Surf Hill with some friends and weβre told the ride is closed and canβt go on it. Itβs just been built and the surface is brilliant blue. We stand around watching people go down for awhile, apparently trying out the ride. Looks like its open to us so we let the attendants know weβd like to give it a try and are given permission. First time down was fun, though a little bumpy. It feels like the polyurethane foam has just been laid down directly on top of the rocks underneath. I make a note to myself to keep my hands and soft parts on the slide so I donβt get any bone chips.
Second time is when the fun starts. Surf Hill when it was brand new was not the way most people remember it. There was the same 80 feet or so of vertical as you slide down, then maybe an 8β deep puddle, less than in later years, then a slight upslope to slow down and get thisβ¦ NO padding at the end!!! I go zipping down fast, blow right through the puddle and straight into the gravelly dirt at the base! For everyone who smacked into the padding, imagine the ride brand new with no padding and not even any grass at the end, just gravel and dirt. That was my last time on Surf Hill and, like the employees on lunch break, I then stood around at the end waiting for the next person to get injured.
I loved this ride when I was a kid. They used to raise up to a vertical position when I first started riding them but I haven’t seen one do that in years.
My favorite carnival ride of ALL time!! I have to ride one every time I see one near me tho it has gotten harder lately-all of the ones I’ve encountered in the past few years have a “must have 2 riders” rule. I’m not sure what that is all about. There are no lateral forces in the ride so you’re not going to be slung from side to side even if you ride alone and in the VERY unlikely chance that the door opens mid ride your partners is gonna hang on for dear life first and keep you in the car second–LOL. This is one of the few rides that can still take my breath away when you go around the edge just right and start the 10+ flips w/out stopping. Pure heaven!!!
I went to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk today. Back in the 70’s my Dad took me several times there, where I would ride “The Trabant” over and over. Sadly, it no longer exists at the Park. My friends don’t remember this ride at all, thanks to your video I can at least show them what it looked like. BTW, what is the name of the song playing?
Yeah these rides aren’t seen too much at amusement parks anymore however a lot of carnivals seem to have them now. For instance, there’s like four original Trabants traveling around the NJ-NY area right now!
The song is ‘Twilight’s Last Gleaming’ by High Contrast.
I’ve never ridden one of these but it looks really cool – kind of like the old Troika ride on steroids. I HAVE ridden a Force 10 though and it was the fastest spinning ride I’ve EVER been on. The seat I was in was sorta loose and it popped every time I neared the ground (when the wheel was tilted at the highest point.) I figured I’d either make one hell of a hole in the ground or a really nice arc into the parking lot night sky if it came loose. I don’t think I could ride that again now. Just too intense!!
I’m surprised there’s no mention of how many bikini tops came off at this place. My girlfriend lost her top on the tarzan swing the first time she tried it. Everyone got wedgies on the water slides. Funny it did not seem so dangerous at the time, but I do remember all the topless girls from teh crazy water rides.
That was the best part about working there! I would goto surf hill with some curly fries (i worked food an bev) and watch the tops and sometime bottoms ply off!!!! what a great place to grow up lol
Well, from what I’ve seen, most Himalaya rides play either mid-90s techno, hip-hop, or old school rock. Whatever the person running it likes gets played I guess.
They had one at my local fair a year or two ago and the operator will play song with death or dyeing in the song. When I rode the song “Die young” by me$ha played. Lol
Seeing a listing for the zipper reminds me of that other carnival ride that I thought might make the of wtcr list. It seems that every carnival that came to my small US town when I was growing up either had a zipper or a rocket (I think that’s what it was called it had these cars that were white and blue and shaped like rockets or bullets).
I check out carnival routes on different sites before the season starts and note which ones that I want to visit. Of those, I end up only going to about 60% which is like 8-12 fairs.
Since you checked out this fair in NYC, have you ever visited that small amusement park in Central Park called Victorian Gardens? I wanted to squeeze it into my recent trip, but I there just wasn’t enough time. Looks small, but the views look pretty cool with the skyscrapers and trees in the background.
I’ve heard about the park but never actually went there. I just checked out their site and it’s actually a bit bigger than I thought; I was under the assumption that it was just a carousel and maybe something else. Doesn’t look too interesting in terms of rides but it may very well provide some good photo ops being in Central Park like you said.
Around 1990, our high school in San Jose CA had a carnival with rides one year. I was really daring, but my best friend was not. The carnival was not doing very good and most of the rides sat there not running for lack of guests. This ride looked like a tame Ring-Of-Fire and I talked him into going on it. We got and and it started going around the track and I was happy that it was slow. But then, all of sudden, the ride did something that I never suspected. The entire track started to rotate! I was extremely scared… Not that I was going to die, but that my friend was going to throw up on me! Some how we made it through, and although I have never seen one of these again I’ve never forgotten it!
Edward, I saw your comments on the two rider rule on the Zipper. This is a rediculous rule initated by Chance Rides, the people who manufactured this ride. You’re right, there are no side to side forces. I’ve suggested that the operators of the ride put in like a dummy or an inflateable to take the place of a second rides, but Chance Rides ignored all my faxes on that. These people are very rude and they are definitely not customer friendly. If the person that goes to a fair with you and he or she does not want to ride the Zipper or you go by yourself, you are penalized as you can’t ride the Zipper solo. Chance Rides does not care. Like I said, this single rider restriction is totally rediculous!!!!!
Bruce,
I finally read why there is a 2 rider rule. Seems that if the single rider is small enough there is the possibility that he/she can turn sideways and get out from under the restraining lap bar!! Theoretically I guess that can happen but you’d have to be a really good contortionist. I still think it’s a bad rule!!
I wonder if the 2 rider rule still exists bc i just rode the newest version at south fl fair a few days ago.the newest model actually has roller coaster harnesses inside which are adjustable for each individual person and they pretty much keep you from going anywhere.the older ones didnt have harnesss and had a bar that always bruised you from the jerking and shaking!the ride is actually alot smoother but the cool thing is that u spin all the way around more and the cage itself fells alot more open so not as tightly cramped…love it!
If you look on this website http://www.ridesdb.com it lists all the current rides being built.
I am interested to see what your inversion ride will look like, as I am a keen fair enthusiast. All the current ones that have been produced look stunning, the most recent being one in Germany called ‘Flip Fly’. If you want to youtube a video of it, just type in flip fly clauss kermis into youtube and you’ll see it in action, the lighting is second to none. Clauss is the showmans surname and flip fly is the name given to the ride. There’s even one which is now on tour in australia and as you will see from the ridesdb website, one has now been ordered for spain, so KMG Rides are having quite good success despite the current economic downturn.
Hope you enjoy the ride when it arrives and please let us know if you upload videos of it onto youtube. If you want to contact me my email is maguire245@hotmail.com
I agree, Saturn 6 is a bit more more intense than Hurricane, mostly because the cars go sideways and it’s a bit unnerving. I don’t like Hurricane as much because of the awful lateral forces; they should at least give the cars a bit more tilt! Although I don’t know if I can ride these types anymore as I came off Saturn 6 really nauseous on my last ride some two years ago.
Hey I rode all these rides for years. I even got to ride the cannonball 2…referred here as the cannonball loop…did it 4 times in a row then they closed it. Me and my friends recalled all the attendants that were there kept saying whatever you do don’t lift your head and there were 4-5 attendants in the dispensory pool all very helpfull while you recovered your conciousness. That was an awesome ride!!! Awesome!!! I flew off the side of the expert Alpine Slide…thought I was gonna die but ended up unscathed….I want to win the lottery and buy the place for myself.
HFM First of all I tried to email you at the address above and it was returned. There are many videos of the Inversion on You Tube. Just write Inversion Ride, click search and you’ll see a few choices on You Tube. That will show you the ride. By the way Flip Fly is another name they gave the Inversion at Oktoberfest 2009, also out on You Tube. I hope to see this ride when it will be on exhibit at the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Florida this February as I live near there. Ive been urging the owner to put it in a few fairs after the show so the public and yours truly will be able to ride it, before it goes to other parts of the US. I am a real big ride enthusiast when it comes to the fairs and I go on the most rambunctious rides that are offered. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. Good Luck.
soy de mexico, amigos algien que tenga todo sobre zipper desde sus conecciones hasta su forma de ensamblar, porfavor, a mi padre le vendieron uno, pero no funciona, le daremos mantenimiento para ponerlo a trabajar cualquier cosa porfavor enviar informacion.
soy de mexico, friends, anyone who has any zipper from their connections on their way to join up, please, my father sold him one, but does not work, we will put you to work maintenance for anything please send information.
Back in the mid through late 70’s, Himalayas all played Electric Light Orchestra- cranking so loud, you could hear it in the parking area 2 blocks away! Those were the best times to ride these beasts. The operators were NUTS and they did some pretty crazy & entertaining stunts on and off of the moving sleds. Thanks for the nostalgia. I’m ready to go ride one right now!! – JJ ’71
the late great johnny j alive and at large in the great state of Alabama. just being a little nostalgic. as I think back your right we really were a little crazy back then…thanks for the memories of lost times
well it’s true I worked on the Himalaya that was on west 12th street, my name is Jessie and to me them were the best times I ever had me,andy,elliot,keda,david,tony,wayne,shatek, and the owners paul and his brother bob. befor them mr.singer owend it and that was back in 1969,I don’t where the ride is now but will say this.(if anyone is still around from the old days all I will say is this) DO YOU WANNA GO ONE MORE TIME. them were good times
Hello Jessie Iused to work in coney I worked many years with Mark and Ralph at the cavalcade bumper cars on surf avenue with Tommy his brother Henry and Eddie Morroco then I worked with Sandy Fitlin and his son Scott at the Eldorado Auto Skooter Ride by the way what happened to Elliot he was one of my homies back then do you have any contact information on him I would appreciate it GOD BLESS STAY SAFE
I remember there was a super hemi for a show I worked for it was a rebuild of an old theme park ride that was customized to be able to travel to the state fairs. And the best time was always when they start playing like heavy metal Slayer Pantera the faster the metal part of The Rock usually the crazier the operator and of course I get to know all the operators and I would sometimes ride it with just me and another operator or something like that at closing time and oh my God this thing could probably kill it I got beat up by it many great nights I loved it. What it was capable of just blew me away. Loved it.
I am looking for anybody out there who has any connection to anybody in the carnival trade. What I want to do is to attempt to go for the longest non-stop ride on the most insane rides that appears regularly at the fairs. That includes the new ride coming to the United States in February, the Inversion, also known as the Dominator. Other rides I’m interested in doing this is the Zipper(Which I’ve ridden for more than an hour), Tango, Speed Flip, Space Roller, Hard Rock, Space Loop, Experience and Speed. Also looking to set a record for the most launches in a row on a slingshot type ride that uses bungee cords(not any of the Funtime rides, as they use wires and springs and their rides lack action). If anybody knows of any connection in that area my email is bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
Hey Bruce, you should try asking over at the Matt’s Carnival Warehouse forums (link.) A lot of showmen and carnival employees congregate at that board to talk about anything carnival related. Maybe you can find a connection over there.
I have been e-mailing Matts Carnival Warehouse on that. I’m very serious about wanting to ride the Inversion. Not only do I want to ride it once, but I would like to ride this many times. I also would like to attempt to take a real long marathon ride on it, like I did when I rode the Zipper for one hour plus non-stop. Zipper, Id like to attempt a three hour non stop ride on that, one that is in Australia where it is faster than the ones in the US. any connection for marathon long rides on the Inversion and Zipper my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
This Inversion ride is fairly new, came out on the carnival scene in mid 2008.
There is one coming to the United States in a few months. I’ve been contacting the owner by fax in order to have them to make this great ride available for the public to ride before he takes it out west. I don’t know any more as I had my computer in repair the past few days and I just hooked it up and now I am going through my emails. My email is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
DoD3 I have already tried Matts Carnival Warehouse and I plan to go to the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Fl. in February. I live about an hour from where the show is taking place. I also plan to contact Carnival Magazine, but at this point in time, I do not know how it will play out due to my part time job. The fairs have started up in Florida with the big fairs taking place after the first of the new year. I also hope that Tim Casper makes the Inversion available to the public, while the ride is in Florida.
i remember going to action park as a kid during the mid 80s to early 90s. as a kid, you never realize how dangerous the place really was. my father told me about the guy who got electrocuted a few years before we visited. so, my father took me to a park where someone was electrocuted in a water ride! ah, the 80s were such a different time! things were just more lax in general it seems. i hate great adventure, so action park was more fun. i went on the tarzan swing. i was only 10 or 11 and could barely reach the handle. i slipped off and belly floped into the pool! i didn’t get hurt, but everyone thought i did. i felt ok. but man that water was cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good times during a time when things were simpler. no way would action park have lasted today! i want to get to mountain creek, if only to reminisce about the place when it was action park.
Most of the Waterworld/Roaring Springs rides are still there, and most of them are unmodified, so to say Mountain Creek is just another scenc waterpark, IMO, isn’t correct. I was there over the summer, and of all the former Action Park rides still there, they all felt like they were haunted by the soul of the predecessor… I believe strongly especially since I nearly injured myself on the Colorado Rapids ride – head trauma almost inflicted from the continual head banging into head, and head banging into wall action.
My aim if I can get to ride on the Inversion is to attempt to do a minimum of 100 roll overs over the top of the ride, while spinning around the big arm at the same time. Very serious, really want to attempt this. Also would like to attempt a ride on this for a minimum of one hour, but could go longer. Any connection on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
You obviously have been on a different ride, the one at the local fair here in Australia) is absolutely F**ked. You would never go on it more than once, unless to prove a point. Totally unpleasant.
the tempest i ran had seat belts i think it was updated though pain in the ass spin it by hand hold the break with your foot and hope they held the law now is seatbelts like a scrambler pattie can’t sell a ride makes money on parts all because a state run park had a couple of staff not trained not to jump on the ride when it’s moving 2 deaths in 2 years.
The KMG Inversions ride name for you in the U.S.A. has been confirmed as ‘Nemesis 360’.
P.S. – Bruce I know it’s the KMG Inversion, it was dutch owner Paul Otten of the Netherlands to have one in 2008, called ‘Dominator’. With KMG Rides being a dutch company, it was only right they would have one first.
[quote] My aim if I can get to ride on the Inversion is to attempt to do a minimum of 100 roll overs over the top of the ride [quote]
Simply because it is pre programmed to lock the cars above the angle of 90 degrees and cannot be bypassed due to H.S.E. and the computer being unable to be edited without a card from KMG rides, so good luck with that lol.
I went on a… very interesting version of a spin ride like this one time, at one of those cheesy parking-lot carnivals some strip malls have in the spring and summer to bring more people in. It had these heart-shaped cage-cars suspended overhead and you could spin the cars with a wheel located in between you and the other rider. I don’t remember the name but it was probably something extremely cheesy like “sweetheart swirl” or something. Really bizzare.
I actually think I know what you’re talking about! It’s a ride called Heart Flip that looks like a leftover from the 70s. Here’s a picture: http://bit.ly/7HAChr
I remember going on this one at one of those parking-lot carnivals… I was only freaked out because I was afraid the car would unbolt and hit the concrete, thoroughly splattering me. >.< Fun ride, though!
It’s worth a try. I have also sent E-mails to KMG on that. I have a pass to attend the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Florida this February. Which day I’ll be there is a question mark as I also have a part time job. I am hoping to ride this at the show and then after that I am hoping that the ride will be booked at a few fairs, before the ride leaves Florida. I am hoping that the Florida Strawberry Festival is one of the fairs as I have easy access to that event. I’ve seen some videos where some of the showmen in Europe permitted long rides with the cars flipping when they were swinging back and forth and I am hoping to take rides like that. Hope you have a Happy New Year. I can be reached at my e-mail at bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I’m also in contact with Matt Cook(Matts Carnival Warehouse) on this.
Harrison I just thought of this, there is a new ride put out by Technical Park called, I think the Looping Fighter and it looks like it is almost like the Inversion. It’s on Technical Park’s web site. I would love to ride this too.
The Alpine Slide was probably my favorite ride ever, anywhere. And it really wasn’t that bad, danger-wise. I rode that thing probably 20 times and I knew all the tricks and I always made sure to get a fast sled, and I rarely braked. I’d always catch up to the person in front of me and *then* I’d brake. I remember eventually I started asking the attendants to give the person ahead of me an extra-long head start – they’d do that for the more advanced riders. But I never came close to going over the edge, though I guess it was possible. The sleds did take some skill to “drive”, you weren’t just free-falling, you had to lean into turns the right way and sort of guide the sled down the track. I guess I learned that from doing log flumes with my brother when I was really young – we’d always get our log going so fast in the water that we’d catch up and bang into the people ahead of us. Most people don’t even know you can do that!
Yeah, that coaster is awesome! If you go to the Youtube page, the guy says that the track came with the house and used to be for a miniature railroad. I think he put it to good use. lol
I am really sorry to tell you that the Australian built zipper is actually the first model chance zipper which my family actually owns one and it can flip 600 times in a row or more so please would you like to try this one.
Hey Shawn, I would like to come to where ever you are and ride the Zipper that you’re referring to. Better still, I would like to take a world’s record setting in time ride, that would be four hours or more and at the same time do the 600 or more flips in a row. I’m game to do this if you could accommodate me. I hope your Zipper ride is set to go real fast and that may mean faster than the ones in Australia. I can be reached on my e-mail at bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I live in Florida USA and I like to go on the meanest of the thrill rides and I like when the ops make the rides real long. Again, I’m game to go for the 600 or more flips in a row.
Hi Shawn. Steve here, from Oregon (USA). Rode one of the earlier Zippers constantly as a teenager, though it was after the RPMs were adjusted down (still faster than the Zippers built since 1980), so I have the indelible memory of just how good the ride can be, and am obsessed with riding an Australian-built model, because they are so much closer to the original fast speeds. Is your family’s Zipper still operating in Australia? If I won the lottery, I’d love to see if Kevin Ferrari would build one for me to tour North America with. It’s 2018 now, 8 1/2 years since your post, so I don’t know if you’ll see this, but if you do, please write back if you’ve a mind to. I would love to ride a fast Australian Zipper ride someday! I’ll never forget the elastic intensity of the earlier-built ones, and the Australian ones clearly go faster than the ones in the US. Do you know if Dean Davis’s Zipper ride is still touring Australia, or if Kevin Ferrari is still manufacturing rides?
Steve Mariman
ride enthusiast
Portland, Oregon (USA)
im still tryin to name the ride i git on that has two boats. and they both turn opposite ways. and they go opposite ways. and swings upsidedown. i know the ride starts with a b. i dont know.
I feel the same way about Scream Machine,its my favorite rollercaster I ever road and I’ve been on the new crap to.The only thing that competes with it is the fair ride the Zipper and theirs always one of them.I think Great Adventure should be focusing on the flatride issue and ride upkeep and let that other park have Chang.They haven’t had a new rollercoaster in 10 yrs. and are alays getting flatrides.When Great Adventure is loosing flatrides and getting coasters.They better invest wisely or I’m doing buisness else where.
I’ve been going to Action Park/Mountain Creek since it opened and it is was the best place ever, Today it’s still fun but the crazy stuff is gone. My favorite stories were always going with my big brother who weighed like 275 pounds and would get beat up so bad when we went. I remember on the Alpine Slide he was wearing polyester coaches shorts and he wiped out and slid down the slide on his butt. When he got up his shorts had melted and were smoking. Surf Hill was also awesome in the expert lanes. I remember there was a 185 pound limit, but they let my brother do it. When he went off the ramp he completely missed the landing pool and went up the de-acceleration hill through the crash mats and took out three employees. This year they closed the Kamikaze slide which was one of my favorites. As you hit crest of each hill you would push of the slide and almost fly off the slide. My senior year in high school we went there for our senior trip and I did the ride so much I threw up on the ride home. I was really bummed to see that closed. I saw the looping water slide, but it was never open when I went to the park, man I would’ve liked to do that! The Colorado river Ride and other raft ride are great, but don’t fall off as I’ve done that a few times and tore up my back pretty good on the concrete slide. I thought it was a wrestling mat surface like surf hill, but boy was I wrong! Motorworld was fun but my brother dry docked the speed boat because he was to heavy and it wouldn’t go fast enough for him. They tried to throw us out, but when my brother asked them who they had who could throw him out, they decided to not try. Action/Traction Park was awesome and it gave me some of my fondest memories as a kid. I went down Cannonball Falls and the Tarzan Swing a bunch of times this weekend at the age of 45 just to remember how great and deadly it was!
This is one of the most unnerving flats rides I’ve ever been on. I had no idea those bicycle style restraints were so puny. It took a few minutes of flipping thru the air before I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. Definitely one of the best Spectaculars to come out in a while!!
It is a really nice ‘spectacular’ ride. Not only is the motion odd but the ride is really damned high as well! The seat had sort of a barely there feeling so it really was unnerving being up that high!
I’m the newest operator for the Morey’s Piers Musik Express, and I love her already! Everything is controlled manually, so she’s a very fun ride to operate. I love it when I get a ride filled with enthusiastic people, especially. I miss the old Judas Priest backdrop myself; the underwater orchestra thing is a bit too cutesy for me.
Awesome, maybe I’ll see you on the Musik Express when I go down to Morey’s in August! The new backdrop isn’t too bad, I mean it fits the location I guess, but it kind of reminds me of Spongebob or something. lol
I work at Morey’s Piers, and most of the rides I operate are major ones: Musik Express, Maelstrom, Waveswinger, Sea Dragon, those guys. As such, the height requirements are generally high (Express and Maelstrom are both 52 inches, Waveswinger is 48, and Sea Dragon is 40 with an adult or 48 alone). I’ve run into so much drama over kids being too small to go on a ride. Honestly, I think the Sea Dragon height requirement needs to be higher because even when kids are with a parent, they still look like they could slide under the lap bar! It scares the hell out of me!
I get the most drama on the Waveswinger, though. I get parents who will take the height stick out of its holder while the ride is moving, wrongly measure their kids, and then claim that they measured them and they were tall enough when I open the front gate. The BEST is this, though: “His doctor said he’s 48 inches tall!” Lady, either your doctor is lying or you’re lying. Go ride the Kiddie Swings. I don’t think they understand that it’s for their child’s own safety!
I’m glad you finally made it. I actually expected the carnival to be less impressive then in years past when AoA was doing the carnival, but this year’s festival was the most amazing one yet! Of course I went on Saturday night 6/19 because I have a thing for fireworks, which meant the grounds were barely walkable and the “lines” were messy jumbles of people grouped together. Yes, I was cut more than once.
We do have another carnival in North Brunswick, Carnivale Italiano, and before the NBYSF existed it was usually a big deal, but now it’s dinky with only a handful of rides and not much else to offer…so don’t bother.
Yeah, I was totally surprised by this carnival as well. I think the midway may have been about as large as the NJ State Fair actually,which is another Reithoffer spot only with their blue unit (crosses fingers for Flip n’ Out!)
While I was heading down to the NBYSF I actually passed another carnival close to Rt. 1 in Edison. I think it was a church carnival; did you happen to check it out?
So yea…If this is the Orange Unit that will be going to Allentown starting tomorrow then I’m really looking forward to it.
They brought the Orange Unit last year but didn’t have the Wild Mouse coaster, Gravitron, or the Wild Claw set up. I don’t know why though as the Horse Park of NJ had PLENTY of room to set it up. Maybe this year will be different. Didn’t get to ride Tornado last year as yea…tickets were expensive. Picked up some discounted Pre-Sale tickets this year so I’m pumped to give it a twirl haha.
Yes, PBJ Happee Day Shows always does the Webster Groves 4th of July fair, so I imagine it will be back next year. Webster Groves is a suburb of St. Louis.
The Wild Mouse wont be in Allentown because its set up in Brockton Ma. Also the Flip N Out is sitting in the winter quarters and probably will never be used again.
I went to this place maybe six times ever – late 80s, early 90s – and it was inevitable that you’d experience danger first or second hand. There was a high speed waterslide in which riders dropped out of a chute from about 35 feet high and basically went straight down, then curved and ended in a splash track. Some woman threw her leg out of the track on her way down, got totally twisted up and ended up being removed by the EMTs. She looked like a Stretch Armstrong that was attacked by a rabid dog.
I went on the Tarzan Swing several times. Once, while passing over the water I couldn’t quite pull myself up, so I skimmed it and slammed into the water on my face. The skin under my arms was transparent and you could see all my veins, etc. clear as crystal. I was freaked and certainly never experienced anything like that before. I thought I’d have to go to first aid but in about 30 minutes, I was fine.
Finally, my uncle who was in his mid-40s at the time, was one of the unlucky fools who got stuck albeit briefly in the Cannonball loop. Apparently, that was not uncommon! And then don’t forget the Wave Pool. OMG! To stand on the edge and watch the waves in the deepend…..a crocodile-filled moat looked safer. Very forboding to say the least.
Just what to let everyone know that the Cannonball Loop @ Action Park (Accident Park) was indeed opened for brief periods of time. I watch people ride it and scream!!!!! I was going to go on it but I became a little to nervous because I had an incident @ the park earlier that day. I turned completely around in mid air while ridding one of the steep water slides that drops ridders almost 10 stories. Some places call it Geronimo. When I came to a stop I was face the trough (inside of the slide(. It was intense lifting off the back of the slide and spinning all the way around in mid air. Parts of my skin was bruised and raw so I didn’t ride that looping slide which barely remained open. I have one phot of that slide.
Had many visits there. I definitely remember the cannon ball being open for one of the visits. While approaching the slide, you could actually hear the people’s bodies clanking around as they went through it. Scary. BUT I LOVED EVERY TRIP!!
Man, that’s terrible. I wonder if Scorpion rides will be recalled or something after this accident because a hub giving way shouldn’t really happen under any circumstance.
The Scorpion hasn’t been seen in any of the travelling major Canadian midways since. Not sure about anywhere else though. It was a fun ride too, what a shame
Greatest park ever! Another great thing about action park was that you could walk around with beer and drink as much as you want – and nobody cared! Remember the fish tank by the cliff diving? Once a friend and I were so drunk that one of our friends dared us to jump in, which we proceeded to do and of course we didn’t get thrown out – luckily there weren’t any piranna in the tank – I wouldn’t put it past the owners of this nitemare – it made the swim that much more exciting. My brother was almost killed when his speed boat flipped over in motor world – again another intoxicaed rider allowed to reach high speeds in a free riding speed boat. Lots of bumps and bruises over my several visits. I remember going down the alpine slide as a kid and being afraid to go too fast which of course resulted in whiplash by being rammed from the sleder behind me. As I got older I wanted to take my revenge out on the riders in front of me so I would reach ridiculous speeds which often resulted in me flying off the slide. Wasn’t there a ride where you’d spin around in a circle and the floor would drop? But it was wide open, not like the current gravatron rides in parks. I remember getting naseaus on this ride.
I remember hanging out by geronimo falls laughing at all of the wedgies and lost suit tops. The food and service in the restaurants was terrible. Never had the chance to ride the cannonball loop because it was always closed but I remember getting yelled out for always going head first in the regular cannonball. The black asphalt was so hot I remember walking on the side of it to deal with the pain of the rocks and not risk burning my feet. Thanks for the memories!
Great site… Action Park randomly popped into my head recently so i decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about it and I was eventually lead to this site. Whats really funny is that the memories I have from this place are in line with those of the other writers on this page and with that of Wikipedia’s ‘Accident Park’, “Class-Action Park” descriptions.
I was born in ’86 in Florida, my family is from Jersey just outside NYC, we used to takes trip up to NJ every summer. I would say it was maybe ’94 or ’95 (which i now know to be AP’s later years) that we finally made it to Action Park. Being from florida i have been to some water parks before, Typhoon Lagoon at Disney, Atlantis in Ft. Lauderdale, Rapids in WPB etc., but never in my life have I ever came across a park like the Action Park.
I was young and I cant remember everything from out day spent there but here are a few highlights from the deep reaches of my memory:
Tarzan Swing: I distinctly remember waiting in line for this thing, nearly shitting my pants with anticipation because it seemed so high off the water, thinking there was no way i was going to be able to reach the triangle handle much less swing myself into a safe part of the pool. My cousin was the first one to go, she made a nice swing, did alittle leg kick in the air and landed succefully in the pool with no problem, even receiveing alittle round of applause. She was smaller then me so i figured it shouldnt be much of a problem. I wil never forget grabbing that handle, with my toes dangling off the edge of what seemed like a 20 ft. drop, with just the tips of my fingers holding tight enough for me to ease my way off the platform, swing through the air, get alittle off balance on my release and land almost face first in the water. The other thing i will never forget is how cold the water was, nearly taking the breath out of my lungs and causing and instant seizure. But, alas I swam to the ladder at the far end of the pool and made my escape, alittle shaken up, frigid cold, but alive and well.
Cliff Jump: This place had two pretty serious cliff jumps, one was 23ft. the other 16ft. that went straight down into a large pool where there were many unsuspecting swimmers wading about with out a care in the world. I remember thinking this could be dangerous if one of them decided to wander into the deeper end of the pool and find themself in the path of a diving teenager coming in from 23ft. above. I remember waiting in line, trying to sike myself up for the jump when the life gaurd whitsles blew. Apparently, someone had jumped onto the head of a fellow jumper who had taken to long to clear the path. I’ll never forget the lifegaurd at the top of the cliff, throwing his life saving ring at the distressed swimmers and nailing one of them right in the head. I thought someone died, I guess they were ok because they escorted them out the water and we procceded to take the leap of faith blindly into the water below. Probably one of the best cliff jumps ive ever been on.
Alpine Slide: Lastly, there was the Alpine Slide. We saved this ‘ride’ for the end of the day because the lines were long in the morning and we didnt feel like waiting. So, after a nice little ride up the ski lift, and a struggle to get the heavy ass cart of the back of it, we finally made it to the drop in point of the slide. Just at that moment the ski’s opened up and a light drizzle poured down from above. Now the Alpine carts have a ‘hand brake’ that is simply a metal rod with a peice of rubber at the end that makes contact with the cement slide to slow you down when your going to fast (which was almost always). It was explained to us by the park employees that when the cement was wet the rubber would not be able to create enough friction to slow you down and you would essentially be sliding down this thing at high speeds with no way of stoping. Unsafe? Very. The rain didnt seem like it was slowing, in fact it was getting more intense, and i guess because of a lighting factor they did not allow us to ride the ski lift back to the base area like we did on our way up. The only way down was to walk. Now let me remind you that this park was built on the side of mountain that when snowy conditions allowed, people would ski down. The Alpine Slide was built on a green (beginner) ski hill which is not a big deal if your skiing but could be trouble if you had to walk down. Well since the we couldnt ride the slide down and the ski lift was out of commision cause of the lightning we were forced to walk down, in a group, the semi-steep, rock filled ski hill. It took probly 10 mintues at least to walk all the way down the hill, a few people got tripped up and had some bloody knees, but we all managed to make it to the base with little to know injury. Needless to say we never got to ride the infamous Alpine Slide but because of the conditions, the walk down the hill, and the fact we waiting all day to ride this thing and never got the opportunity too, my Aunt raised hell in the customer relations office and we were given free passes to come back at a later date. I wonder if we still have those passes somewheres? It’d be great to see the exact date i was there, and if i can locate them i’ll defintely upload them to the site.
All in all Action Park was incredible and one of a kind. A “ride-at-your-own-risk” type park which will forever be banished to our memories. Im glad i got to experince it and will continue on the legacy for as long as i can.
I’ve been on these alone before and I always loved the lateral forces. I purposely sat on the outside, despite the signs saying not to. Then I rode it with my friend a few weeks back; it wasn’t as fun. Having 150 pounds of weight jammed into you is not quite as fun spinning around at high speeds.
So I am going on the zipper as my very first up-side-down ride. I’m very nervous but I promised my friend I would go on it with her in about a week when the fair is in town, I have a few questions, do any of you mind answering them? Thank you(:
Is this a bad first up-side-down ride?
How scary is it from 1-10?
Does it make alot of people puke?
And do you gt that weird sensation in your stomach?
How was your ride on the Zipper? I hope it wasn’t too scary and that you enjoyed it. The Zipper has always been my favorite ride and I still get that “feeling” in my stomach when I get to ride it even at 50!!
Last time I was at the fair at the Meadowlands was in 2003, just before I moved to Florida. From what you mentioned the fair really went downhill in terms of rides. I know the Space Roller is always at that fair, but at the fairs that I attended before I moved, there were rides there like the Tango, Evulation, Sky Diver, Top Spin, Zipper, etc, just to name a few. That same Space Roller appears at some of the fairs in Florida in the winter and if one particular ride operator is running the ride, some of his rides are real long.
Thank you for your article on the 2010 fair at the Meadowlands.
DoD3 Brian Do you have any connections where I could go for records for the longest non stop ride , riding the most insane carnival rides like the Zipper, Tango, Hard Rock, Speed Flip, Inversion, Space Loop, etc? You can get back to me on my e-mailat bdbell1940@yahoo.com. By the way, I wish I could take up on Shawn Edward Jenkins offer to ride his Zipper where he can provide 600 or more flips in a row.
No, I’m sorry I don’t Bruce. You might have some luck at Matt’s Carnival Warehouse or Carny Town however. Those forums are frequented by showmen and carnival workers as well as fans like us.
I read your article on the Tango, where you said the ride was pityful short. It was the same way at the Florida State Fair last February and it was very disappointing as I have taken much longer rides before. And it wasn’t even crowded at the fair. After I came home that night I let the Reithoffer people know how I felt about these short rides. Having seen your article on the fair in New Brunswick and your description on the short ride on the Tango, I just sent Reithoffer another e-mail complaining, as I’ve seen longer rides on the same ride in many of the videos.
I’m familiar with the whole North Jersey area as I worked there before I moved to Florida. Instead of going through this website, you can reach me directly at my e-mail. It is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I really like to ride the Tango, but not taking these rediculously short rides.
Yeah I remember water works, it was a great place. Why did they take all the big slides out?? i cannot bring myself to go back since it looks kinda lame now
I don’t know why but arguably the best ones, the interlocking slides that went over the park and the ‘vertical’ drop/spiral slide combo, are all gone. Rumor has it that the structure for the interlocking slides were becoming structurally unsound, but I don’t know if that’s true. Somehow I wouldn’t doubt liability concerns played a role in their removal.
My minor claim to fame is that I believe I was the first person to add “You’ve been to Action Park and have the scars to prove it” to the “You Know You’re From Jersey When…” lists that were going around the internet a while back. In the early days of Myspace, I added that line to it and every time it has come back around to me, that line is still there, verbatim.
Speaking of scars, I still have the faintest outline of a scar on my knee from the Alpine Slide that I got when I was about 9 or 10 years old (I’m 30 now). They never really stressed the importance of the brake on the little deathscooter they put you on, so naturally, being 9 years old and not knowing any better, I went flying down the concrete tube like a bat out of hell and dumped the scooter around one of the larger turns, sliding for 30 feet or so and sanding a flat spot in my kneecap about the size of a half-dollar. As I lay there regaining my composure, I heard the ominous whooshing sound of another approaching scooter and got to my feet just in time to do an action hero leap over the side of the tube as another deathscooter whipped past me at about mach 3. If I hadn’t leapt over the side, I probably would have broken my neck, or at the very least, my ankles. Action Park was exciting because while most amusement parks SIMULATE the experience of personal danger and permanent injury, Action Park delivered that experience FOR REAL.
Oh, the memories.
-~D~-
Omg I love you. I remember when those lists first started circulating, and eventually I got the one with your tag line about Action Park and it was like angels were singing.
Surviving your trip to Action Park is like getting to join an elite club.
Just rode the Zipper again tonight for the first time in at least ten years. What a BLAST!! That awful terror that washes over you when you get to be next in line, up close to that squealing, groaning mess of cable and steel! The horror when you realise it’s just that dinky little pin holding the door closed! The kids screaming in the next cage, and the ride hasn’t even started yet!! Hahahaaa! Still the best ride at the fair!
As a note…we must have had an older model, it flipped around like crazy!! Not sure I could have survived the higher rpm’s of the old days…
Off to have a cup of tea with honey, to sooth my throat so sore from screaming!
Thanks for the site.
As I have told my wife on many occasions, if it wasn’t for Action Park I wouldn’t be a self-proclaimed, semi-pro water slide rider. Hands crossed over your chest, arched back, and riding on your heels is a guaranteed recipe for speed, or in the case of Action Park…disaster.
To quote my younger brother, “What other water park has so many urban legend death stories associated with it,” yet each summer my parents would have no problem allowing us to go.
I remember when they put the canvas top over Geronimo and you could see the imprint of people’s bodies hovering off the slide and touching the cover. People would be walking around the park with huge road rash burns all over their backs from this ride. And of course the massive wedgies you’d walk off with. The first time I rode that slide I was under the weight limit of 100lbs and I remember being scared to death that I’d fly off the thing.
Kamikaze was always one of the underestimated slides at the park. Since it was built into the hill it was a little deceiving but you could get cranking on that thing. I remember my friends dad flying down the slide and he hit the back wall of the landing pool that’s how fast he was going.
The Cannonball was always a bit sketchy. You’d never know what was going to happen once you entered the tubes and embarked on your journey of 15 seconds of pitch darkness only to be shot out 10 ft above the water arms flailing in the air.
Tarzan Swing was another one I was always terrified of when I was younger. Probably because I was too short to reach the triangle so I would have to jump and grab it at the last second just as they would hand it off to you with that long hook-pole. The last time I was there (5 years ago) my buddy, who is 6’3″, never lifted his knees so he did the classic face plant right into the water which was then followed by the swim of shame in that freezing water as the crowd heckled him from up top.
Surf Hill was another good one. I remember I was too light during the time it was opened so I couldnβt get enough speed like the older kids. I donβt know if itβs my own memory or if Iβm thinking of an old Action Park commercial, but I remember people getting like 10ft of air of the jumps on the side lanes.
Roaring Springs and Colorado Rapids are classics. I loved the mayhem and free-for-all that ensues once youβre in your raft, or when youβre trying to catch up to your raft and trying not drown from everyone else crowed in the pools.
Ah, so many other great memoriesβ¦I remember riding the ski lift for the Alpine Slide looking at all the crashed carts in the woods and hoping I wouldnβt be next, I remember almost breaking my toe when I dropped the Aqua Scoot sled on it, I remember when my friendβs dad zoomed past him upside down in one of the pitch black tunnels, and I remember when another friend jumped off the cliff dive and landed on his side and his dad had to jump in after him because he couldnβt breathe or swim to safety and it didnβt seem like the life guards were going after him. I remember Cannonball Loop but unfortunately it was never opened when I was there.
There will never be another park quite like this. Iβm just grateful for those experiences and grateful to be alive.
Awesome Site!! I love hearing all the great stories.
Hey, Shawn Edward Jenkins, If you see this, I’m ready to take you up in riding your Zipper ride that you claim can flip 600 or more times in a row. You can reach me at bdbell1940@yahoo.com
The jist of this ride as a rider would be best compared to riding in a clothes dryer. The 1 and only time I rode this I was about 5’0″ and 95lbs, when I was 12. Now that I’m 5’9 and over 200 I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like for me.
bahahahaha, bahahahaha hurricane rules, can’t breathe on it and i laugh like spongebob. oo its starting on the hurricane with my internet fone. i allmost wost wy phone. can’t breat very wel gees. o man o gees arrgh i..cant..mov. wow. that was AWESOME! i’m going again!!!!!!!
I went to Action Park in the summer of 1988 with my twin sister and our youth group. Our leaders split off from us and we all just walked around doing our own thing. We remember the crazy loop as soon as we walked into the park and both thought it looked like a crazy nightmare, especially since it was closed and weeds and pond scum were in the pool at the bottom.
The first ride my sister and I experienced was the Tarzan swing. We watched how the other people did it before we got on so we didn’t make the mistake of face planting. We both lifted our legs and got pretty high. We both remember the water being VERY cold, but thank goodness we didn’t have to swim far because we made it almost to the other side with the swing already.
The next ride was the embarrasing wedgie and even worse enema that my twin sister and I received from the Geronimo. I couldn’t believe we even went on that ride. We must have been dared, especially after we realized how high up we were and how steep the ride was when we reached the top. I also wasn’t going to walk back down. I believe I closed my eyes until I got to the bottom. Luckily we both made it to the bathroom in time!
I also remember riding a slide that had a drop over the water that I wasn’t expecting at all. I don’t believe it was the cannonball because it was near the cliff jumps not the Tarzan swing as others mentioned. I was not instructed to lay back so when I landed I smacked my face and chest really hard on the water. I guess this was my own stupidity, not checking out the whole ride before I went down it.
I also went down a water slide and passed an elderly gentleman in an underground or completely enclosed tube. I don’t remember light holes, like it was pitch black. I slid right under him and I escaped somehow with only a few bruises. I was speeding down the slide with my toes pointed and back arched and I guess he wasn’t. When I came out at the bottom of the tube, his grandaughter was staring at at me and confusingly asked where he was. He came out a moment later and said he was fine too and couldn’t believe that we were both ok.
The wave pool was our biggest scare. We were used to swimming in the ocean, but not in water that deep that all of a sudden started making waves. We were almost all the way to the back and when the waves started it was way too rough and felt much deeper to us. We started trying to swim to the shallower water, but neither of us had the stamina. Our youthgroup leader happened to be there when this happened and rescued us by yelling at us to come to the side of the pool . I don’t remember a lifeguard halping us at all.
We both also jumped off of the higher cliff and were quite proud of ourselves. It felt like forever before we hit the water and then it felt like forever tying to resurface. My sister jumped at least two more times. I chose not too.
All in all, we didn’t come away with any serious injuries just great memories and the rights to say, We survived Action Park!!
The Musik Express at Six Flags Great Adventure was a much better ride in the 1980’s. Back then, the ride had flashing lights, a cool backdrop creating the tunnel effect in the back half, and the operators blasted AC-DC and Led Zeppelin so loud you couldn’t hear yourself speak. The ride also went backwards back then. At some point after I stopped working there (late 80’s/early 90’s) they stopped running it backwards. By the time I was taking my own kids there, they had removed the backdrop and stopped playing music altogether, making it the rather boring version that you describe here. But I’ll always have great memories of that ride in its better days!
I like the ring of fire, minus the feeling of falling out of my seat, and my head nearly hitting the roof. The fire ball is much better though, because the harness eliminates the falling out and the open roof allows for a better view.
I ran the ride on automatic however with a switch of the key from auto to manual, I can override the cycle. It can be operated in both auto and manual.
I still would like someone to come forward, who could accommodate me in breaking my one hour record in riding the Zipper as I would like to attempt to ride it for three hours non stop. e-mail bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Shawn Edward Jenkins, I’m ready to ride your Zipper ride in which you claim it can do 600 or more flips.
Wow great report! I was there also with my family and had pretty much the same thoughts, the Sizzler was by far our favorite ride and you’re right it is the fastest sizzler type ride we have ever been on.
I’ve rode two of these stand-up coasters in my life. The Mantis at Cedar Point (B&M), and the Shockwave at King’s Dominion (original TOGO special). Neither style has very comfortable restraints. The Shockwave restraints look like a medieval torture device, and the Mantis restraints come up in your groin. The G’s that are created by these stand-ups can be uncomfortable to the lower body also. I never rode the B&M Chang down in SF Kentucky so I don’t know if it’s any better. I guess next year I’ll have to give this Green Lantern a try and find out. Should be interesting (and awkward as always being a six foot tall person!).
I’ve actually heard that Chang is one of the smoother stand-up coasters around, though it still has its complaints about the ‘seating’ style like most B&M stand-ups do.
BTW, I like how Shockwave and similar TOGO stand-ups have bunny hops, I mean come on, it’s a stand-up!
hi my name is simon hockley from nottingham uk can any body help iam looking for parts for a rock o plane ,web address new part if still made ?thanks for you time .
This is actually one of my favorite rides of all time. Underrated ride IMO. I also call it the “clothes dryer” as it feels like you’re being tossed around like a sock in a dryer. The best part of the ride is going around the curves, which have some very strong spinning power that makes you squish the person next to you (or they squish you). You also literally come face to face with the people in the car in front of you.
I hate the “2 riders required” rule with this ride. I always have to find someone in line to ride with me. I think I could handle this ride by myself.
This ride always makes me laugh hysterically. It’s fun!
The second scariest part is when They lock you in and you go around while the other people board. Then you know there’s no turning back. The Scariest part is when you go around and you reach that perfect point where you’re at the top edge of the ride and you know you’re about to be sent hurdling face-first towards the ground and all you can do is squeeze tighter on the bars and clench your teeth.
Although I must say this is my favorite ride and I go on it as many times as I can get someone else to ride with me (they don’t allow single riders[probably because you would be sliding back and forth under the lap bar])
The first time I went on it no one else wanted to so I was all by myself. When the restraints came down I tested them. They came up. I used the middle buckle but still it came up enough that I could possibly fall out. I kept testing them right until it took off and still, it gave. What I realized from riding it again at another fair later on is that the restraints don’t lock until the ride starts moving. Unknown to me at the time I spent the whole ride in terror, holding on as tight as I could to lord-knows-what and bracing my body in a way I hoped would keep me from slipping to my death.
Bro the same thing happened to me and my little brother he was only 9 years old I was about 12 the bar did not lock at all snd me and my brother could easily slide out and there was not a lot of cage you could fit through it all very easily as the ride went my brother screamed and cried in horror I was holding one hand on the ceiling and one across my brother holding him down to the seat but my butt was off the seat the whole time just hanging on the shitty bar waiting to fall to our death the whole time it was the closest to death I’ve ever been I will never go back to a carnival ride again after that experience my phone even fell out of my pocket upside down because I had to hold on to us so we didn’t fall to our death every time we passed the dude we screamed for him to stop the ride but he never did and we just thank the lord we are still here today cause I don’t know how I held both of us in there.
This is actually My favorite ride. Since the cars are shaped like wedges they all fold onto each other on the curve. I went on with my sister in one car, and my little sister and her friend in the one facing us. The first thin I noticed was the padding on the roof of the car. I was like “why would you need padding up there?”
But once the ride starts you are basically thrown against every surface in there in a pattern, squishing each other.
The fun part is that you hit the curve, your cars come face to face and you see the other people thrown up against the side and it just starts a full-out laugh fest. We laughed so hard seeing each others faces on that thing that we had stomach aches when we got off.
Definitely go on it, and bring a few buddies so sit in front of you, you won’t regret it!
I am from South Africa and worked on the space roller in North America in 2008 for Floyd And Baxter. This is the coolest ride ever and we had lots of fun!
i vaguely remember my parents taking me there When i was very young. Then i didnt come back until 2003, and have been pretty much going Once A Year. i had no idea these crazy things happened Back Then…im glad its safe Now…anyone with any memories of this place please write hammer@live.com.ph
I will never forget going to this travelling carnival with my older sister when I was a kid (like some 20-odd years ago). There was a Scat there and I wanted to ride it but she refused to go on it with me because she was scared of it. I was too afraid to go on it by myself so I had to miss out. Since then, I have never seen another Scat at a carnival and to this day I am incredibly frustrated about it!
