Action Park

In the almost 20 years since Action Park first shut its doors, the amusement park’s reputation has only grown. Maybe it was the insane ride designs (looping water slide, anyone?), or perhaps the allegedly inattentive, underaged employees, or the unfortunate rate of injury that kept its infamy alive.

Following a series of deaths, injuries and bad press during its run from 1978 to 1996, the park was sold to a large resort chain in the mid-1990s and was rebranded by its new owners as Mountain Creek. But now the action is back, and the Vernon, New Jersey-based park is once again operating under its original owners and name.

Although many of the original rides are still in place, we now live in a time when insurance companies, regulators and common sense have conspired to make sure nothing like the original Action Park ever exists again. To quote a park executive describing the new safety-first mandate, it's "all of the thrills and none of the spills."

When we first posted a short documentary about Action Park last year, we were blown away by the response. Sure, it was unquestionably dangerous, but the folks who grew up visiting Action Park are nothing if not nostalgic for the rough-and-tumble image it represents.

While some attractions are just as they were years ago, a newfound attention to safety has forced a number of changes in how things run at the park. For example, riders on the Colorado River Ride must now wear face masks to protect them from collisions. Although the infamous upside-down water slide has since closed — and with good reason, according to anyone with a basic understanding of physics — the new Zero G water slide is what the park calls “the world’s tallest double-looping waterside," featuring a 100 foot drop. It reportedly cost $1 million to build.

The Zero G was still under construction the day we bravely visited the new Action Park, but our GoPro footage caught most of what you'd see and experience on the rides. Check out the video below.