Notorious: The park’s rides are less extreme now – but still far from tame (Picture: Action Park)

Action Park in New Jersey, a pleasure ground where six people died and hundreds more were injured, has reopened after nearly 20 years.

The 35-acre theme park, where a trip down a water slide could almost as likely land you in the hospital as the pool, closed its doors in 1996 amid media criticism and lawsuits.

However, a 2013 viral video called The Most Insane Amusement Park Ever inspired owners to bring it back.

Dubbed ‘Class Action Park’ because of the barrage of lawsuits it received, the original park would sometimes average five to 10 injuries each day – but that was just how visitors liked it.




Original rides included Alpine Slide, where riders would fly down a concrete track in a car with just a handbrake, while some people’s horror stories didn’t make it sound like the most amusing of parks…

‘I was there three times when I was 9 or 10 – twice I left in an ambulance,’ said one former attendee.

‘The first time was broken ribs on the ‘Tarzan Swing’ (my dad had to jump into the water to save me) and next was the alpine slide, when my car had no brakes and I flew over the side and into the grass. I then had to walk the whole way down crying and dripping blood.

‘A track to rip people’s skin off disguised as a children’s ride’: Action Park’s The Alpine Slide (Picture: YouTube/Action Park)

‘They kept sending us free passes to go back so we went again but I was extremely cautious and only went on one ride – a kayak where you simply paddled around a sort of lazy river. I loved it and it was safe but the next day the ride was closed because someone fell off their kayak and was electrocuted by the electric currents.

‘Never went back again – too afraid.’

‘Phemomenal’: Many people have fond memories of the original park (Picture: Action Park)

The owner claims it’s still far from tame, too.

While the new park has a few modifications to appease health and safety, it retains some of the lawlessness of its 1970s heyday, with alcohol permitted and ‘I Survived Action Park’ T-shirts for sale.

Alcohol was allowed at Action Park (Picture: YouTube/Action Park)

‘The overall conclusion that the people who went to Action Park have is that it was a phenomenal place,’ owner Andy Mulvihill, son of the park’s founder Gene, told the New York Post.

‘The strength of that passion far outweighed the negative things.’

Nostalgia: The original poster from 1978 (Picture: Action Park)