I agree with everyone else’s comments! This is a fun ride that I don’t see around anymore. It’s funny to see it now on a WTCR list because I remember when this ride had first come out and was brand new and nice looking. It was the ride everyone wanted to go on. Many years later I went on one again that I don’t think had been cleaned since it first debuted. The plastic cage windows were all scratched up and you could barely see through them anymore because they were yellowed and filthy. The last time I saw one was at a small travelling carnival. I think it was closed. It looked so old and decrepit I can’t really blame anyone for not wanting to go on it.
I think the last time I went on one of these was in the early 90’s. It actually wasn’t that scary. If you hold on to the wheel and don’t let the car spin mindlessly (and you’ll need your friend’s help for that), it’s actually pretty cool.
I want to say though that this list needs the addition of one more WTCR: the Gravitron. Gravitrons are the ultimate WTC staple. I’d been avoiding them since the fatal accident involving one at my local county fair, but I went on one last month at a Halloween carnival. I swear to you, the entire center console where the carnie sits looked like it was being held together by duct tape. I nearly kissed the floor when it was over.
I was thinking about putting Gravitron on the honorary list’ I’ve seen some pretty rough looking ones! However, I’ve also seen some insanely nice looking ones recently, like the one in the NJ State Fair 2010 trip report or Cygnus X-1 at Morey’s Piers.
This is one of those few rides I refuse to go on. I’ve only been on it a couple of times anyway. The first time was terrifying but fun. The second time, unfortunately, was not fun at all because every time we went upside down, my legs would bang up into the lap bar. It was to the point where I was just pleading internally for the ride to stop because it was so painful. The next day, blackish blue bruises appeared across the tops of my thighs.
I absolutely love this ride. It looks so mild but boy does it pack in the G forces! That Viper ride looks awesome. I hope to see either one again at a carnival someday.
I went on of these a long time ago (sounds like I got the rim driven kind – it’s the only kind I’ve ever seen) and it was a horrible experience. Every time our car was at the bottom of the cycle it would rock back and forth really hard, like as if someone had jammed on the breaks and let go. I remember the entire ride being like that. It was so uncomfortable and scary, I was just praying for it to be over. The irony is that if memory serves me correctly, we had waited in line for AGES to get on it, and there was even a delay to hose off one of the seats if you know what I mean. And then it was an awful ride. So… yeah.
These things just look freaky. I’ve never been on one and never will.
Oh, I’ve thought of another good honorary WTCR: those 1001 Nachts/Rainbow variety of rides. Every time I’ve seen one at a carnival they look like utter crap, making weird noises with most of their lights not functioning.
I heard something about re-tracking being done a few years ago. I don’t know (or think for that matter from riding) that it was a full re-tracking but if some work was done, then it was most likely to the left side of Rolling Thunder.
I`ve never riden that, I`d like so much too, but here in Brazil, only one park has one: TupΓ£ in Porto Alegre and other cities in RS. Here where I ive I can`t find it.
I think it`s lke an Enterprise (the way it spins), could be delightful.
My family went up there back when it was called Vernon Valley Great Gorge. It was over by the Playboy bunny ranch, where my grandfather did work as a plumber.
The water park had not been built the first time; it was just the Alpine slide. I think it might have been 76 or 77, they were just getting started.
The carts were new, fast, and dangerous as hell.
I’ve ridden a few slides since then (including the ones at Gatlinburg), there’s really no comparison. The VV ones were fast, had some tight turns, and there was one spot where you literally went damn near straight down about 1o feet. I kid you not; you’d see the person in front of you vanish, then about 5 seconds later you would go straight down.
Well, I didn’t. For whatever reason I ignored the little “Slow” sign and hit that drop at full blast. Shot straight out like some sort of Wil-E-Coyote on a sled. Then *wham* landed hard on the track below and almost flipped it. Hit my knee and tore a nice gash through kid’s denim jeans.
It was at that moment I understood that life could kill me. And it would be fun.
Ever since then, I really had no fear of rides. I mean what, how can you compare to that? Even at Gatlinburg, the people said “Holy cow, you were almost coming off the tracks there”. But it’s ok. I’m 42, and got the best training one can find at Vernon Valley.
deseo informacion sobre el himalaya musik expres que sew tienen en venta. Cuales son sus condiciones de financiamiento ???
si es posible mandeme informacion exaustiva, y su catalogo de juegos en venta.
Gracias soy propietario de juegos mecanicos en mexico ( Villagran, Guanajuato Mexico) Tels. 014111643082 fax. 014111650362 por favor contactenos.
There’s a video on You Tube where two riders used their body motion to flip 284 times, while the ride was stationary. What I would like to do is to attempt a four hour ride on the Zipper and while the ride is running, be flipped 500 times from the control panel of the ride resulting in rapid flips. Anybody want to take me up on this? bdbell1940@yahoo.com
i never rode the ride but it looks pretty fn 2 ride,man i feel sad that i never rode it,well good luck 2 me it will be @my fair this year 2011 babyyy!!!!
the ride is ok at the amusent parks but some stopped playin the music and the flashing lights and the back drop also,other than that i like it lol π
they do look pretty kewl!!! i would have 2 say i like the vortex out of all of them – 2 thumbs up 4 me- SO KEWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i JUST THOUGHT i wll like the tango and the vortex out of all of the rides kewl!!!
the great new york state fair has a zipper every year in syracuse n.y. the james e. strates shows is the ride operator for the fair .the fair is a 12 day run aug til labor day .go to the nysfair web site!!!
The Zipper is one classic that will never lose its touch.
On a side note I did work a similar ride called Chaos (another Chance ride) for nearly four years. That ride deserves a WTCR title for all its mechanical and computer problems. However despite its problems it was my favorite ride to work at Belmont. Unfortunately Belmont traded it to Chance Rides for a Unicoaster as part of a contract deal.
I have been on the one at Six Flags Over Georgia for many years. I first started riding it when I was 10. I’m 22 now and for my birthday my friends took me to Six Flags to ride my favorite flat ride…only problem was I was too tall to for the lid to close on the car.
DoD3Brian, I did make contact with Matt Cook and others from Carnival Warehouse at the IISF Show in Gibsonton Florida today and they are going to look into where I can take record setting rides on the real insane carnival rides. That includes my attempts to break my own record in riding the Zipper, which I rode for an hour plus several years ago. Like to go for 3-4 hours and do it on one that is set at a faster speed, the same way the Aussies have theirs set.
I`ve never been on board, but I`ve read here on net that in Brazil, there was one of this ride at the extinct Tivoli Park, in Rio de Janeiro, from where a woman falled, hurting herself a lot and until today, even the park`s already closed (in 1995, I think), she didn`t receive tany indenization. The ride there was called “Gaiola das Loucas”.
so how was everybodys day ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
One long awaited summer day, my friends and I piled into a car and headed from Long Island towards NJ to the infamous Action Park. We couldnβt wait for an adrenaline rush, brought to you by the most dangerous water park I had ever been to. My clearest memory was Geronemo slide, or the Cannonball Falls, it was the one with the drop into the pool . That damn thing was crazy βpure mayhem. There was a life guard at the top of the slide, and one stationed at the pool below. People flew down that slide so fast that the life guard stationed at the bottom couldnβt keep track of the bodies flying out. I remember some pimple faced kid waving his arms and whistling frantically for people to quickly swim out of the way before the next human bullet came flying down that dark slide, and into the air. People became human projectiles, as they shot out of that tube like a machine gun before dropping 5 to 10 feet into the pool. It was pure uncontrolled chaos. The screaming and yelling in the pool was accompanied by frenzied and hysterical swimmers. They all were dodging the propelling bodies above them. It was reminiscent of a scene out of the movie βJawsβ when everyone at the beach ran out of the water screaming for their lives. It was the same damn thing, and that was all I needed to see.
I quickly got into the long line for my adrenaline rush. Back then I barely met the weight minimum for many of the rides, like the Cannonball Loop. I only went on that one time because I smacked my elbows and face in the tube and almost got stuck, and then I came out shaking. But, the Falls/slide seemed like something I could handle. When it was my turn, I slid down and unfortunately slowed to a stop. I quickly found myself in a dire predicament. I had to crouch down and walk out of the slide to jump into the pool, but before I could, I heard another sliding sound. The dumbass pimple-faced life guards sent someone else down the slide while I was still in it! I spread my arms and legs and held onto the upper part of the tunnel, clinging, while some guy slid right under me. He yelled βShitβ and was gone in a second. When the guy hit the pool of pandemonium; he must have told the zit-faced teenage life guard to stop the slide. I quickly made my way out of the tunnel. Once I jumped into the pool below, the bodies started flying through the air again. The imminent danger and bedlam made it a Hell of a lot of fun!
Yeah count me in as one of the people that survived Action Park! When my family and I (mom, dad, younger brother) started going there, it was originally called Vernon Valley-Great Gorge. The only thing that was there at the time was the alpine slide in the summer time and of course the ski resort in the winter.
Looking back on it now the slide was like a freakin death trap. I think there were three lanes down the slide. One was a slow land and the other two were fast if I remember correctly. You first had to get a cart from the stack at the bottom of the ski chair lift and then put it on the chair lift itself. Then you had a nice leisurely ride to the top where you got a birds-eye view of riders coming down the hill. No helmets of course. You almost always saw some crazy kid coming down the fast track at break-neck speeds and you just knew he was going to wipe out around a big curve! It was so fun to watch.
So then you get to the top of the hill were you were supposed to get off. Of course you had to wrestle with getting the darn cart off the ski lift chair, but once that was done, you had to decide which track to take. Slow or fast? I was a stupid kid of course so I always choose the fast one. I honestly don’t think I ever flipped the cart, at least I don’t have any memories of doing so. I do remember it was sooooo much fun! I do remember running into the back of other people in front of me that were going way too slow. Sometimes by the end of the ride 4-5 carts would be stacked up all because of one slow rider. That really sucked. Also sometimes you saw people outside of the track as you whizzed looking woozy because they had been going to fast and flipped their cart off the track…..
Eventually Vernon Valley-Great Gorge slowly started adding other attractions like the water slides and Motoworld. We went every year and I remember it was always exciting to checkout what was added for that year. I remember one of their bigger slides, don’t know the name of it. IT WAS INSANE! 10000% INSANE! I remember you had to walk up this big hill to get to it, then up the stair case to get to the top. You waited in line and all I remember thinking was “is this in any way shape or form a good idea?” Well eventually it got to your turn and you are standing at the top. The attendant gives you the basic instructions (ie legs and arms crossed) and then you move to the edge of the slide. You look down and you see NOTHING! NADA! You don’t see the slide at all it was totally vertical. I was like “OMG OMG OMG I’m going to die!!!!!” I swallowed my heart to keep in my chest and took off…..WHAT A RUSH! I think it had like 2 or three bumps in it and it was just a blast! Any idea what the name of it was?
I remember the loop slide too just sitting there all by it’s lonesome over in the corner. It was never open when I was there, I would have definitely ridden it if had. You know back then when you are young you have no fear of course! I’d love to have ridden it!
I never did much in Motoworld, I was just too young back then. I remember the tanks though. I think you had to pay extra to do the tanks, that’s why we never did them. I always wanted to race the LOLA cars, but again I was just too young…..
Thanks for the great article! We moved from NJ to PA in 1983 so probably 1982 was the last year we went to Action Park. Brought back some fond childhood memories……
I have never seen one of these rides in real life, and wold very much like to ride one. but for some reason the ones with the front fasting seets look extreemly uncomfortable. has eny one been on one with front fasting seets? if so what is it like comped the to ones with ‘pods’
This has to be one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever been on. Back when I was in Primary School, on the day of our annual fete, we had one of these… except it was called the Cyclone.
The rides pretty cool, and I was having fun until…. well it was great except for the fact the only thing that keeps you in your seat is yourself. You’re basically at the mercy of the bars you hold onto either side of you. The centrifugal forces that keep you pressed to the walls help a lot too. But not quite…
The backward tilting angles of the walls coupled with the centrifugal forces actually meant I found myself sliding inch by inch up my seat as the rotational speed increased. And that centrifuge kept me from trying to shuffle back down too.
Basically I ended up hovering with my butt half a foot off of my seat by the time the ride was almost over. Not fun, as I kept thinking that all that was keeping me from being slid up off my seat and out the top of the platform was my own hands straining to hold onto the bars -and yes my hands were sliding up too!
I was only about 11-12 years old at the time, so maybe being older and a bit heavier now would prevent this from happening?
Now, whether or not I would have been flung up and out if I let go is something I wouldn’t personally want to test. Also, I still wonder if the ride kept on going and never stopped… how far up from my seat would I have slid? Would I have kept sliding? Who knows?!
Anyways, I think I became a little more scared of rides after being on this thing.
Haven’t seen another one since. Would most likely NOT go on one again if I did.
I went to Action Park in the late 80’s with my brother and a bunch of friends. We were all drinking and we all took mescaline, making my memories of the day surreal and scary. The Cannonball Loop was open that day and my brother was the only one brave enough to try it. He came out bleeding, with a slice down his back from the seam in the tube. My friend came close to drowning in the wave pool. We were all beaten up and bruised at the end of the day, but I’m still proud to say we were there and we survived.
looks just as fun as all the rest! i need to go traveling and find all these rides! i would love every single one! there is one at martins fantasy island on grand island new york called mindwarp! it was all spinny and seat-twisty and i rode it and loved it. i think of the song halfway gone by lifehouse riding mindwarp because it feels like i am fading away because of the g-pressure!
The first is silly; I’m not a ride person and on this particular day, my sister convinced me to go on a lot of shakey carnival rides as a test-run for going on the more serious brand. I was not having fun. I’d been tossed through the air, held at odd angles above the ground and spun silly, and I wanted a nice little break; I wanted the Berry Go Round! We were the only two on the ride. I don’t know if it was the previous rides catching up to me, or the dank hot fiberglass strawberry spinning but I had to fucking puke. The operator offered us a second go-round and my sister lovingly accepted; afterwards the operator said, “alotta you teen girls ended up queasy in them berries,” so I didn’t feel so bad.
My second story involves the big wheel in the centre. My sister and I were taking our little cousin, maybe four at the time, on her first carnival rides and naturally, the Berry Go Round caught her eye. Busy day at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto (CNE) and our berry was packed with kids. Ride goes, my little cousin grabs onto the wheel and she does not let go. I guess she thought it was a hand-hold and not part of the ride. The other kids happily spun away while she got tossed around at our feet. I think I panicked and yelled for someone to stop the ride, but it didn’t stop. My cousin eventually got up and we closed out the ride in stony silence, never telling my aunt what happened.
Family secrets, yo. Maybe some berry-seatbelts might have helped.
Also, as brand new Jerseyan, I love your article about Action Park. I just love mentioning it when meeting people anywhere in NJ, everyone has a story!
Whoaa-M-G!, aaa lot will be happening this summer, wowwee! But I’m only consering on going on the fairs that has Thee,,Best Rides (including the -Zipper-)
Thanks Ever So Much For Posting Them! I’m Really Looking Forward To The Events This “Spr-ummer!” (Spring and Summer together, lol)
Alright I don’t know who the hell is writing these reveiws but you should find out what the hell your talking about before you do a review. #1 all mechnical devices have flaws and break be it your washer,car or the airplane you ride in. There was a change in the Zipper for sure. But it was not just to regulate speed. The 1st Zippers were run by hydrolics, There was a track in which two tires drove the main boon, then there were two ford rear ends that drove the cable. Thats where the loss of speed came from. #2 the sound of clanking metal is not from the track but from the K braces. there is play in the braces cause if they were tight the would break. kind of like tying your boat to the pier to tight.#3 there are 3 locks on the door, the COTTER KEY was always there it was the lock on the side that was added. Next time you go on a ride and right a review look at the ride. #4 that was your money fying around in the TUB. and I’m sure that white trash caney was greatful!
This reviews on this site are mostly geared towards the casual carnival goer and are satirical at times. I try not to go into excruciating detail because, frankly, it’ll bore some readers.
That being said, every source I’ve seen attributes the speed change to the rides intensity.
On the other hand Casino Pier hasn’t gotten a new ride since 2007–and even then that was a remake of an older ride. Could they be the ones struggling now?
I think Casino Pier is doing all right. They have a decent collection of rides plus that waterpark that I’m sure rakes in money. Although if Funtown Pier keeps making additions they will certainly give Casino Pier a run for their money.
BTW, I was just down in Seaside yesterday, they had the Top Spin parked over where Chaos used to be, so that might be where it’s going. Didn’t see the other ride anywhere though.
Being from Long Island, I spent time at action park as a teenager in the 80’s. I remember a ride called the Cannonball Falls where the tubes actually went underground before flinging you out over a giant freezing lake. I remember one of the tubes being closed once while I was waiting on line for the ride, and a bunch of employees milling around the other tube. When I asked what was wrong, someone told me “some kid got stuck”.
The Cannonball Loop was always dry and never in operation whenever I was there. Too bad, because I would’ve probably tried it. It did look utterly ridiculous though, even to an 18-year old.
I was the ride lead for this ride I would stand at the top and hose people down it was a dangerous ride, they used to try to bribe us with food vouchers before they opened it so they asked us to ride it first…. As the lead I was asked all the time I’d always say no…. There is a hatch just before the loop that you could get people out… The best place was to be in the pool at the bottom… Many tops came off when women rode it with a two piece…. I was a teenage boy can’t blame me for always wanting to be in the pool at the bottom…also the lining would tear and we would shut off the water and climb the loop to find it…. When a rider would go you would hear three bangs on the loop most people did not stick to the top of the loop hence the bangs all back hits, also the ride used to get snails in it that also cut peoples backs up…. It was part of the alpine group of rides, that was the bumper boats, alpine slide, sling shot, bungee and the loop…. I think that pic from 96 is me in the blue shirt…. At the top… I never understood why people would ride this they would always ask me if it is safe and scary…. Also if you rode this ride I was the one on the top always spraying people in the line coming up even if it was cold…..
Awesome. And yes, Rolling Thunder always loads at sloth-like pace, but I still love it. I haven’t been to Great Adventure this season yet, but I’m curious to see how the Green Lantern is going to pan out. My sister and I suspect it will be a bit of a disappointment. We think Six Flags is banking on the position in which you ride as the thrill, while the speed and height may be compromised (think Superman). I’m anxious to hear what you think when it opens.
Oh yeah, I’m also very curious to see how Green Lantern turns out. I’ve never been on a stand-up before so it’ll be a totally new experience I guess. Then again I remember thinking how awesome Superman was going to be when it first went up, only to be let down by its boring layout. Luckily, GL’s layout looks pretty good!
Rides4U.com still lists it as for sale so I don’t think it’s the same one, unless the site hasn’t updated or something. It’s selling for $199,000, that’s a pretty good price for a Top Spin! lol
DAAAMMMNNNN FUUCKKKIIIINNN IIIITTT!!!
I MISSED MY 1ST EVER CHANCE TO GO ON THAT RIDE LAST WEEKEND! π
IT WAS IN BAYONNE, NJ (RIGHT ACROSS THE BIG RIVER FROM WHERE I LIVE IN! AND IT WAS RUNNING ONLY ON SATURDAY FOR A SOME CHURCH THERE!
I found out about the carnival (BLUE SKY AMUSEMENTS posted it up on their website) there early Saturday morning, and i had to work on Saturday night..so i had to wait on Sunday. So i drove up there last night and arrived around 7pm, and once i got there, i saw the rides bulit (Including the ZIPPER)…BUT NO ONE WAS THERE EXCEPT THE CARNIES, TAKING THE RIDES APART!! I MISSED THE ONE CHANCE TO GO ON THE ZIPPER THAT NIGHT!!! IF ONLY I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORK THAT NIGHT!!! GODDDAMMMIT, WHY DO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN MY LIFE AND SOMEHOW…THEY DISSAPEAR! WHAT THE FUCKK!!!!!! :-[
I grew up in the 1980s and I remember riding a ride similar to the orbiter but it was black and grey and it had a tall black statue of darth vader on top of the center and then there was another similar ride with red and white lights and red siren lights that flashed and made the siren sounds. cant remember the names of the rides but if you know them or can locate pictures I would be happy to see them. thank you and God bless
Hey there, it’s the Musik Express operator coming back to bug you again. π I may have been operating the ride while you were in town!
Ghost Ship was updated for 2011 a bit: some more rooms were added and the path through the ship was altered as well. They made it darker, too; during our little “staff walkthrough” to give the actors a chance to practice pre-season I ended up walking into walls a few times. Also the Sportland haunted house will finally open this season… sometime. They ran into issues with inspectors, I think.
Apparently the Condor’s manufacturer (Huss, Germany) isn’t making new Condor rides anymore which won’t help matters. Morey’s Pier got a new ride this season, too! A KMG ride called “It” and it’s one of those pendulum-like rides similar to the one in Ocean City.
Of course I still like Bertazzon rides the most, like my Express. π
I will never go on that ride again. My neck feels like Gumby’s…ow…I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’m only ten and I don’t think I’ll recomend it anytime soon…*barf*
Action Park was one of the MOST amazing amusement parks I’ve ever experienced. I loved Cannonball Falls and that gigantic slide (one time it took me 45 minutes of standing aside for other riders at the top, to make the decision to finally go). I always experienced bung hole bitin’ wedgies on that slide. LOL!
All the references to how dangerous Action Park was and some of the negativity expressed by the writer about the rides is disappointing. Many of us simply loved Action Park. Where can one go these days to experience the pure adrenaline rush of an Action Park when most amusement parks are snoozefests like Disneyworld. Yuck! Out with “family friendly” and in with “scare the shit outta ya.”
Thanks Mike, glad you liked it! Also, if you guys want to put it on the BSA site I’d be glad to make a modified version with different bumpers (advertising Blue Sky Amusements instead of this site.)
Same Person as Above,
Now just remember that rides always going to “drop-out-shakes”
ie; –your coins that are in your clothes or purses, so, either only
take dollar bills w/you , or make sure that you only put quarters
& other change in your pockets, so, that when I stop the ride to
let all of you screaming monkeys off-of-it, I can pick-up all of your
change & put it in my own pocket, (gotta realize, coins drop to the
ride operators, like myself down below, bills won’t/don’t) so, just
always remember that I wanna eat lunch later in the afternoon,and
all of the money that falls down to a ride jock down below, helps him
fill his stomach, so I just thought I’d say, THANKS FOR LUNCH!!!
but one good thing is, that if you had really shitty festival food over the
day/night is that the ride will always make you barf if you overate during
the day, you just gotta MAKE SURE that the operator that’s running the ride at the time, is a Commie or Iraq’ other than one of your Brothers or Sisters
that were BORN IN THE USA , so that your puke falls on the down and out & onto the right people below!!
If your at a carnival & need to start passing-out your beer farts, the best place to let’em go is inside a Graviatron Ride, so that the nasty shit scent will rotate all around & everyone that’s inside & on the ride @ the time, can respect the stink of your ass also
I will never forget the day I scraped and bruised myself riding the Alpine Slide, and I wasn’t even going THAT fast on one of the curves. The cart just kept on going and booted me out, lol. One of many memorable momentss at Action Park. Everything seemed normal and just part of the fun back then, now as we compare those rides with the ones today, with all the safety measures and stuff, we categorize those as bizarre… maybe so, but I don’t regret a second of it!
Awesome list of rides. I wrote an article about amusement park equipment several years ago – and learned that Chance took its original design for the Skydiver and transformed it to create … wait for it … the Zipper.
The original Zippers went just a little too fast and caused many riders to get sick. This problem has been addressed in most Zippers still in operation, as noted in other comments.
The bigger issue – the door-only restraints – meant that folks could easily fall/fly out if the door fell open during operation. This design flaw has caused quite a few senseless injuries and fatalities over the years.
Zippers are now supposed to be retrofitted with secondary harness restraints. I am sure, however, that you can find many without them. Unless you know the age and condition of the Zipper in question, I wouldn’t do it. π
Eyerly gets its name from Lee Eyerly, an aviator who took his knowledge of flight to create rides that continue to be the staple of carnival midways nationwide:
How awesome was Eyerly? Well, it is long rumored that Disney ripped him off when creating the Dumbo adn Mad Hatter Tea Party rides. Quite the compliment.
In the Midwest in the early 1970s the ride was also known as “The Salt and Pepper Shakers” and/or “The Hammers”.
Jeez, I musta had a cast iron stomach and brass balls back then.
Nowadays I’d probably lose my keys, my wallet, my phone and my sunglasses. Upon disembarking I’d no doubt lose my lunch.
I rode this coaster about 10 years ago – apparently when the old cars were in place. The man next to me screamed his head off – but I found the whole experience less than exciting … In fact, it was pretty painful!
I sported bruises from the shoulder harness alone that lasted over a week.
I FINALLY RODE THE -ZIPPER- LAST NIGHT!!
It was in Mercer County Park (Reithoffer Shows provided the rides there) around Trenton, NJ, where it was sort of a fundraising campaign for D.A.R.E, a campaign to “keep kids out of drugs and violence”..and stuff like that.
Though I came alone but I had some somebody to ride along with me
My 1st ride on Zipper at around 8pm (the time I’ve arrived to the fair) was not much exciting because the car i was in, didn’t flip much as I thought it would. And in my 2nd/last ride @ around 10pm (after their amazing fireworks display) on that “Screamin-Metal Death Trap”, was absolutely…INSAANE! I Must thank you for providing me the information. π
I CAN’T WAIT TO RIDE THE RIDE AGAIN TO -WHEREVER IT WILL BE-! Thank You Sooo much. I owe ya! π
Nice! I’ve noticed sometimes you’ll get a pretty tame ride on Zipper, just the luck of the draw I guess. Also after a few more rides you’ll start to get a feel of when to rock the car to make it flip multiple times, that’s always fun! Although I think the best is when the car points away from the center while going around the turn; you just get launched off the seat during those moments!
1. Yeah you’re right, I’m guessing when it comes to that ride, 1st rides on it are just sometimes less intense than on 2nd or more times on it, lol! π
But glad I finally conquered it. I finally got to feel what I’ve missed out SOOO MUCH after fearing Sooo Much about when in my younger years. Though I was pretty skeptical as I got on to the car, and asking the operator, “Omg, Make sure it’s locked in securely!” and I was unsure about it. As the ride started I shouted “Ooooohhh S*******!!” while holding on to the bars on the cage’s door tightly for dear life! And in one of those moment when my car shifted directions from one end to another, my head almost banged against the door..that was something I didn’t expect from the effects during the ride. Also on my 2nd/last ride on Zipper before headin home, the car I was in flipped 10 times (even while the ride starts rotating the other way)…WOOOWW..:-D That was….UNBELIEVABLE.. I’m glad I took that chance. It was either NOW..or NEVER. And I also love the ride because of the cars’ original cushion-y leather interior. π
I saw some were worn out or abused. but I was lucky enough to get in on one of the good cars (with the best kept leather interior)
2. Also, I researched -Blue Sky-‘s website on the line-up they have, and the only good ride they have is..of course,….”The Wicked Chainsaw” ride, better know as…”ZIPPER”.
Their line-up wasn’t that much cool as Reithoffer’s rides are. They have some Spectaculars also such as -Pharaoh’s Fury- (I LOVE THAT RIDE, MY 3RD FAVE), -Ring of Fire- (MY 2ND FAVE) and their -Zipper- (MY 1ST FAVE AS OF NOW) at night, its lights twinkle brightly and proudly as it should (including the the ride’s name sign) π
I use to go to Action Park all the time as a kid. Didn’t feel like you went if you did not go home hurt some how. Went in a 12 passenger van one time with a big group of friends. I dislocated my shoulder on the Colorado River Ride, tearing my rotator cuff, ligaments front and back and my labrum. I was one of the best options to drive home we were all so hurt at the end of the day. Surf Hill had two options…one with a jump and one without. There was no way to not get hurt if you weighed more than 200 lbs. It took us all down at one point. Place cost me a baseball scholarship but I still have great memories from it.
Regarding “the cannonball” slide; the black tubes shown in the photos on the site are not the original alignment of the slides; they are the tamer alignment installed by Mountain Creek. The orginal cannonball alignment was even more insane than shown. The tubes went from a high platform down a 45 to 50-degree slope into the pitch black. The tubes went under the ground and around an immediate, sharp, 90-degree turn to the right, then a short straight-away before shooting you out about 10-feet over the freezing cold pond. They actually had a bar at the top of the tubes at the beginning of the slide to help lower yourself in as the slide started at the steep angle downhill. I rode this crazy slide in the 7th grade in 1981. Great rush.
Are you kidding, this ride can be a blast. I was a kid the first time I rode this by myself at a traveling carnival in the 70’s. There used to be one at the old Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO in the early 90’s. I had a best friend back then who thought he was really tough, so I convinced him to ride this. I spun the wheel as fast as I could the whole ride, it took him a half hour to walk straight and stop dry heaving. It’s one of my fondest memories. You have to spin the wheel or you shouldn’t bother getting on it. I loved the feeling that ride gave me, a kind of euphoria, but I’m strange that way.
I rode the Super Loop once by myself, back in the 70’s when I was a kid. I was fine until it stopped at the top for several seconds, I seriously thought I was going to fall out. I don’t think the old one had as much stuff to keep you in it like the new model. I just remember straining to hold on to the lap bar when it stopped upside down and praying that the operator would move the damn thing. I remember hearing change falling out of people’s pockets and hitting different parts of the ride. People used to say the carnies stopped it upside down on purpose so they could shake all the change out of peoples pockets and then pick it up after closing. Of course I don’t believe that now, but I did when I was a kid. I also remember thinking it looked flimsy like a gust of wind could knock the whole thing over. It had a bunch of cables to keep it stable. I’m suprised that ride is still around.
Oh no, you were correct. The carnies most definitely try to shake loose the change… You’d be suprised how much stuff is found on rides. People get so wiped out and can’t wait to get off these things and they totally forget to check for lost items.
I remember this ride when i was stationed in Germany. It was in 1984. I did not ride it but my friend did. I believed the ride lasted for over 5 minutes, at this one it stopped midway up for about 30 seconds or more. I used to always tell people about this ride
yep, it is an o.k ride. I have rode it 3 times, the first time i was on it with some drunks, i just knew it was gonna happen the one behind me threw up, luckily it missed me. I liked hanging upside down for those 15 seconds though.
Yeah, I was hoping for “Tornado” to be there, too. but I guess maybe next year..hopefully? Anyway, I went there Last Saturday for the Fireworks (although the ending kinda sucked) but all I brought was just $40 and a friend for 2 BBQ “Beef-kebobs”, 2 Gate Admissions, and Double-rides on -ZIPPER-. Although the “Wild Claw” ride looked exciting but we didn’t have enough money for it. The “Pharaoh’s Fury” ride didn’t get quite higher as it should’ve. The “Crazy Mouse” coaster is the same as in the Meadowlands Fair each year. And the “Tango” I hear is quite the “pain-bringer”, and we weren’t so gutsy to ride it, lol. But yeah, we had fun! π
Sounds like you had a good time Robert! Also, I always thought Tango seemed painful before I rode but it really isn’t; it’s like sitting on a bike seat.
Lol. You know, to be honest Brian, The last time I rode a bike was like..6 Years Ago, hehe. I kinda forgot how it feels like after I thought how Painful bike seats are..and that they’re not as comfy as they were made in the time I had a bike.
In comparison, I see that the “Power Surge” and “Tango” both kinda operate in similar ways, right?
Action Park remains to this day one of my favorite amusement parks. I went there several times as a high schooler in the 80s, and while it seems obvious in hindsight, it never occurred to me at the time the very real danger posed by the various attractions. I still have a scar somewhere on my body from a spectacular spill I took on the Alpine Slide that relieved me of some skin. I hit a turn too quickly (which was easy to do) and ended up flipping with the cart landing just behind me barely missing my head and me sliding a short distance before coming to a stop. That’s the only injury I ever sustained. The rest of the time, I just had an absolute blast.
And, of course, there was that crazy loop slide. It was always a sight to behold, but it was never open any of the times I went. Rumor was that someone broke their neck on it and the ride was closed permanently. I don’t think this really happened, but it was believable enough. I mean, just look at it! It’s crazy that even the otherwise reckless owners of Action Park were afraid to open that thing, yet they never dismantled it. I wonder what they were waiting for?
How about more updates to the site? I miss the days when articles were out every couple of days… I won’t lie, I never play the flash games here. I just read the articles which I love.
Clever and a great idea, love the 3ds undertrack. Some ofο»Ώ the track does stick through but apart from that, the g’s are realistic for bobsleds and it has a good layout. Well done.
seems the Musik Express variety have smaller hills/dips…..the original Himalaya’s
I remember had the disco ball that was pitched 180 degrees to create falling snow effects, the tunnel had a stobe light, and the front portion had spotlights that would turn the cars green, red, purple and yellow. And there were always the tight sweater super shapely ski chicks painted into the scenery….Palasaides Amusement park had 2 at the same time, one was a “Super Himalaya” and the other one was jungle themed and called the Jaguar….when I first started driving back in’77 Coney Island had a very old Himalaya (with the painted on red letters), Music Express, plus a Cortina Bob
which was also a snow scene and very uncomfortable to ride because you sat with your partner between your legs and you would get tossed to the outer side of the car….(the only other model like this I’ve seen was in the mid 60’s on the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights and I believe that one was called Sun Valley)..The Polar Express also seems like an antique version- the hills are steep, the back of one car fans in slightly to the car behind it, I believe these cars are made of wood, and they face counter clockwise….there was also one at CI called the Super Cat which had a double dip as opposed to the high pitched back, and a canopy would cover the riders when the ride was at top speed (Cat= Caterpillar)…Swiss Bob was also a well known snow themed ride, and a lot of fun to ride because of the lights, music and the speed. Each car bore the flag of a nation that would enter Bobsledding events, and the rides were always shiny and polished…very hard to find these days….Manufacturer was originally Edy Meier (SIC?) of Zurich who also introduced the Himalya
I rode Demas’ Inversion at the San Diego County Fair. I thought the ride was alright, it had a good rush when the main arm flipped but our seats didn’t rock. It’s named the “Rock-It”.
i rode the rock-o-plane a few years back and i was in the front facing seats they are rather uncomfortable and during the ride i ended up smacking my head off the back of the pod and i was extremely uncomfortable during the whole ride
In total honesty,..I must say that this year’s fair…TOTALLY ROCKED! BETTER THAN ALL THOSE DEPRESSING PAST YEARS OF THE FAIR. AND TO BELIEVE HOW -25 YEARS and Counting-, the fair rolls on, EVERY YEAR (right around my birthday) I’ve Been That Excited Like This In My Whole Life!
GOOD GOSH I went there on the 4th of July for the Fireworks (it lasted kind of short but had and interesting finale), I rode on EVERY SINGLE THRILL RIDE there
-ZIPPER (only 3 times before it “broke down” around midnight”
-RING OF FIRE
-Bonzai
-Crazy Mouse
-Fire Ball (though the claw didn’t spun while swinging)
-and the ride that I’ve feared the MOST since the 1st time it was debuted at the fair…..-SPACE ROLLER-. i finally rode that Beast, TWICE..RIGHT BEFORE CLOSING! IT WAS…INN-FREAKIN-SANE!! π
How were the crowds on the 4th? We usually avoid weekends, holidays and specials nights (like Carload night) to avoid the crowds, but it seems like you got on quite a few rides!
Really? The more ppl there, the better! π It was a huge crowd. When Me and my awesome friend/karate sensei (Yeah, I’ve started taking his classes just last week and he’s super friendly. I’ve invited him, he’s a huge Fairgoer like me, lol.) got to the parking lot, the lot was Almost Full. And Yepp, Thanks to the $25 Handstamp we’ve bought We rode every thrill ride there. They could’ve put more rides though, as it was their 25th anniversary event. But that was my best -21st- Birthday Ever! π
-Space Roller- was so intense. The 1st time we were in line for it, and it was our time to get to our seats, I wasss sooo nervous. and at the last minute before the restraints go down, I litterally got off my seat, “chickened-out” lol, and walk towards the exit..as I watched him have the best time of his life on that ride. But them right before closing, I realized I missed out so much on it. So actually went on for my 2nd attempt by myself (I sat close to the center), didn’t back down, and held for my life on that crazy thing! I was yelling, “OHH MMYY GOSH”, lmao! It was fun. And the last ride before the fair closed for the night, My friendly sensei quickly went to sit right next to me on the ride (I sat on the edge that time) and enjoyed the ride for the last time while the “Party Rock Anthem” song by LMFAO played. It was AWESOME. and after that, we headed home
I’m from Mississippi, but was visiting friends in NYC during the summer of ’80, and we spent a wild and crazy weekend at Action Park. The speed boats, waterslides, fun, fun, fun!!! None of us got hurt, maybe because we kept hitting the beer kiosks, and thus were limber enough to go with the flow!! Does anyone remember the human maze? You had a tall flag so you could be found if you couldn’t manage to get out.
Looks awesome. Carnivals around here, suck. Badly. I dont know what it is but, they get worse every year. My local one this year has…
A Sizzler.
“fun house”
and a few little kid rides…
I have them in my basement, there’s one in my bathroom. I got in the shower looked up and it was just chillen in the top conner. I used axe and a lighter to kill it(:
I was only brave enough to ride the Sky Diver once back in the early eighties. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience. Very similar to the description in the above article. Not very comfortable, but I had finally gotten up the nerve to try it and if nothing else could/can say that I actually rode it.
While it may not be the most comfortable ride on the midway, I always thought it was the best looking piece out there. I still think it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing rides ever created. The multi-colored cars, the perfect symmetry of its design. It always made a great centerpiece for the fair that came around here back in the 70s and 80s.
Chance made some great rides back in the day. Absolute classics like the Tobaggan, Music Fest, Rock n Roll, etc.
But I think the Sky Diver is their most perfect machine. Simple but elegant. The article mentions the long light tubes; there are a few Sky Diver out there still, but the ones I’ve seen recently were fitted with turbo lights. A definite improvement in its original lighting design, I think.
I actually saw some YouTube video recently of a refurbished Sky Diver fitted with sequenced LEDs along its sweeps; I want to say its Powers Great American Midway’s piece. The ride looks absolutely amazing though! Here’s the vid:
BREAKDANCE is a new take off on the early 60’s popular ride Calypso…..the cars didn’t spin on Calypso…..Palasaides NJ had one called the HOOTNANNY….
this is a update of a older ride, similair to the Kite Flyer being a new form of Paratrooper, which was a update of the even earlier SPITFIRE…..I miss the good old days of Roll O Planes, Flying Coasters, Lifting Paratroopers, Swiss Bob’s, and even the notoriously hazardous SWINGIN’ GYM…..worst rides I ever rode? Something called SPINAROO, The Boomerang, and a rare mid 60’s ride called the Meteor….there are videos of this on UT….never got to ride the notorious Chance TURBO…it was at Seaside Heights NJ Casino Pier for about 2 years like 71-73 and out of service both times I went…..
the fair in my town are pretty decent , rides like thunder bolt and enterprise top spin high energy fireball top spin and much more, it’s like every year we have a new ride
Oh man, great nostalgia. There’s not much out there on Water Works, but I’m glad someone put it out there. Here are some memories for me:
The Super Twist tower had three stops on the way up. The first stop was for “Corkscrew” (an enclosed, very steep and fast 360 degree spiral) and “Free Fall” (a white open slide, sort of like Double Dive for beginners), the second was for “Triple Dipper” (two open, white slides with three dips), and the highest and final stop was “Super Twist” (the enclosed twister). By the time you got all the way up to Super Twist, you were exhausted and out of breath from climbing so many stairs.
Super Twist was weird — one of them started out on the down slope, so that one got you started with good momentum. The other one kind of went in the other direction, so I remember having to push myself along over the hump until I got going. Once on the slide, each twist would dip you through faster and faster, and more and more water would fly into your face until the big final dip at the end. Your experience depended highly on the type of bathing suit you were wearing. I used to enjoy the slide while wearing a rugged Gotcha bathing suit that had a lot of traction (thus slowing me down). I once wore a more slippery bathing suit, and I could have sworn I was going to die! Water spraying in my face the whole time, and my legs flying up into the air inside the tube each time I’d go over the top of each twist.
The other really notable slide was Double Dive — that was the huge speed slide. It was also known by locals as the “Wedgie Wall”, and it was a common sight to see girls losing their tops on the ride. Totally scary the first time, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be once I reluctantly pushed myself over the precipice.
The Octopus was also a great one. Two of the three Octopus slides still exist at Breakwater Beach. Unloading into the same pool were “Cannonball” and maybe another name for the other one. It was basically just a short, white, open slide that dumped you straight into the water. Its partner was an enclosed blue slide that did exactly the same thing.
Another often forgotten one was the first one I rode at Water Works — “Tubs O’ Fun” — I think that was the name. You started by riding an innertube through an enclosed blue tube. This carried you around 180 degrees, usually turning you backwards, and dumping you into a pool. If you were going backwards by the end of it, you were definitely dumped ass over tea kettle into the pool. Then you’d float around in the pool until eventually going down a waterfall into the next pool. This would happen over and over until you finally got dumped out into the final landing pool. I enjoyed this one for a year or two before they finally drained the pools, filled them with dirt, and turned them into flower planters.
I wonder what ever happened to the giant guy holding the Pepsi can…
THIS RIDE IS THE BEST RIDE EVER its soo fun im going to my county fair tomorrow and making my friend go on that hope power dosent go out again! if u think this looks scary its not its fun my 2 fav rides are 1.POWER SURGE 2. ZIPPER
I remember going in the late 80s as a part of a group of teenagers. The loop was open and I remember being scared poopless. At the time people were running to get a view because they would only open it for a hour at a time. There was no line and from what I remember the cliff dive was in the area. Anyway I went right up got hosed down, and looked at the lead and said, “is it worth it” He just looked at me with a blank stare. I looked back and said f-this and walked away my friend was pissed, but he didn’t do it either. From the stories I think it was a smart move.
Also wanted to add the Alpine Slide was great. There was nothing wrong with it unless you wanted to go to fast. Anyone could read signs slow/ fast etc. it was your decision if you wanted to walk out hurt. The cliff dive was great, but maybe 4 or 5 rides were way over the top, but I tell you what god bless the people that rode them it looked like fun.
Damn! I missed that carnival! I didn’t know that “newer-made” -Zipper- would be there. Welll, that carnival didn’t seem too exciting anyway. So I’m going for Skelly’s Amusements’ -Zipper- @ this year’s Middlesex County Fair, NJ…2morrow night!! (if it won’t rain) This one I don’t wanna miss. I’ve only ridden the older -Zipper- types by Reithoffer’s and Blue Sky
I’ve only rode this once at a carnival, and it was enjoyable….when I was a kid 40 some odd years ago- the was one at the famed Palace Amusements center in Asbury Park that peered out of the roof….Seaside Heights Funtown Pier and Palasaides Amusement park also had one in the 70’s……great rides should be manufactured forever…..roll o plane / flying coaster / swinging gym and lifting paratroopers ..I rode a ride similar to a lifting Paratrooper called DANCING QUEEN back in the mid 80’s on Seasides Casino Pier…the seats turned (not spun! turned slowly) simultaneously to face all 4 directions….it was there for about 2 years and I remember it being out of service once……the legendary Chance Turbo was also on the Casino Pier in the early 70’s and was closed for repairs both times when I visited and the ride was present. my all time favorite ride has to be the Swiss Bob/ Bayun Kurve….they could really make that go fast and the ride was always sparkling and well lit…..lot’s of fun.
Hollywood Star Finnendahl Onride (FΓHTZ) ….check this out on youtube….here is a pratrooper type ride where the seats actually turn and face all 4 directions once the ride lifts….I rode this once in Seaside Heights Casino Pier in the mid 80’s….it was called the Dancing Queen…..it was only there for about 2 years, and was out of service the 2nd time I went.
I’ve never seen it again….apparently it it popular on the German fair circuit…
Was Dancing Queen the same as the Hollywood Star ride or was it this ride ( http://bit.ly/otKlXf ) of the same name? Because I know those Huss Troika rides like the one in the link were pretty popular in the 80s or so here in the US.
it was the same ride as Hollywood Star..Troika was like a combo Enterprise /Spider deal, right? this was a ride very similar in start up and performance as a lifting Paratrooper, the difference was the entire ride elevated, then dropped like a Trabant would angle, and the cars turned slowly in all 4 directions….it was a great ride!………
I am so glad there is a fan site for these rides……they are such a big part of so many folks summer years growing up!! I for one, had to behave the entire summer to make one trip to Seaside Heights or Palasaides Amusement Park as a kid!…I envied the kids that went more than one time or visited several places so much!
Any ride that u have to put that chest guard on needs either to be taken down or fixed for big chested women it is a shame that bigger chested women can not ride rides like that. The fireball is terrible anyway u have to jump up on the damn thing to even get up there who ever made that ride needs to be slapped thumbs down to that morone
agreed when i went on i thought i was buckled in thank godddd my cousin was messing with me and made the bar go up right before ride started we were screaming not in not in lol im also big chested and i woulda been dead
OMG. I just went to The Meadowlands Fair In N.J. lastnight. Everytime the fair comes my friends & I literall go like 5 times because we are fair freaks!!! Anyway I go on the Fire Ball 7 times on Saturday night. We return Tuesday night & they tell me “Your too big to ride this ride… Try switching seats with your friend…Sorry sensor won’t go off on that seat either… you can’t ride this ride” WHAT IS THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS??? I mean hey I have a big chest not to shout it out like crazy but a 36DDD (I know big) & I ate a Gyro some Zeppoles & drank a medium Coke but I don’t see how that could have made me gain like 50Lbs in 3 days!!!
& I am also a little thick too but I can’t understand how one day it’s all good & then 72 hours later they say HELL NO!!! Confused Man :/
For one reason or another (one reason being that I first encountered this ride when I was about seven and chickened out of riding it), I’ve never actually been on one of these, but I’ve always had a morbid fascination with them. My tolerance for unidirectional spinning has sadly declined over the years, but I am determined to cross this one off the list. No doubt I will pay dearly for my earlier cowardice, as this contraption looks like it would rate very high on the vomit index.
You’re not really missing too much; it’s really just like any looping ride only it has a slight rattle from being on a track along with horribly tight riding compartments. But I understand the appeal of getting on one; it’s kind of like how I want to get on a Rotor even though a Gravitron pretty much trumps it.
BTW, it’s nice to see you around! Too bad TPC is basically a ghost town nowadays.
Trust me, you are completely justified in including this ride on the list. The High Roller pretty much defines the term “White Trash Carney Ride.” It combines brutality, claustrophobia, hilarity, and excitement to much the same degree as, although in a distinctly different way than, the Zipper.
I actually did ride one of these solo one time and received a merciless pummeling. More recently I rode one with a total stranger (a lady somewhat younger than I) who needed a partner for the operator’s (completely reasonable) two-rider requirement. It was an awkwardly intimate experience, a good first move for a randy teenager but a bad bet for a middle-aged married man. We did our best to avoid one another, but the laws of physics ensure some (and not just a casual) degree of physical contact will occur.
