Those wacky 70's...I think???

April 3, 2009 1:19 PM

Rememberfilter: can you hope me? I think I heard it on the radio...

Previews of the new movie Adventureland jogged vague remembrance of a This American Life-esque story within the past couple years about a 70's adventure/theme park that was quite popular, even though it was filled with incredibly unsafe rides. Said theme park may have been in New Jersey. Rides were described as being unbelievably unsafe and designed by the park's owner. I have googled and searched the TAM website but I've found nothing. The only detail I really remember were a couple detailed descriptions of ridiculously unsafe waterslides and how everybody loved going there during the summer. Male storytellers/narrators.
Possible complication: I may have also read this story, possibly here on the blue. I tend to intensely "hear" in my head stories in the first person and have confused radio stories/written personal narratives before.

posted by hecho de la basura to grab bag (4 comments total)

Action Park
posted by equalpants at 1:21 PM on April 3 [2 favorites]

See also.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:31 PM on April 3

I do believe that is it!! I think it may be this post I'm remembering. In any case--thanks!
posted by hecho de la basura at 1:34 PM on April 3

YES! I somehow KNEW it had to be Action Park -- the only east coast amusement park I've ever been to. When I was 10 or so we visited NYC (had to be ... pre-89. Appetite for Destruction had just come out -- I spent 30 minutes traveling to a record store so my cousin could buy it -- so probably summer of '87) and went to Action Park for my cousin's birthday and managed to get lost at least three times (and was told that i was "ruining everything"). I recall a crapload of waterslides and what was essentially a low-tech rope swing (with a huge iron triangle -- The Tarzan Swing from the wikipedia link) that I was too scared to go onto. I also took the Pepsi Challenge while I was there. Preferred the Coke, I recall, but thought it would be diplomatic to say I liked Pepsi better.

For only having been there once, I have fond memories of the place, and think of it often. Good to hear that it's an amusement park outlier.

After seeing the link: holy shit, I totally remember that loop-de-loop waterslide too. I'm pretty sure it was closed the day we went. Oh, another memory popped into my head: they had the BEST frickin go-carts (the Super Go Karts from the wikipedia link) -- there was NO line at all, and I remember getting slammed into by my cousin's friends as they jostled for position (behavior that would get you 86ed from amusement parks today).
posted by fishfucker at 2:13 PM on April 4