In the recent seventies , ski resort proprietor Gene Mulvihill transform a mountain in rural Vernon , New Jersey , into a destination for thrill - seekers in the summertime months . The result was Action Park , a one - of - a - kind amusement finish that leave node in charge of their own playfulness . In this exclusive excerpt fromAction Park , new from Penguin Books , his adolescent son Andy begins to realize that his father ’s imperativeness on autonomy carries with it a step of risk .
recreate by the succeeder of the Lola race cars and their propensity to facilitate sound drunk driving in New Jersey , my Fatherhood became preoccupy with growing out the entire motorize area of the commons . If it require fuel , it belong here . He collected things that went tight and quicker still , scooping up anything that could accelerate and filling up virtually every niche of the dedicated dimension with vehicle that guests could race or crash .
From across Route 94 , my ear partially obscured by the helmet worn while patrol the skateboard commons , I could take heed the chant : “ Wreck the boats ! Wreck the boats ! ”
On a fracture , I walk across the route and stood out in the rain next to my older sidekick , Pete . We watched as mass zipped around in speedboats that were roughly two - thirds the size of a full - scale variation . Powerful engines that seemed way out of proportionality for their fragile plastic frame weigh them down . They live a mucky - sounding lake in Motor World with a little island in the middle .
“ Why are they upset ? ” I ask .
“ When it rain , we shut down down all the motorized ride except for the boats , ” Pete enounce . “ The lines get long . They get pissed and start to rising . ” Once someone got in a sauceboat , he said , it was almost impossible to get them out until they run out of gas .
The boats made a zipping sound as they loop around the island , nose pointed up in the zephyr as if force by third-year corporate trust moon-curser on the run from the Coast Guard . Two teen sped straight at each other , hair bollocks back , bearing down on the accelerator .
“ Do n’t do that ! ” Pete yelled . “ Do n’t you do that ! ”
The Kingston-upon Hull collide with athonknoise . Both speedboat began to turtle , spill the occupants into the water .
“ Serves them right , ” Pete read .
One of them managed to get back into the boat and began cycling around the island again as Erin , the field ’s dealings cop , hear to wave him in . The other climbed back on the dock , dripping with weewee and reeking of gasoline .
“ There ’s fuel all over my shorts ! ” he shouted . “ My pelt is burning , man ! ”
“ Go to the office , ” Pete said . “ They have soap . ”
Fuel and engine oil leaked from the motors , giving the entire lake a greasy shininess , like the top of a pizza . People who had been tossed into the water often start screaming . “ Something brushed against my leg ! ” they would wail as they waded toward land , looking back as though a shark might issue from the four - human foot depth .
“ snake , ” Pete said . “ Some of them are copperheads . We have snapping turtle , too . They can take a toe . ” Doing laps in the boat first thing in the sunrise , Pete pronounce , usually frighten away them off .
The relative sophistication of the motor - power rides did n’t foreclose us from installing low - cost attractions as well . Adjacent to the speedboat lake was a giant pile of hay bales that stretched more than ten feet in the line . They shape a twisty labyrinth that resembled an obstacle course constructed for a rat in a laboratory . A mansion next to it read : Human Maze .
A buddy of mine from school , Artie Williams , worked as the maze attendant . He was a good tennis player and readThe New York Timesevery solar day without fail . These would normally be insufferable timbre for a teenager , but Artie managed to remain sympathetic . He say he often hear softened plea for service from inside the maze . “ citizenry do n’t understand it ’s actually complicated and hard to get out of , ” he pronounce . “ They conceive it ’s like one of those things you draw a dividing line through in a puzzle book . I would n’t go in without a rophy tied around my waistline . ”
Snakes occasionally made their way into the bales , he state , popping out and causing people to sprint away in a insane panic , getting themselves even more lost than before . In the middle of summer , the Basle also trap heat , in effect turning the maze into a suffocating furnace . masses come forth from the going soaked in perspiration and gasping . “ H2O , water , ” they whisper , wry lips cracking . One of these disappearances actually made the local newspaper .
After a workweek , I see a polarity go up near the entry :
DANGER
mass Have Been Lost in This Maze for Up to 9 Hours
“ It ’s good to monish them up front , ” Artie said , The New York Timestucked under his armpit .
As Motor World swelled , so did the eternal sleep of the park . New attractions seemed to break out from the ground weekly , and other area incur newfangled purpose . My father put in batten cage and basketball courts . The ski lift became the Sky Ride , a “ scenic , 40 - minute tour through the mountain landscape . ” Trails of pot smoke beleaguer the lifts . The airstream elevator car mechanic , Mike Kramer , had cobble together single - occupancy tanks that shot lawn tennis balls at velocity at both guests and employee . It was Wimbledon meets Vietnam .
The conception of the Vernon Valley Fun Farm was already too quaint . The park was evolving , reflecting the increasingly rabid tastes of its patron . The diesel - drench succeeder of Motor World and the nonstarter of the relatively unagitated skateboard park proved that mass want hurrying and risk , competition and danger .
They did not want a play farm . They want an activity park .
take out fromAction Park : Fast Times , Wild Rides , and the Untold Story of America ’s Most Dangerous Amusement Parkby Andy Mulvihill with Mental Floss senior writerJake Rossen . Published by Penguin Books , an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group , a division of Penguin Random House , LLC . Copyright © 2020 by Andrew J. Mulvihill .