This is a fitting choice for number one, all the more so because Chance seems to have retrofitted the pods from the Toboggan for use on this ride. You have to love the fantastically inane restraints which employ Chance’s signature feat of engineering: attaching the part that is supposed to hold you into the ride to the swinging hatch that lets you out of the ride. If a you’re a skinny guy like me who’s manning the wheel and therefore unable to brace yourself inside the cage, you might find the restraints sometimes catching you just above the knees and sometimes closer to the chest.
The scariness of this ride, while considerable, has for me more of giddy hilarity to it than the more panic-inducing terror the old Zippers could evoke. At the the intersection of fear and absurdity, you will find the SkyDiver. It is truly a can’t-miss experience for devotees of the carney classics.
Awesome video. My family has been going to Seaside (living in the Park, occasionally venturing into the Heights…a world of difference) since the beginning of time. When the Music Express replaced the Himalaya, I figured they had just spruced up the old ride. To me it seems like the same thing with new paint and a bubble machine, but I don’t really know what I’m talking about, LOL. I’m guessing you saw the Bertazzon logo somewhere on the ride, and I’ll take your word for it regarding the Himilaya being a Reverchon product. Good post!
Thanks! You know, I wish I could say that I saw a logo somewhere but the fact is that I’m such an amusement ride dork now that I can just look at it and be like “oh this is X, made by Y.” lol
I just rode my first Scat ride at the Scioto County Fair in Ohio, and although the Scat looks like a more crazy trip, I think the classic Round Ups gives a much better ride experience.
I haven’t try to ride in this Orbiter but i guess it is such a great experienced to be ride on it π . How i wish that i could ride on it someday π .
Hey, that fair is cool, even though the little downside of it is that it closes An Hour Early. And may I say -Reithoffer-‘s ZIPPER looked BETTER THAN EVER! Nice paint job, cage doors/locks updated..Wow! I can’t for it to come at a next NJ event in -2012-! π
Definitely, it’s the nicest Zipper I’ve seen to date! The yellow and red actually go together pretty nicely on this ride too; usually when I see those two colors together it makes me think of McDonalds or something. lol
oh and I forgot to ask since u rode -Reithoffer-‘s newly-improved ZIPPER, how does the new cages’ interior feel? Is it soft leather, or rough like -Blue Sky-‘s ZIPPER?
It seemed similar to a gym mat actually. I haven’t been on BSA’s Zipper so I don’t know how they are; can’t be worse than some Zippers I’ve been on though. I remember Coney Island’s old Zipper had like duct tape padding. lol
Well It’s a good thing you told me because I never rode that one! π
Yeah, when it comes to that ride, I’m now more on the details of the cars’ interior padding. -Blue Sky-‘s ZIPPER’s (the 1st one I ever rode in my life) interior padding if I remember correctly feels more of a…”tatami mat-like” material, kinda bit rough.
But -Skelly-‘s ZIPPER (@ the Middlesex County Fair every year in August) felt AWESOME. It felt like the material that was used to make inflatable bounce houses. And what’s “sexier” about was that it’s black! It actually made me feel like falling asleep in it lol. That’s what I missed out on A LOT fearing the ride the past years! That felt great!
-sighs- If only we’d meet up at any local fair on a Saturday night (when I mosty go…alone, by myself) that would be awesome.
And Call Me WEIRD If You Want To, but That’s How I Honestly Feel About Any -ZIPPER- Ride That Appear At Any Closest Fair I Can Get To. lol π
I CAN’T WAIT FOR MORE -ZIPPER- FUN in ~2012~! π
oh and btw, are you doing a trip report of the ALLENTOWN FAIR next? Cause there are a few bit of things I gotta say when you do finally post it here…
I’ve been on this. I loved the dive loop. What I also found interesting was that the second hill seemed higher and steeper than the first, very unusual.
Your stories are exactly why I would not work at a kiddie park, especially one on a ticket system. Spending my day bickering with grumpy, trashy, cheap parents about tickets seems like hell.
I was on this once when the ride operator announced we we getting an extra long ride to celebrate making the most tickets on the midway that day. Needless to say, I have never been so dizzy and sickened in my life.
It was a great ride, and went so fast it was over before you even realized it. I’m glad I got to ride it. For some reason a lot of people hated it, virtually no line for one of the craziest coasters ever built, and I’m sure that played a part in it going bye bye.
Yeah, we know this ride on German funfairs well! One of the all time classics, together with the Huss Breakdancer.
Mostly the new KMG rides and some of the Huss rides make a funfair here in Germany. I was on “Night Style”, one of the newest Top Spins (by KMG, Netherlands), recently. It has two independent arms, as can be seen here:
If you thought the normal Top Spin is intense… ride THIS. It’s living hell, really. After some spins I just wanted to get off… and I’m an adrenaline junkie.
In Europe we seem to be addicted to thrills with rides getting more and more extreme… π
By the way, we’ve got a similar ride from mondial (Netherlands) here on German funfair grounds, called “Shake”. It basically is Breakdancer plus loopings… Really weird looking, and damn intense!
Awesome ride, but like Breakdancer depends on the operator. Mostly operators here in Europe tend to be great at times the funfair ground is not crowded (with rides 5 minutes and more), but when there are lots of people waiting they will give you a short ride and try to kick you out as soon as possible… that’s why I ride mostly before noon π
I’ve actually seen a Shake here in the US once before and it still travels around, just not in the northeast US where I am. I beleive it’s called Magnum. I’m still kicking myself for not giving it a spin, but at the time I didn’t know if I could take the flipping and spinning.
Breakdance is definitely a ride that needs to be ‘driven’ instead of just turned on auto. Unfortunately the US has NO traveling Breakdance rides anymore and the amusement park versions are terribly slow. I need to go to Europe sometime and ride a real Breakdance!
My absolutely favorite ride… KMG designs great rides, that’s for sure! However, @Msstevye, not only girls have problems… you’r b*lls will hurt, too … these damn seats with their pins in the middle!
Looks like hell, really… I was completely surprised at a funfair during my USA holiday, when this thing just turned! I had the complete “wtf” face on, that’s for sure….
I guess European safety standards would NEVER EVER allow something like that… or the zipper… lucky Americans π
i rode one called the claw they were playing music by mercy me(i can only imagine) and the combination of the ride movement and the beautiful praise and worship music moved me to happy tears and i was filled with the Spirit!
Just rode this for the first time yesterday! I was concerned about my keys falling out of my pocket (and possibly off the ride, I don’t have a big enough key fob to prevent it falling through the cage), so I stuffed them into my back pocket, so that I could keep them from moving, and even if they did, there was a velcro patch to keep them falling out.
Regardless, they worked their way out over the course of the ride, hit the bottom of the cage, then flew up and hit me in the face. I managed to snatch them from the air and hold them against one of the door bars until the end of the ride (while I was stepping on my wallet, which had fallen out much earlier).
what fair closes around 10:00 p.m. our fair (tallahassee,florida) opens 9:00 a.m. and closes around 12:00 p.m. and closes 2:00 a.m in the morning during midnight madness and midnight majic.(only on weekends). by the way AWESOME VIDEO!!!! (2 thumbs up )
They probably close at 10pm because it’s close to residential areas and the local ordinance might say that no events can occur after 10pm or something like that. Some fairs, like the State Fair Meadowlands do go on until 1 or 2am though since they’re in more industrial areas, away from housing.
I lived in the development Aspen Woods next to Action Park and it was a major part of my life. When my Dad was laid off from Ford Motor Company he had started his own Welding and pipe fitting company. He was hired to put the wonder loop together. I remember him coming home from work laughing so hard. He was telling my Mother that the wonder loop test dummy came out with no clothes on and no head. He tried to express to the enginr that this isn’t going to work. I don’t think they cared. Growing up there, it was entertainment everyday. Fourth of July fireworks reflecting in my pool after a hard day of work and play. All three of my sisters and I worked there from the time we were 12 till we went to college. Everyday after school I walked out of my back door and walked directly onto the ski runs to either ski or go to work in the summer. I remember being so upset that I had to leave Vernon to go on Vacation in the summer. Before I could work at AP my two older sisters worked there, so I was there EVERYDAY. Action Park was my Nanny in that day and age. No worries about harmful people. If it was raining,we would just go into a building or area that was closed and it was our own little park. Souven shops, candy stores, etc. My favorite job was working the spin art wheel with my best friend. I did the life guard thing, parking attendent, motr world and at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade it for the whole world. Does anyone remember Grannies Pancake house. It burnt down due to someone smoking ciggerets after it closed in the kitchen. So many memories.
We had a Tempest at the old school amusement park I used to work at. It was the most notorious puke ride on the midway. With so little control by the riders on the spinning action it can really get out of control and develop serious forces. There were always two 5 gallon pails of water kept by the ride and they got tossed on the seats multiple times every day. Not a ride I choose to go on.
One of my favorite flat rides! I never pass up a chance to ride a classic Trabant. I’m not such a fan of the WipeOut as they tend to let it keep spinning full speed after it comes back down flat and the side forces become unbearable — equal or worse than a Music Express.
If you have only ridden the more common Wave Swinger, your first experience on the Yo-Yo can scare the bejezus out of you. It looks like a wimpy kiddie swing and you really don’t notice the rocking action when observing from the ground. The first time it tilts you forward you think something let go for sure!
This one tricked me good! I had never run into this ride until seeing it at Old Town in Kissimee. We thought it was a Paratrooper variant. It is NOT. Damn, this think develops some forces! As was said, it makes your legs go to sleep from the pressure on your thighs. Has that general Wisdom Rides feel of being a home-build concoction of spare parts.
My only ride on the Sky Diver was at Lakemont a few years ago with a die-hard enthusiast who talked me into being the second rider while he “piloted” the car. And he did manage to get that thing spinning. The most intolerable element for me, though, was going upside down at the bottom of the wheel – the positive G-force almost made my head explode.
Top of my list for least favorite ride. Only an unusually sort cycle (carnie wanted to chase a townie girl) saved me from puking on my one and only ride. The regular oscillating motion is simply the WORST – any of the random action rides can be tolerated as at least there is variation but here there is no relief in sight until the ride stops. But it’s my daughter’s favorite carny ride.
Thank you for writing about these crickets. I came across one tonight and thought it was a spider from the amazon that was going to eat me alive while I slept! Thank goodness it’s NOT a spider. This thing jumped 4 feet in the air and every which way. It was in the kitchen, so I grabbed the first thing I could find – RESOLVE CARPET CLEANER Spray. I sprayed it with that and Pledge and soaked it until it couldn’t move and then I smashed it with a newspaper. Sorry for anyone who thinks “oh, poor little cricket” , but you guys are all right on when saying that these things are the enemy. Holy cow… At least doing some research on line, I found out it’s not a spider and can now finally go to sleep at 1:30AM. Thank you…
Seriously, this has to be the most amusing article EVER!
EVER I tell you!
I share your aversion to this ugly insect and I don’t know if you planned it so but this article left me rolling on the floor laughing whenever I wasn’t shaking my head in agreement to what you were saying. especially the part witht he percentages of success… Seriously I almost burst my lungs laughing xD
yes it’s 1:20 we have spent several hours trying to kill one without getting close to it. it jumped into the bathroom and we lost it so we moved our things to a different room of the house and then while moving saw babies. there’s a nest in there. no one is safe.
Hi, I went on the Zipper for the first time today, and i have to say it was EPIC!!! I live in australia so it went so fast! I went on with my friend, and because she couldnt hold herself from getting thrown around, she smashed her face on the bars and became pale and got a massive headache. I loved it but she could keep herself still, so if you go on the Zipper, you have to be prepared for some serious g – forces (especially the australian one)
ahh..the enterprises..one of my favorite flat rides..must ride one if i see one at a park..when i was little i used to be scared of them..i was a wuss back then..now..NO FEAR!!!
been on the one at Six Flags St. Louis..i was excited to see it running after seeing it closed at Great Adventure EVERYTIME i went there..it was an okay ride..expected it to be more “wild”, but a decent ride
hey its alissia i went to the october fest in daytona and i saw the fireball and i went on it a guy pucked and it got on my friend. it was nasty….. it was awsome
Hmm, if there’s one word for a boring county like this was, it would have to be “SHITTY” because..come on, I’ve seen this same BORING ride company at some Memorial Day festival in Newark EVERY FREAKIN YEAR! Shouldn’t they have more BETTER RIDES like,,oh idk…ZIPPER!?? The -Union County Fair- was..Apalling, a Stinkfest..UGGGGH!
Ohhhh yesssss! π
MY 1ST TIME EVER TO ATTEND THAT EVENT, ALSO π
And sure was a Hell of a Lonnng Drive to there and back home. Costed my about $45 for gas, lol. And finding parking there was a bitch!
But sure the rides were A Lot Of Fun! Though I have to say…
Power’s -ZIPPER- was Toooo Crazy. In the first thirty seconds, it made me hit my head so hard on the back padding of the cage, that I almost had a concussion and a nosebleed…. My first ride on it was okay. But in the second, was kind of a downer. After the first flip of the cage, my nose started bleeding again…
And then I had to ride the calming rides for the rest of the evening.
But yeah, the carnival was Top Fun. Though Powers’ -Zipper- did not like me. lol
MY GOD..my poor gravitron π .. we owned that ride from the day it came out of Wisdom in 1991 until this winter when we traded it in to Wisdom for our new starship, Mccaferty then bought it from Wisdom (it never actually left the east coast, we brought it right to them).
That ride was my baby and now its just sad looking π
Lol oddly enough that Sizzler used to belong to us as well (Well Silver Dollar Shows, Not Blue Sky Amusements) We sold it to McCafferty years and years ago, around 1995-96
How about the SBF Visa Tower Coaster? It’s a portable coaster (like a Chance Toboggan only with a totally different ride experience) that’s found in Australia.
This is pretty interesting to see and a great break from the Golden Ticket Awards, but a correction Intimidator 305 is at Kings Dominion not Carowinds.
I’d been trying to find information on this park for awhile! I lived outside of NYC as a child and caught the tail-end of Action Park as well as going back a few times when it was Mountain Creek. I never recalled it being a massive death/injury trap, but I do recall getting nearly maimed or dismembered there often despite only being a child and not having ridden about half of these rides. I recall going down the Colorado River ride with my family being like we were in one of those survival shows. Every turn someone would shout, “tuck your legs in! pull your arm in!” before violently slamming into a wall that likely would have severed said body part if no one took such instruction. I recall stopping on a slide as well and hopping off the side to avoid an oncoming collision with the next rider. My family never took my friends to this place specifically, probably realizing that was a liability. It’s a strange request, but does anyone remember what the children’s area looked like? I distinctly recall attempting to find it one summer only to find it behind a boarded make-shift wall and overgrown with brush and leaves wondering why they closed it down; oblivious to the fact the park was closed and subsequently reopened. I also vaguely recall this strange pool with three different heights. Like a cylinder with people swimming in it above the pool and another taller one above that. It looked 20 ft taller than the pool I was in, but I could easily be imagining that. Looking at pictures, I may be recalling the cliff diving area as I see small pools of water and the two separate heights. I believe it was near hammocks, if that’s any sort of help. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here; A day or so every summer from the early 90s until around the later 90s. But the fact my shitty memory recalls it so vividly must attribute to how ridiculous it was.
my only dispute is Six flags great america being the worst park..it is BY FAR the best run of the ENTIRE six flags chain..even when SF was at its worse..Great America was a pleasant place to be at…so i call shenanagins on that one!
Well actually Six Flags America in Maryland won this year, not Six Flags Great America in Chicago who did win last year (albeit by a very small margin.) I get the two names confused all the time. Great America actually got the second least amount of votes this year of any Six Flags park with only like three or four; Six Flags Fiesta Texas received none.
I got a chance to ride Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure for the first time this year. To be honest, I thought it was a pretty good coaster. It was the first stand up I have been on where after the ride was over, I wanted to ride it again. I can’t say that about the old TOGO models or even Mantis at Cedar Point. Stand up coasters seem to give a better ride experience if they are longer and more spread out, and of course, not have those awful bunny hops.
Even tho the Georgia Scorcher at SFoG is VERY compact..somehow it gives a GREAT ride..i dont know how..just looking at it, I thounght it would be rough but somehow it is perfectly paced and is probably the best stand up ive been on..ive been on Mantis ,Chang, Riddlers Revenge, Iron Wolf, Vortex(Carowinds), and some TOGO stand ups(AWFUL!!!)..but the Scorcher is the best..check it out if you can.
The ‘white trash carny ride’ moniker stems from a joke I had with some people years ago and decided to turn it into a series of articles. It is a ‘crass’ name but this site was never supposed to be politically correct or family friendly anyway.
Your article is funny. These bugs are not. They creep me the F out. I live in a very old house and the basement is damp and not very well insulated. Here is my method of dealing with them. They hate light, so I leave the lights on in the basement ALL THE TIME. There are five lightbulbs with no fixture thing over it, so I buy the 100w bulbs. I have to replace them constantly, but it’s worth it. As you know trying to step on them doesn’t work because if they see you coming, then they jump at you. My friend said to get a wet paper towel and drop it on them before you mash them, but I refuse to get close enough to do that. I was out of insect killer so I used Clorox Bleach spray and that seemed to do the trick, although they were still moving. I looked in my sump pump hole just now and there were about 10 in there. I poured bleach in the damn hole and then filled it with a ton of water and that killed em. Another thing, which is going to be easier than your cup and golf ball method, is a swiffer. I have one of the giant swiffer sweepers, just the ones you attach the swiffer rag to and push around, it’s not electric or anything. It’s very wide and the handle is really long, so I can sneak up and kill the cricket with it. I’m too scared to go down there and check to see if the bleached ones are dead yet, they tend to disappear once they die…
You know why they “tendo to disappear once they die? It’s because other cave crickets eat them! Thenat why it;s important to remove the dead ones. You are otherwise just leaving food for the ones that are alive. I agree with the Clorox method. It works. Also Lysol or other harsh household sprays do the trick. It’s easy to aim at them, you don’t have to get too close and it kills them as long as you spray them for a while. Usually after the first or second spray they lsoe their ability to jump but they will still walk. Eventually the chemical in the cleaning product kills them.
Where I live Fiesta Shows has 1 that was originally called “The Break Dance”, then “Super Dance” and now “The Twister”. It’s actua;;y tilted at about a 45-50 degree angle
coasters are made for the thrill of it, and for once in your life to feel free! This ride looks awesome and amazing. Can’t wait to ride it over the summer with my camp!!!! π
my favorite ride is nitro i dont care how long the line is for it i would wait all day if i had to to get on it. love the drops. i would go on that ride only when going there in the summer!! LOVE NITRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! π
I loved Action Park! Thanks so much to the author of this site for creating a place for us to pool our memories of that infamous yet near-and-dear-to-our-hearts enclave of amusement insanity.
Anyone remember that little electric people-mover that would bring you from motorworld over the highway to waterworld and back? You’d sit sideways on it and it would run over this thin little metal rail.
Aqua Scoot was a lot of fun. You’d haul this heavy boat-like plastic thing to top of a tower, place it on a 45 degree angled slide that was made out of a succession of metal rolling pins, ride it down and get shot over a long shallow pool and skip along the surface at what felt like 25-30 mph.
How about that weird flume/boat ride thing they built into the mountain – I think it was called “Avalanche?” It was up the hill a bit from the cannonball slide. It was a pretty interesting flume ride that had several falls with the final one taking place entirely inside a pitchbalck tunnel with simulated explosion sounds. You used to see parts of that ride when taking the chairlift up for the Alpine Slide. That was one of my favorites for some reason. It was out of place for traction park though since there was seemingly no way to potentially kill yourself on the thing!
I remember the two serpentine slides – one was near the Kamikaze and was painted dark blue – the other was further down the hill and was bright green. That one had some hariy seams on it and if you happened to lose your mat you were in for a series of scrapes and briuses. Ouch!
I remember getting lost in the maze which was near motorworld but I was small enough to just crawl through the open spaces under the walls.
The battle tennis ball tanks were a lot of fun.
I was too young to drive the F1 racers but I do remember “graduating” from the go-karts you had to be 10 years old to drive to the ones you had to be 12 years old to drive (a bit faster and a longer track). Good times.
Thanks again for the site – a nice trip down memory lane!
π
Kevin
Some of my biggest regrets in life are not seeing Pantera or The Grateful Dead, never getting to smoke a cigarette in the mall or the movie theatre, and never knowing about Action Park. I suppose it’s more of a north Jersey thing. I grew up with Clementon Park, Great Adventure (six flags), and of course Wild Woods along with other beach-front attractions. But never new until it was too late about this master-park!! I haven’t seemed to shake the fantasy of being one of it’s many dice-rolling daredevils. I’m trying to go back to film school next fall. If i have it my way, eventually there will be a full length feature on the infamous park. The stories on here take me into the park and will eventually take millions into the park. And since it was 79 to 98 it would feature music by the Pixies, the Flaming Lips, the Ramones, among others. Hopefully, and with a little luck, one of these days i’ll be able to get it made. Maybe then i’ll get some lost remenants of the magic that swelled the now deceased park.
The best fair of 2011, is..as always, STATE FAIR MEADOWLANDS. And hands down, my all time fave ride is…without a doubt, The Zipper! π I can’t wait for Winter to end and the Carnival season to return, For More -ZIPPER- experiences than last year!
Just get me informed on what carnivals/fairs will have the ride when Spring comes along, Thanks So Much.
You know, I thought about it but decided not to because it would probably just end up like TheDoD3 Twitter feed, which really nothing more than a bunch of update postings. lol
I can remember driving to Action Park back in 1981 with 5 of my buddies.We left from Ct.and had the times of our life.Alot of the ATTRACTIONS WERE HAZARDOUS..But when ur 18..You dont really care…I loved that place,and am glad I got a chance to experience it before it closed…..
Six Flags Over Texas had one like this called the Texas Tornado. One day it stopped abruptly and banged up some people’s legs pretty badly. Now its called Gunslinger and doesn’t do all of the bending.
What about the Polka Festivals that were at the dance pavillone? My mom and I would go there a couple times a year and had a great time dancing and enjoying all the Polish foods and in particular when Jimmy Sturr played there. He drew the largest croud , no wonder because he is the best . I miss those days and it brings back so many wonderful memories. It was a time in my life I will never forget. My mom has passed on but I’m sure there is a Polka Band in heaven where she is dancing up a storm and eating some good Polish food.
Funny I was just thinking about this the other day, I had the pleasure of going to action park in the 90’s to a Sturr festival.
We stayed at a Pakistani hotel and it rained the whole weekend. All electrical rides were not running.
The only good thing was Happy Louie and the Ampolaires played that weekend and the beer was cold….
Also went to the home town of Jimmy Sturr, Florida New York which if I remember correctly, is not too far from Action Park.
I was one of the last riders to go on The Cannonball Loop… It was either 95 or 96 was the last year I went there and it was open. My friend and I stood there for a good 20 mins before we decided to go on it.. Funny part is there was never a line.. hmm wonder why.. All I can say my experience on it I will never forget. Between the ridges connecting each pipe hitting your back the ride down the dark tunnel was nice. Once you hit the loop it goes by in an instant. And then came the end, hitting the ice cold pool at the bottom and trying to stand up. I had a massive headache and a sore lower back for half the day after that ride from the whip of the loop.
Would I do it again if it was still open.. YEP =)
If it werent for MTV always broadcasting from there, I would have missed out on that wonderful place.
LOVE this site and LOVE reading about Action Park! That place sounds awesome…. So much crazy stories!!! I wish I would’ve been able to visit it when I was a kid!! Where I live, in Europe (Holland, to be exact), we didn’t have waterparks like that… feel like I really missed out π
The rides look frigthening but I guess the danger only made it more fun. It’s a shame these days everything has to be totally save and even the risk of a small bruise is considered almost a crime. Kids arent as fragile as most people think… getting hurt is part of growing up π
Too bad in the 80’s and 90’s there werent a lot of people walking around with video cameras, I would love to see more of the ”real action!” (especially the Loop-thing!)
On youtube, you can find an MTV episode with Alice in Chains in Action Park with actually some great footage of some of the rides (Surfers Hill, Geronimo Falls, wave pool, Colorado River…) along with a LOT of drunk people π
Thanks for posting this, I had a blast reading about a place that almost sounds too crazy to be real π
The Ring Of Fire was soo imtimidating to me 3years ago. The look of it the first time i ever saw that ride scared me straight and my grandma called me up the next day telling me how much of a whimp i was for baking out and not going on it. but last year i toughened up and went on the Ring Of Fire and LOVED IT!! it was freaking scary but i had to go on it and it was one of the best ride that i had ever been on and now im going this year too so im definently going on it!
Here are the dates of our eastern PA shows for the Spring.
Second Alarmers Rescue Squad Carnival, Abington, PA May 8 – 12, 2012
Morrisville Rotray Carnival, Morrisville, PA May 15 – 20, 2012
Hatboro Summer Fun Festival, Hatboro, PA May 25 – June 2, 2012 (Fireworks June 1)
I will send yopu our fall dates when they are finalized.
Cannonball loop opened, and then closed in the summer of 1983. My friends and I had just graduated high school and since we had been to the park many, many times before, this was to be our last hurrah before we went our separate ways to college. We went on he day they were introducing two new rides to the public. One was the cannonball loop. We were about twentieth in line when it opened to great fanfare. We were about eight in line when they closed it. Bummer. We went on to have a wonderful day anyway. I still carry scars on my elbows and knees from the alpine slide. Thanks for the story. I tell my kids about action park often, and I can tell they don’t believe the stories. The oldest argues about liability etc. my youngest(the daredevil) thinks I’m teasing him about such a wonderful place. “then take me” “sorry son, it’s closed” “yeah, I bet it didn’t exist, like fairy land or something” wait until I show him this story. Thanks again!
No prob. Btw, there will be the 1st stop in the 2012 season for Blue Sky’s newly-refurbished “Zipper”! U might wanna head over there and check it out, unless u want to wait a month for it to come to the OLP fair next month (hopefully)
I went to Action Park every summer in the early to mid 90’s. I was a teenager and it was a tradition to make the short drive from Connecticut.
I remember hanging out in the little area with the pools and the little cave near the cliff jump. That was one of my favorite areas to chill and watch girls lose their tops jumping into the icy water.
Parents loved it, too, because the place served ALCOHOL! Imagine this place full of drunk, loud people wanting to jump off cliffs and ride the alpine slide. I remember seeing more than a few people covered in blood from some kind of incident.
The hills were brutal. The wave pool was always fun and I saw several people get pulled from it’s deep end after underestimating the pull on the sides. I remember a group of us would scan the wave pool because there was always money floating around.
The craziest thing I ever saw at Action Park happened on the Aqua-Scoot. You have to realize the brilliant safety standards of this ride. From what I remember, you sit on a plastic sled with nothing strapping you in, only a handle bar, and you get pushed down a slide with metal rollers which empties out into a pool at the bottom. I saw a lady fall back, hit her head on the rollers, and slide all the way down ending up face down in the pool. She was unconscious with blood coming out of her head.
Several patrons helped the lady out of the pool because the “lifeguards” were very busy talking to their friends!
Ridgefield Carnival – April 25-29th Veterans Park Ridgefield NJ
Warren County Chamber of Commerce Spring Festival Hackettstown NJ May 3-6
Holy Trinity Carnival – Hackensack NJ – May 1st – 5th
Bound Brook FD Carnival – Bound Brook NJ – May 8-12
St. Virgils Church Carnival – Morris Plains NJ May 9 -12
Sea Brite FD Carnival – Sea Brite NJ – May 17-20
NY DateS:
Nassau County Strawberry Festival – Bellmore NY May 30- June 3rd
UPDATE from BSA on Facebook: “Unfortunately the Zipper will not appear at St. Mary’s this year. It’s still in the process of refurbishment. Remaining parts have not yet arrived, and waiting. Will keep you updated!”
The Sky diver (the illuminator) at Elitch Gardens in 1994 was the first ride I worked on it was a work out because you had to flip the car over pull out the cotter pin and place the lid in to a cradle to unload and unload the ride all without dumping the guests on the ground. At the end of the night myself and the operator crawled under the frame of the ride and collected $25 to $30 bucks in loose change each Elitchβs did not move it to the new park in 1995 due to safety
OMG i’m obsessed with the Cannonball Loop! I just saw it online a few days ago and i just can’t get it out of my head! Who would invent or build something like this, with such a small tube and loop?! It’s unreal and freaky I think. It looks like some fantasy creation..
But very interesting though! xxx Eva
Where are all the P0lka dancers from the Polka festivals, which were held about three times during the summer, in particular the Jimmy Sturr followers? Aren’t any of you guys out there to send a comment? Would love to hear from someone who attended the festivals. I left a comment on Feb. 29,2012 so look above and you will see it. Sure miss those good times. But like they say, all good things come to an end.
Like I said, somebody please comment!
Jeanne,
See my post below. We were regulars at the festivals, saw the Jimmy Stur Band several times. We used to play the small game stands they had set up by the tents and win various posters and stuff….I wish I still had my “Put a hole-a in the Ayatollah” dart board… Peace.
Cool read, I also used Coolpages many years ago, I us a lot of Dreamweaver these days and compared to Cool Pages it’s terrible, I love just being able to drag contents around such as Images and Text, now everything way to complex, resolution issues, tags and html is all over the place, I half suspect it going to get worse with HTML 5.
I see collpages is still out there on the web, am maybe thinking of buying the full version, I only ever done the trail.
There has never been a better ride than the surf hill at any water park. I remember going there in the early 80’s and saw someone land in the woods from lane 7. We would just fly off the jump and the crowd in the stands at the bottom would ooh and ah if you hit it right. Did you get a little hurt, sure, but who cared. Also the Alpine slide was crazy. I remember the first aid from people falling off the slide was to spray mecurichrome on the burns. I remember hitting my brother with the slide in front of me because he slowed down for someone and flying across the bridge and bouncing 4 or 5 times and spraining my ankle. The whole ride home all I could think about was when I could go again.
I remember seeing how many bloodied people I could spot around the Alpine Slide. AP must have bought Mercurochrome by the pallet – there was always someone getting messed up. I was the recipient of some of that once, and I suffered the stinging burn just like everyone else. The bad cases needed gauze. It amazed me that more people didn’t die. I still have mental images of rocks to the right of the right slide and to left of the left slide (which had a wider turn at the start, I believe, making that side the slower side). I recall the left slide had more swerves (checking the map – it does after it crosses over to the right). These swerves could cause your sled to rock more, perhaps leading to a flipover. In other words, the more winding, slower slide was more risky in my opinion.
When your sled would rock after first sliding up the side of a turn, you would need to actually ACCELERATE to reduce the swing. (It’s basic physics, similar to letting out the rope on a pendulum so as to reduce the amplitude of the swing.) I remember doing this, and it always worked. If you experienced instability/swinging, then adding brake action would actually make it worse. This surely caused a lot of accidents for people who think it makes sense to slow down when you’re losing control.
On the other hand, if you successfully used the acceleration to reduce your rocking motion, you would gain speed that would make your sled slide up even farther in the *next* turn. If you thought you couldn’t take that speed into the turn, you needed to brake *before* the turn (similar to high-speed driving, actually).
I’m almost disappointed that after several visits to Action Park, the worst thing that ever happened to me was a sunburn. I do not count getting kicked in the face on the Colorado River, pulling muscles in my arms from holding on to the tubes so tightly, and possibly getting scraped on an exposed screw on the Kamikaze slide. I never lost a tube or mat, and rode the Alpine slide without incident.
Meanwhile, I took my boyfriend to Mountain Creek for the first time in 2005. He lost his mat on the green slide and almost drowned in the wave pool. He’s refused to go back, but I’ve been back a few times since. The green slide (sidewinder) and kamikaze were finally shut down as of last year.
The only things that seem to be left over from Action Park that are still there and pretty much the same as they always were are the wave pool, Tarzan swing, and whatever they’re calling the tube ride by the cliff jump (I still call it the Wild River because that’s what it was when Action Park closed). The day they put the tube lift by the Colorado River ride was one of the greatest days of my life.
Still wish I’d had the chance to go in the Aerodium.
As the primary writer and editor of the oft-mentioned Wikipedia article, I actually have a similar story to yours.
I went to Action Park all of once, in late summer of 1986, when I was 18. I do not recall seeing the Cannonball Loop at the time (although it had apparently first been opened the previous summer). I had a good time, and neither got hurt nor saw anyone getting hurt.
However … that isn’t to say the potential for serious injury wasn’t obvious. I declined to do the taller, straight-down Geronimo Falls because I just didn’t see how you could do it safely. So I did the other one … which had such obvious potential for catastrophic injury since you started out on a gentle slope but then went almost straight down … at about 60 feet above ground, with the sides of the slide about a few inches high. You knew right then that you either followed the instructions they gave you (stay flat on your back with arms at your side) or you died (or would have wished you had). It always amazes me that there were no fatalities on that ride.
I stayed off Surf Hill. I was coming off a high school career where I played football and lacrosse and weighed about 230 pounds at the time. The sign on Surf Hill said the weight limit was 185, but one look at the people doing it and it was clear that wasn’t being enforced. If people like that, even heavier than me, were riding it, the chance of getting hurt was just too much.
The Aqua Scoot … it was fun but I only did it once because I was worried about accidentally putting my toes over the front edge of the sled, which would have caused some serious breakage by itself when they got caught in the rollers, not to mention likely getting thrown off the ramp and what would have happened from that. That seems to be about the only way people did not find to be injured on it.
I was lucky enough to be relatively by myself in the Wave Pool’s deep end when the waves went on. It was tough enough staying afloat; I can’t imagine what it would have been like in a panicked crowd of poor or non-swimmers.
I didn’t realize at the time that the park had already acquired a reputation. I got a hint of it afterwards when my mother related taking my brother to his doctors later (he had just been diagnosed with the cancer that would eventually take his life at the beginning of the summer, and the trip had been sort of a treat for him). They mentioned they’d taken him to Action Park the weekend before, and the doctors said “You took him WHERE?” and told her everything they’d heard from their colleagues about the place.
Now, just like you, I went back with my wife, son and my mother around the same time in the mid-2000s when it was Mountain Creek Waterpark. DW went on that one waterslide from AP that takes those gradual dips going down (forget what it’s called) before they had to close it that day because some of the surface had peeled loose. She got this softball-sized bruise on the back of her thigh that took weeks to heal. She says it was the worst thing that ever happened to her at an amusement park. I don’t think she wants to go back either.
They returned the rock-o-plane at my local fair. It seems to run much slower than it
Used to about 15 years ago when I used to go on it. It also seems to be much harder to flip on it.
D.A.R.E. is hosting a carnival at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ from May 30 to June 10!
I called the event manager for the dates and which traveling carnival company they’ll have over there. And it’s with
Reithoffer Shows. π (hopefully they’ll have my fave ride there)
My friend and I waited overnight for Bruce Springsteen tickets (at the Meadowlands) and then hightailed it to Action Park. The first thing we rode was the Roller Slides. Yes, the thing you rode on was heavy and it was not fun to climb to the top while carrying that thing, but the slide was fun. Then the Grotto was at hand and I jumped this several times. I loved it, although I recall hitting bottom once or twice. When I visited in ’83 the bottom of this area was NOT painted lighter; instead it looked like a dark grotto. I don’t really recall doing any super adventurous until visiting a year or so later with a boyfriend and then I did everything (almost) with the exception of the Tarzan Swings and the cars. So, what that means is that he and I both went on the Cannonball Loop. I recall it being bumpy and very very scary. The only reason I didn’t do Tarzan Swings was that I knew I didn’t have the arm strength to not get hurt. I loved the alpine slide and want to ride the one at Ober Gatlinburg, TN near my current home. That last time in ’83 was one I recall fondly and although I wouldn’t do most of the rides again, I would visit again.
@ DoD3Brian
No prob. Hey Are U Planning To Attend The -Our Lady Of Peace- Fair this year? And here’s the photo of Blue Sky’s newly refurbished “Zipper” that will be there this year.
I actually just went last night lol. The Zipper looked really nice I thought and even seemed to be a bit quieter then most other Zipper rides I’ve seen.
They lowered the noise on it? Aw that sucks. But looking forward to riding it with my lil nephew (He’s “Craving” to ride a “Zipper” Badly as much as I do lol)
And I’m ‘”training” myself like a “Naruto” ninja right now to ride it too, as it will be my 1st Ride/”Fight” on “Zipper” of 2012!! xD
-Wish Me Luck! π
-Robert “-Zipper- Lovin Ninja” Mata aka “Neji Hyuga”
Well I think the new parts made it less loud. I can’t really say it’s quiet, it’s a Zipper after all, but compared to other models it seems like there’s less of a rattling noise.
Also, just a little tip, if you have a tough time parking by the fair try the adjacent high school lots or the New Providence Community Pool parking lot. Both have lots of spots and the pool parking lot rarely fills up all the way if the high school lots are all taken up. It’s a short walk to the fair from both places.
Like I told you in face book.. A refurbishment is more then just paint. The ride received all new bushings for the bracing and hbars, new k bar braces,, new telecopes(the pieces the cages hang on ) all new pins for the whole ride, all new hardware. All 4 motors were removed and rebuilt but hey color change and pretty lights (which we put all LED ligting on it as well) is all that matters I guess
Ah, ok I get it. Those are very nice additions to the ride u’ve made. Sounds like u guys made the ride more enjoyable, Safer, and more BEAUTIFUL than before! π Thanks for giving me that additional info. π I hope to see u, and the New “Zipper” at the OLP Academy in New Providence this Saturday! π
Aww that’s pretty bad I feel like I wanted to curse all those people that had to do with! It has been a part of my fondest of childhood memoirs. My kids wonβt live to see that now.
also this is supposed to be opening
COMING SPRING 2012!
Come out and try the newest ride of its kind in the tri-state area! The Alpine Mountain Coaster is a cross between an alpine slide and a twisting rollercoaster and is the newest addition to Mountain Creek for the 2012 season. Ride alone or with a friend in our 2 seater coaster cars. You control your speed, with a unique hand-braking system as you twist, turn and dip through the trees and through the Waterpark rides back to the bottom of the mountain.
The sister ride Shockwave at Six Flags Great America was the first looping coaster I ever went on as a child (I’m 33). It was such an excellent coaster, really underrated. I never found it rough myself, despite such claims from others. The loss of these coasters is a shame. Newer, trendy coasters may be flashier, but I thought these delivered better thrills.
One of my most cherished theme park memories is riding Shockwave six times in a row, walking off and walking right back on because there was no line. There’s a rare POV ride video on youtube, taken before the youtube days, and I saved it so I can always remember the ride.
It might be white trash but about 35 years ago 4 friends and myself rode this all night and called ourselves the Scatt sisters. Now at 45 we still refer to ourselves as just that even on Facebook. What awsome memories lol.
Ahhh Yes! My 1st time Ever to attend this event, Along with my nephew, Christian, and my (our) first “fight” on -Zipper- of This Year in 2012! π (And I like saying “fight” because I’d like to express myself as a ninja, like the characters from the Awesome Japanese anime, “Naruto”. And when it comes to riding my fave ride at any carnival or huge fair, I always prepare/”train” like a ninja, to give my all to ride and “defeat” the forces and the wildness of the ride coming Saturday nights π )
-But before our match against the craziest ride at the fair, When we first got there at around 8:15 PM we went on the Starship Gravitron (only once). Once the entire ride started spinning fast enough to glue us to the wall (lying on our backs), I couldn’t move a muscle, especially when the seats rose up to the roof of the ride)
-Then it was the Himalaya. Though I wished they could’ve gotten a bigger model like “Musik Express” or made it a bit faster than normal. But it was kind of fun (and it played 2 of my fave songs while we were on it).
-Next was the Riptide. I’ve never been on anything like it in my life (though it looks kinda slow, and I didn’t want to spend $ for it). But while we were on it, I had the feeling I’ve missed out on such a ride like that π Once it goes downward to the side, it almost felt like a freefall. But that was quite fun, I’ll admit that π
—AND FINALLY, (“dramatic music” Dun dun duunnnn!) 2 Rounds on The Craziest, Yet THE BEST RIDE EVER OUT THERE,..
O>>>>o<<<<O ZIPPER! π
I may have lost some chances of riding it at other previous fairs since the 1st week of May. (I roughly because I had to cancel on them for some reason). But It Was Worth The Wait (especially in that long line for the ride) I've finally helped my "craving" for it since the "not rough at all Winter season", I was suffering from such withdrawal, lol. It looked very nice, the guys at BSA did an Awesome job of making it more comfortable, enjoyable, Safer, and more beautiful than before. Last time you said it was fairly quiet. And I thought "Aww that sucks". I was thinking they got rid of the "legendary" noise of the motors. But they didn't, yay! I've gotten some offride shots from my phone (while standing in line, and it's an HD cam too). And on one of them. someone's loose change fell out of one of the cars that was flipping. And it was a good thing I carry around my lil "Dr. Dre Beats" bag that I normally store my earphones in. So I can safely store my loose change in it. That was smart of me, you would say lol.
As me and my nephew got on it for the 1st Round together, I told the operator (And I Always Say This To Them Whoever Locks Me (and someone with me) Inside. "Please Make Sure It's Locked Securely, And Tight" and they do, thank goodness. As they were loading up the last pair of cars on the cycle, we prayed, and braced ourselves for what's to come during the ride. (And again I did not have my phone/camera out to get onride footage on our 1st Round because I had to get used to the nature of the ride first). And as soon as it started, It Was A Knockout. We've been backflipped as much as 7 times in a row before we reached to the other side of the boom.
And as soon as the ride shifted direction, it made us got held Upside down for about 4 seconds. Wow, Something that I havent experienced on a Zipper last year. But gosh that was incredible! I wished I could've had the nerve to get it on video.
Then, our 2nd and Final round on it, it got me a bit jealous, as we got inside the Unluckiest Car Of The Ride. Though I managed to get onride footage in this round. I got a bit jealous, As the ride only made us rock Back and Forth, Especially when it swept us from one side of the boom to the other. I was mad like we got "ripped off" lol. But in my "ninja" side, It Was Weak! I wished I had more money to ride it again with my nephew for another 3 rounds. But it was almost time for the fair to close down anyway. We left at 10:30 PM (Half hour before closing) And on the way home, we picked up some "celebratory" Chinese food from my fave Chinese spot in Elizabeth (where we live), as a reward for my nephew's "bravery" on his 1st Ever Ride on Zipper in his whole life. And I thank myself (and Blue Sky) proudly for making it happen.
My Next "Fight" against -Zipper- will be at the Staten Island Mall Carnival from Reithoffer's BLUE unit. It's their only spot they'll play near me before they head Out Of State. And of course, I'm planning to go 5 Rounds on it, and yes, Onride footage as well π I hope the weather stays beautiful for This Saturday night, as it will be my 2nd "fight" against it of the 2012 Season. I'll even film some other rides they got there but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go on all of them. But I will try and see, and depends on the money I have for them.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS, (my nephew would like to say Thanks to u too) And I Look forward to more interesting Trip reports of This Year. And of course, more Zipper rides at more upcoming fairs near me. π
-Robert "Zipper" lovin' Leaf Ninja aka "Neji Hyuuga" of The Hyuuga Clan
Academy Student (White belt) ninja π
P.S. “I Have No Blind Spots” (Neji’s quote from the anime)
-Practicing my “Gentle Fist”-
This ride is at my fair, and i want to know if its scary or not. I can handle the Avalanche and Ali Baba, do you think i can do this? Ive never been upside down, but i can do spinny rides. π
Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale will host its 11th Annual Parish Festival from June 20th-24th. Majestic Midways will transform the grounds into a magnificent playground complete with rides for all ages. Over 16 rides including some great ones for the thrill seekers. Paladin Amusements will bring awesome games for some extra excitement. There will be TWO FIREWORKS displays one on June 20th & one on June 23rd with a raindate of June 24th. We will have two wristband days one on June 21st and one on June 24th. Also featuring, nightly entertainment, fine food, raffles and a Tricky Tray. There will also be a Super 50/50 drawn on June 24th tickets are $2.00 each with a promise of winning a percentage of the gross proceeds. We will also be raffling off a Vacation Raffle Gift Certificate valued at $2000, a Nikon SLR Digital Camera Package, a Weber Grill, an Apple iPad, Disney Passes, tickets to One Direction and much more.
Easy to access off of Routes 78, 22 & 31. Follow the Ferris Wheel
For additional information: call 908-735-7319 or 908-735-9564
Hmmmm, I wish I could be there. But it looks pretty far from where I live (Elizabeth, NJ) I’m not entirely sure if I’ll make it there also. I know the one fair that’s closest to me for my birthday (I’m turning 22 this June 24th!) and that will Also Have My Fave Ride (Yes, “Zipper”) is -State Fair Meadowlands-. (They had it last year, and speaking with the President of the fair about them having it again this year) And they also do Unlimited Ride specials throughout the entire fair (June 22nd – July 8 with fireworks on July 3rd and 4th). There is also another fair in North Brunswick, NJ that’ll do that too, but I’m quite unsure of the name. I’ll have to look that up.
Though I thank you for providing me the information. Again I’m just not sure if I’ll make it there that day.
-Thank You.
Robert -“ZIPPER” Lovin’ Leaf Ninja- Mata aka “Neji Hyuuga” of the Hyuuga Clan
Oh hey, yeah Here It Is! Majestic will be playing at this year’s Burlington County Farm Fair in Columbus, NJ (just one exit over 7A on the NJ Turnpike) Looks like I’ll be going to this one, hopefully they’ll have the Zipper there (as they did last year) Here’s the link to the fair for more info about it.
@ DoD3Brian
Heyy! When it comes to livin’ life as a “Naruto” ninja, you know that the Zipper is my #1 fave ride to “fight”, don’t you agree? Plus their leather padding is so comfortable. (not to get too personal with the details, hehe) I’m going there tonight and try out Majestic’s ride this year.
And Reithoffer’s Orange Unit is doing N. Brunswick, NJ again this weekend. I believe it’s called the “Italian-American Fest” (never heard of it) but not sure if my ride will be there also. Plus I kinda don’t know where exactly in N. Brunswick will it be. But oh well, I’m not planning to go to both fairs in one night 2night, like i did with South Plainfield (Dreamland) and the Staten Island Mall (Reithoffer – Blue Unit) in the past month.
There is a small annual carnival about a 15min walk from me. Last year, a carny told me that the zipper at this carnival (run by World’s Finest Shows of Ontario), was made in 1996 or 1997. Assuming this is true, can someone tell me how safe the ride is? It looks fairly good, (new paint job & all), but I don’t think it has the updated cages (ones with the z on the side of the cars). It would be greatly appreciated if someone could answer me ASAP.
Old or new, the cage’s locking mechanisms are all safe so I wouldn’t worry. I actually prefer the older model cages myself as they flip more easily. π
Sure, that makes me feel a lot better, but what if the guy forgets to close the cage (you know, cause he’s smoking pot or something)? I mean, it probably won’t be an issue, as the show that comes to my town is one of the best in Ontario, but you never know… Is it just a risk that I’ll have to take, or is there a way to tell if they’re locking the cages right?
It would really help if someone answered ASAP, as the carnival is right near my house, and I may go in a day or two.
You’re worrying about it too much. lol But to answer your question, the door closes, two locks engage simultaneously and then the ride op puts in a pin that acts as a third lock. On newer ones the door just closes, locks and that’s it, no pins or anything since the locking mechanism was rebuilt.
