larrygator

You're saving money by not running the lift hill motors or launch mechanisms, plus even things like drive tires and station gates, as often. Those last two are likely minuscule compared to the first ones, but it all adds up. There's a reason that Joker launches slower than every other Premier spaghetti bowl out there (very expensive to launch a heavy coaster train already, without the extra speed), and there's a reason why Batwing hardly ever uses its second station (half the staff). The place doesn't have the profit margin that the bigger parks like Great Adventure have, so without all those extra people coming through the gates there's no motivation to run 'extra' trains that aren't necessary most days. Well stated. Another good example is most SF parks don't run water rides before or after a certain date. Corporate doesn't dictate how each parks runs on a day to day basis, but corporate will set profit/revenue goals. It is generally the park president's call how to reach those goals.

Bolts don't protrude from tubular track!

He is a president not a dictator. People do not have to agree with every elected official. Moderator Hat on: And let's keep politics out of the discussion, this is a theme park website and we are not in the habit of supporting flame wars generated by politics. We are all here to discuss and debate the amusement park industry.

Those would be classified as "Flying Scooters", one of the categories I mentioned.

"Flying in soon" - I predict an Air Race or Flying Scooters. They seem to be the hot selling flat rides of late.

If you are used to good NY pizza, you might not be happy with Cesari's. It's better than most parks and most places in Pennsylvania. It's good but not great. I generally like getting the unique treats at the park that don't typically see, especially the ones at Totem Treats (Fried cheese on a stick, corn nuggets) or the pierogies. I know your time is probably limited but you will not get the full Knoebels experience in half a day, and you also might need a full day at Hershey just to get all the credits in.

and the result 4 days later

I took a couple of quick pictures today on the way home. A few things to note. Police barricades are set up along the road/sidewalk directly east of the Thunderbolt (West 15th Street) to discourage and prevent people from getting to close to where the current footers are laid and vertical work is occuring. Footers look to be pour along the whole out section (east side) of the coaster. Pictures taken through an open gate on Surf Avenue looking towards the ocean. The furthest possible vantage point of the heavy work going on. The fences are covered with a translucent green tarp that one can see through but it doesn't produce good pictures. A huge gust of wind lifedt up the tarp so I could take this picture from the alley between the Thunderbolt site and the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium. Near the boardwalk is the one place up close to take an unobstructed shot without the fence or tarp in the way. While hard to see, this road is barricaded to prevent pedestrian and car traffic.

First off, let me state I'm not a Schwarzkopf fanboy. I actually don't understand why people go all gaga and jizz whenever they hear Anton's name. I really enjoyed my rides on Galaxyland Mindbender, that was the only one of the three that I wanted to constantly reride.

You still have to walk through the regular queue then g on the far right line in the station. The ride ops were always checking to see if anyone was waiting to ride as a single.

Sorry to hear that the curse continues with that coaster, but it makes for a better story this way.

^Noticing a lag and a lot of getting kicked when visiting friends earlier today. I spent almost 48 hours straight almost exclusively playing this stupid game since schools were on Spring Break. Now I'll probably just be ignoring my town most of the time since I won't be able to pay much attention.

