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This is it! We’ve made it to #10 on my 10 Best Books for theme park professionals… Are you ready for Action Park???!!

In his book Andy Mulvihill, the son of Action Park’s founder, recounts the “Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park.” Action Park is now the stuff of legend, and people still talk about it with equal parts longing and dismay.

The book chronicles the crash and burn glory that was the real Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey, often called Traction Park or sometimes Class Action Park, which is also the name of the documentary that’s worth checking out. Beyond the horrifying Cannonball Loop waterslide, there are stories about the Alpine Slides, the Tarzan Swing and Battle Action Tanks that let you shoot tennis balls from mounted cannons. An earlier short doc called The Most Insane Amusement Park Ever, inspired Johnny Knoxville’s feature film, Action Point.

Yes, I am a Gen X’er, and yes, I can remember a long-lost time when we would have tried just about anything in the name of fun. Most parents today would shake their heads at the stuff I was allowed to do as a child in the 70s. And I still don’t want to admit to lots of shit I did for fun as a teenager in the early 80s. But most of us survived, and we know that we are better off for having had the freedom to go wild a lot of the time.

There’s a lot we can learn from Action Park. Yes, there is the cautionary tale about safety standards and socially acceptable behavior, sure. But there are inspirational take-aways too. Gene Mulvihill believed in the spirit of fun that should be at the heart of any new attraction. For Disney fans, think back to Tom Sawyer’s Island, River Country at Walt Disney World and the Explorer’s Club and let’s remember not every attraction has a be based on a movie.

So read Action Park, because at the end of the day, you’ll love the ride, and isn’t that what themed entertainment is all about?

— By Ryan Miziker