I just rode the zipper today. It was amazing, and so intense that I could barely walk off the platform! Beforehand, I had to wait about 45 minutes, having the carny kick me out 4 times, ’cause I couldn’t ride alone. Finally, after a long time of waiting, however, another carny who was on break volunteered to ride with me. I took the offer, and got on. The ride itself was like nothing I’ve experienced. It had EVERYTHING you’d want… REALLY high g- forces, floater air, ejector air… YOU NAME IT, IT HAD IT! Finally, as an added bonus, right as the ride stopped, our cage flipped an extra 9 or 10 times in a row, and the g-forces were INSANE. If you want to see what that looks like, type ””Crazy Zipper Ride 1″ into YouTube.
I remember riding the skydiver in 1969 it only had a piece of wood going across to hold you in, great ride. This ride was designed to be run at full throttle, giving you the effect of free falling. Over the decades through regulations the operators had to tame it down, that’s what I have been told.
Ah yes! I’ve had quite a “2 Course -Zipper- Meal” at both the South Plainfield (Dreamland) and Staten Island Mall -PART 2- (Reithoffer) spots. But which 1 of them is most fun. They felt quite the same to be honest lol. But Reithoffer’s -Zipper- spun/flipped me more times in a row than Dreamland’s in S. Plainfield. So I first got to this fair at around 7:30, rode Dreamland’s -Zipper- only twice, just for.me to save some money for the Staten Island Mall carnival (Part 2). I came to those 2 Places By Myself, and stood near the entrance of the ride, holding a sign that reads, “Lone Leaf Ninja Came Here Alone To Ride -Zipper-. But Ride Ops DO NOT ALLOW Single Riders On It. Willing To Ride With Someone Here. IF ANYONE INTERESTED TO RIDE WITH ME ON -ZIPPER-, PLEASE STEP FORWARD AND TALK TO ME ABOUT IT. THANKS (smiley)”
So Again, I rode only Twice on Dreamland’s -Zipper-, And went on Reithoffer’s ride. 3 Times (on one those rounds it back flipped me 7 Times In A Row!) It helped my “craving” A Lot! Thanks For Informing Me about the S. Plainfield spot, and like I said, I look forward to more (as well as State Fair Meadowlands) at the next upcoming fairs of this year! π
-Stay “Zippin'” for me! Lol
Robert “-Zipper- Lovin Leaf Ninja” Mata
O>>>>x<<<<O
PS. Have you heard that Reithoffer has the new “Stinger” ride? That Ride Is Crazy! I was thinking about going on it, but I had 2nd thoughts lol (Plus it was too expensive. It costs 7 Tickets while it’s $1.25 per single ticket) I’ve even got some shots of it on my phone, if I can somehow start a new YT account and upload it to there so you can see it.
I forgot to tell you, there was actually ANOTHER Zipper over at the Corpus Christi Carnival in Chatham, NJ (next town over from New Providence where the OLP fair was.) This one was Tommy’s Midways’ ride I think. Could have gotten three different Zippers in one day…well maybe, that may have been a bit too many fairs to hit in one day.
And yes I’ve been wanting to ride Stinger since I heard about it last year. I’m hoping it turns up at a Reithoffer spot in NJ but I’m not going to hold my breath. NJ is notoriously strict with ride regulations and new rides have to go through a lot of red tape apparently. 7 tickets, lol thats almost as much as their Speed ride.
Well, I’ve only had enough money for just those 2 spots anyway, haha. Hmm, I’ve actually never heard of Tommy’s Midways. I wonder if they have a website so that I can follow them and ride their ride at a fair nearest me. I would’ve had a “3-Course -Zipper- Buffet” yesterday lol. Wow, I didn’t even know that for sure until now. Was it their last day there yesterday as well?
Yeah, it was at the Staten Island Mall there too. As well as the Pharaoh’s Fury (the Higher-swinging kind..went on it 3 Times on the ends, as it’s my 3rd fave ride on my list!), Orbiter, Kroon Giant Wheel, Cliff Hanger, Indy 500 Car mini-coaster, Avalanche (Moby Dick), Himalaya (Wisdom), and of course, my #1 Fave Ride On My List, -Zipper- (the yellow one, with red and blue cars). Though the toll to cross the Goethals Bridge getting there was kinda steep. $12 to get into NY!
Oh, I forgot, 2 Saturdays ago I also went to the North Jersey DARE Carnival in Paramus, NJ (Reithoffer’s voluntary event..as I don’t know what unit they were travelling on). There it had the Chance Giant Wheel, Super Himalaya (Musik Express), Sky Flyer (larger version of the Vertigo), Tango, Wild Mouse, Yo-Yo, Power Surge (they GOTTA fix the ride to make the whole arm rotate as it should), Starship 2000, Orbiter, Pharaoh’s Fury (it wasn’t as high as it should be, they gotta fix that too), and Freak Out! There was no -Zipper- there unfortunately. This is their last day there as well before moving to, probably N. Brunswick. I’ve also asked the Reithoffer crew on their FB page, “Will the -Zipper- and of course the Huss Flipper (Tornado) be at the N. Brunswick Fair this year?” I’ve got no response from them yet, but I’m willing to try their Huss Flipper (Tornado) ride there, and hopefully their Wild Claw (KMG Afterburner/Fire Ball) as well. That’s if…They’ll All Appear at the N. Brunswick Fair this year.
I can almost guarantee that the NBYSF will have a Zipper there, Tornado, not so sure. They didn’t have it last year and considering how large the ride is (3 or 4 trailers I think) they might just reserve it for the biggest of the big carnivals now. See what they say though. Power Surge has had a non-rotating arm for years now, I doubt they’ll ever fix it since it gets the same ridership regardless.
Hey I just got Good News from the Reithoffer FB page. They’ve just said that the Tornado will appear at the NBYSF This Year! (and I hope they mean the Huss Flipper, and not just the Wisdom kind, where you spin the 4 seater cross cars, but that is kinda fun though hehe)
Hey there Mike I was there and, I was trying to find U at the fair tonight. I seems as though you might’ve been at another spot your company is playing. I was finding you to tell you “Thanks” and how much I love the “Zipper” ride! π Hope I’ll see you there Saturday night, along with more of my “cravings” for -Zipper- π
ALSO OPENING THIS SUMMER AT MOUNTAIN CREEK: They;re REOPENING SURF HILL!IT IS CONFIRMED on their website, and on their Facebook page, its opening in the same exact place as the old one.
Yeaah π Oh and just to give u a heads up, I’ll be the big fella wearing either Blue Denim shorts or jeans, mainly with a black “Naruto” shirt (with either the main character with yellow hair popping out on the foreground/front, or one that reads “Strictly For My Ninjas”) and/or with a red or blue headband with the carved “Leaf” symbol on the metal plate. Probably either alone (holding a sign over me) or with my lil nephew (if he won’t have other plans 2morrow night) And I’ll/We’ll be near the big rides. that’s the Starship Gravitron, Ferris wheel, some small looping ride, the Round Up and of course, “Zipper” (mostly the “Zipper”) for most of the evening for a better chance for us to meet =)
Ooh nice! You know, I’ve never been on a Loop O Plane before, but kinda pretty much too tall for me to ride it now lol. Plus I’ve seen And rode a bigger kind before. it’s at the State Fair Meadowlands (which I go there every year for my birthday, and the 4th of July for the fireworks) each year since its debut in 2008. It’s an open seated, floorless Fabbri Kamikaze called “Banzai” (Although I’ve seen..or, there used to have been a few of the original “closed cabin” versions of the ride when I was younger, but never rode one at all)
Hey now, you guys got a Loop-o-Plane? I haven’t seen one of those traveling around here in a while.
Robert, I’m not sure how tall you are but I’m like 5’8″ and I could probably still fit into one of them. I’d guess if you’re nearing 6 feet then it would be getting pretty tight. Also, I just saw one of those older style Kamikaze type rides at the Warren Lions Expo. It’s a one armed version called Screamer (ARM model?) owned by McDaniel Brothers Shows.
@DoD3Brian
Oh, I’ve seen that company before. They used to play every summer at some field across Elizabeth High School every summer. I remember they had a “Skydiver” and some old style swing ride. And they still do the Waterfront Latin Music Festival every Memorial Day weekend at the Elizabeth Seaport (just a couple of blocks from where I live) This year they had the Screamer there as well. But I wasn’t planning on riding it for some reason lol. I’d rather stick to “Banzai” @ the Meadowlands Fair. Hehe. π
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1,399 Comments
Brian,
Kudos! Very nice video… well done! I must say, your editing skills have much improved from previous videos you have posted!
The Hang Ten is owned by my parents. I commented you on one of your Hang Ten YouTube vids a few months back. Glad you enjoy the ride! They work very hard to keep it as well maintained as it is. They actually have the bottom car lights working on it now. I noticed in your video that they are not operating at the time you recorded the video. Fuse issue.
I told my parents about your videos and they are flattered that you think so highly about their ride. They have not actually seen your video yet, because they do not have a wireless net connection this week. I have sent my daughter the link though, so she can show them next week when they leave Meadowlands. She is traveling with them for the summer. Also, my brother, Patrick Wise, is the mic & music man on the ride. It is his voice on your video.
Very nice site here as well!
~Peace
Lisa
By the way, my parents also own the Flying Bobs at Meadowlands the past couple of years. Check it out if you get a chance. π
here is a picture of six flags new englands frisbee
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7404/sfne013mb8.th.jpg
I used to operate a Rock-o-Plane, and we had a pretty serious accident once where the ride started with the door wide open! I wasn’t operating the ride at the time — just helping load cars. I pulled one girl out before the open door smashed against the stairway used to board the ride, and the other girl had to be backed down after I ran to press the E-stop. It was a pretty treacherous ride, and all the parents were screaming and pulling their kids off.
I am a personal injury lawyer suing a carnival company for brain damage sustained by a little girl when she slipped out of her restraint on the rockoplane. The ride operator’s excuse is that the lap bar clicks into the proper position automatically and there is no way my client slipping out could have been due to his error. I would love the opportunity to talk to you about how the restraint system works and if it is possible for the ride operator to put the lap bar into the wrong slat, allowing a little girl too much room so that she slips out.
If the restraint bar is properly working, it comes down on the lap when the door is closed, however if the patron holds the lap bar up as the door is being closed, he can overpower the spring and the bar will remain in that position till the door is opened. Teenagers sometimes do this to give themselves more room to rock the car. Was the girl 42″ tall? Was she with a larger person that would prevent the bar from comming down far enough to hold her in? Was the girl able to hold onto the bar? (physical limitations, arm in cast etc.) Not likely an operator error.
It is I used to liad one in the uk. If u don’t push the bar down and shut the door it will lock to high as happened once when a guy loading ours with no exp started. No injuries lucky enough I noticed it, gaffer reversed wheel and I put bar down, gave the chap a slap and we was ok.
Wow, that’s crazy! At least nobody got hurt. I remember a similar thing occurred when I was working at small amusement park a few years ago…although it wasn’t nearly as dire of a situation. It was while being showed how to operate a bumper car ride by a manager that really didnβt handle ride operations. The manager started the ride while some kidβs lapbar was wide open. I was like, βuhβ¦that kidβs bar is open.β The manager looked up, slapped the stop button, walked out onto the floor, put the kids bar down, and started up again; he didn’t even acknowledge that anything happened!
Great website…just wanted to comment on the Steel Pier, let it close. About 5 years back we went for a ride on the Spinning WildMouse, but we didn’t get very far! All was well as the car turned towards the lifthill, but upon connecting with the chain things went horrible awry. I felt the car connect to the chain with a lurchand a bump, heard some kerpatchata kerpatchata
noise as we were very slowly lifted about 10 feet up the hill when the chain suddenly snapped at the top of the hill, sending metal shrapnel flying down towards us. Luckily the car rolled back down the hill to avoild said shrapnel (uh..rollbacks anyone?). The shocked attendaents offered free wristbands but we were so shaken we just left, we didn’t know what else to do.
Jeez, yeah free wristbands seems like a good tradeoff for almost being injured! lol
Even though the place stunk I’d much rather see it become another, much nicer amusement park instead of redeveloping it into a hotel, casino or condo complex. I mean the place has been around since 1898 and has quite a bit of history with it.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing the story!
“Most people would never make it out of the building due to their inexperience. However, sometimes you would see some hotshot rise up from the structure and hover 15 or 20 feet above the building. I doubt that thing made much money for its size and probably itβs cost, but it was interesting”
I went on it in 1995 or 1996 and I know I got back change from my ten dollars, I want to say it was only like 7 or 8 dollars extra to do it.
I got massive street cred with my friends for doing it. I fianlly went sky diving a few years ago and actually, I was in more fear for my life at Traction Park then I was when I did the real thing lol.
I was there! Cuckoo Haus was an abomination. The only thing cuckoo about this ride was the fact they excepted you to pay 4 tickets to get in. I found the exterior art disturbing, confusing, and at times vaguely racist. You know, the racist way that when in bad movies they try and portray the projects as all check cashing stores and chicken wing joints. Apparently the only thing in Holland is oompa bands and Kaiser Wilhelm II. WHY THE HELL IS KAISER WILHELM II ON CUCKOO HAUS?! Furthermore, I think the painted people of this supposed representation of “Holland” are angry about their depiction, as you may notice a man is emptying his chamber pot out onto the oompa band. Wait a second though, maybe a fun house called “the projects” might be a good idea too. We already know what would be on the front of it.
I remember going on Kingda Ka the first time in my life. It was a rush, but nothing like I thought it would be, rather tame in fact. Then I went on it again, this time waiting for the front. What a rush! If you happen to ride this coaster, the front is definatly worth an extra wait, don’t miss out! Also, keep your mouth slightly open, the wind rushes into it and your mouth fills with air rapidly, it’s great!
sounds very breathtaking or should i say breath giving:) since it puts air into your mouth. the fact is that i like to study rides and the ways people breathe on them. so it must be hard to breathe out but easy to breathe in on this ride in the front seat. am i right? the harder the rides are on us the better!
They are also repainting Mind Eraser at SNFE. They are going crazy!
The poor ol’ SLC needs some love I guess. I think in their next crazed re-painting move, Six Flags will re-paint Dark Knight’s track periwinkle with burnt sienna supports. π
I’ll have to try the front row sometime. I’m typically too impatient to wait any longer than I have to but the allure of being blasted by a wind comparable to an EF2 tornado seems like it might be worth it!
Just to follow up on this comment, years and years later: I did indeed get a front row ride and it was fantastic. Best part is that it was on a slow night and I was the only one in the station waiting. The riders on the train coming back in basically got a re-ride and I got a front row walk-on!
I beleive doing the Aerodium garners some sort of post Action Park internet cred as well. lol Few can say that they have done one of Action Park’s three most infamous attractions: Cannonball Loop, Aerodium, and their bungee jumping. And I guess to some extent the ‘expert’ run of Alpine Ski Slide.
I guess I could see how the faux skydiving could be scarier, at least at Action Park. There’s just something about Action Park’s lax safety coupled with a giant whirling fan that might cause for alarm. Haha
Thanks for dropping by!
These aren’t banned in Florida. I have seen several different models here, including ones named Gravitron (Amusements of America), ones named Starship 2000 (Hildebrand Rides), and even a newer Starship 3000 (Reithoffer Shows).
i beleive it is a very intense and awesome ride.love it!!!!!!!!!!!
<3 <3 <3
Revised, thanks for the heads up! I wonder where I originally saw that bit of misinformation…
I remember this place, the roller slide was called the Aqua Scoot! I loved that thing. I personally never got injured in my multiple visits between 87 and 91, but I remember those guys with their shirts off and a nice Alpine Slide burn. Those looked like they hurt. This was a great stroll down memory lane, I look forward to going back someday. I am in the midwest now and hating it
Yeah I wish California had a looping waterslide
Aqua Scoot! That name does ring a bell now that you mention it! I actually remember many waterparks having those types at slides at one time.
Very sad. The Golden Nugget is the finest attraction the Wildwood Boardwalk has ever had to offer, and I doubt anything will ever match or surpass it. Its demolition will be a great loss. It would be great if someone with deep pockets would be willing to pay for the restoration and mandated upgrades to get the Nugget running again, before its too late.
Hearing the news about the GOLDEN NUGGET which I enjoyed going on during the 60s and 70s when It was a newer ride, I don’t think I will ever go back there again, I miss all the older rides that are now GONE!
If you want to ride some surviving Bill Tracy dark rides, go to Ocean City, MD or Waldameer, Erie, PA. They both have a Pirate’s Cove walk-through, and OC MD has the Haunted House ride, and Waldameer the Whacky Shack ride. Yes, Hunt’s had a Whacky Shack, too but their’s was one level built in 1963, and Waldameer’s was built in 1970 and is 2-level. Also, the closed Joyland Wichita has a 2-level Whacky Shack, too which is in danger of being lost if someone doesn’t save the park. The Phantasmagoria 2-level ride at the now dismantled Bell’s Amusement park in Tulsa, OK was taken down and most props and scenery placed into storage for a new dark ride at a new Bell’s park that might open. The Fright Zone in Ohio (former West View, PA Haunted House) closed a couple years ago and the props and stuff are in storage at Conneaut Lake Park, PA which may not even reopen. There’s also a Bill Tracy dark ride at Lake Winnie in GA called Castle, they had a walk-through Whacky Shack that was torn down a few years ago, and the Haunted Castle at the former Miracle Strip Park in Panama City Beach, FL the cars, track and some props were bought by a guy in Birmingham, AL and used for a seasonal dark ride. The rest of the props are at a fire company in FL near Panama City. We lost 2 major seaside parks with Miracle Strip and Myrtle Pavilion. Pavilion came back, but it’s much smaller and missing the big rides like the roller coaster, Haunted Hotel, Pirate dark ride, Log Flume, and Rapids. The Haunted Hotel was TORN DOWN. Why do most parks care less about their dark rides and so quick to tear them down when the park closes or the ride becomes less popular or more costly to maintain? I’m going to miss the Golden Nugget. I rode it between 1980-1983, and again 1996-1998. At least they’re saving the props and scenery and mine carts.
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
@ Martin: One could only hope that would happen. The same could be said about many parts of Wildwood: Sportland Pier and Midway are two places that come to mind.
@ Herb: Yeah many of the older rides in Wildwood aren’t around anymore, especially dark rides. Wildwood used to have a number of them around and I don’t think any will be left after Nugget is torn down.
@ Robert: Great information there! I actually remember the Haunted Hotel at the Myrtle Beach Pavillion. I was only like 5 years old at the time and I remember being terrified of the facade with the giant skull, haha. It’s too bad I never got back down there before Pavillion closed. I’ll have to check out Ocean City one day; those dark rides at Trimper’s look great!
I was thoroughly haunted by a friend who killed himself while we were in a band together and the haunting some associated with a new infestation of these things. Another musician close to him who recorded this guy just before he killed himself had his basement studio infested by them suddenly as well. I wrote a novel based on this. These things do get in your mind!
Sorry to hear about your friend. It sure seems like cave crickets were solely placed on this Earth to drive people crazy. Luckily I haven’t seen any for about two years now…although I have seen several centipedes in the meantime which aren’t much freakin’ better.
Morey’s still has 4 dark rides, one of them a walk-through and they’re planning a new haunted walk-through for Mariner’s golf course soon. Also, there’s the Zombie World on the boardwalk, so I don’t think dark rides are dead yet in Wildwood. It’s just that most of Bill Tracy’s (and Fred Mahana’s-who did the old Morey’s Pier Haunted House 1972-1984 and Mariner’s Hitchcock Manor 1978-1981) work is just about gone in Wildwood, except for the Nugget props which most are going in Morey’s dark rides, and the Dr. Blood’s props from Sportland Pier, the building was razed Jan 2007, most of which are in storage in the old Woolworth/Randyland building that an arcade owner named Randy owns. I heard the Whacky Shack props from Hunt’s Pier are in storage somewhere in Wildwood, the building was razed early 1996 during the transformation to Dinosaur Beach, apparently the Catanoso’s didn’t want it and couldn’t sell it, actually Eric Princz (local artist owns a company Creative Design and Engineering) bought it but couldn’t get it moved off the pier so it was scrapped on site. Also, Castle Dracula was a great attraction, the Dungeon boat ride, too and it’s a shame it burned down Jan 2002. it was originally built 1977, and the old mill boat ride 1919.
Wow.. I thought I forgot about Action Park for good..
I had worked there for 7 years both seasons..
For the first few years I worked Food and Beverage, then ride attendant, Then finally once I was old enough and they had an opening I was allowed to work as a mechanic in motor world.. I rememebr breaking in the Lolas after they got new engines.. all we did was drive them up into water world and back down over and over again to break them in..
I remember the battle action tanks mechanics shop had some prototype or homebrew air cannon that would shoot a tennis ball from the tank cage well up past 94.. I wonder what happened to it. if anyone knows the make or has plans drop me a line.
I spent most of my time on the dock at the super speed boats, I remember one day clearly . There was an asian woman on the paddle boats in the adjacent pond and a lightning storm was rolling in. Unfortunately she panics and couldnt figure out how to work the boat controls..
we has one speed boat with a larger engine than the reast of them and it was our tow boat(for capsized recoveries) and a plaything for us to show off to the girls with.
I remember that we endedn up having two lifeguards stand on the edge of the foating dock that separated the two ponds, I disengaged the transom lock and headed straight at the dock head on.. because it was tilted my way it resembled a ramp, I then launched my boat onto and over the dock landing in the paddle boat pond. I then hooked her up with a line and towed her back to the area where the paddle boats were funneled into the boarding area.
The ride attendant girl hooked the boat with her boat hook and helped the woman out.. I was a hero for 15 mins.
In the winter I was a snowmaker.
I remember riding my skate board to work and having my mother pick me up after .. I lived in augusta so it was not a short trip… Fellow emploee parents passing by would often pick me up if they had the room so it wasnt too often that I skated the whole way.
I remember the first timecard system they put in.. you got a card with punch holes in it.. you’d slide it into the clock in the managers office, bang in a few codes and pull the card back out.. the funny thing was that if you didnt punch out say on friday night and then came back monday morning, you could punch out then back inand get paid for the weekend.. apparently one of the parks downfall was the accounting department.
Thanks for the memories..
Thanks for dropping by sigmaz; that was some great stuff! I always like hearing stories from Motorworld since I never really hung around in that section all that much and don’t really know the full details of that section. At the time I was too young to drive the cars or anything so I just stuck to the waterpark.
Also, skateboarding from Augusta to Vernon doesn’t sound like fun at all! Besides the fact that it’s a long trip, I would think that it’s very hilly as well!
The Cannonball Loop was opened. I rode the Cannonball Loop. My pre-pubscent friends and I would gawk at the holy grail of water slides everytime we went to the park. And one spectacular day my wildest dreams came true, they were actually asking for patrons to ride the slide. It’s funny how many people who bragged that they “…would totally do that!” had somewhere else to be when they were actually looking for riders. I volunteered. I was led up to the slide and then had my height and weight measured. The more I think about this, the crazier it becomes because I couldn’t have been more then 12 or 13 and my parents were no where around to give consent to their kid signing up for a suicide mission. When I got to the top of the slide the park attendant (who I doubt was an engineer) hit me w/ a garden hose to essentially lube me up in order for me to make it through. I prided myself on doing everything at “Accident Park” but this moment of truth was scarier then the rest. A crowd had formed as I got into the slide and I felt like Evil Knievel climbing onto a stars and stripes motorcycle. I got the go ahead and sent myself down the pitch black tube. When you’re sure you are going to die your mind records everything. I vividly remember the sensation of my feet going up as I realized “Here comes the loop!”. I remember being ecstatic when I had cleared the pinnacle of the loop, however the worst was yet to come. Apparently my sub 100 lbs body was not heavy enough for the ride and rather the sticking to the slide on the back end of the loop, I actually fell to the bottom of the loop. I smacked the back of my head on the slide and was nearly knocked unconcious. It was then I saw light as I sputtered out of the exit of the tube into the splash down pool which about 8 inches deep. I was able to orient myself enough to get to my feet and smile with pride as the stunned crowd cheered for the little kid who just went down the most dangerous water slide of all time. It was closed again within minutes and although I went to the park a dozen times after that day I never saw that slide opened again. I have no fear of amusement park rides after going on that death trap. There is nothing that will be built as dangerous and poorly supervised as the cannonball loop again. It was truly a perfect storm for water park aficionados.
That was a great story! Falling from the apex of the loop must have been just awful. At least you didn’t slow down and fall in the other direction however; then you would have been stuck in that section at the base of the loop. I can’t imagine how terrifying that would be, basically coming out of a momentary disorientation only to find yourself in some small dark space. lol
I use to looked forward to this ride every yr as a child. I grew up in Wildwood and this was my favorite ride. Hunts Peir was also my FAVORITE peir. A part of history of Wildwood Boardwalk as we know it will be no more. WOW, breaks my heart to know it will not be there.
The bubble bouncer ride my next favorite. So, So many memories of being on Hunts Peir. Wow!!
I have ridden the Zipper many times, I have to say it is the most intense ride I have even been on that didn’t make me sick. The one I rode at our local annual fair as as fast or almost as fast as the “fast” australian Zipper in your video. People shift their weight in the cars to see who can do the most consecutive flips. I saw one car do over 20 backflips in a row while moving before, and when they started to empty the ride car by car, they did another 40 or so backflips before theirs got to the bottom.
I agree on how the Zipper is very intense yet doesn’t really cause motion sickness. It must be the vertical motion because I know some people that have no problem on the Zipper but cannot take something like a Huss Breakdance which is all lateral motion.
Thanks for dropping by Chakote!
Currently the new Alpine Pipeline is in 57 pieces and under a foot of snow, but I will be sure to get you the cutting edge images as soon as we get them. No upside down loops on this ride, but exciting none the less. Stay tuned and maybe you will be invited to the VIP event for the unvieling of the all new Alpine Pipeline.
Mountain creek is the best place in the world.The Alpine pipeline was awsome.It was smooth sailing,relaxing and exciting.
Hey, thanks a bunch! I can’t wait to see the photos of this slide. If High Anxiety is any indication of what the type of thrills Mountain Creek is going for, then AP will certainly be great.
I worked there for several years as a lifeguard, and a few things.. The tarzan swing and the cannonball pools… The pools were only 15′ deep and yes freezing cold, they were fed from a spring fed lake at the top of the mountain. The bottom of the pool was not lined with anything they were concrete pools that had large rocks/boulders around them. The water was crystal clear. As a guard I would be able to sit on the stand (10′ tall) and I could spot and tell if there was a dollar bill on the bottom and if it was within 10 – 15′ of the stand I could tell you what denomination it was. it just seemed dark because of all the shade in the area.
The riptide slide was called Surf Hill… when it first opened the 2 left most lanes (looking down from the top, or the right most from the bottom looking up) were the “expert lanes” initially they had a ramp and I can remember going down with friends and family and it wasn’t uncommon to get 10 – 15′ of air off the things… landing was sometimes a bit tough, but I can remember people and us included doing flips and twists off that thing. The trick to it was to use more than one mat the more you had the faster you went. Too many people got hurt and they redid the ride to make it a much smaller ramp. the employees were able to secure a section of the new lining it’s was about 4 – 6″ thick and we cut 2 hand holds in the front of it… I wasn’t crazy enough but I knew and watched several friends going down using that mat… they would go so fast that they would end up hitting the first 12″ of the water puddle at the bottom meant to slow them down and it wouldn’t do a thing.. They would end up literally slamming into the padding at the end of the lanes hard… a couple of them hard enough that they needed help getting out from where the padding and the floor met.
Only 15 feet deep?! Aw man…that’s takes all the odd mystique out of the pool. lol Actually, I saw a photo of those pools drained on another site and it did look only 15-20 feet with slabs of concrete at the bottom. Although, I distinctly remember a lifeguard at AP saying that they were some 30+ feet deep, but I guess it was just to weed out anyone thinking they could do the attraction while not knowing how to swim well.
That Surf Hill story literally had me laughing! It just amazes me that Action Park thought it was a good idea to add in ramps for riders to rocket over. And then employees fashion up a mat made of that super slick crap, that’s just too much. I can just visualize the scene of some kid going at like 40mph head first and completely overshooting that little slowdown pool. lol It’s too bad they got rid of that slide…
Thanks for commenting Mike!
i remember this exactly as he described. we would go every year when i was a kid. there was always people trying to find a mat, yet we would always have like 3 or 4 stacked. im glad you confirmed that it did make u go faster, i always wondered if i carried that extra wieght for nothing! lol man i wish this place was still around, i rode every ride there (except loop) many many times and managed to never get seriously hurt. i will try to find old picsand vids i knw we have somewhere and send in…
I remember one time when I was going down Surf Hill and after one of the bumps I went soaring into the air and landed two lanes over from where I had started and when we got to the bottom, I plowed into the kid who had been riding in that lane and ran right over him before I stopped.
It was spectacular.
is this post availible in German?
I am very sorry, but I do not have a translation of this page in German. You can use Google to translate ( http://translate.google.com/ ), but the translation may not be very good.
Hi:
Just came across your site and wanted to drop a comment to say thanks for the memories. I am from the Jersey Shore but moved to North Carolina in 1986. It was fun looking through the shore pictures in this article and reading about your road trip. Great article, well done.
It was also nice to see that things in Asbury Park are not as dead as I would have thought they might have been. I read an article on-line recently that painted a very bleak picture of Asbury Park. Your photos and commentary provided a much more positive outlook.
Also, seeing your site and reading about the history inspires me to post to my own site again….maybe even today.
Thanks,
MXS
PS: The article which painted the bleak picture of Asbury Park is at http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2009/01/asbury_park.html
You might find this interesting. I found your site linked in a Google alert I received on the term “Sea Girt.” When you traveled along route 35 during your trip you barely touched Sea Girt. If you hadn’t mentioned the term in your article I would never have seen the site. FWIW, thanks again.
Hey MXS,
Thanks! I’m glad you liked the article!
Asbury Park has certainly come around in recent years. They’ve done a very nice job along the boardwalk, putting in stores, playgrounds and other things; some of the stores were pretty high end as well! I even remember seeing some of the restaurants along the boardwalk being packed with patrons. According to my sister, it’s a really nice beach spot in the summer as well; something that couldn’t have been said some years back.
As far as the Google alert, well…I guess it explains the odd influx of visitors coming right to this article from no referrer address and then spending about 5 seconds on the page. lol
Also, you should definitely start posting to your site again. I actually found the articles pretty cool, especially the one about the Adobe Kuler chooser. I only wish I knew about that when making this site!
Thanks again for stopping by!
I just read your article and I too can relate when it comes to the height rule and the dumb-ass parents wanting you to bend the rules just for them….over and over again. I used to work on the Himalaya in Ocean City, Maryland 2 years ago, and this lady wanted me to let her kid on the ride but he was way too short, so I wouldn’t let him on. In result, she kept trying to talk me into letting him on, but I repeatatly told her I couldn’t let her child on because he was too small, so she started to get a bit belligerent with me, but I kept my cool. Not only she was causing a scene, she was also holding us all up and the line.
This wasn’t the worst part. This chicken-shit guy who I was working with who was my best friend’s girl’s brother didn’t even bother to step in or find one of the security guards to help me settle this situation, instead he just quickly walked past us telling me that the ride was about to start. So I had to run back to my spot so the ride can start, but after the ride was over, the same bitch started with me again as she got loud and cursing me out telling me I was rude and everything, and all I did was my job. Once again, not a single person bothered to step in.
After she left, this fool who was so much help starts getting in my face and laughing telling me how pissed she was. A friend of mine who I was working for who was on break when this was going on, tried to talk to me trying to calm me down. I told my best friend about the situation last year, and he even found it to be strange that no one called any kind of security to settle the confrontation. As for the other guy (his girl’s brother who shall remain nameless) I do not want anything to do with him as long as I live, because there was no excuse for what he did…or should I say, didn’t do.
Hey Tyrone, thanks for commenting!
Seriously, those parents who would bargain to get their kid on the ride are some of the worst! I think ride ops should just be allowed to blatantly tell the truth in that situation:
Parent: βMy kid is only 5 inches short! Why canβt he ride?β
Ride op: βWellβ¦because he might fly the hell off, be severely injured or killed and Iβll get sued and/or thrown in jail.β
Nah, that probably wouldnβt work either; then theyβll break out the βwell he/she has been on this before and nothing happened!β Rides ops never winβ¦
By the way, I love your site! I remember stumbling across it a while back when making the Himalaya page for this site; thereβs a lot of great info there! Those old Reverchon models were some of the best; they seemed to run faster than the modern ones as well. Thanks for putting the site together!
Will any zippers ever again have to worry about compartment doors flying open because i might have second thoughts about going on it a third time.
Hey Zipperlover,
I doubt it; Zippers now use a large, steel, bobby pin looking device as a backup lock. It’s nearly impossible for the door to fly open while the pin is in place. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Yeah… it’s got that triple door lock, with that big R-clip, or bobby pin as you call it. I’d be more worried with cracks in the hinges on the OTHER side of the door. π
I say this as the former ride op of the first zipper ever made, thus the most metal fatigued. (Model 1800, serial no. 1801, mfg in 1968)
π
My name is Jane E. McNutt. The Golden Nugget farewell ceremony was interesting. I am the Grand Niece of WC Hunt. My grandfather was Harry Hunt, was WC’s brother, and worked at Hunt’s Enterprises. My mother was Dorothy Hunt. Before my mom married my father, John McNutt there were sparks flying, because my father’s father of John J. McNutt’s and Son on Oak wired The Jack Rabbit and most of the island back in The Day. My brother remembers Kristen Steindl’s grandmother who Bud Hunt married -2nd marriage I think. That makes her related by marriage, not blood. Please check http://www.beachtheatre.org for my interview and accurate Hunt family history. Thanks for the forum. JANIE Del Haven -56 years old and rode The Nugget in 1960
i’ve successfully lives threw all of these lovely carni rides. (: all those rides and a few more are featured at Saint Greg’s Carnival in Hamilton, NJ. [ of course] in my town [ hamilton] that’s the best thing that happens here, next to the Italian American Fest, and September Fest, both have rides but are more for kids, not teens. which is a total DRAG by the way. any who, back to the carnival, it gos on for a week and i think two days. all the high schooler’s show up in all their parents cars, and all the kids rush to all the kiddie rides and games. they have a bunch of tricky skill games, and ofcourse the gambling wheel. two of the days they have the traditional fire works. then the raffels and such. back to the rides, the normal rides are the Tornado, Bob Sleds, Zipper, FireBall, Ride ‘O Fire, Scramblers, the ship thing, two ferris wheels, tilt- a – whirl, the tea cups, the spinning bears, the mini dragon roller coaster and such. The most thrilling ride there is the fire ball, sadly, everyone in our crappy little town lines up in THAT one line, thats it, thats the ride line. haha. but any way, the line stretches to the main entrace normally, and you wait for about 30 mins, get on a 2 min ride and then line up for the zipper ad repeat. but i must admitt, thats the best thing in this town to do in june. (:
hop i interested you and this wasnt a total bore, (:.
I remember snakes in one of the pools. I rode this tube down a long slide and half way down i fell of the tube landing painfully in the pool with less skin on my legs then when i started the ride with. But just when i thought my ride of death was over I see this huge snake swimming right at my face. I was only 8 and i couldnt swim very well, so their i was flapping my arms and legs screaming for help because of this snake and the fact i was bloody and in pain, and not one person came to my aide. All the children were pushing me down in the water and they were trying to get out of the pool, I though i was goin to drown or be attacted by this snake. THANK GOD for my older brother, because he pulled me out.
When i was 7 I rode 1 of their tube rides and i was going so fast my tube almost reared off the slope which was very high off the ground. Also the tide pool was the worst being so little the waves would knock me over and afew times a almost drown because the lifeguards were to busy watching the women then watching the children. The place always had nasty snake infested water and half the rides would brake down during the few hours you would spend at the part. Even the kiddie pool with those little bumper boats was a death zone. Once I seen one of the boats start to sink with a child in it, you would think that the lifegaurds would have leaped in the pool to get the kid out, but No the parent had to be the one to jump in and unbuckel the child before the boat sank drowning the kid… Though the park was full of danger, it still provided me with alot of fun and some great memories.
i rose the canonball loop. man that sucker beat you up.
I am curious if there’s any remains of action park left. was mountain creek built on the old site of AP? did they leave any remnants? is there anything to explore?
I don’t know if anything of Action Park is left actually. Everything in the waterpark was pretty much reused by Mountain Creek, and some of the most known attractions (Cannonball Loop, Aerodium, etc) were simply removed. I know they have one river attraction that pretty much sits un-used for the most part. The Surf Hill slides might still be “standing but not operating” as well but other than that I’m not sure.
By looking at Google Earth, it doesn’t look like Motorworld is around at all; at least I can’t spot any tracks or anything. You can check out Mountain Creek on Google Earth at ’41Β°11’24.78″N 74Β°30’30.55″W’ and see if you can see anything. That giant field just to the west of Mountain Creek might be where Motorworld was.
Theres condos there now
I took my kids to the old timers stomping ground on Tuesday – 8/15/12. Yes Mountain Creek is the old Action Park. Although alot of the attractions we rode are now gone they still have a few Action Park rides there. The Tarzan swing and Cannonball Falls are still where they were, and working. The Colorado River is still working. This is the ride in the big family sized tube. Only now you have to wear a helmet with a full face cage or you can’t ride. The Surf Hill is still working except that they toned it down quite a bit and its called Rip Tide Slide. It still is dangerous however. Back during Action Park there was very little water to stop you at the end of the ride. Now there is about a foot or so of water at the end, if you don’t lift your mat up, the water stops you dead. Now if your body stopped also it wouldn’t be bad. But as my wife and my 17 year old daughter found out the hard way. My wife literally went legs over head and flipped and my daughter went sideways running her legs over the next lane dividers and was cut, fortunately not bad. They took out the Alpine slide and put in an Alpine coaster which is open year round. If your under the age of 15 this might be cool, otherwise don’t waste your time. No I retract that statement, do it for the hell of it, you may enjoy it. The rides I was looking forward to were closed. They were Action Park rides that are still there. They were Thunder Run, The Gauley and The Rogue River. I haven’t found out why they weren’t operating. Thunder Falls was open. The Geronimo Falls section of the park is still open but has changed. They replaced the double white slides with one green slide. You still get an atomic wedgie on this. They closed down the male favorite Kamikaze slide, took out the wooden bridge and fenced in the pool area. They added a funnel ride called High Anxiety. This is the equivalent to Alien Invasion at Splish Splash. Well I think I touched on everything at the park. I found it to be as exciting as when I was in my 20,s.
Thunder run was open this week as well as a couple of weeks ago. The Gauley was closed after an incident earlier this season where a bunch of riders backed up near the end. It was a relatively minor incident, but there were like 4 news helicopters flying over the park afterwards since they had sent several people to the hospital (as a precaution).
Rogue River seems to have been closed all season, I’m not sure why.
Surf Hill was just opened a couple of weeks ago. They rebuilt the slide, as it had been abandoned about 5 years ago.
http://www.northjersey.com/vernontownship/5_injured_in_ride_accident_at_Mountain_Creek_amusement_park.html
I’m actually a lifeguard at Mountain Creek now and it’s a ton safer although many of the rides have closed down. Some of the most recent changes are that Rogue River and Thunder Falls are basically permanently shut down. Working bottom of rogue river you can listen to people slam back and forth against the walls inside of the slide and it’s just terrible, better off keeping that death trap closed. Surf Hill is once again called Surf Hill and like it was said before there’s now a good foot of water at the bottom. The Colorado River you need helmets on now, but recently we test rode the old path of the ride however it will most likely remain closed. Well that’s a current lifeguard’s perspective.
Aw man, I can’t believe they closed Rogue River! That actually seemed like one of the tamer ones. The only thing that was bad about it was how it dumped riders into that open pool area. I remember if you were to assume the standard body slide position (legs crossed, arms crossed) you’d go flying down that slide and practically skip across the water at the end.
@Nick
Wow, they opened the alternate path on Colorado Rapids? If only they’d actually re-open that, as alternate paths made that ride interesting, even though it was rare you went down them.
I seriously hope they don’t permanently keep Rogue River and Thunder Falls closed. In 30+ years, the number if injuries, compared to other rides still open, is from what I understand really low.
Notice how the green slide is not as steep it used to be – or at least it looks like that, note the tracks underneath.
They really should make it as steep as it originally was – and put in a 2nd slide, which would also cut down on the longer lines on the busiest days… oh, and lose the name “H2 Oh No” /call it “Geronimo Falls” again – those three things would make the ride much more exciting, IMO.
I think Surf Hill is still Surf Hill – website and park map still indicated it as such.
The Rock-o-plane really needs to be returned full force to all carnivals!
And if they have to build new Rock-o-planes to either build their reserves and/or replace old worn out Rock-o-planes, they shall do so. The Rock-o-plane is one of my all time childhood favorites and I will ride it again if given the chance.
Yeah they do! These past few years I’ve only seen them at two different carnivals; they used to be at nearly every one!
Unfortunately, I don’t think Eyerly makes rides anymore. However there are some ride operators who have put a new spin on the ride by placing forward facing seats on it. I can’t find a picture though, I know one was called Sky Dancer.
We have the rock o plane and the Rollo plane and the loop in ohio
Hopefully all u guys will see this…I’m looking for a ride that I remember being called American skyliner but these come up then I type the name..now this was similar to this ride ,we had the large wheel but the egg shaped carts were fastened on the spine of the wheel. They had two seats inside and a steering wheel at the centre made of metal. Turning the wheel would make the egg spin left or right around the circumference of the spine so u could turn the wheel as it was being loaded with people and balance yourself on the top of the spine, others were happy to sit upside down. So you see at the top of the wheel spine you are sat upright facing forward a sitter either side of the spine. Letting go off the wheel suddenly would cause the egg to just drop underneath the wheel spine left or right depending on which side u were at more. So it worked with gravity ..once the ride gets going you spin around the spine of the wheel going from upright at the top projection to upside down underneath the spine also as the wheel is spinning forward as it goes down and around you kind of spin and fall at same time..it’s quite horrendous fear factor…lol…do you know of this ride variation..this is the UK where I experienced it in a Norfolk town called kings Lynn.thankyou. it was by the very famous UK fairground people whose name I forget off hand but we’re the biggest in England. Not Boswells , not Grey’s another name Γ can’t get out of head at min..I’m sure it will come back to me.. lol thankyou
As well as the “bullet”. These two were the best in my young life. Never see the bullet anymore except at a boardwalk in Daytona.
Nice video! Love the music choice :D!
Thanks DeMickeys; I’m glad you liked it!
As a kid i have always had a strange fixation with roller coasts & amusement parks. Who knows why?!But I have to say that i have been obsessed with Action Park since i found out about it 4 days ago!
We only had a Wonderland (affiliated with Hannah Barbarah) out here in Australia & I was always a scaredy cat to go on any of the big rides!
HOWEVER! I feel so disappointed to have not experienced the ‘legend’ of Action Park. From everything I have read, it seems so ridiculous & intriguing, like a taboo movie about reckless teens!
As ridiculously conservative I am, if I had the chance to jump at any of these threatening rides, I totally would! The Cannonball Loop had my jaw dropped for hours as I read comments/experiences & studied pictures! I even showed my co-workers & their response was “……WTF.. how? wha.. HOW THE HELL WOULD THAT EVEN WORK?!” lol! “Exactly. Fucking insane”
I am sure the real experience isn’t as romantic as it seems- but to someone who has always been safe, always been scared of danger, this place seemed like a place that was so so wrong it was right!
Just want to say thanks for the indepth descriptions! It makes the idea of the place even more real! You have no idea how many people i have told about the place! Just out of sheer disbelief that something so dangerous could have existed for such a long period of time!!
Thanks for the experience!! =)
Lauren
Thanks for stopping by Lauren and thanks for the kind words!
“So wrong it was right”…I like that! It’s a pretty good one sentence summary of how Action Park was.
You know, I think something like the Cannonball Loop, while still crazy, wouldn’t be as insane if it were built today. Like if built in 2009, there would be definately be calculations, proper water drainage, correct pitches, etc; it would be studied up and down and over again until the most minor of faults were ironed out.
Back in the mid 80s it was probably just two guys sitting at a bar with one going “hey, let’s see if this will work!” Two weeks later their drawing scralled out on a napkin became Cannonball Loop! How did they know it would work? Well they didn’t until ‘John the Lifegaurd’ went down and didn’t die!
Even I can’t beleive some of the stuff that went down at Action Park even though I was there!
Man, the reason I’m never getting on one of these things is that scene from the Sandlot where they ride one of these and end up puking their guts out. Horrible, horrible scene, that was.
Oh man, that was an awful scene! I always remember it when I see a Trabant and I’m always afraid that it’s going to happen when I’m near one! lol
Damn that movie!
let me guess was that movie Sandlot
Me too you at not alone
at least someone agrees but the one girl’s reaction was hilarious how she was screaming her guts out and it was not real all it was is just spilt pea soup, movie gel, baked beans, water, and oatmeal launched with paint guns accidentally hitting some crew members and the ”tobacco” just beef jerky and black licorice you really think that they were gonna give kids actual tobacco and the fake thing was WAY worse than the actual thing
There’s a special online discount for a Six Flags park that we’re planning on going to. It’s $31 bucks for each adult ticket (compared to $50 at the door) but when i was about ready to purchase them, i saw the Print ‘n Go option for $5.
Really? $5 for me to print them from my own house?
$36 is still better than $50 at the park but it’s still completely idiotic making me pay to print using my printer, my ink, my paper.
You know I was actually tipped off by some people over at another coaster site that a lot of parks have a similar charge for their print tickets; however SF is charging the most. I guess the parks treat it as a convenience fee of sorts, I mean I can’t really see any other reason for the surcharge.
loved that place went from 86 to 1990 loved motor wolrd and the indy cars fastest go cart ive ever been on got kicked off in 89 hit a cone or tire went over thew yellow line god i miss that place also went on aero ride first year it opened that was fun sad to see it in ruins ps any one know where i can buy one of those cars ?
This ride I personal don’t like it spins around really fast and you get whiplash like crash the first time you ride it you’ll not want to go on it anymore. But if you like REALLY fast rides you must go on this ride
GREAT trip report, if you know what i mean π
I really enjoyed it!
Thanks! I try to make every trip report a great adventure.
π
Unfortunately I don’t have an official website for it but my town, North Brunswick, holds a carnival every June called the North Brunswick Youth Sports Festival. The rides are owned/operated by Amusements of America and they usually have the Space Roller. This year’s festival will be held Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14 and again Wednesday, June 17 through Sunday, June 21 at the Devry University on route 1. Try not to go on any of the Saturday night’s, they have fireworks shows which bring in just about the entire population of not only North Brunswick but all surrounding towns.
Hey thanks, I’ll add it to the list; it sounds like a pretty good fair actually!
We hold many fairs in NJ from May through mid of July with two seperate units. You can check our schedule @ http://www.amusementsofamerica.com/events_current.htm
In addition to the Space Roller, we now have new rides like the Extreme, Zero Gravity, & Hog Wild.