Because you can never get enough Action Park. And this new article answers my question about how long the looping water slide operated (one month in 1985) http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/index.ssf/2014/04/action_park_10_things_you_didnt_know_about_the_craziest_park_ever.html Action Park: 10 things you didn't know about the notorious amusement park's history (ROBERT ERBLE / THE STAR-LEDGER) Louis C. Hochman/NJ.com April 22, 2014 at 8:15 AM Ah, the memories. Well, the ones that settled in despite the concussions. Earlier this month, the Star-Ledger reported the legendary Action Park — the fun-filled, fast-paced amusement park that, statistically speaking, probably didn't kill you when you went in the 1980s or 1990s — is coming back. It's been a long time since the property in Vernon became Mountain Creek Ski Resort, and since 1998 what's left of the park itself has been operating as Mountain Creek Waterpark (with significant safety upgrades). But the park's current owners say nostalgia for the old, infamously dangerous park has gotten the better of them, and they've got some new rides planned that they say will scare the cold, wet shorts right off you. So when the site reopens June 14, it'll be Action Park once again. A few days ago, we showed you the absolutely insane Canonball Loop, which was so hazardous it was open for only one month in 1985. You might say that ride, with its are-you-kidding-me ending, is all you need to know about what made Action Park either amazing or massively irresponsible (or both). Then again, you might not. Here's 10 things you probably didn't know about Action Park: 1. "Only" six people died at Action Park: Oh, is that all? As Mentalfloss.com notes, the list grows and grows in our memories. "Ask anyone born in Jersey between 1970 and 1984, and you'll hear a ranging toll. Twenty. Thirty-six. North of 100. But the real answer is only six," according to the site. That includes three drownings in the Wave Pool (nicknamed the Gravepool), a park employee's death on the infamous Alpine Slide (more on that below), an electrocution on the Kayak Experience and a heart attack supposedly brought on by cold water in the pool beneath the Tarzan Swing. 2. Someone once called the Alpine Slide "the safest ride there is:" This was a giant slide on which you'd sit on a sled, then descend down concrete tracks using levers to brake — if you were the sort of person who cared to brake. If you couldn't control your speed on the way down, you might wind up crashing through hay-bale barriers and smashing up on the hillside rocks. But Weird NJ quotes a 1986 New Jersey Herald Article in which a park official called the slide "the safest ride there is" and noted a 90-year-old grandmother and mothers with babies on their laps had made the way down. The same posting says at least 14 fractures and 26 head injuries caused by the slides were reported between 1984 and 1985, and the slide was responsible for “more accidents, the majority of the lawsuits and 40 percent of the citations” against the park. RideAccidents.com says of a death on the slide in 1980: "In an accident at an amusement park in New Jersey, a malfunction caused a wheeled sled to derail from its cement track after it failed to properly negotiate a curve. The victim, a 19-year-old male, was thrown from the car down an embankment. He sustained a fatal head injury when his head struck a rock. He died 8 days later." 3. Heard the legend of the dummies on the Cannonball Loop? Just a few days ago, we showed you that video of what may have been Action Park's craziest and most dangerous ride (though the competition was pretty fierce), the Cannonball Loop. The waterslide, with its 360-degree totally-seems-safe loop at the end, was shut down after just a month, though it stayed on site as a reminder of the park's ... let's call it "eccentricity." According to Weird NJ: "It supposedly dismembered test dummies and maybe even a few park employees in trial runs." Buzzfeed quoted someone who claimed his father built the slide: "The story about the dummies is completely true! They used the dummies to test several of the rides at the park and every time a dummy came off the ride dismembered they would try it again until it stayed in one piece, then they would pay someone to test it!” 4. You could JOUST at Action Park: Well, you could if you first made it through an obstacle course composed of downward-moving conveyors, a 24-foot hand ladder, a cargo net climb, a zipline, a 10-foot wall and a 16-foot rotating cylinder, The Gazette reported in 1992. If you made it that far, you'd challenge a gladiator on a three-foot podium (with large, padded sticks — though the padding sounds awfully un-Action-Park-like to us). If you made it through that, you'd get to have the stuffing beat out of you by "Titan," an even bigger gladiator on an even bigger podium. 5. Action Park's owners wound up buying ambulances for Vernon: Citing a Jersey Sunday Herald Article, Sometimes-Interesting.com reports: "In 1987, the director of a nearby hospital’s Emergency Room admitted 'five to ten' people were being brought in daily from the park. Reported injuries ran the gamut: Ankle sprains, broken bones, and cuts and contusions, dislocations, and concussions. The park denied wrongdoing, but Great American Recreation purchased additional ambulances for the town of Vernon to keep up with the increased volume." 6. Action Park was often let off easy: Citing a 1986 New Jersey Herald article, Weird NJ reports that in 1985 there were more than 110 injuries at Action Park, including 45 head injuries and 10 fractures. But Action Park was fined just once between 1979 and 1986 for not following procedure. Other amusement parks were fined for first offenses, but not Action Park, according to the report. 7. Employees knew how to make things more dangerous: While much of Action Park's legend comes centers around its Waterworld, its Motorworld, across Route 94, could also be awfully hazardous. Weird NJ reports that patrons treated Super-Go Karts like bumper cars, and park employees knew how to override their speed governors with tennis balls — sending the karts whizzing around at up to 50 miles per hour. "One employee recalls hearing the sick snap of a patron’s arm breaking as a result of a crash," the magazine says. 8. The NEW Action Park is promising to be awfully scary, too: Mountain Creek president Bill Benneyan told News 12 the park will have a ride called the Zero-G. "It's the world's tallest and only double-looping drop-gate slide. It's going to scare the heck out of you," he said. Are we talking about get-the-adrenaline-pumping scared or get-your-affairs-in-order scared? Well, Mountain Creek has spent a lot of time and energy renovating the old park, and Benneyan says it's spent $5 million on new rides that we presume are subject to some sort of safety codes. "Action Park was extreme before extreme was extreme," Benneyan says. That's one way to put it. 9. Action Park wasn't the only Action Park: The infamous Action Park was, of course, in Vernon, but during the 1980s, two other offshoot locations were opened — Pocono Action Park an Motor World in Tannersville, Pa., and Action Park in Pine Hill. The latter was renamed Action Mountain within a year, and financial problems closed both down before the 1980s were over. 10. Cory Booker can't wait to go back: Bonus: Somehow, reporter Louis C. Hochman didn't know anything about Action Park 24 hours ago. Seriously. He (I) grew up in New Jersey in the 1980s and 1990s, but somehow Action Park was entirely off his radar. No one he's told believes that's possible — but he sure has spent a lot of time over the last day catching up on the apparently infamous site.