Glad you could stop by and see the show, also glad you didn’t tear into us like i see most of these reports do.
Mike
Blue Sky Amusements
What can I say, you run a very good fair with great looking rides. I’ll be looking forward to next year’s show.
Thanks for dropping by!
Thank You!
We just finished adding some more LED’s to the Riptide. We added them to the bottom, front and sides of the gondola.
After doing a google search for water slide, I came across a youtube video of a loop slide in germany. I got curios and googled loop slide and found all this information on this ridicouls ride at action park! Since webates have sparked my intrest in action park and looking at pictures, I’ve relized this was a place my father use to vist. I have pictures of my parent visting this death trap.
Although the picuters show a water slide that was long and horzitial with long bumps. Can anybody tell wich ride this was?
Long horizontal slide with bumps sounds like either Kamikaze or Surf Hill.
Kamikaze was a single slide built into a hill with 3 or 4 small/medium sized drops before ending in a pool.
Surf Hill was like one very wide slide with 8 or so lanes which traveled down 4 or 5 hills before ending.
can you post any pics you have of action park? starting a history site
The only photos I have from the park were from the Mountain Creek days unfortunately.
Are you dutch, or do you speak dutch?
(I’m from Belgium.)
No I don’t speak Dutch; all I know is what I managed to arrange in Google Translate to come up with a coherent sentence. lol
I also added in a function to edit comments for a period of time after it has been posted.
It says Lights, Motors, Action! was added without taking anything out, but this is not true. An entire section of the Backlot Tour was gutted out in order to make way for LMA.
Oops, I’ll have to do my research better next time. Thanks for the correction Bob!
I still like the Loop -O-Plane . Great ride. Took many long rides on this. What I would like to do on this ride is to do over 100 revolutions in each direction for a total of over 200 plus.
I have seen many videos of the Inversion. I really can’t wait to ride this. This one I would like to take a real long ride on and at the same time while the ride is going top speed, having the individual gondolas flip at the same time. Give me the longest, most intense ride on this, 20 minutes plus.
I rode this ride once and only once. I was 14 and with my brother who had just turned 16. I remember we were waiting for everyone to load when all of a sudden the ride began. I must say it literally scared the life out of me. We were completly sideways the whole time and the only thing holding us in was a bar that didn’t even touch our bodies. We were pressed together against the hard plastic and I was screaming so hard I eventually lost my voice. I actually began sobbing at one point. We were going so fast everything was a blur. When the jackass carnie finally stopped he opened our bar and said “Oh wait the bar is broken sorry folks gotta wait for the next seats to come around.” I was dizzy, disoriented and actually fell to my knee’s to kiss the ground I walked on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdPmmfT38I4
A video of yoyo collapsing
dude i wish the zipper at our carnival would go as fast as that Austrailian one. lol its not even scary, its probally one of the best carnival rides ever in existance and if you dont like thrill dont go on it everyone knows who dares to go on it knows that ther is a risk thats what makes it awesome dude fo sho π
i think the one at our area is like not as intense cause its like a total easy ride
Some are definately worse than others. I think the rim-driven versions where the wheel is permanently on an angle are the worst because the cars rock like crazy while getting up to speed.
ive ridden the fireball b4 and its like an o.k. ride but i perfer the zipper lol and sometimes when you go on and they like hold you upside down for like 15 secs or so you start to black out lol but its an ok ride so watev
this ride looks so boring
hello
i see you like matterhornΒ΄s
i have one and i buit in usa
snow ball express
is like new now and runs like a champ
if you like to see go to ride db (snow ball dance)
snow dance 4 in you tube
enjoy bye
Do the cars swing so night that they go upside down
Hi there I just stumbled across this site while reading up (geeking) on Breakdances. You’re right about the one that was at Astroland, it was the best operated I’ve been on outside of Europe. So sad it’s gone now :'(
It’s really funny reading about your American rides, they look so ghetto! heehee. Anyway I just wanted to confirm what you said about the third Bussink Evolution. It’s called ‘Imperator’ and is legendary over here. It’s the largest flat ride that ever travelled.
It did the German circuit for a long time but disappeared in the mid Nineties. Luckily it has made one or two outings since then but it’s still a rare sight. I’ve never seen it in person but from the photos it’s incredible to think that this thing is movable! It’s owned by Eberhard, who also own one of two Mondial Inferno’s. Their’s is called Airwolf and travels in Germany. The other Inferno is called Night Fly and can be seen in France.
Here are some photos of Imperator: http://www.ridesdb.com/db/thumbpic.php?ride_id=151
Enjoy!
Hey Daisy!
Imperator is certainly an incredible ride; I also can’t beleive they managed to move it around so much in its heyday. Like, it might be a ‘traveling ride’ but I’ve also heard that it took something like 8-10 vehicles to move! Last I heard, Imperator is in China somewhere but no one has spotted it.
Now that Imperator is is MIA and Evolution #1 is effectively a park model, maybe it’s time for the mysterious third Evolution to make an appearence somewhere!
And yes, most American rides are ghetto looking but in their defense most were made in the 60s and 70s. However, there really hasn’t been many notable US manufactured rides since then. lol
Thanks for stopping by!
I was doing a search on action park just to see what would come up and I came across this site. I was also curious about the “Cannonball Loop Slide”. I remember going there when I was a kid and seeing this crazy looking slide that had a loop, but the slide always appeared abandoned and completely shut down. I remember hearing stories that a woman snapped her neck in the loop, but these were all just rumours , or course. I find it so cool and fascinating to read the stories of the people who actually rode that slide, (and made it out alive) major props to you. π Would be great if someone posted up a video of the most dangerous slide ever created.
I had a lot of memories of Action Park going there as a kid, no major injuries, just a few head bumps and scrapes, minor compared to some people. I remember my brother tricked me into going down one of the slides in the lower area (in the freezing cold water). He said “oh it’s just a tiny slide”, little did I know that it had a 20 ft drop at the end of it. lol I was only about 9 years old, but I was a good swimmer. I remember the girl asked me before I went on the slide if I could swim and I thought, that’s odd why is she asking me this. lol I also remember the one tube slide next to that area, The Gauley, (I believe that was the name of it). It was fun, but you would sometimes get stuck in certain areas and have to push yourself down, and of course you would sometimes smash into people and sometimes pile up. I also remember the cannon slides which I ended up banging my head around one of the turns in the tube, then being spit out into ice cold water and barely being able to catch my breath. The wave pool was insane, the waves were oddly big, you could drown very easily if you weren’t a good swimmer. The kamikaze was surprisingly fast, probably one of the best slides at the park and the Geronemo Falls slides were crazy, at the end of the ride you had a dental floss for a bathing suit. π I definitely want to make it out to Mt. Creek one of these days just to experience the waterslide thrills once again…
thats exactly what im searching for any pics of old action park or videos of the cannonball slide
I would really like to take some really long rides on this, more than 7 minutes plus on one ride and going over the top a high number of times. KMG really came out with a winner on this one.
I also hope that High Energy makes it to the United States. Love to take real long rides on this. Space Roller, rode this countless times and in some cases received some real long rides on this.
Hey Dave, when the Power Surge was at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights New Jersey, I made a bet with the ride operator that I could ride this over 100 times for the summer season. He took me up on that and got me on the ride when there was seats available. Sure enough I was successful in doing over 100 times.
Central Elementary School in Great Meadows, NJ will have a carnival on Saturday, October 3, 2009. It will be held at the Field of Dreams or at Great Meadows Middle School (if inclement weather). The carnival will run from 12-5pm. We have an awesome animal theme. There will be games, prizes, vendors, activities, moonbouncers, contests, and much more! The amazing band “Reverse Order” will perform. The event is a playground fundraiser.
@ ricardo: That is a beautiful matterhorn! I really like the light package and you seem to run it very fast as well…just the way they should be run!
For anyone who wants to see Ricardo’s Snow Ball Dance, I have the video under the Matterhorn section of this post.
@ Bruce: Inversion looks like a great ride and I’ve actually heard that one was sold to an American showman named Tim Casper of PBJ Happy Days Shows. I’m not sure where they run but at least the US has at least 1 Inversion for now.
They had a Tempest at my local fair. Yep, it had chains for seat belts. And you had to be 2 inches taller to ride it than you had to be for their Zipper. WTF?
I need someone to send me a manual on how to set this ride up
If I could, I would like to attempt to take a four hour non-stop ride on the fastest Zipper in Australia. The thing is that I live in the US. If there is anyone who has this ride and is willing to set it at the fastest speed, I would really like to attempt to take at least a four hour non stop ride. What’s great is that you are at the mercy of the dynamics of the ride, where you have no control of the rocking and flipping. Anybody that is willing to speed up their Zipper ride and permit me to attempt a four hour ride can contact me at bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
Hi kind seen you like to find someone who can ride zipper with you for that long here in person if i was close to you here or i could i would do that for you and ride on xipper with you for that long in person and take ever bit of it as much as you can handly it for ride zipper for that long with you in person i would that be so nice you know get to ride on zipper for that long be so cool in person get to you know.David
@ DoD3 Brian: I sent two faxes to Tim Casper asking him if he could have his new Inversion appear at a few fairs in Florida, as of the last time I heard, the ride was to be delivered in December 2009. I’ve also contacted others urging Tim to consider this. I don’t know where you are, but in the winter there are many fairs in Florida, while at the same time, the rest of the US is cold. The Inversion is the newest ride that I would like to attempt to take a real long non-stop ride of more than twenty minutes. Anyboby who sees this and can be of furthur help, my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Here are some other of the most insane rides that I would like to go on and also take long record setting rides. They are Discovery, Speed Flip, Twin Flip, Hard Rock, Space Roller, Tango, Evulution, High Energy, Loop O Plane, Enterprise, Power Surge, Evolution, Experience, Extasy, King Loop(Shake),
Adrenaline, Skyscraper, Speed, Booster, Vortex and mentioned before the Zipper. On the bungee slingshots, Ejection Seat, Vertical Accelerator and Rocket. Anybody that has any pull and contacts, my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
skerbeck entainment group own a twin flip and a loop in michigan there really fun both rides coming to my fair in kinross michigan
i mean loop o plane also they bought a kmg inversion that will debut next year in michigan
This is a very fun ride. at some fairs i go to, this ride runs like really slow. and at others, its like really intense and fast. But IDK.
I’ll even attempt to ride the Loop-O-Plane for maybe a few hours non-stop, with the ride going at the fastest speed. Great Ride. If there is anybody that wants to take me up on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Hi Roller, another great ride. Would like to attempt to ride it for at least two hours. Anyboby want to take me up on this bdbdll1940@yahoo.com
I know of one of the carnival companies that still has one. I’ve been on it many times and I would be receptive to attempting a two hour non-stop on this. If anybody wants to take me up on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I just love this ride it is very fun so I don’t get what y’all complaining about and once you get it spinnining oh boy is it a wild ride.
I still can’t figure out what this person in the comment above is trying to bring out. Anyway my aim is to attempt to ride the Zipper for three or four hours, riding solo. The less weight in the cage results in more action. Hopefully some day this could have the possibility of happening.
i know i commented on someone elses comment, but i wanted to comment on this artical, its GREAT! the descriptions were pretty much dead on. what sucks is i had a lot typed up and some how it didnt get posted, now i dont remember it lol.
i loved this place as a kid. I started going ~90-91, which would make me about 10. im proud to say i went the last year it was open, since it says it was closed in 96. i moved to the south in 95 and swore i went back twice, but it must have been once.
we would run up and down thoses hills barefoot, which would burn and cut ur feet all up, but we didnt care. i loved this place because they didnt care about ur size or age for anything, and at 10 doing these rides you loved it. i rode everyride/slide except cannonball loop, (which was never open while i was there, thankgod cause my stupid young ass would have done it) many many times, avoiding serious injury somehow. my dad would never let me do the areododim for some reason, lol. the wiki says that it would bring u 6-7 feet up, but im here to tell u ive seen people go up higher then the building, i remember thinking to myself “he’s dead if he doesnt go back down correctly to land on the padding!” i loved every ride, some more then others, but top 2 was probly the cliff jump, and the tall ass strait down slide (which had a chain net covering the first 15′ or so down so u wouldnt fall out). i remember only weighing maybe 90 pounds, i wouldnt even be on the slide, it was a free fall till it curved out. im sad to find out these 2 rides are gone at the new mountain creek.
i did the motor park a little. wish i would have know the tennis ball trick, lol. i did wreck the cars though, being 12 in my memory of the motorpark, the only pedal i used was the gas (which was always on the floor). shot the tennis ball cannon many times, and yes the best part was shooting the helpless employees, lol
im gonna go back one day, but its so less appealing now that my favorite rides and others are gone, but my curiousty wont let me not go so i can look in theses areas and see what is or isnt there for myself. i’ve always wished it was still around, but in the back of my mind knew based on my memories that there was no way it could still be today(not in its true glory anyway). as i look back all i can think is “holy shit that really did happen!”
I’ve seen videos of the Hard Rock. Looks like a real great ride. I like the dynamics of this ride. Unfortunately this ride appears in the Southwestern part of the United States and is not at any of the fairs in Florida. I would want to attempt to take at least a three hour ride on this, as I really like insane rides that provide constant flipping motion. If anybody who sees this has any connection to this ride my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I know the owner of the Hard Rock….. He is my Friend!!!
I’ve been on the Tango many times. This is really a fabulous ride. The seats could be better, but because the ride is great I overlook that. This is another ride that I would like to attempt to take a ride on this for several hours and set a record for the longest ride. Anybody who sees this and has any connections my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Tango is THE BOMB of a ride!! A true thrill from the moment your dangling feet leave the platform! MORE PLEASE!!!
Talk about being flailed around like a rag doll in the sky!!! Limbs literally flying everywhere! LOL! Sadly I only saw it once at the Cali State Fair years ago, but it certainly delivered the bang for the buck! Must have been on it 25-30 times that week.
I want one in my backyard!!
I’ve ridden the Breakdance my fair share of times; there’s one running at Six Flags: Kentucky Kingom.
Sadly, it’s one where the operators don’t care. The first ride I had on it was fun, but after that I could sit and yawn. =/
55 mins for a Mouse!!! You’re crazy haha.
I wouldn’t wait more than 15 minutes for any ride, even a Top Scan or Capriolo. Usually if a fair is really busy I’ll just hang around and soak up the atmosphere and get some grub then come back when it’s a bit quieter (I’m kinda impatient in queues π )
The Rock n Roll Matterhorn looks good. Has some nice theming.
Yeah that was bad, but that 35 minute wait to get on the junky little dark ride was worse. lol
To be honest I can’t stand lines either but it was like either we wait in line or we don’t ride anything; it was just so ridiculously crowded! Even near closing, the lines were still bad.
hello did you ever try the spaceroller, or the fireball?
I certainly have! Space Roller is one of my favorite rides actually. Fireball makes me a little nauseous though; I’m not into the swinging rides too much anymore!
Just give me a four hour non-stop ride on the fastest, most intense Zipper ride. Besides breaking the record for the longest ride, add in 250 non-stop flips,breaking the old record of 167, during the four hour ride. I’m ready to go for it. I’m sure that there is somebody that can acommodate me on this. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Hey Bruce I got u beat twicw fold try 540 non stop
im going to get on the zipper for the first time and im nervous can anyone tell what feels like to be on it would help email at tmcline904@aol.com
Jeannie nothing to be nervous about. You’re rocking and flipping as the cage goes forward and backwards. I’m sure that you’ve seen the ride operate. If you read my comments and I’m very serious that I want to attempt these marathon rides, your taking a three minute ride should be a piece of cake.
Go for it.
@ Do D3 Brian Here’s an update on the Inversion that Tim Casper purchased. I read that this ride will be on exhibit at the IISF Super Trade Show and Extravaganza in Gibsonton Florida. This will be taking place while the Florida State Fair is going on. My suggestion is after the trade show is over, bring the ride to the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City and open it up to the public. The Strawberry Fest. takes place about two weeks after the trade show and is about a 30 minute drive from Gibsonton. Where it goes beyond that I do not know. I did send Tim Casper a fax asking him to consider taking the ride to Plint City.
I would like to attempt to take a four hour ride on this. Great ride. Rode it many times and in some cases long rides at a few fairs in Florida. Looking to attempt to set a record for the longest ride on the Space Roller. E-Mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I’ve seen Keansburg Amusement Park before I moved to Florida. If I was to come back into the area I would really like to attempt to take a real long marathon ride on the Loop-O-Plane. My aim is to attempt to set a record for the longest ride, at least an hour, but could go for more. E-Mail bdbell1940@yahoo.com
I am looking to break the record by a healthy margin of the number of flips by a group from On Ride De, where they did 107 non-stop flips on the Top Spin. If anybody sees this and has connections, so this possible record setting ride could possibly take place my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. Target is 250 flips or more.
As I child my cousin and I went on the zipper repeatedly at the local fair, until one fateful ride when we flipped 40+ times over the course of the ride. Our previous record was 10 or so. I just remember a ton of loose change flying around our cart, my cousin counting the flips out loud, and me laughing hysterically at every flip. I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely love the Zipper. It’s the only ride I’ve ever been on that actually makes me laugh. It’s not scary at all. Every time I see it, I have to stop and go on it.
Unfortunately, the newer models have heavier cages to decrease the amount of spin and thus decrease the amount of pressure on the door. I went on what I’m assuming was a newer model about a year ago and barely spun at all, it was very disappointing. I guess the fact that it’s been 10+ years since that fateful 40+ spin ride and I’m probably twice as big now didn’t help. Never the less, I will stop and ride the Zipper any chance I get.
Does anyone know of a website that you can use to track down zippers near you? I live in Chicago, and I’ve seen a few carnivals out in the suburbs before, but very few of them have the Zipper.
I just read the write up on one that was beside one of the videos on the Discovery ride. Even though the spelling was in french, it was easy to interpert that some individuals set a world record by doing 412 flips in a 10 minute period. If anybody who reads this and has connections to a top spin type ride like the Top Spin, Space Loop, Mavrick or any other ride of this type, I would like to attempt to break that record. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I’d like to do it in the Discovery ride, but unfortunately this ride is not in the United States.
I remember going so often with my friends we used to plan trips to go mid week, when it was cold and cloudy. That way the park was empty. We would complete every ride before lunch, eat, and then repeat.
Surf hill was the best. The ramp in lane 7 and 8 were great but when the lines were long, we would fight, literally, for lane 3. it was the best. We would line up in lane 1,2,4,5. On βthreeβ we would run half way down the slide and jump onto the neighboring chute, claw at your friend who is already sliding, and jump in front of him who would grab you to slow you down. We were not gentle. The person who crossed the water at the end, in lane 3 won. Bruises ensued. Thankfully the laughter always beat out the contusions. Mitch once hit the water so fast he skipped over it and as he was about to ram the padding, he ducked his head and went right under. Four people had to pry him out. He was king for the day and operations on the slide never even slowed down.
That place Rocked!
The log flume is still there!
Thanks for the correction; I have no idea how I messed up that one!
I worked in Wharton and use to go there back in the late 80’s. We would get out of work at 3 and be there by 4. They use to discount after 3 or 4. It was always pretty empty people would be leaving at that time of the day.
Anyway, I’m surprised I lived. Beer sales were real lax up there, it didn’t matter how tanked or young (sometimes) you were.
Geronimo Falls was my favorite, saw quite a few lost tops from the girls that rode it. Everybody got a wedgie.
Tarzan Swings was great to watch folks get faced.
No place was really safe, I’ve read people use to meet up with snakes on the Miniature Golf Course.
Our Boss hated the place, everytime we went there. We would always be all banged up the next day (with leftover beer buzz),we were pretty much worthless for half the day. that’s if we even showed up.
Thanks For posting this Brian.
There will never be another place like Action Park.
Good Times!
God Bless Action Park!!!!!!!!!
damn, yall gota pay for parking?! dat suck glad we dont. an dat’s the same fair company that be coming to my town
“You all”, “have to”, “That”, “sucks”, “and”, “that’s”, “that IS”, “town.”
The Evolution is ok. Rode this piece many times and wish it could be something more. The ride sensation is to predictable. Too much engineering involved which I feel takes the experience away. We have a couple of big fairs in California which feature both Evolution, and a Zipper. Zipper always out grosses the Evolution. Not bad for a ghetto ride.
I had a few friends of mine from Germany, visit the states. I brought to one of our local fairs. Our fair features everything including an Evolution, Tango, Experience, several other KMG pieces and a ton more. The first thing they wanted to ride was Zipper. They were blown away by its wickedness, and rode it several more times throughout the day. Funny thing is, they stayed away from the european built rides we had, and only wanted to ride the American versions.
Nothing notable? Gravitron is a classic and not from the 70’s. LOL. Tilt A Whirl by far is the classic of all rides worldwide.
You want to ride a good Thunderbolt? Go to Chicago, A company called Spectacular Midways has a Music Fest which I feel you will love. Its an older model but I know for a fact, the company babies that thing. It gives you IMO the smoothest ride ever. I’m a Flying Bobs, Music Fest, Thunderbolt, Alpine Bobs fan, out of all the ones I have ridden on. Spectacular’s is the best.
Powers Flying Bobs is Chance built. There’s actually a few chopped version Flying Bobs outhere these days. Gives that european look, and saves on set up, and tear down, and your second trailer is a 28ft pup oppose to the standard 40 foot second trailer.
The no single rider rule does suck, but with money hungry lawyers, stupid people, and fun loving insurance companies ready to raise your rate, this is why the no single rider rule is enforced.
I remember being on the cliff dive looking down at people swimming way too close to the divers and landing right next to them surprised no one was smashed there, but action park was the best thing ever built….new jersey must find a way to build something similar.
Also remember being scared as sh**, but saw everyone else was ok with it so when in rome!!!! LIVE ON TRACTION PARK
This site and reading peopleβs experiences bring back some awesome memories. Surf Hill and all the stories about people crashing into the padding, getting wedged into it and how the employees would eat at the base of hill while being entertained by the injuries are just remarkable. Hereβs my experience.
I get to the base of brand new Surf Hill with some friends and weβre told the ride is closed and canβt go on it. Itβs just been built and the surface is brilliant blue. We stand around watching people go down for awhile, apparently trying out the ride. Looks like its open to us so we let the attendants know weβd like to give it a try and are given permission. First time down was fun, though a little bumpy. It feels like the polyurethane foam has just been laid down directly on top of the rocks underneath. I make a note to myself to keep my hands and soft parts on the slide so I donβt get any bone chips.
Second time is when the fun starts. Surf Hill when it was brand new was not the way most people remember it. There was the same 80 feet or so of vertical as you slide down, then maybe an 8β deep puddle, less than in later years, then a slight upslope to slow down and get thisβ¦ NO padding at the end!!! I go zipping down fast, blow right through the puddle and straight into the gravelly dirt at the base! For everyone who smacked into the padding, imagine the ride brand new with no padding and not even any grass at the end, just gravel and dirt. That was my last time on Surf Hill and, like the employees on lunch break, I then stood around at the end waiting for the next person to get injured.
I loved this ride when I was a kid. They used to raise up to a vertical position when I first started riding them but I haven’t seen one do that in years.
My favorite carnival ride of ALL time!! I have to ride one every time I see one near me tho it has gotten harder lately-all of the ones I’ve encountered in the past few years have a “must have 2 riders” rule. I’m not sure what that is all about. There are no lateral forces in the ride so you’re not going to be slung from side to side even if you ride alone and in the VERY unlikely chance that the door opens mid ride your partners is gonna hang on for dear life first and keep you in the car second–LOL. This is one of the few rides that can still take my breath away when you go around the edge just right and start the 10+ flips w/out stopping. Pure heaven!!!
I went to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk today. Back in the 70’s my Dad took me several times there, where I would ride “The Trabant” over and over. Sadly, it no longer exists at the Park. My friends don’t remember this ride at all, thanks to your video I can at least show them what it looked like. BTW, what is the name of the song playing?
Cheers!
Hey Jess,
Yeah these rides aren’t seen too much at amusement parks anymore however a lot of carnivals seem to have them now. For instance, there’s like four original Trabants traveling around the NJ-NY area right now!
The song is ‘Twilight’s Last Gleaming’ by High Contrast.
Thanks for dropping by!
The 31 Flavors ride was awesome!!!
There’s a special going on, only half a soul gets you two rides! π
The most headache inducing ride I’ve ever been on.
I’ve never ridden one of these but it looks really cool – kind of like the old Troika ride on steroids. I HAVE ridden a Force 10 though and it was the fastest spinning ride I’ve EVER been on. The seat I was in was sorta loose and it popped every time I neared the ground (when the wheel was tilted at the highest point.) I figured I’d either make one hell of a hole in the ground or a really nice arc into the parking lot night sky if it came loose. I don’t think I could ride that again now. Just too intense!!
I’m surprised there’s no mention of how many bikini tops came off at this place. My girlfriend lost her top on the tarzan swing the first time she tried it. Everyone got wedgies on the water slides. Funny it did not seem so dangerous at the time, but I do remember all the topless girls from teh crazy water rides.
That was the best part about working there! I would goto surf hill with some curly fries (i worked food an bev) and watch the tops and sometime bottoms ply off!!!! what a great place to grow up lol
I rode this ride at the Calidonia Fair, Vermont. I was not prepared for how scary it was or for how long it lasted. I was quite dazed afterwards.
i love this ride, but what songs do they play on it in 2009 ?
Well, from what I’ve seen, most Himalaya rides play either mid-90s techno, hip-hop, or old school rock. Whatever the person running it likes gets played I guess.
They had one at my local fair a year or two ago and the operator will play song with death or dyeing in the song. When I rode the song “Die young” by me$ha played. Lol
It depends what type of music the ride operator likes if i was a ride operator of a wisdom version Himalaya i would play Rock music.
Seeing a listing for the zipper reminds me of that other carnival ride that I thought might make the of wtcr list. It seems that every carnival that came to my small US town when I was growing up either had a zipper or a rocket (I think that’s what it was called it had these cars that were white and blue and shaped like rockets or bullets).
Are you talking about the Sidewinder or Roll-O-Plane? Here’s a picture of it: http://www.joyrides.com/kennywood/roll_o_plane.htm
the rolaplane is a great ride
i am so curious how u get all of these pictures from all of these different carnivals
I check out carnival routes on different sites before the season starts and note which ones that I want to visit. Of those, I end up only going to about 60% which is like 8-12 fairs.
Since you checked out this fair in NYC, have you ever visited that small amusement park in Central Park called Victorian Gardens? I wanted to squeeze it into my recent trip, but I there just wasn’t enough time. Looks small, but the views look pretty cool with the skyscrapers and trees in the background.
I’ve heard about the park but never actually went there. I just checked out their site and it’s actually a bit bigger than I thought; I was under the assumption that it was just a carousel and maybe something else. Doesn’t look too interesting in terms of rides but it may very well provide some good photo ops being in Central Park like you said.
where Is the alpine pipeline?
Where? I thought you said that you went on it! lol
Around 1990, our high school in San Jose CA had a carnival with rides one year. I was really daring, but my best friend was not. The carnival was not doing very good and most of the rides sat there not running for lack of guests. This ride looked like a tame Ring-Of-Fire and I talked him into going on it. We got and and it started going around the track and I was happy that it was slow. But then, all of sudden, the ride did something that I never suspected. The entire track started to rotate! I was extremely scared… Not that I was going to die, but that my friend was going to throw up on me! Some how we made it through, and although I have never seen one of these again I’ve never forgotten it!
Your post made me smile. LOL
Edward, I saw your comments on the two rider rule on the Zipper. This is a rediculous rule initated by Chance Rides, the people who manufactured this ride. You’re right, there are no side to side forces. I’ve suggested that the operators of the ride put in like a dummy or an inflateable to take the place of a second rides, but Chance Rides ignored all my faxes on that. These people are very rude and they are definitely not customer friendly. If the person that goes to a fair with you and he or she does not want to ride the Zipper or you go by yourself, you are penalized as you can’t ride the Zipper solo. Chance Rides does not care. Like I said, this single rider restriction is totally rediculous!!!!!
Bruce,
I finally read why there is a 2 rider rule. Seems that if the single rider is small enough there is the possibility that he/she can turn sideways and get out from under the restraining lap bar!! Theoretically I guess that can happen but you’d have to be a really good contortionist. I still think it’s a bad rule!!
I wonder if the 2 rider rule still exists bc i just rode the newest version at south fl fair a few days ago.the newest model actually has roller coaster harnesses inside which are adjustable for each individual person and they pretty much keep you from going anywhere.the older ones didnt have harnesss and had a bar that always bruised you from the jerking and shaking!the ride is actually alot smoother but the cool thing is that u spin all the way around more and the cage itself fells alot more open so not as tightly cramped…love it!
I wish the LA Fair had those harnesses!
My daughter cried so hard and I am left w/
2 baseball sized bruises on my legs.
Scarred us for life π
Hello.
If you look on this website http://www.ridesdb.com it lists all the current rides being built.
I am interested to see what your inversion ride will look like, as I am a keen fair enthusiast. All the current ones that have been produced look stunning, the most recent being one in Germany called ‘Flip Fly’. If you want to youtube a video of it, just type in flip fly clauss kermis into youtube and you’ll see it in action, the lighting is second to none. Clauss is the showmans surname and flip fly is the name given to the ride. There’s even one which is now on tour in australia and as you will see from the ridesdb website, one has now been ordered for spain, so KMG Rides are having quite good success despite the current economic downturn.
Hope you enjoy the ride when it arrives and please let us know if you upload videos of it onto youtube. If you want to contact me my email is maguire245@hotmail.com
Reguards, HFM
This is an OK ride but it’s not nearly as intense as a Saturn 6.
I agree, Saturn 6 is a bit more more intense than Hurricane, mostly because the cars go sideways and it’s a bit unnerving. I don’t like Hurricane as much because of the awful lateral forces; they should at least give the cars a bit more tilt! Although I don’t know if I can ride these types anymore as I came off Saturn 6 really nauseous on my last ride some two years ago.
Hey I rode all these rides for years. I even got to ride the cannonball 2…referred here as the cannonball loop…did it 4 times in a row then they closed it. Me and my friends recalled all the attendants that were there kept saying whatever you do don’t lift your head and there were 4-5 attendants in the dispensory pool all very helpfull while you recovered your conciousness. That was an awesome ride!!! Awesome!!! I flew off the side of the expert Alpine Slide…thought I was gonna die but ended up unscathed….I want to win the lottery and buy the place for myself.
HFM First of all I tried to email you at the address above and it was returned. There are many videos of the Inversion on You Tube. Just write Inversion Ride, click search and you’ll see a few choices on You Tube. That will show you the ride. By the way Flip Fly is another name they gave the Inversion at Oktoberfest 2009, also out on You Tube. I hope to see this ride when it will be on exhibit at the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Florida this February as I live near there. Ive been urging the owner to put it in a few fairs after the show so the public and yours truly will be able to ride it, before it goes to other parts of the US. I am a real big ride enthusiast when it comes to the fairs and I go on the most rambunctious rides that are offered. My e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. Good Luck.
soy de mexico, amigos algien que tenga todo sobre zipper desde sus conecciones hasta su forma de ensamblar, porfavor, a mi padre le vendieron uno, pero no funciona, le daremos mantenimiento para ponerlo a trabajar cualquier cosa porfavor enviar informacion.
yahir_88@hotmail.com
soy de mexico, friends, anyone who has any zipper from their connections on their way to join up, please, my father sold him one, but does not work, we will put you to work maintenance for anything please send information.
Back in the mid through late 70’s, Himalayas all played Electric Light Orchestra- cranking so loud, you could hear it in the parking area 2 blocks away! Those were the best times to ride these beasts. The operators were NUTS and they did some pretty crazy & entertaining stunts on and off of the moving sleds. Thanks for the nostalgia. I’m ready to go ride one right now!! – JJ ’71
the late great johnny j alive and at large in the great state of Alabama. just being a little nostalgic. as I think back your right we really were a little crazy back then…thanks for the memories of lost times
p/s back then we were the only super Himalaya in America and we had 24 cars with a power supply designed by nasa.
It’s best to smoke a bunch of weed and ride it!
well it’s true I worked on the Himalaya that was on west 12th street, my name is Jessie and to me them were the best times I ever had me,andy,elliot,keda,david,tony,wayne,shatek, and the owners paul and his brother bob. befor them mr.singer owend it and that was back in 1969,I don’t where the ride is now but will say this.(if anyone is still around from the old days all I will say is this) DO YOU WANNA GO ONE MORE TIME. them were good times
Hello Jessie Iused to work in coney I worked many years with Mark and Ralph at the cavalcade bumper cars on surf avenue with Tommy his brother Henry and Eddie Morroco then I worked with Sandy Fitlin and his son Scott at the Eldorado Auto Skooter Ride by the way what happened to Elliot he was one of my homies back then do you have any contact information on him I would appreciate it GOD BLESS STAY SAFE
Scottie from Eldorado was one of my best friends. He got me into house and electronic dance music. I miss him, he was a great man.
I remember there was a super hemi for a show I worked for it was a rebuild of an old theme park ride that was customized to be able to travel to the state fairs. And the best time was always when they start playing like heavy metal Slayer Pantera the faster the metal part of The Rock usually the crazier the operator and of course I get to know all the operators and I would sometimes ride it with just me and another operator or something like that at closing time and oh my God this thing could probably kill it I got beat up by it many great nights I loved it. What it was capable of just blew me away. Loved it.
do u know the main dates and events that fright fest holds at the location u went to?
Fright Fest is running every Friday-Saturday-Sunday until November 1st at Six Flags Great Adventure. Here’s the schedule at the Six Flags website: http://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/info/parkinfo.aspx
I was one of the operators of the Morey’s Piers Musik Express during the 2009 season. She was my beloved baby!
One Time The Loop-o-Plane Came To My Town Burney CA USA It Was Almost The Scarest Ride I Went On But The Zipper Wa The Scarest
I am looking for anybody out there who has any connection to anybody in the carnival trade. What I want to do is to attempt to go for the longest non-stop ride on the most insane rides that appears regularly at the fairs. That includes the new ride coming to the United States in February, the Inversion, also known as the Dominator. Other rides I’m interested in doing this is the Zipper(Which I’ve ridden for more than an hour), Tango, Speed Flip, Space Roller, Hard Rock, Space Loop, Experience and Speed. Also looking to set a record for the most launches in a row on a slingshot type ride that uses bungee cords(not any of the Funtime rides, as they use wires and springs and their rides lack action). If anybody knows of any connection in that area my email is bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
Hey Bruce, you should try asking over at the Matt’s Carnival Warehouse forums (link.) A lot of showmen and carnival employees congregate at that board to talk about anything carnival related. Maybe you can find a connection over there.
Good luck man!
I have been e-mailing Matts Carnival Warehouse on that. I’m very serious about wanting to ride the Inversion. Not only do I want to ride it once, but I would like to ride this many times. I also would like to attempt to take a real long marathon ride on it, like I did when I rode the Zipper for one hour plus non-stop. Zipper, Id like to attempt a three hour non stop ride on that, one that is in Australia where it is faster than the ones in the US. any connection for marathon long rides on the Inversion and Zipper my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Bruce, I am a very big ride fan and I know of hundreds of Inversion videos, sorry if that wasn’t clear lol.
I can’t understand why my email was returned, maybe it’s on private.
I’ll send you a test email so you can reply.
Harrison,
This Inversion ride is fairly new, came out on the carnival scene in mid 2008.
There is one coming to the United States in a few months. I’ve been contacting the owner by fax in order to have them to make this great ride available for the public to ride before he takes it out west. I don’t know any more as I had my computer in repair the past few days and I just hooked it up and now I am going through my emails. My email is bdbell1940@yahoo.com
DoD3 I have already tried Matts Carnival Warehouse and I plan to go to the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Fl. in February. I live about an hour from where the show is taking place. I also plan to contact Carnival Magazine, but at this point in time, I do not know how it will play out due to my part time job. The fairs have started up in Florida with the big fairs taking place after the first of the new year. I also hope that Tim Casper makes the Inversion available to the public, while the ride is in Florida.
i remember going to action park as a kid during the mid 80s to early 90s. as a kid, you never realize how dangerous the place really was. my father told me about the guy who got electrocuted a few years before we visited. so, my father took me to a park where someone was electrocuted in a water ride! ah, the 80s were such a different time! things were just more lax in general it seems. i hate great adventure, so action park was more fun. i went on the tarzan swing. i was only 10 or 11 and could barely reach the handle. i slipped off and belly floped into the pool! i didn’t get hurt, but everyone thought i did. i felt ok. but man that water was cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good times during a time when things were simpler. no way would action park have lasted today! i want to get to mountain creek, if only to reminisce about the place when it was action park.
Most of the Waterworld/Roaring Springs rides are still there, and most of them are unmodified, so to say Mountain Creek is just another scenc waterpark, IMO, isn’t correct. I was there over the summer, and of all the former Action Park rides still there, they all felt like they were haunted by the soul of the predecessor… I believe strongly especially since I nearly injured myself on the Colorado Rapids ride – head trauma almost inflicted from the continual head banging into head, and head banging into wall action.
Sarah Palin does have a rather large supporter base. Its hilarious when some of them are interviewed and cannot explain why they support her. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/23/palin-supporters-struggle_n_367800.html
Did she go on the amusement ride as well………..
My aim if I can get to ride on the Inversion is to attempt to do a minimum of 100 roll overs over the top of the ride, while spinning around the big arm at the same time. Very serious, really want to attempt this. Also would like to attempt a ride on this for a minimum of one hour, but could go longer. Any connection on this my e-mail is bdbell1940@yahoo.com.
You obviously have been on a different ride, the one at the local fair here in Australia) is absolutely F**ked. You would never go on it more than once, unless to prove a point. Totally unpleasant.
hope they dont put the artic circle back together it might electrocute a patron instead of an employee next time
Awesome pics. Do you have any shots of a racked Wisdom Storm?
No sorry, I don’t have any of Storm unfortunately.
the tempest i ran had seat belts i think it was updated though pain in the ass spin it by hand hold the break with your foot and hope they held the law now is seatbelts like a scrambler pattie can’t sell a ride makes money on parts all because a state run park had a couple of staff not trained not to jump on the ride when it’s moving 2 deaths in 2 years.
The KMG Inversions ride name for you in the U.S.A. has been confirmed as ‘Nemesis 360’.
P.S. – Bruce I know it’s the KMG Inversion, it was dutch owner Paul Otten of the Netherlands to have one in 2008, called ‘Dominator’. With KMG Rides being a dutch company, it was only right they would have one first.
Bruce, you also have no chance of:
[quote] My aim if I can get to ride on the Inversion is to attempt to do a minimum of 100 roll overs over the top of the ride [quote]
Simply because it is pre programmed to lock the cars above the angle of 90 degrees and cannot be bypassed due to H.S.E. and the computer being unable to be edited without a card from KMG rides, so good luck with that lol.
I went on a… very interesting version of a spin ride like this one time, at one of those cheesy parking-lot carnivals some strip malls have in the spring and summer to bring more people in. It had these heart-shaped cage-cars suspended overhead and you could spin the cars with a wheel located in between you and the other rider. I don’t remember the name but it was probably something extremely cheesy like “sweetheart swirl” or something. Really bizzare.
I actually think I know what you’re talking about! It’s a ride called Heart Flip that looks like a leftover from the 70s. Here’s a picture: http://bit.ly/7HAChr
I remember going on this one at one of those parking-lot carnivals… I was only freaked out because I was afraid the car would unbolt and hit the concrete, thoroughly splattering me. >.< Fun ride, though!
The Joker called. He says stop stealing his ride ideas. XD
Harrison:
It’s worth a try. I have also sent E-mails to KMG on that. I have a pass to attend the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton Florida this February. Which day I’ll be there is a question mark as I also have a part time job. I am hoping to ride this at the show and then after that I am hoping that the ride will be booked at a few fairs, before the ride leaves Florida. I am hoping that the Florida Strawberry Festival is one of the fairs as I have easy access to that event. I’ve seen some videos where some of the showmen in Europe permitted long rides with the cars flipping when they were swinging back and forth and I am hoping to take rides like that. Hope you have a Happy New Year. I can be reached at my e-mail at bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I’m also in contact with Matt Cook(Matts Carnival Warehouse) on this.
Harrison I just thought of this, there is a new ride put out by Technical Park called, I think the Looping Fighter and it looks like it is almost like the Inversion. It’s on Technical Park’s web site. I would love to ride this too.
The Alpine Slide was probably my favorite ride ever, anywhere. And it really wasn’t that bad, danger-wise. I rode that thing probably 20 times and I knew all the tricks and I always made sure to get a fast sled, and I rarely braked. I’d always catch up to the person in front of me and *then* I’d brake. I remember eventually I started asking the attendants to give the person ahead of me an extra-long head start – they’d do that for the more advanced riders. But I never came close to going over the edge, though I guess it was possible. The sleds did take some skill to “drive”, you weren’t just free-falling, you had to lean into turns the right way and sort of guide the sled down the track. I guess I learned that from doing log flumes with my brother when I was really young – we’d always get our log going so fast in the water that we’d catch up and bang into the people ahead of us. Most people don’t even know you can do that!
Anyway, I’m sad that the Alpine Slide is gone.
Nice backyard coaster! I haven’t seen that one yet and I just did a post about terrain coasters.
Yeah, that coaster is awesome! If you go to the Youtube page, the guy says that the track came with the house and used to be for a miniature railroad. I think he put it to good use. lol
An inversion will be in a St. Louis area (Webster Groves) carnival for the July 4th holiday.
If you haven’t seen, here’s what the Inversion looks like.
http://thrillseeker.travelingcarnivalmidways.com/?p=202
American showman Demas will also be purchasing an Inversion, however no name is confirmed as yet.
The Chip is Raymond Havelaar, formally presenter of the Dutch Play2Win: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwD93u08FBQ
I am really sorry to tell you that the Australian built zipper is actually the first model chance zipper which my family actually owns one and it can flip 600 times in a row or more so please would you like to try this one.
freshly refurbished.
3rd generation carny,
shawn edward jenkins
zipper operator
Hey Shawn, I would like to come to where ever you are and ride the Zipper that you’re referring to. Better still, I would like to take a world’s record setting in time ride, that would be four hours or more and at the same time do the 600 or more flips in a row. I’m game to do this if you could accommodate me. I hope your Zipper ride is set to go real fast and that may mean faster than the ones in Australia. I can be reached on my e-mail at bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I live in Florida USA and I like to go on the meanest of the thrill rides and I like when the ops make the rides real long. Again, I’m game to go for the 600 or more flips in a row.
Hi Shawn. Steve here, from Oregon (USA). Rode one of the earlier Zippers constantly as a teenager, though it was after the RPMs were adjusted down (still faster than the Zippers built since 1980), so I have the indelible memory of just how good the ride can be, and am obsessed with riding an Australian-built model, because they are so much closer to the original fast speeds. Is your family’s Zipper still operating in Australia? If I won the lottery, I’d love to see if Kevin Ferrari would build one for me to tour North America with. It’s 2018 now, 8 1/2 years since your post, so I don’t know if you’ll see this, but if you do, please write back if you’ve a mind to. I would love to ride a fast Australian Zipper ride someday! I’ll never forget the elastic intensity of the earlier-built ones, and the Australian ones clearly go faster than the ones in the US. Do you know if Dean Davis’s Zipper ride is still touring Australia, or if Kevin Ferrari is still manufacturing rides?
Steve Mariman
ride enthusiast
Portland, Oregon (USA)
im still tryin to name the ride i git on that has two boats. and they both turn opposite ways. and they go opposite ways. and swings upsidedown. i know the ride starts with a b. i dont know.
the ride that i rid was the bonzai.
I feel the same way about Scream Machine,its my favorite rollercaster I ever road and I’ve been on the new crap to.The only thing that competes with it is the fair ride the Zipper and theirs always one of them.I think Great Adventure should be focusing on the flatride issue and ride upkeep and let that other park have Chang.They haven’t had a new rollercoaster in 10 yrs. and are alays getting flatrides.When Great Adventure is loosing flatrides and getting coasters.They better invest wisely or I’m doing buisness else where.
Wow, it looks like a lot of work went into this. Thanks for the list
I’ve been going to Action Park/Mountain Creek since it opened and it is was the best place ever, Today it’s still fun but the crazy stuff is gone. My favorite stories were always going with my big brother who weighed like 275 pounds and would get beat up so bad when we went. I remember on the Alpine Slide he was wearing polyester coaches shorts and he wiped out and slid down the slide on his butt. When he got up his shorts had melted and were smoking. Surf Hill was also awesome in the expert lanes. I remember there was a 185 pound limit, but they let my brother do it. When he went off the ramp he completely missed the landing pool and went up the de-acceleration hill through the crash mats and took out three employees. This year they closed the Kamikaze slide which was one of my favorites. As you hit crest of each hill you would push of the slide and almost fly off the slide. My senior year in high school we went there for our senior trip and I did the ride so much I threw up on the ride home. I was really bummed to see that closed. I saw the looping water slide, but it was never open when I went to the park, man I would’ve liked to do that! The Colorado river Ride and other raft ride are great, but don’t fall off as I’ve done that a few times and tore up my back pretty good on the concrete slide. I thought it was a wrestling mat surface like surf hill, but boy was I wrong! Motorworld was fun but my brother dry docked the speed boat because he was to heavy and it wouldn’t go fast enough for him. They tried to throw us out, but when my brother asked them who they had who could throw him out, they decided to not try. Action/Traction Park was awesome and it gave me some of my fondest memories as a kid. I went down Cannonball Falls and the Tarzan Swing a bunch of times this weekend at the age of 45 just to remember how great and deadly it was!
It’s in Webster Groves, MO for the July 4th carnival.
This is one of the most unnerving flats rides I’ve ever been on. I had no idea those bicycle style restraints were so puny. It took a few minutes of flipping thru the air before I was able to relax and enjoy the ride. Definitely one of the best Spectaculars to come out in a while!!
It is a really nice ‘spectacular’ ride. Not only is the motion odd but the ride is really damned high as well! The seat had sort of a barely there feeling so it really was unnerving being up that high!
I hope it comes to the Minnesota state fair. We need some new rides!
I’m the newest operator for the Morey’s Piers Musik Express, and I love her already! Everything is controlled manually, so she’s a very fun ride to operate. I love it when I get a ride filled with enthusiastic people, especially. I miss the old Judas Priest backdrop myself; the underwater orchestra thing is a bit too cutesy for me.
Awesome, maybe I’ll see you on the Musik Express when I go down to Morey’s in August! The new backdrop isn’t too bad, I mean it fits the location I guess, but it kind of reminds me of Spongebob or something. lol
We were just there for spring beach jam 2011–I would love to know some of the playlists–they were fun!
Oh god, tell me about the height problems!
I work at Morey’s Piers, and most of the rides I operate are major ones: Musik Express, Maelstrom, Waveswinger, Sea Dragon, those guys. As such, the height requirements are generally high (Express and Maelstrom are both 52 inches, Waveswinger is 48, and Sea Dragon is 40 with an adult or 48 alone). I’ve run into so much drama over kids being too small to go on a ride. Honestly, I think the Sea Dragon height requirement needs to be higher because even when kids are with a parent, they still look like they could slide under the lap bar! It scares the hell out of me!
I get the most drama on the Waveswinger, though. I get parents who will take the height stick out of its holder while the ride is moving, wrongly measure their kids, and then claim that they measured them and they were tall enough when I open the front gate. The BEST is this, though: “His doctor said he’s 48 inches tall!” Lady, either your doctor is lying or you’re lying. Go ride the Kiddie Swings. I don’t think they understand that it’s for their child’s own safety!
I’m glad you finally made it. I actually expected the carnival to be less impressive then in years past when AoA was doing the carnival, but this year’s festival was the most amazing one yet! Of course I went on Saturday night 6/19 because I have a thing for fireworks, which meant the grounds were barely walkable and the “lines” were messy jumbles of people grouped together. Yes, I was cut more than once.
We do have another carnival in North Brunswick, Carnivale Italiano, and before the NBYSF existed it was usually a big deal, but now it’s dinky with only a handful of rides and not much else to offer…so don’t bother.
Yeah, I was totally surprised by this carnival as well. I think the midway may have been about as large as the NJ State Fair actually,which is another Reithoffer spot only with their blue unit (crosses fingers for Flip n’ Out!)
While I was heading down to the NBYSF I actually passed another carnival close to Rt. 1 in Edison. I think it was a church carnival; did you happen to check it out?
No, I didn’t know about that carnival.
So yea…If this is the Orange Unit that will be going to Allentown starting tomorrow then I’m really looking forward to it.
They brought the Orange Unit last year but didn’t have the Wild Mouse coaster, Gravitron, or the Wild Claw set up. I don’t know why though as the Horse Park of NJ had PLENTY of room to set it up. Maybe this year will be different. Didn’t get to ride Tornado last year as yea…tickets were expensive. Picked up some discounted Pre-Sale tickets this year so I’m pumped to give it a twirl haha.
Yes, PBJ Happee Day Shows always does the Webster Groves 4th of July fair, so I imagine it will be back next year. Webster Groves is a suburb of St. Louis.
good afternoon
I need information about the machine HURRICANE.
as weight, height, and price.
I am interested in buying.
Sorry, I don’t sell rides or have that sort of information. If you are looking to buy one, some good websites to use are http://www.usedrides.com/ , http://www.italintl.com/index.php , or http://www.rides4u.com .
i rid the space roller,bonsai,fireball,rock n roll, ring of fire,and the orbiter.
the orbiter is a great ride; makes me feel a unique unexplainable feeling!
i herd that you come out of your seat alot on this ride…is this true?
Yeah, you kind of do at some parts. The harnesses are pretty tight though so you don’t come off it too much.
When does the carnival in Hammonton begin this year is it starting this Sunday the 11th and what time does it open?
thank you
July 13th to July 18th, 2010. Just found the website too: http://mountcarmelsociety.homestead.com/
The Wild Mouse wont be in Allentown because its set up in Brockton Ma. Also the Flip N Out is sitting in the winter quarters and probably will never be used again.
Really?! I thought they were rehabbing the Flip n’ Out!
I went to this place maybe six times ever – late 80s, early 90s – and it was inevitable that you’d experience danger first or second hand. There was a high speed waterslide in which riders dropped out of a chute from about 35 feet high and basically went straight down, then curved and ended in a splash track. Some woman threw her leg out of the track on her way down, got totally twisted up and ended up being removed by the EMTs. She looked like a Stretch Armstrong that was attacked by a rabid dog.
I went on the Tarzan Swing several times. Once, while passing over the water I couldn’t quite pull myself up, so I skimmed it and slammed into the water on my face. The skin under my arms was transparent and you could see all my veins, etc. clear as crystal. I was freaked and certainly never experienced anything like that before. I thought I’d have to go to first aid but in about 30 minutes, I was fine.
Finally, my uncle who was in his mid-40s at the time, was one of the unlucky fools who got stuck albeit briefly in the Cannonball loop. Apparently, that was not uncommon! And then don’t forget the Wave Pool. OMG! To stand on the edge and watch the waves in the deepend…..a crocodile-filled moat looked safer. Very forboding to say the least.
Great fun.
Just what to let everyone know that the Cannonball Loop @ Action Park (Accident Park) was indeed opened for brief periods of time. I watch people ride it and scream!!!!! I was going to go on it but I became a little to nervous because I had an incident @ the park earlier that day. I turned completely around in mid air while ridding one of the steep water slides that drops ridders almost 10 stories. Some places call it Geronimo. When I came to a stop I was face the trough (inside of the slide(. It was intense lifting off the back of the slide and spinning all the way around in mid air. Parts of my skin was bruised and raw so I didn’t ride that looping slide which barely remained open. I have one phot of that slide.
Had many visits there. I definitely remember the cannon ball being open for one of the visits. While approaching the slide, you could actually hear the people’s bodies clanking around as they went through it. Scary. BUT I LOVED EVERY TRIP!!
July 17, 2010. 10 people injured at the Calgary Stampede when a wheel comes loose from a Scorpion.
Man, that’s terrible. I wonder if Scorpion rides will be recalled or something after this accident because a hub giving way shouldn’t really happen under any circumstance.
The Scorpion hasn’t been seen in any of the travelling major Canadian midways since. Not sure about anywhere else though. It was a fun ride too, what a shame
Nice video! Like the music choice.
The ride goes up to a nice angle, looks like a fun ride.
Hey thanks man! The ride is probably one of the better Huss rides out there IMO, although I think I like Breakdance a bit better!
Nice blog. I just bookmarked you on my bloglines.
Sent via Blackberry
Greatest park ever! Another great thing about action park was that you could walk around with beer and drink as much as you want – and nobody cared! Remember the fish tank by the cliff diving? Once a friend and I were so drunk that one of our friends dared us to jump in, which we proceeded to do and of course we didn’t get thrown out – luckily there weren’t any piranna in the tank – I wouldn’t put it past the owners of this nitemare – it made the swim that much more exciting. My brother was almost killed when his speed boat flipped over in motor world – again another intoxicaed rider allowed to reach high speeds in a free riding speed boat. Lots of bumps and bruises over my several visits. I remember going down the alpine slide as a kid and being afraid to go too fast which of course resulted in whiplash by being rammed from the sleder behind me. As I got older I wanted to take my revenge out on the riders in front of me so I would reach ridiculous speeds which often resulted in me flying off the slide. Wasn’t there a ride where you’d spin around in a circle and the floor would drop? But it was wide open, not like the current gravatron rides in parks. I remember getting naseaus on this ride.
I remember hanging out by geronimo falls laughing at all of the wedgies and lost suit tops. The food and service in the restaurants was terrible. Never had the chance to ride the cannonball loop because it was always closed but I remember getting yelled out for always going head first in the regular cannonball. The black asphalt was so hot I remember walking on the side of it to deal with the pain of the rocks and not risk burning my feet. Thanks for the memories!
Great site… Action Park randomly popped into my head recently so i decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about it and I was eventually lead to this site. Whats really funny is that the memories I have from this place are in line with those of the other writers on this page and with that of Wikipedia’s ‘Accident Park’, “Class-Action Park” descriptions.
I was born in ’86 in Florida, my family is from Jersey just outside NYC, we used to takes trip up to NJ every summer. I would say it was maybe ’94 or ’95 (which i now know to be AP’s later years) that we finally made it to Action Park. Being from florida i have been to some water parks before, Typhoon Lagoon at Disney, Atlantis in Ft. Lauderdale, Rapids in WPB etc., but never in my life have I ever came across a park like the Action Park.
I was young and I cant remember everything from out day spent there but here are a few highlights from the deep reaches of my memory:
Tarzan Swing: I distinctly remember waiting in line for this thing, nearly shitting my pants with anticipation because it seemed so high off the water, thinking there was no way i was going to be able to reach the triangle handle much less swing myself into a safe part of the pool. My cousin was the first one to go, she made a nice swing, did alittle leg kick in the air and landed succefully in the pool with no problem, even receiveing alittle round of applause. She was smaller then me so i figured it shouldnt be much of a problem. I wil never forget grabbing that handle, with my toes dangling off the edge of what seemed like a 20 ft. drop, with just the tips of my fingers holding tight enough for me to ease my way off the platform, swing through the air, get alittle off balance on my release and land almost face first in the water. The other thing i will never forget is how cold the water was, nearly taking the breath out of my lungs and causing and instant seizure. But, alas I swam to the ladder at the far end of the pool and made my escape, alittle shaken up, frigid cold, but alive and well.
Cliff Jump: This place had two pretty serious cliff jumps, one was 23ft. the other 16ft. that went straight down into a large pool where there were many unsuspecting swimmers wading about with out a care in the world. I remember thinking this could be dangerous if one of them decided to wander into the deeper end of the pool and find themself in the path of a diving teenager coming in from 23ft. above. I remember waiting in line, trying to sike myself up for the jump when the life gaurd whitsles blew. Apparently, someone had jumped onto the head of a fellow jumper who had taken to long to clear the path. I’ll never forget the lifegaurd at the top of the cliff, throwing his life saving ring at the distressed swimmers and nailing one of them right in the head. I thought someone died, I guess they were ok because they escorted them out the water and we procceded to take the leap of faith blindly into the water below. Probably one of the best cliff jumps ive ever been on.
Alpine Slide: Lastly, there was the Alpine Slide. We saved this ‘ride’ for the end of the day because the lines were long in the morning and we didnt feel like waiting. So, after a nice little ride up the ski lift, and a struggle to get the heavy ass cart of the back of it, we finally made it to the drop in point of the slide. Just at that moment the ski’s opened up and a light drizzle poured down from above. Now the Alpine carts have a ‘hand brake’ that is simply a metal rod with a peice of rubber at the end that makes contact with the cement slide to slow you down when your going to fast (which was almost always). It was explained to us by the park employees that when the cement was wet the rubber would not be able to create enough friction to slow you down and you would essentially be sliding down this thing at high speeds with no way of stoping. Unsafe? Very. The rain didnt seem like it was slowing, in fact it was getting more intense, and i guess because of a lighting factor they did not allow us to ride the ski lift back to the base area like we did on our way up. The only way down was to walk. Now let me remind you that this park was built on the side of mountain that when snowy conditions allowed, people would ski down. The Alpine Slide was built on a green (beginner) ski hill which is not a big deal if your skiing but could be trouble if you had to walk down. Well since the we couldnt ride the slide down and the ski lift was out of commision cause of the lightning we were forced to walk down, in a group, the semi-steep, rock filled ski hill. It took probly 10 mintues at least to walk all the way down the hill, a few people got tripped up and had some bloody knees, but we all managed to make it to the base with little to know injury. Needless to say we never got to ride the infamous Alpine Slide but because of the conditions, the walk down the hill, and the fact we waiting all day to ride this thing and never got the opportunity too, my Aunt raised hell in the customer relations office and we were given free passes to come back at a later date. I wonder if we still have those passes somewheres? It’d be great to see the exact date i was there, and if i can locate them i’ll defintely upload them to the site.
All in all Action Park was incredible and one of a kind. A “ride-at-your-own-risk” type park which will forever be banished to our memories. Im glad i got to experince it and will continue on the legacy for as long as i can.
Great Site, keep the updates coming!
Viva-La-Action-Park!!
I’ve been on these alone before and I always loved the lateral forces. I purposely sat on the outside, despite the signs saying not to. Then I rode it with my friend a few weeks back; it wasn’t as fun. Having 150 pounds of weight jammed into you is not quite as fun spinning around at high speeds.
So I am going on the zipper as my very first up-side-down ride. I’m very nervous but I promised my friend I would go on it with her in about a week when the fair is in town, I have a few questions, do any of you mind answering them? Thank you(:
Is this a bad first up-side-down ride?
How scary is it from 1-10?
Does it make alot of people puke?
And do you gt that weird sensation in your stomach?
1. Well, I see it as if you can go on this then you can go on any other upsidedown ride with no problem! So sure it’s a good start!
2. Considering that I don’t think it’s scary, I’ll say it’s an 8 or 9 in terms of excitement. π
3. Only if they’re prone to motion sickness. Personally I’m fine on the Zipper but cannot take a swinging ship at all.
4. Probably, if the car flips the right way at the right time.
The worst part of the ride is thinking about riding it beforehand; it’s really not bad at all. Have fun! π
Hey Emily,
How was your ride on the Zipper? I hope it wasn’t too scary and that you enjoyed it. The Zipper has always been my favorite ride and I still get that “feeling” in my stomach when I get to ride it even at 50!!
Yes all of the questions you’ve asked. Stay away
@DoD3Brian, Thank you very much!
Last time I was at the fair at the Meadowlands was in 2003, just before I moved to Florida. From what you mentioned the fair really went downhill in terms of rides. I know the Space Roller is always at that fair, but at the fairs that I attended before I moved, there were rides there like the Tango, Evulation, Sky Diver, Top Spin, Zipper, etc, just to name a few. That same Space Roller appears at some of the fairs in Florida in the winter and if one particular ride operator is running the ride, some of his rides are real long.
Thank you for your article on the 2010 fair at the Meadowlands.
DoD3 Brian Do you have any connections where I could go for records for the longest non stop ride , riding the most insane carnival rides like the Zipper, Tango, Hard Rock, Speed Flip, Inversion, Space Loop, etc? You can get back to me on my e-mailat bdbell1940@yahoo.com. By the way, I wish I could take up on Shawn Edward Jenkins offer to ride his Zipper where he can provide 600 or more flips in a row.
No, I’m sorry I don’t Bruce. You might have some luck at Matt’s Carnival Warehouse or Carny Town however. Those forums are frequented by showmen and carnival workers as well as fans like us.
DoD3 Brian
I read your article on the Tango, where you said the ride was pityful short. It was the same way at the Florida State Fair last February and it was very disappointing as I have taken much longer rides before. And it wasn’t even crowded at the fair. After I came home that night I let the Reithoffer people know how I felt about these short rides. Having seen your article on the fair in New Brunswick and your description on the short ride on the Tango, I just sent Reithoffer another e-mail complaining, as I’ve seen longer rides on the same ride in many of the videos.
I’m familiar with the whole North Jersey area as I worked there before I moved to Florida. Instead of going through this website, you can reach me directly at my e-mail. It is bdbell1940@yahoo.com. I really like to ride the Tango, but not taking these rediculously short rides.
Its now official that its coming to the Minnesota State Fair!
Yeah I remember water works, it was a great place. Why did they take all the big slides out?? i cannot bring myself to go back since it looks kinda lame now
I don’t know why but arguably the best ones, the interlocking slides that went over the park and the ‘vertical’ drop/spiral slide combo, are all gone. Rumor has it that the structure for the interlocking slides were becoming structurally unsound, but I don’t know if that’s true. Somehow I wouldn’t doubt liability concerns played a role in their removal.
My minor claim to fame is that I believe I was the first person to add “You’ve been to Action Park and have the scars to prove it” to the “You Know You’re From Jersey When…” lists that were going around the internet a while back. In the early days of Myspace, I added that line to it and every time it has come back around to me, that line is still there, verbatim.
Speaking of scars, I still have the faintest outline of a scar on my knee from the Alpine Slide that I got when I was about 9 or 10 years old (I’m 30 now). They never really stressed the importance of the brake on the little deathscooter they put you on, so naturally, being 9 years old and not knowing any better, I went flying down the concrete tube like a bat out of hell and dumped the scooter around one of the larger turns, sliding for 30 feet or so and sanding a flat spot in my kneecap about the size of a half-dollar. As I lay there regaining my composure, I heard the ominous whooshing sound of another approaching scooter and got to my feet just in time to do an action hero leap over the side of the tube as another deathscooter whipped past me at about mach 3. If I hadn’t leapt over the side, I probably would have broken my neck, or at the very least, my ankles. Action Park was exciting because while most amusement parks SIMULATE the experience of personal danger and permanent injury, Action Park delivered that experience FOR REAL.
Oh, the memories.
-~D~-
Omg I love you. I remember when those lists first started circulating, and eventually I got the one with your tag line about Action Park and it was like angels were singing.
Surviving your trip to Action Park is like getting to join an elite club.
Just rode the Zipper again tonight for the first time in at least ten years. What a BLAST!! That awful terror that washes over you when you get to be next in line, up close to that squealing, groaning mess of cable and steel! The horror when you realise it’s just that dinky little pin holding the door closed! The kids screaming in the next cage, and the ride hasn’t even started yet!! Hahahaaa! Still the best ride at the fair!
As a note…we must have had an older model, it flipped around like crazy!! Not sure I could have survived the higher rpm’s of the old days…
Off to have a cup of tea with honey, to sooth my throat so sore from screaming!
Thanks for the site.
The best waterpark ever, hands down!!!
As I have told my wife on many occasions, if it wasn’t for Action Park I wouldn’t be a self-proclaimed, semi-pro water slide rider. Hands crossed over your chest, arched back, and riding on your heels is a guaranteed recipe for speed, or in the case of Action Park…disaster.
To quote my younger brother, “What other water park has so many urban legend death stories associated with it,” yet each summer my parents would have no problem allowing us to go.
I remember when they put the canvas top over Geronimo and you could see the imprint of people’s bodies hovering off the slide and touching the cover. People would be walking around the park with huge road rash burns all over their backs from this ride. And of course the massive wedgies you’d walk off with. The first time I rode that slide I was under the weight limit of 100lbs and I remember being scared to death that I’d fly off the thing.
Kamikaze was always one of the underestimated slides at the park. Since it was built into the hill it was a little deceiving but you could get cranking on that thing. I remember my friends dad flying down the slide and he hit the back wall of the landing pool that’s how fast he was going.
The Cannonball was always a bit sketchy. You’d never know what was going to happen once you entered the tubes and embarked on your journey of 15 seconds of pitch darkness only to be shot out 10 ft above the water arms flailing in the air.
Tarzan Swing was another one I was always terrified of when I was younger. Probably because I was too short to reach the triangle so I would have to jump and grab it at the last second just as they would hand it off to you with that long hook-pole. The last time I was there (5 years ago) my buddy, who is 6’3″, never lifted his knees so he did the classic face plant right into the water which was then followed by the swim of shame in that freezing water as the crowd heckled him from up top.
Surf Hill was another good one. I remember I was too light during the time it was opened so I couldnβt get enough speed like the older kids. I donβt know if itβs my own memory or if Iβm thinking of an old Action Park commercial, but I remember people getting like 10ft of air of the jumps on the side lanes.
Roaring Springs and Colorado Rapids are classics. I loved the mayhem and free-for-all that ensues once youβre in your raft, or when youβre trying to catch up to your raft and trying not drown from everyone else crowed in the pools.
Ah, so many other great memoriesβ¦I remember riding the ski lift for the Alpine Slide looking at all the crashed carts in the woods and hoping I wouldnβt be next, I remember almost breaking my toe when I dropped the Aqua Scoot sled on it, I remember when my friendβs dad zoomed past him upside down in one of the pitch black tunnels, and I remember when another friend jumped off the cliff dive and landed on his side and his dad had to jump in after him because he couldnβt breathe or swim to safety and it didnβt seem like the life guards were going after him. I remember Cannonball Loop but unfortunately it was never opened when I was there.
There will never be another park quite like this. Iβm just grateful for those experiences and grateful to be alive.
Awesome Site!! I love hearing all the great stories.
Hey, Shawn Edward Jenkins, If you see this, I’m ready to take you up in riding your Zipper ride that you claim can flip 600 or more times in a row. You can reach me at bdbell1940@yahoo.com
The jist of this ride as a rider would be best compared to riding in a clothes dryer. The 1 and only time I rode this I was about 5’0″ and 95lbs, when I was 12. Now that I’m 5’9 and over 200 I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like for me.
bahahahaha, bahahahaha hurricane rules, can’t breathe on it and i laugh like spongebob. oo its starting on the hurricane with my internet fone. i allmost wost wy phone. can’t breat very wel gees. o man o gees arrgh i..cant..mov. wow. that was AWESOME! i’m going again!!!!!!!
I went to Action Park in the summer of 1988 with my twin sister and our youth group. Our leaders split off from us and we all just walked around doing our own thing. We remember the crazy loop as soon as we walked into the park and both thought it looked like a crazy nightmare, especially since it was closed and weeds and pond scum were in the pool at the bottom.
The first ride my sister and I experienced was the Tarzan swing. We watched how the other people did it before we got on so we didn’t make the mistake of face planting. We both lifted our legs and got pretty high. We both remember the water being VERY cold, but thank goodness we didn’t have to swim far because we made it almost to the other side with the swing already.
The next ride was the embarrasing wedgie and even worse enema that my twin sister and I received from the Geronimo. I couldn’t believe we even went on that ride. We must have been dared, especially after we realized how high up we were and how steep the ride was when we reached the top. I also wasn’t going to walk back down. I believe I closed my eyes until I got to the bottom. Luckily we both made it to the bathroom in time!
I also remember riding a slide that had a drop over the water that I wasn’t expecting at all. I don’t believe it was the cannonball because it was near the cliff jumps not the Tarzan swing as others mentioned. I was not instructed to lay back so when I landed I smacked my face and chest really hard on the water. I guess this was my own stupidity, not checking out the whole ride before I went down it.
I also went down a water slide and passed an elderly gentleman in an underground or completely enclosed tube. I don’t remember light holes, like it was pitch black. I slid right under him and I escaped somehow with only a few bruises. I was speeding down the slide with my toes pointed and back arched and I guess he wasn’t. When I came out at the bottom of the tube, his grandaughter was staring at at me and confusingly asked where he was. He came out a moment later and said he was fine too and couldn’t believe that we were both ok.
The wave pool was our biggest scare. We were used to swimming in the ocean, but not in water that deep that all of a sudden started making waves. We were almost all the way to the back and when the waves started it was way too rough and felt much deeper to us. We started trying to swim to the shallower water, but neither of us had the stamina. Our youthgroup leader happened to be there when this happened and rescued us by yelling at us to come to the side of the pool . I don’t remember a lifeguard halping us at all.
We both also jumped off of the higher cliff and were quite proud of ourselves. It felt like forever before we hit the water and then it felt like forever tying to resurface. My sister jumped at least two more times. I chose not too.
All in all, we didn’t come away with any serious injuries just great memories and the rights to say, We survived Action Park!!
The Musik Express at Six Flags Great Adventure was a much better ride in the 1980’s. Back then, the ride had flashing lights, a cool backdrop creating the tunnel effect in the back half, and the operators blasted AC-DC and Led Zeppelin so loud you couldn’t hear yourself speak. The ride also went backwards back then. At some point after I stopped working there (late 80’s/early 90’s) they stopped running it backwards. By the time I was taking my own kids there, they had removed the backdrop and stopped playing music altogether, making it the rather boring version that you describe here. But I’ll always have great memories of that ride in its better days!
was that video not just sped up?
Definitely not; everything else seems to be going at normal speed.
I like the ring of fire, minus the feeling of falling out of my seat, and my head nearly hitting the roof. The fire ball is much better though, because the harness eliminates the falling out and the open roof allows for a better view.
I believe this is the same ride as “hells gate” at the PNE Vancouver.
It certainly is. Isn’t that the same park where the Final Destination coaster is?
I’ve operated a Wisdom Storm before.
Yeah, I remember seeing the video on Youtube! Did the ride run on an automatic cycle or did you manually run it?
I ran the ride on automatic however with a switch of the key from auto to manual, I can override the cycle. It can be operated in both auto and manual.
I still would like someone to come forward, who could accommodate me in breaking my one hour record in riding the Zipper as I would like to attempt to ride it for three hours non stop. e-mail bdbell1940@yahoo.com
Shawn Edward Jenkins, I’m ready to ride your Zipper ride in which you claim it can do 600 or more flips.
Wow great report! I was there also with my family and had pretty much the same thoughts, the Sizzler was by far our favorite ride and you’re right it is the fastest sizzler type ride we have ever been on.
I’ve rode two of these stand-up coasters in my life. The Mantis at Cedar Point (B&M), and the Shockwave at King’s Dominion (original TOGO special). Neither style has very comfortable restraints. The Shockwave restraints look like a medieval torture device, and the Mantis restraints come up in your groin. The G’s that are created by these stand-ups can be uncomfortable to the lower body also. I never rode the B&M Chang down in SF Kentucky so I don’t know if it’s any better. I guess next year I’ll have to give this Green Lantern a try and find out. Should be interesting (and awkward as always being a six foot tall person!).
I’ve actually heard that Chang is one of the smoother stand-up coasters around, though it still has its complaints about the ‘seating’ style like most B&M stand-ups do.
BTW, I like how Shockwave and similar TOGO stand-ups have bunny hops, I mean come on, it’s a stand-up!
hey! oh i was just gonna say… i hate that ride! it almost made me sick! it went so fast! i’ll never ride that ride again…
hi my name is simon hockley from nottingham uk can any body help iam looking for parts for a rock o plane ,web address new part if still made ?thanks for you time .
Hi I’m in Nottingham used to work william woods egg wheel, the one went goose late 80,s early 90,s u get it up and running
This is actually one of my favorite rides of all time. Underrated ride IMO. I also call it the “clothes dryer” as it feels like you’re being tossed around like a sock in a dryer. The best part of the ride is going around the curves, which have some very strong spinning power that makes you squish the person next to you (or they squish you). You also literally come face to face with the people in the car in front of you.
I hate the “2 riders required” rule with this ride. I always have to find someone in line to ride with me. I think I could handle this ride by myself.
This ride always makes me laugh hysterically. It’s fun!
The second scariest part is when They lock you in and you go around while the other people board. Then you know there’s no turning back. The Scariest part is when you go around and you reach that perfect point where you’re at the top edge of the ride and you know you’re about to be sent hurdling face-first towards the ground and all you can do is squeeze tighter on the bars and clench your teeth.
Although I must say this is my favorite ride and I go on it as many times as I can get someone else to ride with me (they don’t allow single riders[probably because you would be sliding back and forth under the lap bar])
The first time I went on it no one else wanted to so I was all by myself. When the restraints came down I tested them. They came up. I used the middle buckle but still it came up enough that I could possibly fall out. I kept testing them right until it took off and still, it gave. What I realized from riding it again at another fair later on is that the restraints don’t lock until the ride starts moving. Unknown to me at the time I spent the whole ride in terror, holding on as tight as I could to lord-knows-what and bracing my body in a way I hoped would keep me from slipping to my death.
Bro the same thing happened to me and my little brother he was only 9 years old I was about 12 the bar did not lock at all snd me and my brother could easily slide out and there was not a lot of cage you could fit through it all very easily as the ride went my brother screamed and cried in horror I was holding one hand on the ceiling and one across my brother holding him down to the seat but my butt was off the seat the whole time just hanging on the shitty bar waiting to fall to our death the whole time it was the closest to death I’ve ever been I will never go back to a carnival ride again after that experience my phone even fell out of my pocket upside down because I had to hold on to us so we didn’t fall to our death every time we passed the dude we screamed for him to stop the ride but he never did and we just thank the lord we are still here today cause I don’t know how I held both of us in there.
This is actually My favorite ride. Since the cars are shaped like wedges they all fold onto each other on the curve. I went on with my sister in one car, and my little sister and her friend in the one facing us. The first thin I noticed was the padding on the roof of the car. I was like “why would you need padding up there?”
But once the ride starts you are basically thrown against every surface in there in a pattern, squishing each other.
The fun part is that you hit the curve, your cars come face to face and you see the other people thrown up against the side and it just starts a full-out laugh fest. We laughed so hard seeing each others faces on that thing that we had stomach aches when we got off.
Definitely go on it, and bring a few buddies so sit in front of you, you won’t regret it!
I am from South Africa and worked on the space roller in North America in 2008 for Floyd And Baxter. This is the coolest ride ever and we had lots of fun!
i vaguely remember my parents taking me there When i was very young. Then i didnt come back until 2003, and have been pretty much going Once A Year. i had no idea these crazy things happened Back Then…im glad its safe Now…anyone with any memories of this place please write hammer@live.com.ph
I will never forget going to this travelling carnival with my older sister when I was a kid (like some 20-odd years ago). There was a Scat there and I wanted to ride it but she refused to go on it with me because she was scared of it. I was too afraid to go on it by myself so I had to miss out. Since then, I have never seen another Scat at a carnival and to this day I am incredibly frustrated about it!
Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY has a Scat 2. I rode that a few times and it makes me so dizzy. Its worse than the Gravitron.
I agree with everyone else’s comments! This is a fun ride that I don’t see around anymore. It’s funny to see it now on a WTCR list because I remember when this ride had first come out and was brand new and nice looking. It was the ride everyone wanted to go on. Many years later I went on one again that I don’t think had been cleaned since it first debuted. The plastic cage windows were all scratched up and you could barely see through them anymore because they were yellowed and filthy. The last time I saw one was at a small travelling carnival. I think it was closed. It looked so old and decrepit I can’t really blame anyone for not wanting to go on it.
I think the last time I went on one of these was in the early 90’s. It actually wasn’t that scary. If you hold on to the wheel and don’t let the car spin mindlessly (and you’ll need your friend’s help for that), it’s actually pretty cool.
I want to say though that this list needs the addition of one more WTCR: the Gravitron. Gravitrons are the ultimate WTC staple. I’d been avoiding them since the fatal accident involving one at my local county fair, but I went on one last month at a Halloween carnival. I swear to you, the entire center console where the carnie sits looked like it was being held together by duct tape. I nearly kissed the floor when it was over.
I was thinking about putting Gravitron on the honorary list’ I’ve seen some pretty rough looking ones! However, I’ve also seen some insanely nice looking ones recently, like the one in the NJ State Fair 2010 trip report or Cygnus X-1 at Morey’s Piers.
This is one of those few rides I refuse to go on. I’ve only been on it a couple of times anyway. The first time was terrifying but fun. The second time, unfortunately, was not fun at all because every time we went upside down, my legs would bang up into the lap bar. It was to the point where I was just pleading internally for the ride to stop because it was so painful. The next day, blackish blue bruises appeared across the tops of my thighs.
I absolutely love this ride. It looks so mild but boy does it pack in the G forces! That Viper ride looks awesome. I hope to see either one again at a carnival someday.
I’ve actually been on this one before! It was at the same carnival where I saw the Scat. It pretty much feels like a Scrambler.
I went on of these a long time ago (sounds like I got the rim driven kind – it’s the only kind I’ve ever seen) and it was a horrible experience. Every time our car was at the bottom of the cycle it would rock back and forth really hard, like as if someone had jammed on the breaks and let go. I remember the entire ride being like that. It was so uncomfortable and scary, I was just praying for it to be over. The irony is that if memory serves me correctly, we had waited in line for AGES to get on it, and there was even a delay to hose off one of the seats if you know what I mean. And then it was an awful ride. So… yeah.
These things just look freaky. I’ve never been on one and never will.
Oh, I’ve thought of another good honorary WTCR: those 1001 Nachts/Rainbow variety of rides. Every time I’ve seen one at a carnival they look like utter crap, making weird noises with most of their lights not functioning.
When was the last time track work was done on Rolling Thunder?
I heard something about re-tracking being done a few years ago. I don’t know (or think for that matter from riding) that it was a full re-tracking but if some work was done, then it was most likely to the left side of Rolling Thunder.
I`ve never riden that, I`d like so much too, but here in Brazil, only one park has one: TupΓ£ in Porto Alegre and other cities in RS. Here where I ive I can`t find it.
I think it`s lke an Enterprise (the way it spins), could be delightful.
a cool breakdance site from israel i hope u r gonna engoy =)
thanx
My family went up there back when it was called Vernon Valley Great Gorge. It was over by the Playboy bunny ranch, where my grandfather did work as a plumber.
The water park had not been built the first time; it was just the Alpine slide. I think it might have been 76 or 77, they were just getting started.
The carts were new, fast, and dangerous as hell.
I’ve ridden a few slides since then (including the ones at Gatlinburg), there’s really no comparison. The VV ones were fast, had some tight turns, and there was one spot where you literally went damn near straight down about 1o feet. I kid you not; you’d see the person in front of you vanish, then about 5 seconds later you would go straight down.
Well, I didn’t. For whatever reason I ignored the little “Slow” sign and hit that drop at full blast. Shot straight out like some sort of Wil-E-Coyote on a sled. Then *wham* landed hard on the track below and almost flipped it. Hit my knee and tore a nice gash through kid’s denim jeans.
It was at that moment I understood that life could kill me. And it would be fun.
Ever since then, I really had no fear of rides. I mean what, how can you compare to that? Even at Gatlinburg, the people said “Holy cow, you were almost coming off the tracks there”. But it’s ok. I’m 42, and got the best training one can find at Vernon Valley.
Chris
I want to buy an Himalaya ride, I like the Reverchon and Mack brand, please contact me for information about one of thst rides..
deseo informacion sobre el himalaya musik expres que sew tienen en venta. Cuales son sus condiciones de financiamiento ???
si es posible mandeme informacion exaustiva, y su catalogo de juegos en venta.
Gracias soy propietario de juegos mecanicos en mexico ( Villagran, Guanajuato Mexico) Tels. 014111643082 fax. 014111650362 por favor contactenos.
no ha mandado la informacion requerida, habra algun incidente por el fin de aΓ±o?
There’s a video on You Tube where two riders used their body motion to flip 284 times, while the ride was stationary. What I would like to do is to attempt a four hour ride on the Zipper and while the ride is running, be flipped 500 times from the control panel of the ride resulting in rapid flips. Anybody want to take me up on this? bdbell1940@yahoo.com
this ride seems pretty awesome, but they could make it better,anyways i give it 2 thumbs up
I REALLY LOVE THIS RIDE,IT HAS THE WORLD’S HIGHEST LOOP (I THINK) BUT IT’S A SHAME THEY TORE IT DOWN……. WWWHHHHHYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
I am so sad that i couldnt ride for the last time. I moved to Florida that year π had a miserable year.
i never rode the ride but it looks pretty fn 2 ride,man i feel sad that i never rode it,well good luck 2 me it will be @my fair this year 2011 babyyy!!!!
the ride is ok at the amusent parks but some stopped playin the music and the flashing lights and the back drop also,other than that i like it lol π
wow wow wow is all i c an say
i wonder if the harnesses are to tight on the ride like top spin?
they do look pretty kewl!!! i would have 2 say i like the vortex out of all of them – 2 thumbs up 4 me- SO KEWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i JUST THOUGHT i wll like the tango and the vortex out of all of the rides kewl!!!
the great new york state fair has a zipper every year in syracuse n.y. the james e. strates shows is the ride operator for the fair .the fair is a 12 day run aug til labor day .go to the nysfair web site!!!
nice review about Mountain Creek Waterpark π
no wonder this coaster got the award being vecoma slc! great post! thanks!
The Zipper is one classic that will never lose its touch.
On a side note I did work a similar ride called Chaos (another Chance ride) for nearly four years. That ride deserves a WTCR title for all its mechanical and computer problems. However despite its problems it was my favorite ride to work at Belmont. Unfortunately Belmont traded it to Chance Rides for a Unicoaster as part of a contract deal.
your lovely Moreys Piers ride op from 09-10. I love Monique Musik Express to pieces <3
bahahahaha! do you happen to remember the ice skating?
I have been on the one at Six Flags Over Georgia for many years. I first started riding it when I was 10. I’m 22 now and for my birthday my friends took me to Six Flags to ride my favorite flat ride…only problem was I was too tall to for the lid to close on the car.
I LOVE THAT RIDE
DoD3Brian, I did make contact with Matt Cook and others from Carnival Warehouse at the IISF Show in Gibsonton Florida today and they are going to look into where I can take record setting rides on the real insane carnival rides. That includes my attempts to break my own record in riding the Zipper, which I rode for an hour plus several years ago. Like to go for 3-4 hours and do it on one that is set at a faster speed, the same way the Aussies have theirs set.
I`ve never been on board, but I`ve read here on net that in Brazil, there was one of this ride at the extinct Tivoli Park, in Rio de Janeiro, from where a woman falled, hurting herself a lot and until today, even the park`s already closed (in 1995, I think), she didn`t receive tany indenization. The ride there was called “Gaiola das Loucas”.
i would like you to crawl up a hole and die already
so how was everybodys day ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
wtf the zipper rockz ass
One long awaited summer day, my friends and I piled into a car and headed from Long Island towards NJ to the infamous Action Park. We couldnβt wait for an adrenaline rush, brought to you by the most dangerous water park I had ever been to. My clearest memory was Geronemo slide, or the Cannonball Falls, it was the one with the drop into the pool . That damn thing was crazy βpure mayhem. There was a life guard at the top of the slide, and one stationed at the pool below. People flew down that slide so fast that the life guard stationed at the bottom couldnβt keep track of the bodies flying out. I remember some pimple faced kid waving his arms and whistling frantically for people to quickly swim out of the way before the next human bullet came flying down that dark slide, and into the air. People became human projectiles, as they shot out of that tube like a machine gun before dropping 5 to 10 feet into the pool. It was pure uncontrolled chaos. The screaming and yelling in the pool was accompanied by frenzied and hysterical swimmers. They all were dodging the propelling bodies above them. It was reminiscent of a scene out of the movie βJawsβ when everyone at the beach ran out of the water screaming for their lives. It was the same damn thing, and that was all I needed to see.
I quickly got into the long line for my adrenaline rush. Back then I barely met the weight minimum for many of the rides, like the Cannonball Loop. I only went on that one time because I smacked my elbows and face in the tube and almost got stuck, and then I came out shaking. But, the Falls/slide seemed like something I could handle. When it was my turn, I slid down and unfortunately slowed to a stop. I quickly found myself in a dire predicament. I had to crouch down and walk out of the slide to jump into the pool, but before I could, I heard another sliding sound. The dumbass pimple-faced life guards sent someone else down the slide while I was still in it! I spread my arms and legs and held onto the upper part of the tunnel, clinging, while some guy slid right under me. He yelled βShitβ and was gone in a second. When the guy hit the pool of pandemonium; he must have told the zit-faced teenage life guard to stop the slide. I quickly made my way out of the tunnel. Once I jumped into the pool below, the bodies started flying through the air again. The imminent danger and bedlam made it a Hell of a lot of fun!
Yeah count me in as one of the people that survived Action Park! When my family and I (mom, dad, younger brother) started going there, it was originally called Vernon Valley-Great Gorge. The only thing that was there at the time was the alpine slide in the summer time and of course the ski resort in the winter.
Looking back on it now the slide was like a freakin death trap. I think there were three lanes down the slide. One was a slow land and the other two were fast if I remember correctly. You first had to get a cart from the stack at the bottom of the ski chair lift and then put it on the chair lift itself. Then you had a nice leisurely ride to the top where you got a birds-eye view of riders coming down the hill. No helmets of course. You almost always saw some crazy kid coming down the fast track at break-neck speeds and you just knew he was going to wipe out around a big curve! It was so fun to watch.
So then you get to the top of the hill were you were supposed to get off. Of course you had to wrestle with getting the darn cart off the ski lift chair, but once that was done, you had to decide which track to take. Slow or fast? I was a stupid kid of course so I always choose the fast one. I honestly don’t think I ever flipped the cart, at least I don’t have any memories of doing so. I do remember it was sooooo much fun! I do remember running into the back of other people in front of me that were going way too slow. Sometimes by the end of the ride 4-5 carts would be stacked up all because of one slow rider. That really sucked. Also sometimes you saw people outside of the track as you whizzed looking woozy because they had been going to fast and flipped their cart off the track…..
Eventually Vernon Valley-Great Gorge slowly started adding other attractions like the water slides and Motoworld. We went every year and I remember it was always exciting to checkout what was added for that year. I remember one of their bigger slides, don’t know the name of it. IT WAS INSANE! 10000% INSANE! I remember you had to walk up this big hill to get to it, then up the stair case to get to the top. You waited in line and all I remember thinking was “is this in any way shape or form a good idea?” Well eventually it got to your turn and you are standing at the top. The attendant gives you the basic instructions (ie legs and arms crossed) and then you move to the edge of the slide. You look down and you see NOTHING! NADA! You don’t see the slide at all it was totally vertical. I was like “OMG OMG OMG I’m going to die!!!!!” I swallowed my heart to keep in my chest and took off…..WHAT A RUSH! I think it had like 2 or three bumps in it and it was just a blast! Any idea what the name of it was?
I remember the loop slide too just sitting there all by it’s lonesome over in the corner. It was never open when I was there, I would have definitely ridden it if had. You know back then when you are young you have no fear of course! I’d love to have ridden it!
I never did much in Motoworld, I was just too young back then. I remember the tanks though. I think you had to pay extra to do the tanks, that’s why we never did them. I always wanted to race the LOLA cars, but again I was just too young…..
Thanks for the great article! We moved from NJ to PA in 1983 so probably 1982 was the last year we went to Action Park. Brought back some fond childhood memories……
I have never seen one of these rides in real life, and wold very much like to ride one. but for some reason the ones with the front fasting seets look extreemly uncomfortable. has eny one been on one with front fasting seets? if so what is it like comped the to ones with ‘pods’
This has to be one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever been on. Back when I was in Primary School, on the day of our annual fete, we had one of these… except it was called the Cyclone.
The rides pretty cool, and I was having fun until…. well it was great except for the fact the only thing that keeps you in your seat is yourself. You’re basically at the mercy of the bars you hold onto either side of you. The centrifugal forces that keep you pressed to the walls help a lot too. But not quite…
The backward tilting angles of the walls coupled with the centrifugal forces actually meant I found myself sliding inch by inch up my seat as the rotational speed increased. And that centrifuge kept me from trying to shuffle back down too.
Basically I ended up hovering with my butt half a foot off of my seat by the time the ride was almost over. Not fun, as I kept thinking that all that was keeping me from being slid up off my seat and out the top of the platform was my own hands straining to hold onto the bars -and yes my hands were sliding up too!
I was only about 11-12 years old at the time, so maybe being older and a bit heavier now would prevent this from happening?
Now, whether or not I would have been flung up and out if I let go is something I wouldn’t personally want to test. Also, I still wonder if the ride kept on going and never stopped… how far up from my seat would I have slid? Would I have kept sliding? Who knows?!
Anyways, I think I became a little more scared of rides after being on this thing.
Haven’t seen another one since. Would most likely NOT go on one again if I did.
I went to Action Park in the late 80’s with my brother and a bunch of friends. We were all drinking and we all took mescaline, making my memories of the day surreal and scary. The Cannonball Loop was open that day and my brother was the only one brave enough to try it. He came out bleeding, with a slice down his back from the seam in the tube. My friend came close to drowning in the wave pool. We were all beaten up and bruised at the end of the day, but I’m still proud to say we were there and we survived.
…what about THIS little beauty?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb2FOCNQlXU
looks just as fun as all the rest! i need to go traveling and find all these rides! i would love every single one! there is one at martins fantasy island on grand island new york called mindwarp! it was all spinny and seat-twisty and i rode it and loved it. i think of the song halfway gone by lifehouse riding mindwarp because it feels like i am fading away because of the g-pressure!
Hey how do you know you can see New York City from the top?
Two stories about this Berry Go Round!
The first is silly; I’m not a ride person and on this particular day, my sister convinced me to go on a lot of shakey carnival rides as a test-run for going on the more serious brand. I was not having fun. I’d been tossed through the air, held at odd angles above the ground and spun silly, and I wanted a nice little break; I wanted the Berry Go Round! We were the only two on the ride. I don’t know if it was the previous rides catching up to me, or the dank hot fiberglass strawberry spinning but I had to fucking puke. The operator offered us a second go-round and my sister lovingly accepted; afterwards the operator said, “alotta you teen girls ended up queasy in them berries,” so I didn’t feel so bad.
My second story involves the big wheel in the centre. My sister and I were taking our little cousin, maybe four at the time, on her first carnival rides and naturally, the Berry Go Round caught her eye. Busy day at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto (CNE) and our berry was packed with kids. Ride goes, my little cousin grabs onto the wheel and she does not let go. I guess she thought it was a hand-hold and not part of the ride. The other kids happily spun away while she got tossed around at our feet. I think I panicked and yelled for someone to stop the ride, but it didn’t stop. My cousin eventually got up and we closed out the ride in stony silence, never telling my aunt what happened.
Family secrets, yo. Maybe some berry-seatbelts might have helped.
Also, as brand new Jerseyan, I love your article about Action Park. I just love mentioning it when meeting people anywhere in NJ, everyone has a story!
i wanna ride it in the front for the windblast!!!!!!
Whoaa-M-G!, aaa lot will be happening this summer, wowwee! But I’m only consering on going on the fairs that has Thee,,Best Rides (including the -Zipper-)
Thanks Ever So Much For Posting Them! I’m Really Looking Forward To The Events This “Spr-ummer!” (Spring and Summer together, lol)
-Robert
Alright I don’t know who the hell is writing these reveiws but you should find out what the hell your talking about before you do a review. #1 all mechnical devices have flaws and break be it your washer,car or the airplane you ride in. There was a change in the Zipper for sure. But it was not just to regulate speed. The 1st Zippers were run by hydrolics, There was a track in which two tires drove the main boon, then there were two ford rear ends that drove the cable. Thats where the loss of speed came from. #2 the sound of clanking metal is not from the track but from the K braces. there is play in the braces cause if they were tight the would break. kind of like tying your boat to the pier to tight.#3 there are 3 locks on the door, the COTTER KEY was always there it was the lock on the side that was added. Next time you go on a ride and right a review look at the ride. #4 that was your money fying around in the TUB. and I’m sure that white trash caney was greatful!
I forgot to say the new ones are run buy electric motors
This reviews on this site are mostly geared towards the casual carnival goer and are satirical at times. I try not to go into excruciating detail because, frankly, it’ll bore some readers.
That being said, every source I’ve seen attributes the speed change to the rides intensity.
I like thrilling rides like Kamikaze (Bonsai)
Local fair is coming and i really want to ride this, but im scared i might fall out cause of the seat belts!
The NBYSF will run from June 9-19, except off days June 13 and 14.
On the other hand Casino Pier hasn’t gotten a new ride since 2007–and even then that was a remake of an older ride. Could they be the ones struggling now?
I think Casino Pier is doing all right. They have a decent collection of rides plus that waterpark that I’m sure rakes in money. Although if Funtown Pier keeps making additions they will certainly give Casino Pier a run for their money.
BTW, I was just down in Seaside yesterday, they had the Top Spin parked over where Chaos used to be, so that might be where it’s going. Didn’t see the other ride anywhere though.
Being from Long Island, I spent time at action park as a teenager in the 80’s. I remember a ride called the Cannonball Falls where the tubes actually went underground before flinging you out over a giant freezing lake. I remember one of the tubes being closed once while I was waiting on line for the ride, and a bunch of employees milling around the other tube. When I asked what was wrong, someone told me “some kid got stuck”.
The Cannonball Loop was always dry and never in operation whenever I was there. Too bad, because I would’ve probably tried it. It did look utterly ridiculous though, even to an 18-year old.