totally disagree, all my friends who happened to ride it said it was the most amazing water slide they every ridden to this day. How many people do you know that rode it? I still haven't seen definitive dates as to when this thing was actually open. Hours, Days, Weeks it could not possibly have operated for more than a month

After leaving SFNE, I stopped by Wild Bill's for what was supposed to be a quick visit. But they needed a little extra help so I stuck around for a few hours to help them put up the first truss for the pretzel dark ride. I talked to Chuck a lot about the pretzel dark ride. The pretzel dark ride is the main thrust of the team's workload right now as legal wrangling is holding up progress on the walk-through. While work on the walk-through is on hiatus, the team does not want to go another year without having something operational. When Wild Bill purchased the pretzel ride it had 380 foot of track, most pretzel rides were 365 feet in length. Plans are the add another 150 feet, making the ride last a duration of about 2:15. It will have a circus theme with many demented clowns. Plans are to incorporate the world's only functioning Laffin Louie into the ride with Wild Bill recording the evil laughing soundtrack. Chuck also mentioned that since no dark ride organizations are actively following this developing project he'll be more than happy to keep TPR updated on daily progress and completed units as his team near the decoration portion of the Pretzel facade. Soon after I arrived a truck showed up with the trusses for the roof. I decided to stay to watch them raise the first one. An arduous process when you are working with a small tight and tight budget. Almost there, I felt so Amish helping out. One down, 27 to go. Hopefully, within the week with a help of a cherry picker. and from a distance The remaining trusses. Rails ready to be installed Some of the nine cars pretzel for this ride still need some more work. Awaiting reconstruction The original FUNHOUSE signs from Staten Island More props, backdrops In order to keep the money flowing for basic needs the Dark Ride Artist and his protege Savannah are painting a train ride for the Amron family, a local fair operator. Another project for the future, this stage came from a local theater production but not need to throw it out, Wild Bill will find a use for it. Wild Bill's will continue to host unique movie showings and concerts on their stage moving forward. Storage area A perfect place to store the bodies. An old Hi-Striker awaiting restoration. An old game of chance, I think Chuck said it came from Savin Beach. Photo evidence that I assisted in the process.

Luckily those speakers mostly play music instead of that horrible story they used to tell when the ride was initially transformed into Bizarro. Today between 11:30 - 1 was perfect for using the Bizarro single rider line. The ride was a constant walk into the station, but that a 3 or more train wait for every row. Using the single rider line I only waited for a train once, every other time I was on the first train leaving. Got about 10 rides in 90 minutes, good considering the walk around the queue. Bizarro, operations were very good for this early in the season. Also very impressed with the Bizarro crew when it comes to oversize riders. Not sure what the ride ops tell the people when they open the restraints and ask them to leave, but I did not see one oversized person making a fuss yesterday.

They are all still there.

I disagree in the following respect where I did see family members or friends get hurt. If you followed the rules jumping off the cliff dive and the person behind you did not wait for you to clear yourself from the area before he jumped and lands on you that is not the first jumper's fault. A friend my mine was jumped on. If you are following the rules on the Alpine Slide, but the rider in front of you flew off the track and puts his sled put on the track (instead of walking down the hill). He is starting from a dead start, you come around a blind turn at 30 MPH and crash into him it is not the second rider's fault. My brother-in-law was on a trailing sled and ended up with some serious road rash.

But it is wasteful to have 4 shows buildings/arenas that go unused on a near permanent basis

Generally you have to be a recognized member of the media and invited by the park. It is generally at the discretion of the park's Public Relations department who they choose to recognize and invite. There are many exceptions the "media only" as park's sometimes partner with coaster groups, local businesses and radio stations to invite additional guests.

^Martin - yes, that is a piece of Super Wirbel

I did not see this phenomena on my visit. I bet a few swimming programs were offering free lessons to those who are needy back then. The proof was from a report about a drowning in the Grave (sic) Pool in 1987. "Action Park attracts many people from urban areas who have few chances to swim and frequently must be rescued from the water," said an official, "They don’t know how to swim and jump right into the water." Again, lifejackets were all but far from existent at the time, though even the most skilled swimmers weren't aware that they are swimming in less buoyant water. When I was there I saw mostly Jersey rednecks and suburban kids and very few minorities, but then again I heard the demographics of the park did change in the mid 80's.

Thanks for the update, with NYC schools on Spring Break I haven't stop by in 10 days. I'll be stopping the park for progress updates once a week starting later this week.

I did not see this phenomena on my visit.

The dark ride at Oaks closed last year (maybe the year before), but you didn't miss much. Especially if you rode The Challenge of Mondor at Enchanted Forest. One of my favorite shooting dark rides. I had to ride it twice just to see everything I missed while concentrating on the shooting aspect.