Hey , Where on Long Island ??? I was from Deer Park, Dix Hills Area !!! KK π
I was the ride lead for this ride I would stand at the top and hose people down it was a dangerous ride, they used to try to bribe us with food vouchers before they opened it so they asked us to ride it first…. As the lead I was asked all the time I’d always say no…. There is a hatch just before the loop that you could get people out… The best place was to be in the pool at the bottom… Many tops came off when women rode it with a two piece…. I was a teenage boy can’t blame me for always wanting to be in the pool at the bottom…also the lining would tear and we would shut off the water and climb the loop to find it…. When a rider would go you would hear three bangs on the loop most people did not stick to the top of the loop hence the bangs all back hits, also the ride used to get snails in it that also cut peoples backs up…. It was part of the alpine group of rides, that was the bumper boats, alpine slide, sling shot, bungee and the loop…. I think that pic from 96 is me in the blue shirt…. At the top… I never understood why people would ride this they would always ask me if it is safe and scary…. Also if you rode this ride I was the one on the top always spraying people in the line coming up even if it was cold…..
Awesome. And yes, Rolling Thunder always loads at sloth-like pace, but I still love it. I haven’t been to Great Adventure this season yet, but I’m curious to see how the Green Lantern is going to pan out. My sister and I suspect it will be a bit of a disappointment. We think Six Flags is banking on the position in which you ride as the thrill, while the speed and height may be compromised (think Superman). I’m anxious to hear what you think when it opens.
Oh yeah, I’m also very curious to see how Green Lantern turns out. I’ve never been on a stand-up before so it’ll be a totally new experience I guess. Then again I remember thinking how awesome Superman was going to be when it first went up, only to be let down by its boring layout. Luckily, GL’s layout looks pretty good!
I’m thinking, was that the top spin that used to be in former Astroland in Coney Island?
Rides4U.com still lists it as for sale so I don’t think it’s the same one, unless the site hasn’t updated or something. It’s selling for $199,000, that’s a pretty good price for a Top Spin! lol
DAAAMMMNNNN FUUCKKKIIIINNN IIIITTT!!!
I MISSED MY 1ST EVER CHANCE TO GO ON THAT RIDE LAST WEEKEND! π
IT WAS IN BAYONNE, NJ (RIGHT ACROSS THE BIG RIVER FROM WHERE I LIVE IN! AND IT WAS RUNNING ONLY ON SATURDAY FOR A SOME CHURCH THERE!
I found out about the carnival (BLUE SKY AMUSEMENTS posted it up on their website) there early Saturday morning, and i had to work on Saturday night..so i had to wait on Sunday. So i drove up there last night and arrived around 7pm, and once i got there, i saw the rides bulit (Including the ZIPPER)…BUT NO ONE WAS THERE EXCEPT THE CARNIES, TAKING THE RIDES APART!! I MISSED THE ONE CHANCE TO GO ON THE ZIPPER THAT NIGHT!!! IF ONLY I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORK THAT NIGHT!!! GODDDAMMMIT, WHY DO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN IN MY LIFE AND SOMEHOW…THEY DISSAPEAR! WHAT THE FUCKK!!!!!! :-[
I operate an Orbiter for a living…. intense ride. Who know’s how many things could go wrong with it though.
About 63. *barfs up universe*
Friend of mine got hit in the head with a fiberglass piece that flew off an Orbiter at our local fair.
Maintenance is important, especially with a ride that complex.
I grew up in the 1980s and I remember riding a ride similar to the orbiter but it was black and grey and it had a tall black statue of darth vader on top of the center and then there was another similar ride with red and white lights and red siren lights that flashed and made the siren sounds. cant remember the names of the rides but if you know them or can locate pictures I would be happy to see them. thank you and God bless
Look very fun, but I’ll have to admit I am a bit scared of rollercoasters and have never been on one that went upside down, first for everything!
I would LOVE to try out that looped water slide.
Hey there, it’s the Musik Express operator coming back to bug you again. π I may have been operating the ride while you were in town!
Ghost Ship was updated for 2011 a bit: some more rooms were added and the path through the ship was altered as well. They made it darker, too; during our little “staff walkthrough” to give the actors a chance to practice pre-season I ended up walking into walls a few times. Also the Sportland haunted house will finally open this season… sometime. They ran into issues with inspectors, I think.
Apparently the Condor’s manufacturer (Huss, Germany) isn’t making new Condor rides anymore which won’t help matters. Morey’s Pier got a new ride this season, too! A KMG ride called “It” and it’s one of those pendulum-like rides similar to the one in Ocean City.
Of course I still like Bertazzon rides the most, like my Express. π
Hi, what about St Gregory The Greats, carnivale, in hamilton, nj. usually happens in june. I think….
That’s a damn good looking ride in those pics though
Definitely, your berries are certified fresh.
I will never go on that ride again. My neck feels like Gumby’s…ow…I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’m only ten and I don’t think I’ll recomend it anytime soon…*barf*
Haha Gert, funny that you found this site also. Will always be my fav ride…good memories with it!
Holy Spirit in Pequannock, NJ May 24-28, 2011
Action Park was one of the MOST amazing amusement parks I’ve ever experienced. I loved Cannonball Falls and that gigantic slide (one time it took me 45 minutes of standing aside for other riders at the top, to make the decision to finally go). I always experienced bung hole bitin’ wedgies on that slide. LOL!
All the references to how dangerous Action Park was and some of the negativity expressed by the writer about the rides is disappointing. Many of us simply loved Action Park. Where can one go these days to experience the pure adrenaline rush of an Action Park when most amusement parks are snoozefests like Disneyworld. Yuck! Out with “family friendly” and in with “scare the shit outta ya.”
WOW. Awesome Video… love the editing. We might have to discuss putting this video on our website π
Thanks Mike, glad you liked it! Also, if you guys want to put it on the BSA site I’d be glad to make a modified version with different bumpers (advertising Blue Sky Amusements instead of this site.)
that would be awesome!
Simple Solution,
too scary for you or worried that while your in it
that the door might open? Fuck your opinion, mine is, then don’t ride it!!
Same Person as Above,
Now just remember that rides always going to “drop-out-shakes”
ie; –your coins that are in your clothes or purses, so, either only
take dollar bills w/you , or make sure that you only put quarters
& other change in your pockets, so, that when I stop the ride to
let all of you screaming monkeys off-of-it, I can pick-up all of your
change & put it in my own pocket, (gotta realize, coins drop to the
ride operators, like myself down below, bills won’t/don’t) so, just
always remember that I wanna eat lunch later in the afternoon,and
all of the money that falls down to a ride jock down below, helps him
fill his stomach, so I just thought I’d say, THANKS FOR LUNCH!!!
but one good thing is, that if you had really shitty festival food over the
day/night is that the ride will always make you barf if you overate during
the day, you just gotta MAKE SURE that the operator that’s running the ride at the time, is a Commie or Iraq’ other than one of your Brothers or Sisters
that were BORN IN THE USA , so that your puke falls on the down and out & onto the right people below!!
If your at a carnival & need to start passing-out your beer farts, the best place to let’em go is inside a Graviatron Ride, so that the nasty shit scent will rotate all around & everyone that’s inside & on the ride @ the time, can respect the stink of your ass also
I will never forget the day I scraped and bruised myself riding the Alpine Slide, and I wasn’t even going THAT fast on one of the curves. The cart just kept on going and booted me out, lol. One of many memorable momentss at Action Park. Everything seemed normal and just part of the fun back then, now as we compare those rides with the ones today, with all the safety measures and stuff, we categorize those as bizarre… maybe so, but I don’t regret a second of it!
Hi there,
Awesome list of rides. I wrote an article about amusement park equipment several years ago – and learned that Chance took its original design for the Skydiver and transformed it to create … wait for it … the Zipper.
The original Zippers went just a little too fast and caused many riders to get sick. This problem has been addressed in most Zippers still in operation, as noted in other comments.
The bigger issue – the door-only restraints – meant that folks could easily fall/fly out if the door fell open during operation. This design flaw has caused quite a few senseless injuries and fatalities over the years.
Zippers are now supposed to be retrofitted with secondary harness restraints. I am sure, however, that you can find many without them. Unless you know the age and condition of the Zipper in question, I wouldn’t do it. π
Again, what a fun list. Thanks for sharing!
-C.
Eyerly gets its name from Lee Eyerly, an aviator who took his knowledge of flight to create rides that continue to be the staple of carnival midways nationwide:
– Loop-O-Plane
– Roll-O-Plane
– Octopus
– Fly-O-Plane
– Rock-O-Plane
– Midge-O-Racer
– Bulgy the Whale
How awesome was Eyerly? Well, it is long rumored that Disney ripped him off when creating the Dumbo adn Mad Hatter Tea Party rides. Quite the compliment.
In the Midwest in the early 1970s the ride was also known as “The Salt and Pepper Shakers” and/or “The Hammers”.
Jeez, I musta had a cast iron stomach and brass balls back then.
Nowadays I’d probably lose my keys, my wallet, my phone and my sunglasses. Upon disembarking I’d no doubt lose my lunch.
I rode this coaster about 10 years ago – apparently when the old cars were in place. The man next to me screamed his head off – but I found the whole experience less than exciting … In fact, it was pretty painful!
I sported bruises from the shoulder harness alone that lasted over a week.
I’ve rode the round up upsidedown a bunch of times!
–Brian
I FINALLY RODE THE -ZIPPER- LAST NIGHT!!
It was in Mercer County Park (Reithoffer Shows provided the rides there) around Trenton, NJ, where it was sort of a fundraising campaign for D.A.R.E, a campaign to “keep kids out of drugs and violence”..and stuff like that.
Though I came alone but I had some somebody to ride along with me
My 1st ride on Zipper at around 8pm (the time I’ve arrived to the fair) was not much exciting because the car i was in, didn’t flip much as I thought it would. And in my 2nd/last ride @ around 10pm (after their amazing fireworks display) on that “Screamin-Metal Death Trap”, was absolutely…INSAANE! I Must thank you for providing me the information. π
I CAN’T WAIT TO RIDE THE RIDE AGAIN TO -WHEREVER IT WILL BE-! Thank You Sooo much. I owe ya! π
–Robert
Nice! I’ve noticed sometimes you’ll get a pretty tame ride on Zipper, just the luck of the draw I guess. Also after a few more rides you’ll start to get a feel of when to rock the car to make it flip multiple times, that’s always fun! Although I think the best is when the car points away from the center while going around the turn; you just get launched off the seat during those moments!
1. Yeah you’re right, I’m guessing when it comes to that ride, 1st rides on it are just sometimes less intense than on 2nd or more times on it, lol! π
But glad I finally conquered it. I finally got to feel what I’ve missed out SOOO MUCH after fearing Sooo Much about when in my younger years. Though I was pretty skeptical as I got on to the car, and asking the operator, “Omg, Make sure it’s locked in securely!” and I was unsure about it. As the ride started I shouted “Ooooohhh S*******!!” while holding on to the bars on the cage’s door tightly for dear life! And in one of those moment when my car shifted directions from one end to another, my head almost banged against the door..that was something I didn’t expect from the effects during the ride. Also on my 2nd/last ride on Zipper before headin home, the car I was in flipped 10 times (even while the ride starts rotating the other way)…WOOOWW..:-D That was….UNBELIEVABLE.. I’m glad I took that chance. It was either NOW..or NEVER. And I also love the ride because of the cars’ original cushion-y leather interior. π
I saw some were worn out or abused. but I was lucky enough to get in on one of the good cars (with the best kept leather interior)
2. Also, I researched -Blue Sky-‘s website on the line-up they have, and the only good ride they have is..of course,….”The Wicked Chainsaw” ride, better know as…”ZIPPER”.
Their line-up wasn’t that much cool as Reithoffer’s rides are. They have some Spectaculars also such as -Pharaoh’s Fury- (I LOVE THAT RIDE, MY 3RD FAVE), -Ring of Fire- (MY 2ND FAVE) and their -Zipper- (MY 1ST FAVE AS OF NOW) at night, its lights twinkle brightly and proudly as it should (including the the ride’s name sign) π
I use to go to Action Park all the time as a kid. Didn’t feel like you went if you did not go home hurt some how. Went in a 12 passenger van one time with a big group of friends. I dislocated my shoulder on the Colorado River Ride, tearing my rotator cuff, ligaments front and back and my labrum. I was one of the best options to drive home we were all so hurt at the end of the day. Surf Hill had two options…one with a jump and one without. There was no way to not get hurt if you weighed more than 200 lbs. It took us all down at one point. Place cost me a baseball scholarship but I still have great memories from it.
Excellent website, good memories.
Regarding “the cannonball” slide; the black tubes shown in the photos on the site are not the original alignment of the slides; they are the tamer alignment installed by Mountain Creek. The orginal cannonball alignment was even more insane than shown. The tubes went from a high platform down a 45 to 50-degree slope into the pitch black. The tubes went under the ground and around an immediate, sharp, 90-degree turn to the right, then a short straight-away before shooting you out about 10-feet over the freezing cold pond. They actually had a bar at the top of the tubes at the beginning of the slide to help lower yourself in as the slide started at the steep angle downhill. I rode this crazy slide in the 7th grade in 1981. Great rush.
We are also 1/8th the size of Reithoffer Shows. Not every company can buy multiple big rides every year.
I agree with that statement.
Are you kidding, this ride can be a blast. I was a kid the first time I rode this by myself at a traveling carnival in the 70’s. There used to be one at the old Elitch Gardens in Denver, CO in the early 90’s. I had a best friend back then who thought he was really tough, so I convinced him to ride this. I spun the wheel as fast as I could the whole ride, it took him a half hour to walk straight and stop dry heaving. It’s one of my fondest memories. You have to spin the wheel or you shouldn’t bother getting on it. I loved the feeling that ride gave me, a kind of euphoria, but I’m strange that way.
I rode the Super Loop once by myself, back in the 70’s when I was a kid. I was fine until it stopped at the top for several seconds, I seriously thought I was going to fall out. I don’t think the old one had as much stuff to keep you in it like the new model. I just remember straining to hold on to the lap bar when it stopped upside down and praying that the operator would move the damn thing. I remember hearing change falling out of people’s pockets and hitting different parts of the ride. People used to say the carnies stopped it upside down on purpose so they could shake all the change out of peoples pockets and then pick it up after closing. Of course I don’t believe that now, but I did when I was a kid. I also remember thinking it looked flimsy like a gust of wind could knock the whole thing over. It had a bunch of cables to keep it stable. I’m suprised that ride is still around.
Oh no, you were correct. The carnies most definitely try to shake loose the change… You’d be suprised how much stuff is found on rides. People get so wiped out and can’t wait to get off these things and they totally forget to check for lost items.
Did you know? Michael Jackson holds the world record on the βZipperβ carnival ride β he rode for 35 minutes straight!
I remember this ride when i was stationed in Germany. It was in 1984. I did not ride it but my friend did. I believed the ride lasted for over 5 minutes, at this one it stopped midway up for about 30 seconds or more. I used to always tell people about this ride
they have this @ Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado it is called something else. It was also @ Kentucky Kingdom, but the park is shut down now.
I first seen this in 1984 when i was in Germany.
I seen this last summer at the fair in Columbus, Kansas.
yep, it is an o.k ride. I have rode it 3 times, the first time i was on it with some drunks, i just knew it was gonna happen the one behind me threw up, luckily it missed me. I liked hanging upside down for those 15 seconds though.
Yeah, I was hoping for “Tornado” to be there, too. but I guess maybe next year..hopefully? Anyway, I went there Last Saturday for the Fireworks (although the ending kinda sucked) but all I brought was just $40 and a friend for 2 BBQ “Beef-kebobs”, 2 Gate Admissions, and Double-rides on -ZIPPER-. Although the “Wild Claw” ride looked exciting but we didn’t have enough money for it. The “Pharaoh’s Fury” ride didn’t get quite higher as it should’ve. The “Crazy Mouse” coaster is the same as in the Meadowlands Fair each year. And the “Tango” I hear is quite the “pain-bringer”, and we weren’t so gutsy to ride it, lol. But yeah, we had fun! π
..and btw, Thank You for posting this!
It Was My 1st Time Ever To Attend That Event! π
Sounds like you had a good time Robert! Also, I always thought Tango seemed painful before I rode but it really isn’t; it’s like sitting on a bike seat.
Lol. You know, to be honest Brian, The last time I rode a bike was like..6 Years Ago, hehe. I kinda forgot how it feels like after I thought how Painful bike seats are..and that they’re not as comfy as they were made in the time I had a bike.
In comparison, I see that the “Power Surge” and “Tango” both kinda operate in similar ways, right?
Action Park remains to this day one of my favorite amusement parks. I went there several times as a high schooler in the 80s, and while it seems obvious in hindsight, it never occurred to me at the time the very real danger posed by the various attractions. I still have a scar somewhere on my body from a spectacular spill I took on the Alpine Slide that relieved me of some skin. I hit a turn too quickly (which was easy to do) and ended up flipping with the cart landing just behind me barely missing my head and me sliding a short distance before coming to a stop. That’s the only injury I ever sustained. The rest of the time, I just had an absolute blast.
And, of course, there was that crazy loop slide. It was always a sight to behold, but it was never open any of the times I went. Rumor was that someone broke their neck on it and the ride was closed permanently. I don’t think this really happened, but it was believable enough. I mean, just look at it! It’s crazy that even the otherwise reckless owners of Action Park were afraid to open that thing, yet they never dismantled it. I wonder what they were waiting for?
How about more updates to the site? I miss the days when articles were out every couple of days… I won’t lie, I never play the flash games here. I just read the articles which I love.
Clever and a great idea, love the 3ds undertrack. Some ofο»Ώ the track does stick through but apart from that, the g’s are realistic for bobsleds and it has a good layout. Well done.
OHH! Hahahaha…i rode the orbiter when i waz 11 years old! Now i am 12 and i will ride it again this 4th of July…its so awesome!!
seems the Musik Express variety have smaller hills/dips…..the original Himalaya’s
I remember had the disco ball that was pitched 180 degrees to create falling snow effects, the tunnel had a stobe light, and the front portion had spotlights that would turn the cars green, red, purple and yellow. And there were always the tight sweater super shapely ski chicks painted into the scenery….Palasaides Amusement park had 2 at the same time, one was a “Super Himalaya” and the other one was jungle themed and called the Jaguar….when I first started driving back in’77 Coney Island had a very old Himalaya (with the painted on red letters), Music Express, plus a Cortina Bob
which was also a snow scene and very uncomfortable to ride because you sat with your partner between your legs and you would get tossed to the outer side of the car….(the only other model like this I’ve seen was in the mid 60’s on the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights and I believe that one was called Sun Valley)..The Polar Express also seems like an antique version- the hills are steep, the back of one car fans in slightly to the car behind it, I believe these cars are made of wood, and they face counter clockwise….there was also one at CI called the Super Cat which had a double dip as opposed to the high pitched back, and a canopy would cover the riders when the ride was at top speed (Cat= Caterpillar)…Swiss Bob was also a well known snow themed ride, and a lot of fun to ride because of the lights, music and the speed. Each car bore the flag of a nation that would enter Bobsledding events, and the rides were always shiny and polished…very hard to find these days….Manufacturer was originally Edy Meier (SIC?) of Zurich who also introduced the Himalya
I rode Demas’ Inversion at the San Diego County Fair. I thought the ride was alright, it had a good rush when the main arm flipped but our seats didn’t rock. It’s named the “Rock-It”.
i rode the rock-o-plane a few years back and i was in the front facing seats they are rather uncomfortable and during the ride i ended up smacking my head off the back of the pod and i was extremely uncomfortable during the whole ride
hey u guys, this year it my first time on the spin out, and i want to know if it’s scary or not?
Nah, it’s not scary at all. If you can go on spinning rides then this is a breeze.
In total honesty,..I must say that this year’s fair…TOTALLY ROCKED! BETTER THAN ALL THOSE DEPRESSING PAST YEARS OF THE FAIR. AND TO BELIEVE HOW -25 YEARS and Counting-, the fair rolls on, EVERY YEAR (right around my birthday) I’ve Been That Excited Like This In My Whole Life!
GOOD GOSH I went there on the 4th of July for the Fireworks (it lasted kind of short but had and interesting finale), I rode on EVERY SINGLE THRILL RIDE there
-ZIPPER (only 3 times before it “broke down” around midnight”
-RING OF FIRE
-Bonzai
-Crazy Mouse
-Fire Ball (though the claw didn’t spun while swinging)
-and the ride that I’ve feared the MOST since the 1st time it was debuted at the fair…..-SPACE ROLLER-. i finally rode that Beast, TWICE..RIGHT BEFORE CLOSING! IT WAS…INN-FREAKIN-SANE!! π
How were the crowds on the 4th? We usually avoid weekends, holidays and specials nights (like Carload night) to avoid the crowds, but it seems like you got on quite a few rides!
Really? The more ppl there, the better! π It was a huge crowd. When Me and my awesome friend/karate sensei (Yeah, I’ve started taking his classes just last week and he’s super friendly. I’ve invited him, he’s a huge Fairgoer like me, lol.) got to the parking lot, the lot was Almost Full. And Yepp, Thanks to the $25 Handstamp we’ve bought We rode every thrill ride there. They could’ve put more rides though, as it was their 25th anniversary event. But that was my best -21st- Birthday Ever! π
-Space Roller- was so intense. The 1st time we were in line for it, and it was our time to get to our seats, I wasss sooo nervous. and at the last minute before the restraints go down, I litterally got off my seat, “chickened-out” lol, and walk towards the exit..as I watched him have the best time of his life on that ride. But them right before closing, I realized I missed out so much on it. So actually went on for my 2nd attempt by myself (I sat close to the center), didn’t back down, and held for my life on that crazy thing! I was yelling, “OHH MMYY GOSH”, lmao! It was fun. And the last ride before the fair closed for the night, My friendly sensei quickly went to sit right next to me on the ride (I sat on the edge that time) and enjoyed the ride for the last time while the “Party Rock Anthem” song by LMFAO played. It was AWESOME. and after that, we headed home
I’m from Mississippi, but was visiting friends in NYC during the summer of ’80, and we spent a wild and crazy weekend at Action Park. The speed boats, waterslides, fun, fun, fun!!! None of us got hurt, maybe because we kept hitting the beer kiosks, and thus were limber enough to go with the flow!! Does anyone remember the human maze? You had a tall flag so you could be found if you couldn’t manage to get out.
I sure wish I still had my t-shirt!!
fried pickles are freakin awesome! lol
Looks awesome. Carnivals around here, suck. Badly. I dont know what it is but, they get worse every year. My local one this year has…
A Sizzler.
“fun house”
and a few little kid rides…
Not cool.
I have them in my basement, there’s one in my bathroom. I got in the shower looked up and it was just chillen in the top conner. I used axe and a lighter to kill it(:
I was only brave enough to ride the Sky Diver once back in the early eighties. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience. Very similar to the description in the above article. Not very comfortable, but I had finally gotten up the nerve to try it and if nothing else could/can say that I actually rode it.
While it may not be the most comfortable ride on the midway, I always thought it was the best looking piece out there. I still think it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing rides ever created. The multi-colored cars, the perfect symmetry of its design. It always made a great centerpiece for the fair that came around here back in the 70s and 80s.
Chance made some great rides back in the day. Absolute classics like the Tobaggan, Music Fest, Rock n Roll, etc.
But I think the Sky Diver is their most perfect machine. Simple but elegant. The article mentions the long light tubes; there are a few Sky Diver out there still, but the ones I’ve seen recently were fitted with turbo lights. A definite improvement in its original lighting design, I think.
I actually saw some YouTube video recently of a refurbished Sky Diver fitted with sequenced LEDs along its sweeps; I want to say its Powers Great American Midway’s piece. The ride looks absolutely amazing though! Here’s the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkRndUFfMFA
i still love this ride
yea so do i
doesn’t look scary
the ride is pretty fun
BREAKDANCE is a new take off on the early 60’s popular ride Calypso…..the cars didn’t spin on Calypso…..Palasaides NJ had one called the HOOTNANNY….
this is a update of a older ride, similair to the Kite Flyer being a new form of Paratrooper, which was a update of the even earlier SPITFIRE…..I miss the good old days of Roll O Planes, Flying Coasters, Lifting Paratroopers, Swiss Bob’s, and even the notoriously hazardous SWINGIN’ GYM…..worst rides I ever rode? Something called SPINAROO, The Boomerang, and a rare mid 60’s ride called the Meteor….there are videos of this on UT….never got to ride the notorious Chance TURBO…it was at Seaside Heights NJ Casino Pier for about 2 years like 71-73 and out of service both times I went…..
the fair in my town are pretty decent , rides like thunder bolt and enterprise top spin high energy fireball top spin and much more, it’s like every year we have a new ride
a pretty fun ride we call it drop tower
Oh man, great nostalgia. There’s not much out there on Water Works, but I’m glad someone put it out there. Here are some memories for me:
The Super Twist tower had three stops on the way up. The first stop was for “Corkscrew” (an enclosed, very steep and fast 360 degree spiral) and “Free Fall” (a white open slide, sort of like Double Dive for beginners), the second was for “Triple Dipper” (two open, white slides with three dips), and the highest and final stop was “Super Twist” (the enclosed twister). By the time you got all the way up to Super Twist, you were exhausted and out of breath from climbing so many stairs.
Super Twist was weird — one of them started out on the down slope, so that one got you started with good momentum. The other one kind of went in the other direction, so I remember having to push myself along over the hump until I got going. Once on the slide, each twist would dip you through faster and faster, and more and more water would fly into your face until the big final dip at the end. Your experience depended highly on the type of bathing suit you were wearing. I used to enjoy the slide while wearing a rugged Gotcha bathing suit that had a lot of traction (thus slowing me down). I once wore a more slippery bathing suit, and I could have sworn I was going to die! Water spraying in my face the whole time, and my legs flying up into the air inside the tube each time I’d go over the top of each twist.
The other really notable slide was Double Dive — that was the huge speed slide. It was also known by locals as the “Wedgie Wall”, and it was a common sight to see girls losing their tops on the ride. Totally scary the first time, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be once I reluctantly pushed myself over the precipice.
The Octopus was also a great one. Two of the three Octopus slides still exist at Breakwater Beach. Unloading into the same pool were “Cannonball” and maybe another name for the other one. It was basically just a short, white, open slide that dumped you straight into the water. Its partner was an enclosed blue slide that did exactly the same thing.
Another often forgotten one was the first one I rode at Water Works — “Tubs O’ Fun” — I think that was the name. You started by riding an innertube through an enclosed blue tube. This carried you around 180 degrees, usually turning you backwards, and dumping you into a pool. If you were going backwards by the end of it, you were definitely dumped ass over tea kettle into the pool. Then you’d float around in the pool until eventually going down a waterfall into the next pool. This would happen over and over until you finally got dumped out into the final landing pool. I enjoyed this one for a year or two before they finally drained the pools, filled them with dirt, and turned them into flower planters.
I wonder what ever happened to the giant guy holding the Pepsi can…
i still love this ride
this ride always seems to amaze me just like the I aM mE dance crew INSPIRE MOTIVATE ENERGIZE
THIS RIDE IS THE BEST RIDE EVER its soo fun im going to my county fair tomorrow and making my friend go on that hope power dosent go out again! if u think this looks scary its not its fun my 2 fav rides are 1.POWER SURGE 2. ZIPPER
I remember going in the late 80s as a part of a group of teenagers. The loop was open and I remember being scared poopless. At the time people were running to get a view because they would only open it for a hour at a time. There was no line and from what I remember the cliff dive was in the area. Anyway I went right up got hosed down, and looked at the lead and said, “is it worth it” He just looked at me with a blank stare. I looked back and said f-this and walked away my friend was pissed, but he didn’t do it either. From the stories I think it was a smart move.
Also wanted to add the Alpine Slide was great. There was nothing wrong with it unless you wanted to go to fast. Anyone could read signs slow/ fast etc. it was your decision if you wanted to walk out hurt. The cliff dive was great, but maybe 4 or 5 rides were way over the top, but I tell you what god bless the people that rode them it looked like fun.
Damn! I missed that carnival! I didn’t know that “newer-made” -Zipper- would be there. Welll, that carnival didn’t seem too exciting anyway. So I’m going for Skelly’s Amusements’ -Zipper- @ this year’s Middlesex County Fair, NJ…2morrow night!! (if it won’t rain) This one I don’t wanna miss. I’ve only ridden the older -Zipper- types by Reithoffer’s and Blue Sky
I’ve only rode this once at a carnival, and it was enjoyable….when I was a kid 40 some odd years ago- the was one at the famed Palace Amusements center in Asbury Park that peered out of the roof….Seaside Heights Funtown Pier and Palasaides Amusement park also had one in the 70’s……great rides should be manufactured forever…..roll o plane / flying coaster / swinging gym and lifting paratroopers ..I rode a ride similar to a lifting Paratrooper called DANCING QUEEN back in the mid 80’s on Seasides Casino Pier…the seats turned (not spun! turned slowly) simultaneously to face all 4 directions….it was there for about 2 years and I remember it being out of service once……the legendary Chance Turbo was also on the Casino Pier in the early 70’s and was closed for repairs both times when I visited and the ride was present. my all time favorite ride has to be the Swiss Bob/ Bayun Kurve….they could really make that go fast and the ride was always sparkling and well lit…..lot’s of fun.
Hollywood Star Finnendahl Onride (FΓHTZ) ….check this out on youtube….here is a pratrooper type ride where the seats actually turn and face all 4 directions once the ride lifts….I rode this once in Seaside Heights Casino Pier in the mid 80’s….it was called the Dancing Queen…..it was only there for about 2 years, and was out of service the 2nd time I went.
I’ve never seen it again….apparently it it popular on the German fair circuit…
That Hollywood Star ride looks like a trip!
Was Dancing Queen the same as the Hollywood Star ride or was it this ride ( http://bit.ly/otKlXf ) of the same name? Because I know those Huss Troika rides like the one in the link were pretty popular in the 80s or so here in the US.
ya nice job but…. you missed pics of my goats… lol
Aw man, I knew I forgot something! haha
I love this ride! But at 6’4, I’m sure you can imagine how tight a squeeze those cages are for me. Don’t ride it like I did when I was younger.
it was the same ride as Hollywood Star..Troika was like a combo Enterprise /Spider deal, right? this was a ride very similar in start up and performance as a lifting Paratrooper, the difference was the entire ride elevated, then dropped like a Trabant would angle, and the cars turned slowly in all 4 directions….it was a great ride!………
I am so glad there is a fan site for these rides……they are such a big part of so many folks summer years growing up!! I for one, had to behave the entire summer to make one trip to Seaside Heights or Palasaides Amusement Park as a kid!…I envied the kids that went more than one time or visited several places so much!
This was Awesome!!!! My first steel coaster and and awesome ride!!!! 9/10
Any ride that u have to put that chest guard on needs either to be taken down or fixed for big chested women it is a shame that bigger chested women can not ride rides like that. The fireball is terrible anyway u have to jump up on the damn thing to even get up there who ever made that ride needs to be slapped thumbs down to that morone
agreed when i went on i thought i was buckled in thank godddd my cousin was messing with me and made the bar go up right before ride started we were screaming not in not in lol im also big chested and i woulda been dead
OMG. I just went to The Meadowlands Fair In N.J. lastnight. Everytime the fair comes my friends & I literall go like 5 times because we are fair freaks!!! Anyway I go on the Fire Ball 7 times on Saturday night. We return Tuesday night & they tell me “Your too big to ride this ride… Try switching seats with your friend…Sorry sensor won’t go off on that seat either… you can’t ride this ride” WHAT IS THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS??? I mean hey I have a big chest not to shout it out like crazy but a 36DDD (I know big) & I ate a Gyro some Zeppoles & drank a medium Coke but I don’t see how that could have made me gain like 50Lbs in 3 days!!!
& I am also a little thick too but I can’t understand how one day it’s all good & then 72 hours later they say HELL NO!!! Confused Man :/
I totally understand. I couldn’t ride this and got kicked off in front of my friends.
For one reason or another (one reason being that I first encountered this ride when I was about seven and chickened out of riding it), I’ve never actually been on one of these, but I’ve always had a morbid fascination with them. My tolerance for unidirectional spinning has sadly declined over the years, but I am determined to cross this one off the list. No doubt I will pay dearly for my earlier cowardice, as this contraption looks like it would rate very high on the vomit index.
You’re not really missing too much; it’s really just like any looping ride only it has a slight rattle from being on a track along with horribly tight riding compartments. But I understand the appeal of getting on one; it’s kind of like how I want to get on a Rotor even though a Gravitron pretty much trumps it.
BTW, it’s nice to see you around! Too bad TPC is basically a ghost town nowadays.
Trust me, you are completely justified in including this ride on the list. The High Roller pretty much defines the term “White Trash Carney Ride.” It combines brutality, claustrophobia, hilarity, and excitement to much the same degree as, although in a distinctly different way than, the Zipper.
I actually did ride one of these solo one time and received a merciless pummeling. More recently I rode one with a total stranger (a lady somewhat younger than I) who needed a partner for the operator’s (completely reasonable) two-rider requirement. It was an awkwardly intimate experience, a good first move for a randy teenager but a bad bet for a middle-aged married man. We did our best to avoid one another, but the laws of physics ensure some (and not just a casual) degree of physical contact will occur.
This is a fitting choice for number one, all the more so because Chance seems to have retrofitted the pods from the Toboggan for use on this ride. You have to love the fantastically inane restraints which employ Chance’s signature feat of engineering: attaching the part that is supposed to hold you into the ride to the swinging hatch that lets you out of the ride. If a you’re a skinny guy like me who’s manning the wheel and therefore unable to brace yourself inside the cage, you might find the restraints sometimes catching you just above the knees and sometimes closer to the chest.
The scariness of this ride, while considerable, has for me more of giddy hilarity to it than the more panic-inducing terror the old Zippers could evoke. At the the intersection of fear and absurdity, you will find the SkyDiver. It is truly a can’t-miss experience for devotees of the carney classics.
Awesome video. My family has been going to Seaside (living in the Park, occasionally venturing into the Heights…a world of difference) since the beginning of time. When the Music Express replaced the Himalaya, I figured they had just spruced up the old ride. To me it seems like the same thing with new paint and a bubble machine, but I don’t really know what I’m talking about, LOL. I’m guessing you saw the Bertazzon logo somewhere on the ride, and I’ll take your word for it regarding the Himilaya being a Reverchon product. Good post!
Thanks! You know, I wish I could say that I saw a logo somewhere but the fact is that I’m such an amusement ride dork now that I can just look at it and be like “oh this is X, made by Y.” lol
Apparently, someone did fly off a Scat ride. Just found this news story…
http://articles.herald-mail.com/1998-06-10/news/25137021_1_awning-carnival-teen
And this follow up story…
http://articles.herald-mail.com/1998-06-10/news/25121819_1_popular-carnival-safety-belt-winchester-amusement
I just rode my first Scat ride at the Scioto County Fair in Ohio, and although the Scat looks like a more crazy trip, I think the classic Round Ups gives a much better ride experience.
I haven’t try to ride in this Orbiter but i guess it is such a great experienced to be ride on it π . How i wish that i could ride on it someday π .
This is really such a great and amazing post.And the roller coaster really are scary,i can’t ride on that maybe.
Hey, that fair is cool, even though the little downside of it is that it closes An Hour Early. And may I say -Reithoffer-‘s ZIPPER looked BETTER THAN EVER! Nice paint job, cage doors/locks updated..Wow! I can’t for it to come at a next NJ event in -2012-! π
Definitely, it’s the nicest Zipper I’ve seen to date! The yellow and red actually go together pretty nicely on this ride too; usually when I see those two colors together it makes me think of McDonalds or something. lol
..or Wendy’s, haha! π
oh and I forgot to ask since u rode -Reithoffer-‘s newly-improved ZIPPER, how does the new cages’ interior feel? Is it soft leather, or rough like -Blue Sky-‘s ZIPPER?
It seemed similar to a gym mat actually. I haven’t been on BSA’s Zipper so I don’t know how they are; can’t be worse than some Zippers I’ve been on though. I remember Coney Island’s old Zipper had like duct tape padding. lol
Well It’s a good thing you told me because I never rode that one! π
Yeah, when it comes to that ride, I’m now more on the details of the cars’ interior padding. -Blue Sky-‘s ZIPPER’s (the 1st one I ever rode in my life) interior padding if I remember correctly feels more of a…”tatami mat-like” material, kinda bit rough.
But -Skelly-‘s ZIPPER (@ the Middlesex County Fair every year in August) felt AWESOME. It felt like the material that was used to make inflatable bounce houses. And what’s “sexier” about was that it’s black! It actually made me feel like falling asleep in it lol. That’s what I missed out on A LOT fearing the ride the past years! That felt great!
-sighs- If only we’d meet up at any local fair on a Saturday night (when I mosty go…alone, by myself) that would be awesome.
And Call Me WEIRD If You Want To, but That’s How I Honestly Feel About Any -ZIPPER- Ride That Appear At Any Closest Fair I Can Get To. lol π
I CAN’T WAIT FOR MORE -ZIPPER- FUN in ~2012~! π
oh and btw, are you doing a trip report of the ALLENTOWN FAIR next? Cause there are a few bit of things I gotta say when you do finally post it here…
This ride looks like it cost around 12 dollars to make. Sad.
I’ve been on this. I loved the dive loop. What I also found interesting was that the second hill seemed higher and steeper than the first, very unusual.
Your stories are exactly why I would not work at a kiddie park, especially one on a ticket system. Spending my day bickering with grumpy, trashy, cheap parents about tickets seems like hell.
I was on this once when the ride operator announced we we getting an extra long ride to celebrate making the most tickets on the midway that day. Needless to say, I have never been so dizzy and sickened in my life.
It was a great ride, and went so fast it was over before you even realized it. I’m glad I got to ride it. For some reason a lot of people hated it, virtually no line for one of the craziest coasters ever built, and I’m sure that played a part in it going bye bye.
i so agree people who hated this ride must have no taste or experience of rollercoasters. LAMOs lol
Yeah, we know this ride on German funfairs well! One of the all time classics, together with the Huss Breakdancer.
Mostly the new KMG rides and some of the Huss rides make a funfair here in Germany. I was on “Night Style”, one of the newest Top Spins (by KMG, Netherlands), recently. It has two independent arms, as can be seen here:
http://ride-index.de/include.php?path=content&type=&contentid=180
If you thought the normal Top Spin is intense… ride THIS. It’s living hell, really. After some spins I just wanted to get off… and I’m an adrenaline junkie.
In Europe we seem to be addicted to thrills with rides getting more and more extreme… π
By the way, we’ve got a similar ride from mondial (Netherlands) here on German funfair grounds, called “Shake”. It basically is Breakdancer plus loopings… Really weird looking, and damn intense!
See here:
http://ride-index.de/include.php?path=content&type=&contentid=534
Awesome ride, but like Breakdancer depends on the operator. Mostly operators here in Europe tend to be great at times the funfair ground is not crowded (with rides 5 minutes and more), but when there are lots of people waiting they will give you a short ride and try to kick you out as soon as possible… that’s why I ride mostly before noon π
I’ve actually seen a Shake here in the US once before and it still travels around, just not in the northeast US where I am. I beleive it’s called Magnum. I’m still kicking myself for not giving it a spin, but at the time I didn’t know if I could take the flipping and spinning.
Breakdance is definitely a ride that needs to be ‘driven’ instead of just turned on auto. Unfortunately the US has NO traveling Breakdance rides anymore and the amusement park versions are terribly slow. I need to go to Europe sometime and ride a real Breakdance!
My absolutely favorite ride… KMG designs great rides, that’s for sure! However, @Msstevye, not only girls have problems… you’r b*lls will hurt, too … these damn seats with their pins in the middle!
Looks like hell, really… I was completely surprised at a funfair during my USA holiday, when this thing just turned! I had the complete “wtf” face on, that’s for sure….
I guess European safety standards would NEVER EVER allow something like that… or the zipper… lucky Americans π
“I guess European safety standards would NEVER EVER allow something like thatβ¦ or the zipperβ¦ lucky Americans :D”
That’s funny Max… I think the same thing about the ride Tagada in Europe. hehe. All great rides though.
i rode one called the claw they were playing music by mercy me(i can only imagine) and the combination of the ride movement and the beautiful praise and worship music moved me to happy tears and i was filled with the Spirit!
Ride spun WAY too fast for me could not enjoy, not for someone that cant handle a fast, fast spin. damn i regret getting on this.
Just rode this for the first time yesterday! I was concerned about my keys falling out of my pocket (and possibly off the ride, I don’t have a big enough key fob to prevent it falling through the cage), so I stuffed them into my back pocket, so that I could keep them from moving, and even if they did, there was a velcro patch to keep them falling out.
Regardless, they worked their way out over the course of the ride, hit the bottom of the cage, then flew up and hit me in the face. I managed to snatch them from the air and hold them against one of the door bars until the end of the ride (while I was stepping on my wallet, which had fallen out much earlier).
Awesome.
what fair closes around 10:00 p.m. our fair (tallahassee,florida) opens 9:00 a.m. and closes around 12:00 p.m. and closes 2:00 a.m in the morning during midnight madness and midnight majic.(only on weekends). by the way AWESOME VIDEO!!!! (2 thumbs up )
They probably close at 10pm because it’s close to residential areas and the local ordinance might say that no events can occur after 10pm or something like that. Some fairs, like the State Fair Meadowlands do go on until 1 or 2am though since they’re in more industrial areas, away from housing.
i want to ride them all i bet they take your breath away!
this ride is supper awesome
i know you probaly had a time there, and although GASM is my fav. coaster, i still want to ride the new green latern ride , how was it?
I lived in the development Aspen Woods next to Action Park and it was a major part of my life. When my Dad was laid off from Ford Motor Company he had started his own Welding and pipe fitting company. He was hired to put the wonder loop together. I remember him coming home from work laughing so hard. He was telling my Mother that the wonder loop test dummy came out with no clothes on and no head. He tried to express to the enginr that this isn’t going to work. I don’t think they cared. Growing up there, it was entertainment everyday. Fourth of July fireworks reflecting in my pool after a hard day of work and play. All three of my sisters and I worked there from the time we were 12 till we went to college. Everyday after school I walked out of my back door and walked directly onto the ski runs to either ski or go to work in the summer. I remember being so upset that I had to leave Vernon to go on Vacation in the summer. Before I could work at AP my two older sisters worked there, so I was there EVERYDAY. Action Park was my Nanny in that day and age. No worries about harmful people. If it was raining,we would just go into a building or area that was closed and it was our own little park. Souven shops, candy stores, etc. My favorite job was working the spin art wheel with my best friend. I did the life guard thing, parking attendent, motr world and at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade it for the whole world. Does anyone remember Grannies Pancake house. It burnt down due to someone smoking ciggerets after it closed in the kitchen. So many memories.
We had a Tempest at the old school amusement park I used to work at. It was the most notorious puke ride on the midway. With so little control by the riders on the spinning action it can really get out of control and develop serious forces. There were always two 5 gallon pails of water kept by the ride and they got tossed on the seats multiple times every day. Not a ride I choose to go on.
One of my favorite flat rides! I never pass up a chance to ride a classic Trabant. I’m not such a fan of the WipeOut as they tend to let it keep spinning full speed after it comes back down flat and the side forces become unbearable — equal or worse than a Music Express.
If you have only ridden the more common Wave Swinger, your first experience on the Yo-Yo can scare the bejezus out of you. It looks like a wimpy kiddie swing and you really don’t notice the rocking action when observing from the ground. The first time it tilts you forward you think something let go for sure!
This one tricked me good! I had never run into this ride until seeing it at Old Town in Kissimee. We thought it was a Paratrooper variant. It is NOT. Damn, this think develops some forces! As was said, it makes your legs go to sleep from the pressure on your thighs. Has that general Wisdom Rides feel of being a home-build concoction of spare parts.
My only ride on the Sky Diver was at Lakemont a few years ago with a die-hard enthusiast who talked me into being the second rider while he “piloted” the car. And he did manage to get that thing spinning. The most intolerable element for me, though, was going upside down at the bottom of the wheel – the positive G-force almost made my head explode.
Top of my list for least favorite ride. Only an unusually sort cycle (carnie wanted to chase a townie girl) saved me from puking on my one and only ride. The regular oscillating motion is simply the WORST – any of the random action rides can be tolerated as at least there is variation but here there is no relief in sight until the ride stops. But it’s my daughter’s favorite carny ride.
ha ha..just discovered this poll and your site..good job sir:)
Thanks MJ!
Thank you for writing about these crickets. I came across one tonight and thought it was a spider from the amazon that was going to eat me alive while I slept! Thank goodness it’s NOT a spider. This thing jumped 4 feet in the air and every which way. It was in the kitchen, so I grabbed the first thing I could find – RESOLVE CARPET CLEANER Spray. I sprayed it with that and Pledge and soaked it until it couldn’t move and then I smashed it with a newspaper. Sorry for anyone who thinks “oh, poor little cricket” , but you guys are all right on when saying that these things are the enemy. Holy cow… At least doing some research on line, I found out it’s not a spider and can now finally go to sleep at 1:30AM. Thank you…
Seriously, this has to be the most amusing article EVER!
EVER I tell you!
I share your aversion to this ugly insect and I don’t know if you planned it so but this article left me rolling on the floor laughing whenever I wasn’t shaking my head in agreement to what you were saying. especially the part witht he percentages of success… Seriously I almost burst my lungs laughing xD
Well written
yes it’s 1:20 we have spent several hours trying to kill one without getting close to it. it jumped into the bathroom and we lost it so we moved our things to a different room of the house and then while moving saw babies. there’s a nest in there. no one is safe.
Hi, I went on the Zipper for the first time today, and i have to say it was EPIC!!! I live in australia so it went so fast! I went on with my friend, and because she couldnt hold herself from getting thrown around, she smashed her face on the bars and became pale and got a massive headache. I loved it but she could keep herself still, so if you go on the Zipper, you have to be prepared for some serious g – forces (especially the australian one)
Thanks
ahh..the enterprises..one of my favorite flat rides..must ride one if i see one at a park..when i was little i used to be scared of them..i was a wuss back then..now..NO FEAR!!!
I just recently came across in this site and as i see and read the post in here well i should say thumbs up! You did a good job.
been on the one at Six Flags St. Louis..i was excited to see it running after seeing it closed at Great Adventure EVERYTIME i went there..it was an okay ride..expected it to be more “wild”, but a decent ride
I love the small huss frisbees..such an intense ride..more intense than the giant versions
Im related to Kaiser wilhelm… and im latino. Makes no sense but its true
scream machine was a true classic..sad to see it go
anyone know the reason for the name change?..why change a nice name for something beyond generic?
hey its alissia i went to the october fest in daytona and i saw the fireball and i went on it a guy pucked and it got on my friend. it was nasty….. it was awsome
Hmm, if there’s one word for a boring county like this was, it would have to be “SHITTY” because..come on, I’ve seen this same BORING ride company at some Memorial Day festival in Newark EVERY FREAKIN YEAR! Shouldn’t they have more BETTER RIDES like,,oh idk…ZIPPER!?? The -Union County Fair- was..Apalling, a Stinkfest..UGGGGH!
Ohhhh yesssss! π
MY 1ST TIME EVER TO ATTEND THAT EVENT, ALSO π
And sure was a Hell of a Lonnng Drive to there and back home. Costed my about $45 for gas, lol. And finding parking there was a bitch!
But sure the rides were A Lot Of Fun! Though I have to say…
Power’s -ZIPPER- was Toooo Crazy. In the first thirty seconds, it made me hit my head so hard on the back padding of the cage, that I almost had a concussion and a nosebleed…. My first ride on it was okay. But in the second, was kind of a downer. After the first flip of the cage, my nose started bleeding again…
And then I had to ride the calming rides for the rest of the evening.
But yeah, the carnival was Top Fun. Though Powers’ -Zipper- did not like me. lol
MY GOD..my poor gravitron π .. we owned that ride from the day it came out of Wisdom in 1991 until this winter when we traded it in to Wisdom for our new starship, Mccaferty then bought it from Wisdom (it never actually left the east coast, we brought it right to them).
That ride was my baby and now its just sad looking π
Lol oddly enough that Sizzler used to belong to us as well (Well Silver Dollar Shows, Not Blue Sky Amusements) We sold it to McCafferty years and years ago, around 1995-96
How about the SBF Visa Tower Coaster? It’s a portable coaster (like a Chance Toboggan only with a totally different ride experience) that’s found in Australia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8ovpdww1Yc&feature=related
Looks very fun.How i wanted be be also in that place.Such a very great ride,actually i’m dizzy as i watched the video.LOL
This is pretty interesting to see and a great break from the Golden Ticket Awards, but a correction Intimidator 305 is at Kings Dominion not Carowinds.
Wow..Looks like you really had a great and fun time there. As you post the video, i was really amazed with all the rides. I also wanted to go there.:)
I’d been trying to find information on this park for awhile! I lived outside of NYC as a child and caught the tail-end of Action Park as well as going back a few times when it was Mountain Creek. I never recalled it being a massive death/injury trap, but I do recall getting nearly maimed or dismembered there often despite only being a child and not having ridden about half of these rides. I recall going down the Colorado River ride with my family being like we were in one of those survival shows. Every turn someone would shout, “tuck your legs in! pull your arm in!” before violently slamming into a wall that likely would have severed said body part if no one took such instruction. I recall stopping on a slide as well and hopping off the side to avoid an oncoming collision with the next rider. My family never took my friends to this place specifically, probably realizing that was a liability. It’s a strange request, but does anyone remember what the children’s area looked like? I distinctly recall attempting to find it one summer only to find it behind a boarded make-shift wall and overgrown with brush and leaves wondering why they closed it down; oblivious to the fact the park was closed and subsequently reopened. I also vaguely recall this strange pool with three different heights. Like a cylinder with people swimming in it above the pool and another taller one above that. It looked 20 ft taller than the pool I was in, but I could easily be imagining that. Looking at pictures, I may be recalling the cliff diving area as I see small pools of water and the two separate heights. I believe it was near hammocks, if that’s any sort of help. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here; A day or so every summer from the early 90s until around the later 90s. But the fact my shitty memory recalls it so vividly must attribute to how ridiculous it was.
my only dispute is Six flags great america being the worst park..it is BY FAR the best run of the ENTIRE six flags chain..even when SF was at its worse..Great America was a pleasant place to be at…so i call shenanagins on that one!
Well actually Six Flags America in Maryland won this year, not Six Flags Great America in Chicago who did win last year (albeit by a very small margin.) I get the two names confused all the time. Great America actually got the second least amount of votes this year of any Six Flags park with only like three or four; Six Flags Fiesta Texas received none.
ill let it slide this time..lol
I got a chance to ride Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure for the first time this year. To be honest, I thought it was a pretty good coaster. It was the first stand up I have been on where after the ride was over, I wanted to ride it again. I can’t say that about the old TOGO models or even Mantis at Cedar Point. Stand up coasters seem to give a better ride experience if they are longer and more spread out, and of course, not have those awful bunny hops.
Even tho the Georgia Scorcher at SFoG is VERY compact..somehow it gives a GREAT ride..i dont know how..just looking at it, I thounght it would be rough but somehow it is perfectly paced and is probably the best stand up ive been on..ive been on Mantis ,Chang, Riddlers Revenge, Iron Wolf, Vortex(Carowinds), and some TOGO stand ups(AWFUL!!!)..but the Scorcher is the best..check it out if you can.
Do you have to use such a crass name like White Trash Carny rides? Seriously.
The ‘white trash carny ride’ moniker stems from a joke I had with some people years ago and decided to turn it into a series of articles. It is a ‘crass’ name but this site was never supposed to be politically correct or family friendly anyway.
Your article is funny. These bugs are not. They creep me the F out. I live in a very old house and the basement is damp and not very well insulated. Here is my method of dealing with them. They hate light, so I leave the lights on in the basement ALL THE TIME. There are five lightbulbs with no fixture thing over it, so I buy the 100w bulbs. I have to replace them constantly, but it’s worth it. As you know trying to step on them doesn’t work because if they see you coming, then they jump at you. My friend said to get a wet paper towel and drop it on them before you mash them, but I refuse to get close enough to do that. I was out of insect killer so I used Clorox Bleach spray and that seemed to do the trick, although they were still moving. I looked in my sump pump hole just now and there were about 10 in there. I poured bleach in the damn hole and then filled it with a ton of water and that killed em. Another thing, which is going to be easier than your cup and golf ball method, is a swiffer. I have one of the giant swiffer sweepers, just the ones you attach the swiffer rag to and push around, it’s not electric or anything. It’s very wide and the handle is really long, so I can sneak up and kill the cricket with it. I’m too scared to go down there and check to see if the bleached ones are dead yet, they tend to disappear once they die…
You know why they “tendo to disappear once they die? It’s because other cave crickets eat them! Thenat why it;s important to remove the dead ones. You are otherwise just leaving food for the ones that are alive. I agree with the Clorox method. It works. Also Lysol or other harsh household sprays do the trick. It’s easy to aim at them, you don’t have to get too close and it kills them as long as you spray them for a while. Usually after the first or second spray they lsoe their ability to jump but they will still walk. Eventually the chemical in the cleaning product kills them.
Where I live Fiesta Shows has 1 that was originally called “The Break Dance”, then “Super Dance” and now “The Twister”. It’s actua;;y tilted at about a 45-50 degree angle
I dont really like spirial coasters or upside down ones, but, from just watching this ride on youtube makes me want to indure it myself!! π
coasters are made for the thrill of it, and for once in your life to feel free! This ride looks awesome and amazing. Can’t wait to ride it over the summer with my camp!!!! π
my favorite ride is nitro i dont care how long the line is for it i would wait all day if i had to to get on it. love the drops. i would go on that ride only when going there in the summer!! LOVE NITRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! π
I loved Action Park! Thanks so much to the author of this site for creating a place for us to pool our memories of that infamous yet near-and-dear-to-our-hearts enclave of amusement insanity.
Anyone remember that little electric people-mover that would bring you from motorworld over the highway to waterworld and back? You’d sit sideways on it and it would run over this thin little metal rail.
Aqua Scoot was a lot of fun. You’d haul this heavy boat-like plastic thing to top of a tower, place it on a 45 degree angled slide that was made out of a succession of metal rolling pins, ride it down and get shot over a long shallow pool and skip along the surface at what felt like 25-30 mph.
How about that weird flume/boat ride thing they built into the mountain – I think it was called “Avalanche?” It was up the hill a bit from the cannonball slide. It was a pretty interesting flume ride that had several falls with the final one taking place entirely inside a pitchbalck tunnel with simulated explosion sounds. You used to see parts of that ride when taking the chairlift up for the Alpine Slide. That was one of my favorites for some reason. It was out of place for traction park though since there was seemingly no way to potentially kill yourself on the thing!
I remember the two serpentine slides – one was near the Kamikaze and was painted dark blue – the other was further down the hill and was bright green. That one had some hariy seams on it and if you happened to lose your mat you were in for a series of scrapes and briuses. Ouch!
I remember getting lost in the maze which was near motorworld but I was small enough to just crawl through the open spaces under the walls.
The battle tennis ball tanks were a lot of fun.
I was too young to drive the F1 racers but I do remember “graduating” from the go-karts you had to be 10 years old to drive to the ones you had to be 12 years old to drive (a bit faster and a longer track). Good times.
Thanks again for the site – a nice trip down memory lane!
π
Kevin
Some of my biggest regrets in life are not seeing Pantera or The Grateful Dead, never getting to smoke a cigarette in the mall or the movie theatre, and never knowing about Action Park. I suppose it’s more of a north Jersey thing. I grew up with Clementon Park, Great Adventure (six flags), and of course Wild Woods along with other beach-front attractions. But never new until it was too late about this master-park!! I haven’t seemed to shake the fantasy of being one of it’s many dice-rolling daredevils. I’m trying to go back to film school next fall. If i have it my way, eventually there will be a full length feature on the infamous park. The stories on here take me into the park and will eventually take millions into the park. And since it was 79 to 98 it would feature music by the Pixies, the Flaming Lips, the Ramones, among others. Hopefully, and with a little luck, one of these days i’ll be able to get it made. Maybe then i’ll get some lost remenants of the magic that swelled the now deceased park.
The best fair of 2011, is..as always, STATE FAIR MEADOWLANDS. And hands down, my all time fave ride is…without a doubt, The Zipper! π I can’t wait for Winter to end and the Carnival season to return, For More -ZIPPER- experiences than last year!
Just get me informed on what carnivals/fairs will have the ride when Spring comes along, Thanks So Much.
Oh and can u start a FACEBOOK page for this site, too?
You know, I thought about it but decided not to because it would probably just end up like TheDoD3 Twitter feed, which really nothing more than a bunch of update postings. lol
can’t breathe when falling and it is a nice feeling too
I can remember driving to Action Park back in 1981 with 5 of my buddies.We left from Ct.and had the times of our life.Alot of the ATTRACTIONS WERE HAZARDOUS..But when ur 18..You dont really care…I loved that place,and am glad I got a chance to experience it before it closed…..
Six Flags Over Texas had one like this called the Texas Tornado. One day it stopped abruptly and banged up some people’s legs pretty badly. Now its called Gunslinger and doesn’t do all of the bending.
What about the Polka Festivals that were at the dance pavillone? My mom and I would go there a couple times a year and had a great time dancing and enjoying all the Polish foods and in particular when Jimmy Sturr played there. He drew the largest croud , no wonder because he is the best . I miss those days and it brings back so many wonderful memories. It was a time in my life I will never forget. My mom has passed on but I’m sure there is a Polka Band in heaven where she is dancing up a storm and eating some good Polish food.
Funny I was just thinking about this the other day, I had the pleasure of going to action park in the 90’s to a Sturr festival.
We stayed at a Pakistani hotel and it rained the whole weekend. All electrical rides were not running.
The only good thing was Happy Louie and the Ampolaires played that weekend and the beer was cold….
Also went to the home town of Jimmy Sturr, Florida New York which if I remember correctly, is not too far from Action Park.
The last comment is mine
I was one of the last riders to go on The Cannonball Loop… It was either 95 or 96 was the last year I went there and it was open. My friend and I stood there for a good 20 mins before we decided to go on it.. Funny part is there was never a line.. hmm wonder why.. All I can say my experience on it I will never forget. Between the ridges connecting each pipe hitting your back the ride down the dark tunnel was nice. Once you hit the loop it goes by in an instant. And then came the end, hitting the ice cold pool at the bottom and trying to stand up. I had a massive headache and a sore lower back for half the day after that ride from the whip of the loop.
Would I do it again if it was still open.. YEP =)
If it werent for MTV always broadcasting from there, I would have missed out on that wonderful place.
Great sunset picture of Ocean City! Hopefully, I can get down there this year.
LOVE this site and LOVE reading about Action Park! That place sounds awesome…. So much crazy stories!!! I wish I would’ve been able to visit it when I was a kid!! Where I live, in Europe (Holland, to be exact), we didn’t have waterparks like that… feel like I really missed out π
The rides look frigthening but I guess the danger only made it more fun. It’s a shame these days everything has to be totally save and even the risk of a small bruise is considered almost a crime. Kids arent as fragile as most people think… getting hurt is part of growing up π
Too bad in the 80’s and 90’s there werent a lot of people walking around with video cameras, I would love to see more of the ”real action!” (especially the Loop-thing!)
On youtube, you can find an MTV episode with Alice in Chains in Action Park with actually some great footage of some of the rides (Surfers Hill, Geronimo Falls, wave pool, Colorado River…) along with a LOT of drunk people π
Thanks for posting this, I had a blast reading about a place that almost sounds too crazy to be real π
The Ring Of Fire was soo imtimidating to me 3years ago. The look of it the first time i ever saw that ride scared me straight and my grandma called me up the next day telling me how much of a whimp i was for baking out and not going on it. but last year i toughened up and went on the Ring Of Fire and LOVED IT!! it was freaking scary but i had to go on it and it was one of the best ride that i had ever been on and now im going this year too so im definently going on it!
Here are the dates of our eastern PA shows for the Spring.
Second Alarmers Rescue Squad Carnival, Abington, PA May 8 – 12, 2012
Morrisville Rotray Carnival, Morrisville, PA May 15 – 20, 2012
Hatboro Summer Fun Festival, Hatboro, PA May 25 – June 2, 2012 (Fireworks June 1)
I will send yopu our fall dates when they are finalized.
Thanks,
Bill George
Pennypack Entertainment
Thanks Bill! I’ve added them to the list.
Thank you. BTW: I forgot to give you the web address for the Seond Alarmers Carnival. http://www.sars.org/carnival
Thanks so much.
Cannonball loop opened, and then closed in the summer of 1983. My friends and I had just graduated high school and since we had been to the park many, many times before, this was to be our last hurrah before we went our separate ways to college. We went on he day they were introducing two new rides to the public. One was the cannonball loop. We were about twentieth in line when it opened to great fanfare. We were about eight in line when they closed it. Bummer. We went on to have a wonderful day anyway. I still carry scars on my elbows and knees from the alpine slide. Thanks for the story. I tell my kids about action park often, and I can tell they don’t believe the stories. The oldest argues about liability etc. my youngest(the daredevil) thinks I’m teasing him about such a wonderful place. “then take me” “sorry son, it’s closed” “yeah, I bet it didn’t exist, like fairy land or something” wait until I show him this story. Thanks again!
Hey there Brian, can u add this upcoming fair in Bayonne, NJ?
—St. Mary Star of the Sea Church Fair – Bayonne, NJ: April 10 – 15— (Less Than 2 Weeks Away!) π
Thanks π
Added. Thanks for the heads up!
No prob. Btw, there will be the 1st stop in the 2012 season for Blue Sky’s newly-refurbished “Zipper”! U might wanna head over there and check it out, unless u want to wait a month for it to come to the OLP fair next month (hopefully)
I went to Action Park every summer in the early to mid 90’s. I was a teenager and it was a tradition to make the short drive from Connecticut.
I remember hanging out in the little area with the pools and the little cave near the cliff jump. That was one of my favorite areas to chill and watch girls lose their tops jumping into the icy water.
Parents loved it, too, because the place served ALCOHOL! Imagine this place full of drunk, loud people wanting to jump off cliffs and ride the alpine slide. I remember seeing more than a few people covered in blood from some kind of incident.
The hills were brutal. The wave pool was always fun and I saw several people get pulled from it’s deep end after underestimating the pull on the sides. I remember a group of us would scan the wave pool because there was always money floating around.
The craziest thing I ever saw at Action Park happened on the Aqua-Scoot. You have to realize the brilliant safety standards of this ride. From what I remember, you sit on a plastic sled with nothing strapping you in, only a handle bar, and you get pushed down a slide with metal rollers which empties out into a pool at the bottom. I saw a lady fall back, hit her head on the rollers, and slide all the way down ending up face down in the pool. She was unconscious with blood coming out of her head.
Several patrons helped the lady out of the pool because the “lifeguards” were very busy talking to their friends!
The action never stops at Action Park!
Oh and forgot the link to the source for St. Mary’s Fair this weekend.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Mary-Star-of-the-Sea-Church-Bayonne-NJ/153598898023094?id=153598898023094&_rdr#!/event.php?eid=286032744796273&__user=100000376254218
Some up coming NJ Dates:
Ridgefield Carnival – April 25-29th Veterans Park Ridgefield NJ
Warren County Chamber of Commerce Spring Festival Hackettstown NJ May 3-6
Holy Trinity Carnival – Hackensack NJ – May 1st – 5th
Bound Brook FD Carnival – Bound Brook NJ – May 8-12
St. Virgils Church Carnival – Morris Plains NJ May 9 -12
Sea Brite FD Carnival – Sea Brite NJ – May 17-20
NY DateS:
Nassau County Strawberry Festival – Bellmore NY May 30- June 3rd
Thanks Mike, I’ve added them all to the list.
UPDATE from BSA on Facebook: “Unfortunately the Zipper will not appear at St. Mary’s this year. It’s still in the process of refurbishment. Remaining parts have not yet arrived, and waiting. Will keep you updated!”
The Sky diver (the illuminator) at Elitch Gardens in 1994 was the first ride I worked on it was a work out because you had to flip the car over pull out the cotter pin and place the lid in to a cradle to unload and unload the ride all without dumping the guests on the ground. At the end of the night myself and the operator crawled under the frame of the ride and collected $25 to $30 bucks in loose change each Elitchβs did not move it to the new park in 1995 due to safety
OMG i’m obsessed with the Cannonball Loop! I just saw it online a few days ago and i just can’t get it out of my head! Who would invent or build something like this, with such a small tube and loop?! It’s unreal and freaky I think. It looks like some fantasy creation..
But very interesting though! xxx Eva
Where are all the P0lka dancers from the Polka festivals, which were held about three times during the summer, in particular the Jimmy Sturr followers? Aren’t any of you guys out there to send a comment? Would love to hear from someone who attended the festivals. I left a comment on Feb. 29,2012 so look above and you will see it. Sure miss those good times. But like they say, all good things come to an end.
Like I said, somebody please comment!
Jeanne,
See my post below. We were regulars at the festivals, saw the Jimmy Stur Band several times. We used to play the small game stands they had set up by the tents and win various posters and stuff….I wish I still had my “Put a hole-a in the Ayatollah” dart board… Peace.
Cool read, I also used Coolpages many years ago, I us a lot of Dreamweaver these days and compared to Cool Pages it’s terrible, I love just being able to drag contents around such as Images and Text, now everything way to complex, resolution issues, tags and html is all over the place, I half suspect it going to get worse with HTML 5.
I see collpages is still out there on the web, am maybe thinking of buying the full version, I only ever done the trail.
There has never been a better ride than the surf hill at any water park. I remember going there in the early 80’s and saw someone land in the woods from lane 7. We would just fly off the jump and the crowd in the stands at the bottom would ooh and ah if you hit it right. Did you get a little hurt, sure, but who cared. Also the Alpine slide was crazy. I remember the first aid from people falling off the slide was to spray mecurichrome on the burns. I remember hitting my brother with the slide in front of me because he slowed down for someone and flying across the bridge and bouncing 4 or 5 times and spraining my ankle. The whole ride home all I could think about was when I could go again.
I remember seeing how many bloodied people I could spot around the Alpine Slide. AP must have bought Mercurochrome by the pallet – there was always someone getting messed up. I was the recipient of some of that once, and I suffered the stinging burn just like everyone else. The bad cases needed gauze. It amazed me that more people didn’t die. I still have mental images of rocks to the right of the right slide and to left of the left slide (which had a wider turn at the start, I believe, making that side the slower side). I recall the left slide had more swerves (checking the map – it does after it crosses over to the right). These swerves could cause your sled to rock more, perhaps leading to a flipover. In other words, the more winding, slower slide was more risky in my opinion.
When your sled would rock after first sliding up the side of a turn, you would need to actually ACCELERATE to reduce the swing. (It’s basic physics, similar to letting out the rope on a pendulum so as to reduce the amplitude of the swing.) I remember doing this, and it always worked. If you experienced instability/swinging, then adding brake action would actually make it worse. This surely caused a lot of accidents for people who think it makes sense to slow down when you’re losing control.
On the other hand, if you successfully used the acceleration to reduce your rocking motion, you would gain speed that would make your sled slide up even farther in the *next* turn. If you thought you couldn’t take that speed into the turn, you needed to brake *before* the turn (similar to high-speed driving, actually).
I’m almost disappointed that after several visits to Action Park, the worst thing that ever happened to me was a sunburn. I do not count getting kicked in the face on the Colorado River, pulling muscles in my arms from holding on to the tubes so tightly, and possibly getting scraped on an exposed screw on the Kamikaze slide. I never lost a tube or mat, and rode the Alpine slide without incident.
Meanwhile, I took my boyfriend to Mountain Creek for the first time in 2005. He lost his mat on the green slide and almost drowned in the wave pool. He’s refused to go back, but I’ve been back a few times since. The green slide (sidewinder) and kamikaze were finally shut down as of last year.
The only things that seem to be left over from Action Park that are still there and pretty much the same as they always were are the wave pool, Tarzan swing, and whatever they’re calling the tube ride by the cliff jump (I still call it the Wild River because that’s what it was when Action Park closed). The day they put the tube lift by the Colorado River ride was one of the greatest days of my life.
Still wish I’d had the chance to go in the Aerodium.
As the primary writer and editor of the oft-mentioned Wikipedia article, I actually have a similar story to yours.
I went to Action Park all of once, in late summer of 1986, when I was 18. I do not recall seeing the Cannonball Loop at the time (although it had apparently first been opened the previous summer). I had a good time, and neither got hurt nor saw anyone getting hurt.
However … that isn’t to say the potential for serious injury wasn’t obvious. I declined to do the taller, straight-down Geronimo Falls because I just didn’t see how you could do it safely. So I did the other one … which had such obvious potential for catastrophic injury since you started out on a gentle slope but then went almost straight down … at about 60 feet above ground, with the sides of the slide about a few inches high. You knew right then that you either followed the instructions they gave you (stay flat on your back with arms at your side) or you died (or would have wished you had). It always amazes me that there were no fatalities on that ride.
I stayed off Surf Hill. I was coming off a high school career where I played football and lacrosse and weighed about 230 pounds at the time. The sign on Surf Hill said the weight limit was 185, but one look at the people doing it and it was clear that wasn’t being enforced. If people like that, even heavier than me, were riding it, the chance of getting hurt was just too much.
The Aqua Scoot … it was fun but I only did it once because I was worried about accidentally putting my toes over the front edge of the sled, which would have caused some serious breakage by itself when they got caught in the rollers, not to mention likely getting thrown off the ramp and what would have happened from that. That seems to be about the only way people did not find to be injured on it.
I was lucky enough to be relatively by myself in the Wave Pool’s deep end when the waves went on. It was tough enough staying afloat; I can’t imagine what it would have been like in a panicked crowd of poor or non-swimmers.
I didn’t realize at the time that the park had already acquired a reputation. I got a hint of it afterwards when my mother related taking my brother to his doctors later (he had just been diagnosed with the cancer that would eventually take his life at the beginning of the summer, and the trip had been sort of a treat for him). They mentioned they’d taken him to Action Park the weekend before, and the doctors said “You took him WHERE?” and told her everything they’d heard from their colleagues about the place.
Now, just like you, I went back with my wife, son and my mother around the same time in the mid-2000s when it was Mountain Creek Waterpark. DW went on that one waterslide from AP that takes those gradual dips going down (forget what it’s called) before they had to close it that day because some of the surface had peeled loose. She got this softball-sized bruise on the back of her thigh that took weeks to heal. She says it was the worst thing that ever happened to her at an amusement park. I don’t think she wants to go back either.
They returned the rock-o-plane at my local fair. It seems to run much slower than it
Used to about 15 years ago when I used to go on it. It also seems to be much harder to flip on it.
The ring of fire Aka the Chicago loop has to be one of the junkiest rides ever. The one at my local fair even has a broken exit gate.
The zipper may look like trash but the ride on one is friggin awesome. It is much more insane than many other inverting rides.
Hey, I got another fair for the list! π
D.A.R.E. is hosting a carnival at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ from May 30 to June 10!
I called the event manager for the dates and which traveling carnival company they’ll have over there. And it’s with
Reithoffer Shows. π (hopefully they’ll have my fave ride there)
The link for more info:
http://www.darenj.com/events.asp
-Robert “-Zipper- Addict” Mata π
Thanks again Robert! I just added it and updated some of the TBA dates while I was at it.
When is the next ridde coming up for may ?
My friend and I waited overnight for Bruce Springsteen tickets (at the Meadowlands) and then hightailed it to Action Park. The first thing we rode was the Roller Slides. Yes, the thing you rode on was heavy and it was not fun to climb to the top while carrying that thing, but the slide was fun. Then the Grotto was at hand and I jumped this several times. I loved it, although I recall hitting bottom once or twice. When I visited in ’83 the bottom of this area was NOT painted lighter; instead it looked like a dark grotto. I don’t really recall doing any super adventurous until visiting a year or so later with a boyfriend and then I did everything (almost) with the exception of the Tarzan Swings and the cars. So, what that means is that he and I both went on the Cannonball Loop. I recall it being bumpy and very very scary. The only reason I didn’t do Tarzan Swings was that I knew I didn’t have the arm strength to not get hurt. I loved the alpine slide and want to ride the one at Ober Gatlinburg, TN near my current home. That last time in ’83 was one I recall fondly and although I wouldn’t do most of the rides again, I would visit again.
@ DoD3Brian
No prob. Hey Are U Planning To Attend The -Our Lady Of Peace- Fair this year? And here’s the photo of Blue Sky’s newly refurbished “Zipper” that will be there this year.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/470678_435740003105073_125286720817071_1662695_1953396033_o.jpg
It didn’t look like it was refurbished much, just the color change on the outer cages. But looks pretty good π
I actually just went last night lol. The Zipper looked really nice I thought and even seemed to be a bit quieter then most other Zipper rides I’ve seen.
They lowered the noise on it? Aw that sucks. But looking forward to riding it with my lil nephew (He’s “Craving” to ride a “Zipper” Badly as much as I do lol)
And I’m ‘”training” myself like a “Naruto” ninja right now to ride it too, as it will be my 1st Ride/”Fight” on “Zipper” of 2012!! xD
-Wish Me Luck! π
-Robert “-Zipper- Lovin Ninja” Mata aka “Neji Hyuga”
Well I think the new parts made it less loud. I can’t really say it’s quiet, it’s a Zipper after all, but compared to other models it seems like there’s less of a rattling noise.
Also, just a little tip, if you have a tough time parking by the fair try the adjacent high school lots or the New Providence Community Pool parking lot. Both have lots of spots and the pool parking lot rarely fills up all the way if the high school lots are all taken up. It’s a short walk to the fair from both places.
Oh, I meant the sound of its motors. Though, I agree with ya. π
And thanks for the parking advice. it doesn’t matter, I like to walk a short distance between the fair and parking lot. I’ll make a note on that. π
Was that you taking pics of the wheel on Wednesday night around 8-830?
Think I also saw you on your bike taking pics when we were setting up
Might have been, I think I got there around 8:30 or so that night. Guy on the bike was almost certainly me though.
You might see me hanging around there later on actually.
Like I told you in face book.. A refurbishment is more then just paint. The ride received all new bushings for the bracing and hbars, new k bar braces,, new telecopes(the pieces the cages hang on ) all new pins for the whole ride, all new hardware. All 4 motors were removed and rebuilt but hey color change and pretty lights (which we put all LED ligting on it as well) is all that matters I guess
Ah, ok I get it. Those are very nice additions to the ride u’ve made. Sounds like u guys made the ride more enjoyable, Safer, and more BEAUTIFUL than before! π Thanks for giving me that additional info. π I hope to see u, and the New “Zipper” at the OLP Academy in New Providence this Saturday! π
Aww that’s pretty bad I feel like I wanted to curse all those people that had to do with! It has been a part of my fondest of childhood memoirs. My kids wonβt live to see that now.
The front page of the mountain creek water park website says
“the action is back” i wonder if that means anything
also this is supposed to be opening
COMING SPRING 2012!
Come out and try the newest ride of its kind in the tri-state area! The Alpine Mountain Coaster is a cross between an alpine slide and a twisting rollercoaster and is the newest addition to Mountain Creek for the 2012 season. Ride alone or with a friend in our 2 seater coaster cars. You control your speed, with a unique hand-braking system as you twist, turn and dip through the trees and through the Waterpark rides back to the bottom of the mountain.
The sister ride Shockwave at Six Flags Great America was the first looping coaster I ever went on as a child (I’m 33). It was such an excellent coaster, really underrated. I never found it rough myself, despite such claims from others. The loss of these coasters is a shame. Newer, trendy coasters may be flashier, but I thought these delivered better thrills.
One of my most cherished theme park memories is riding Shockwave six times in a row, walking off and walking right back on because there was no line. There’s a rare POV ride video on youtube, taken before the youtube days, and I saved it so I can always remember the ride.
It might be white trash but about 35 years ago 4 friends and myself rode this all night and called ourselves the Scatt sisters. Now at 45 we still refer to ourselves as just that even on Facebook. What awsome memories lol.
Ahhh Yes! My 1st time Ever to attend this event, Along with my nephew, Christian, and my (our) first “fight” on -Zipper- of This Year in 2012! π (And I like saying “fight” because I’d like to express myself as a ninja, like the characters from the Awesome Japanese anime, “Naruto”. And when it comes to riding my fave ride at any carnival or huge fair, I always prepare/”train” like a ninja, to give my all to ride and “defeat” the forces and the wildness of the ride coming Saturday nights π )
-But before our match against the craziest ride at the fair, When we first got there at around 8:15 PM we went on the Starship Gravitron (only once). Once the entire ride started spinning fast enough to glue us to the wall (lying on our backs), I couldn’t move a muscle, especially when the seats rose up to the roof of the ride)
-Then it was the Himalaya. Though I wished they could’ve gotten a bigger model like “Musik Express” or made it a bit faster than normal. But it was kind of fun (and it played 2 of my fave songs while we were on it).
-Next was the Riptide. I’ve never been on anything like it in my life (though it looks kinda slow, and I didn’t want to spend $ for it). But while we were on it, I had the feeling I’ve missed out on such a ride like that π Once it goes downward to the side, it almost felt like a freefall. But that was quite fun, I’ll admit that π
—AND FINALLY, (“dramatic music” Dun dun duunnnn!) 2 Rounds on The Craziest, Yet THE BEST RIDE EVER OUT THERE,..
O>>>>o<<<<O ZIPPER! π
I may have lost some chances of riding it at other previous fairs since the 1st week of May. (I roughly because I had to cancel on them for some reason). But It Was Worth The Wait (especially in that long line for the ride) I've finally helped my "craving" for it since the "not rough at all Winter season", I was suffering from such withdrawal, lol. It looked very nice, the guys at BSA did an Awesome job of making it more comfortable, enjoyable, Safer, and more beautiful than before. Last time you said it was fairly quiet. And I thought "Aww that sucks". I was thinking they got rid of the "legendary" noise of the motors. But they didn't, yay! I've gotten some offride shots from my phone (while standing in line, and it's an HD cam too). And on one of them. someone's loose change fell out of one of the cars that was flipping. And it was a good thing I carry around my lil "Dr. Dre Beats" bag that I normally store my earphones in. So I can safely store my loose change in it. That was smart of me, you would say lol.
As me and my nephew got on it for the 1st Round together, I told the operator (And I Always Say This To Them Whoever Locks Me (and someone with me) Inside. "Please Make Sure It's Locked Securely, And Tight" and they do, thank goodness. As they were loading up the last pair of cars on the cycle, we prayed, and braced ourselves for what's to come during the ride. (And again I did not have my phone/camera out to get onride footage on our 1st Round because I had to get used to the nature of the ride first). And as soon as it started, It Was A Knockout. We've been backflipped as much as 7 times in a row before we reached to the other side of the boom.
And as soon as the ride shifted direction, it made us got held Upside down for about 4 seconds. Wow, Something that I havent experienced on a Zipper last year. But gosh that was incredible! I wished I could've had the nerve to get it on video.
Then, our 2nd and Final round on it, it got me a bit jealous, as we got inside the Unluckiest Car Of The Ride. Though I managed to get onride footage in this round. I got a bit jealous, As the ride only made us rock Back and Forth, Especially when it swept us from one side of the boom to the other. I was mad like we got "ripped off" lol. But in my "ninja" side, It Was Weak! I wished I had more money to ride it again with my nephew for another 3 rounds. But it was almost time for the fair to close down anyway. We left at 10:30 PM (Half hour before closing) And on the way home, we picked up some "celebratory" Chinese food from my fave Chinese spot in Elizabeth (where we live), as a reward for my nephew's "bravery" on his 1st Ever Ride on Zipper in his whole life. And I thank myself (and Blue Sky) proudly for making it happen.
My Next "Fight" against -Zipper- will be at the Staten Island Mall Carnival from Reithoffer's BLUE unit. It's their only spot they'll play near me before they head Out Of State. And of course, I'm planning to go 5 Rounds on it, and yes, Onride footage as well π I hope the weather stays beautiful for This Saturday night, as it will be my 2nd "fight" against it of the 2012 Season. I'll even film some other rides they got there but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go on all of them. But I will try and see, and depends on the money I have for them.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS, (my nephew would like to say Thanks to u too) And I Look forward to more interesting Trip reports of This Year. And of course, more Zipper rides at more upcoming fairs near me. π
-Robert "Zipper" lovin' Leaf Ninja aka "Neji Hyuuga" of The Hyuuga Clan
Academy Student (White belt) ninja π
P.S. “I Have No Blind Spots” (Neji’s quote from the anime)
-Practicing my “Gentle Fist”-
This ride is at my fair, and i want to know if its scary or not. I can handle the Avalanche and Ali Baba, do you think i can do this? Ive never been upside down, but i can do spinny rides. π
I don’t think it’s scary myself and if you can handle spinning then it should be no problem. Have fun!
Send fotos of a tempest and am Looking for a Viking ship and a travant or a round up
Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale will host its 11th Annual Parish Festival from June 20th-24th. Majestic Midways will transform the grounds into a magnificent playground complete with rides for all ages. Over 16 rides including some great ones for the thrill seekers. Paladin Amusements will bring awesome games for some extra excitement. There will be TWO FIREWORKS displays one on June 20th & one on June 23rd with a raindate of June 24th. We will have two wristband days one on June 21st and one on June 24th. Also featuring, nightly entertainment, fine food, raffles and a Tricky Tray. There will also be a Super 50/50 drawn on June 24th tickets are $2.00 each with a promise of winning a percentage of the gross proceeds. We will also be raffling off a Vacation Raffle Gift Certificate valued at $2000, a Nikon SLR Digital Camera Package, a Weber Grill, an Apple iPad, Disney Passes, tickets to One Direction and much more.
Easy to access off of Routes 78, 22 & 31. Follow the Ferris Wheel
For additional information: call 908-735-7319 or 908-735-9564
Just for Robert—-we will have the ZIPPER!
Hmmmm, I wish I could be there. But it looks pretty far from where I live (Elizabeth, NJ) I’m not entirely sure if I’ll make it there also. I know the one fair that’s closest to me for my birthday (I’m turning 22 this June 24th!) and that will Also Have My Fave Ride (Yes, “Zipper”) is -State Fair Meadowlands-. (They had it last year, and speaking with the President of the fair about them having it again this year) And they also do Unlimited Ride specials throughout the entire fair (June 22nd – July 8 with fireworks on July 3rd and 4th). There is also another fair in North Brunswick, NJ that’ll do that too, but I’m quite unsure of the name. I’ll have to look that up.
Though I thank you for providing me the information. Again I’m just not sure if I’ll make it there that day.
-Thank You.
Robert -“ZIPPER” Lovin’ Leaf Ninja- Mata aka “Neji Hyuuga” of the Hyuuga Clan
PS. “Majestic Midways” will also do another fair near me next month. I’ll have to find out about that too.
Oh hey, yeah Here It Is! Majestic will be playing at this year’s Burlington County Farm Fair in Columbus, NJ (just one exit over 7A on the NJ Turnpike) Looks like I’ll be going to this one, hopefully they’ll have the Zipper there (as they did last year) Here’s the link to the fair for more info about it.
http://burlingtoncountyfarmfair.com/
Runs from July 18 to the 21st
And sorry I was a lil bit late to tell you this, I just found out now.
I already have it on the list, all those Zipper rides must be getting to you. lol It’s in Springfield Twp. NJ though, they moved apparently.
@ DoD3Brian
Heyy! When it comes to livin’ life as a “Naruto” ninja, you know that the Zipper is my #1 fave ride to “fight”, don’t you agree? Plus their leather padding is so comfortable. (not to get too personal with the details, hehe) I’m going there tonight and try out Majestic’s ride this year.
And Reithoffer’s Orange Unit is doing N. Brunswick, NJ again this weekend. I believe it’s called the “Italian-American Fest” (never heard of it) but not sure if my ride will be there also. Plus I kinda don’t know where exactly in N. Brunswick will it be. But oh well, I’m not planning to go to both fairs in one night 2night, like i did with South Plainfield (Dreamland) and the Staten Island Mall (Reithoffer – Blue Unit) in the past month.
@FestivalQueen
I’ll Be There This Year! π
There is a small annual carnival about a 15min walk from me. Last year, a carny told me that the zipper at this carnival (run by World’s Finest Shows of Ontario), was made in 1996 or 1997. Assuming this is true, can someone tell me how safe the ride is? It looks fairly good, (new paint job & all), but I don’t think it has the updated cages (ones with the z on the side of the cars). It would be greatly appreciated if someone could answer me ASAP.
Old or new, the cage’s locking mechanisms are all safe so I wouldn’t worry. I actually prefer the older model cages myself as they flip more easily. π
Sure, that makes me feel a lot better, but what if the guy forgets to close the cage (you know, cause he’s smoking pot or something)? I mean, it probably won’t be an issue, as the show that comes to my town is one of the best in Ontario, but you never know… Is it just a risk that I’ll have to take, or is there a way to tell if they’re locking the cages right?
It would really help if someone answered ASAP, as the carnival is right near my house, and I may go in a day or two.
Thanks
You’re worrying about it too much. lol But to answer your question, the door closes, two locks engage simultaneously and then the ride op puts in a pin that acts as a third lock. On newer ones the door just closes, locks and that’s it, no pins or anything since the locking mechanism was rebuilt.
Now just ride it! You’ll be glad you did!
I just rode the zipper today. It was amazing, and so intense that I could barely walk off the platform! Beforehand, I had to wait about 45 minutes, having the carny kick me out 4 times, ’cause I couldn’t ride alone. Finally, after a long time of waiting, however, another carny who was on break volunteered to ride with me. I took the offer, and got on. The ride itself was like nothing I’ve experienced. It had EVERYTHING you’d want… REALLY high g- forces, floater air, ejector air… YOU NAME IT, IT HAD IT! Finally, as an added bonus, right as the ride stopped, our cage flipped an extra 9 or 10 times in a row, and the g-forces were INSANE. If you want to see what that looks like, type ””Crazy Zipper Ride 1″ into YouTube.
I remember riding the skydiver in 1969 it only had a piece of wood going across to hold you in, great ride. This ride was designed to be run at full throttle, giving you the effect of free falling. Over the decades through regulations the operators had to tame it down, that’s what I have been told.
Ah yes! I’ve had quite a “2 Course -Zipper- Meal” at both the South Plainfield (Dreamland) and Staten Island Mall -PART 2- (Reithoffer) spots. But which 1 of them is most fun. They felt quite the same to be honest lol. But Reithoffer’s -Zipper- spun/flipped me more times in a row than Dreamland’s in S. Plainfield. So I first got to this fair at around 7:30, rode Dreamland’s -Zipper- only twice, just for.me to save some money for the Staten Island Mall carnival (Part 2). I came to those 2 Places By Myself, and stood near the entrance of the ride, holding a sign that reads, “Lone Leaf Ninja Came Here Alone To Ride -Zipper-. But Ride Ops DO NOT ALLOW Single Riders On It. Willing To Ride With Someone Here. IF ANYONE INTERESTED TO RIDE WITH ME ON -ZIPPER-, PLEASE STEP FORWARD AND TALK TO ME ABOUT IT. THANKS (smiley)”
So Again, I rode only Twice on Dreamland’s -Zipper-, And went on Reithoffer’s ride. 3 Times (on one those rounds it back flipped me 7 Times In A Row!) It helped my “craving” A Lot! Thanks For Informing Me about the S. Plainfield spot, and like I said, I look forward to more (as well as State Fair Meadowlands) at the next upcoming fairs of this year! π
-Stay “Zippin'” for me! Lol
Robert “-Zipper- Lovin Leaf Ninja” Mata
O>>>>x<<<<O
PS. Have you heard that Reithoffer has the new “Stinger” ride? That Ride Is Crazy! I was thinking about going on it, but I had 2nd thoughts lol (Plus it was too expensive. It costs 7 Tickets while it’s $1.25 per single ticket) I’ve even got some shots of it on my phone, if I can somehow start a new YT account and upload it to there so you can see it.
I forgot to tell you, there was actually ANOTHER Zipper over at the Corpus Christi Carnival in Chatham, NJ (next town over from New Providence where the OLP fair was.) This one was Tommy’s Midways’ ride I think. Could have gotten three different Zippers in one day…well maybe, that may have been a bit too many fairs to hit in one day.
And yes I’ve been wanting to ride Stinger since I heard about it last year. I’m hoping it turns up at a Reithoffer spot in NJ but I’m not going to hold my breath. NJ is notoriously strict with ride regulations and new rides have to go through a lot of red tape apparently. 7 tickets, lol thats almost as much as their Speed ride.
Well, I’ve only had enough money for just those 2 spots anyway, haha. Hmm, I’ve actually never heard of Tommy’s Midways. I wonder if they have a website so that I can follow them and ride their ride at a fair nearest me. I would’ve had a “3-Course -Zipper- Buffet” yesterday lol. Wow, I didn’t even know that for sure until now. Was it their last day there yesterday as well?
Yeah, it was at the Staten Island Mall there too. As well as the Pharaoh’s Fury (the Higher-swinging kind..went on it 3 Times on the ends, as it’s my 3rd fave ride on my list!), Orbiter, Kroon Giant Wheel, Cliff Hanger, Indy 500 Car mini-coaster, Avalanche (Moby Dick), Himalaya (Wisdom), and of course, my #1 Fave Ride On My List, -Zipper- (the yellow one, with red and blue cars). Though the toll to cross the Goethals Bridge getting there was kinda steep. $12 to get into NY!
Oh, I forgot, 2 Saturdays ago I also went to the North Jersey DARE Carnival in Paramus, NJ (Reithoffer’s voluntary event..as I don’t know what unit they were travelling on). There it had the Chance Giant Wheel, Super Himalaya (Musik Express), Sky Flyer (larger version of the Vertigo), Tango, Wild Mouse, Yo-Yo, Power Surge (they GOTTA fix the ride to make the whole arm rotate as it should), Starship 2000, Orbiter, Pharaoh’s Fury (it wasn’t as high as it should be, they gotta fix that too), and Freak Out! There was no -Zipper- there unfortunately. This is their last day there as well before moving to, probably N. Brunswick. I’ve also asked the Reithoffer crew on their FB page, “Will the -Zipper- and of course the Huss Flipper (Tornado) be at the N. Brunswick Fair this year?” I’ve got no response from them yet, but I’m willing to try their Huss Flipper (Tornado) ride there, and hopefully their Wild Claw (KMG Afterburner/Fire Ball) as well. That’s if…They’ll All Appear at the N. Brunswick Fair this year.
Yeah the Corpus Christi carnival ended yesterday.
I can almost guarantee that the NBYSF will have a Zipper there, Tornado, not so sure. They didn’t have it last year and considering how large the ride is (3 or 4 trailers I think) they might just reserve it for the biggest of the big carnivals now. See what they say though. Power Surge has had a non-rotating arm for years now, I doubt they’ll ever fix it since it gets the same ridership regardless.
Hey I just got Good News from the Reithoffer FB page. They’ve just said that the Tornado will appear at the NBYSF This Year! (and I hope they mean the Huss Flipper, and not just the Wisdom kind, where you spin the 4 seater cross cars, but that is kinda fun though hehe)
PROOF (hope the link works): http://www.facebook.com/ReithofferShows?id=287979712222&_rdr#!/photo.php?fbid=10151020526767223&id=287979712222&set=a.437430942222.222783.287979712222&__user=100000376254218
Robert, Our Zipper will be making an appearance in Hawthorne NJ @ St Anthony’s Church Carnival. 6/13-6/16
I’ll see if I won’t have any problem to attend there. But I will make a note on that now. Thanks! π
Hey there Mike I was there and, I was trying to find U at the fair tonight. I seems as though you might’ve been at another spot your company is playing. I was finding you to tell you “Thanks” and how much I love the “Zipper” ride! π Hope I’ll see you there Saturday night, along with more of my “cravings” for -Zipper- π
ALSO OPENING THIS SUMMER AT MOUNTAIN CREEK: They;re REOPENING SURF HILL!IT IS CONFIRMED on their website, and on their Facebook page, its opening in the same exact place as the old one.
I can’t believe they rebuilt this ride, and it is still fast. Ride it while you can, because once someone gets hurt the state will probably close it.
I was there all night LOL we must have just missed each other. i was running around all over the place.. I hope to meet you on saturday.
Yeaah π Oh and just to give u a heads up, I’ll be the big fella wearing either Blue Denim shorts or jeans, mainly with a black “Naruto” shirt (with either the main character with yellow hair popping out on the foreground/front, or one that reads “Strictly For My Ninjas”) and/or with a red or blue headband with the carved “Leaf” symbol on the metal plate. Probably either alone (holding a sign over me) or with my lil nephew (if he won’t have other plans 2morrow night) And I’ll/We’ll be near the big rides. that’s the Starship Gravitron, Ferris wheel, some small looping ride, the Round Up and of course, “Zipper” (mostly the “Zipper”) for most of the evening for a better chance for us to meet =)
lol the small looping ride is a Eyerly LoopOplane .. new to the show 3 weeks ago.
Ooh nice! You know, I’ve never been on a Loop O Plane before, but kinda pretty much too tall for me to ride it now lol. Plus I’ve seen And rode a bigger kind before. it’s at the State Fair Meadowlands (which I go there every year for my birthday, and the 4th of July for the fireworks) each year since its debut in 2008. It’s an open seated, floorless Fabbri Kamikaze called “Banzai” (Although I’ve seen..or, there used to have been a few of the original “closed cabin” versions of the ride when I was younger, but never rode one at all)
Hey now, you guys got a Loop-o-Plane? I haven’t seen one of those traveling around here in a while.
Robert, I’m not sure how tall you are but I’m like 5’8″ and I could probably still fit into one of them. I’d guess if you’re nearing 6 feet then it would be getting pretty tight. Also, I just saw one of those older style Kamikaze type rides at the Warren Lions Expo. It’s a one armed version called Screamer (ARM model?) owned by McDaniel Brothers Shows.
@DoD3Brian
Oh, I’ve seen that company before. They used to play every summer at some field across Elizabeth High School every summer. I remember they had a “Skydiver” and some old style swing ride. And they still do the Waterfront Latin Music Festival every Memorial Day weekend at the Elizabeth Seaport (just a couple of blocks from where I live) This year they had the Screamer there as well. But I wasn’t planning on riding it for some reason lol. I’d rather stick to “Banzai” @ the Meadowlands Fair. Hehe. π