Action Park

I'm Andy Mulvihill, son of famed Action Park founder Gene Mulvihill. I worked at Action Park through my teens and beyond, testing the rides, working as a lifeguard in the notorious Wave Pool, and eventually taking on a managerial role. I've just published a book titled ACTION PARK about my experiences, giving an unvarnished look at the history of the park and all of the chaos, joy, and tragedy that went with working there. I am here today with my co-author Jake Rossen, a senior staff writer at Mental Floss.

You can learn more about and check out some old pictures, ephemera and other information about the park on

Proof:

EDIT: Logging off now but will be back later to check this thread and answer more of your questions! Thanks to everyone for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the book!

I made a post about this a long time ago, but the class action park show in Boston was the first and last live show I ever saw for a podcast.

1. Sexualization of the Broadway dancers. This was just after the Broadway show and both G and P made comments on how hot the dancers were. Then Patrick goes on to say how when he was away from his family in a hotel room he would internet stalk them, look up their pics etc. They were probably employed by a talent agency, but hello you were headlining the show sexualizing the chorus. Maybe I am being offended on their behalf when they were in on a bit, but the mental image of Patrick internet searching pics of them in their underwear...

2. Pointing the extendable pointer at the actor in the documentary's crotch. This really makes me think that the part of the statement where they said they were editing some raunchy stuff from ITN is true but they probably have to work overtime to edit inappropriate things Patrick says even harder. I also think Gillian has a look that probably kneecaps him when he starts up.

3. And something that still grosses me out and was the real tarnish to the podcast: showing mugshots of the straight man who did not return Patrick's crush in high school and showing the obituary of his bully. Don't be crying about people talking about your character when you are out here shit talking a man who is dead and cannot defend himself.

4. No mention of the victims of action park. I thought this show would be more palatable because of the antics of the owner, but still think they should have held space for the victims.

They had the show up on their Patreon, not sure if anyone listened to it or was at that show. I think about that experience and how that is the representation of their character I will hold on to, actions when you're in the limelight speak louder then words when you're under the microscope.

A little bit about us:

Seth Porges: I co-directed and produced Class Action Park. I went to Action Park as a kid and have spent the past decade chasing my memories and trying to understand if the chaotic, anarchic, strange, dangerous, fun, terrifying, dangerous, violent place in my head could possibly have been real. Prior to Class Action Park, I worked with some friends in 2013 on a separate short documentary about Action Park ("The Most Insane Amusement Park Ever") and appeared in a few dozen episodes of Travel's "Mysteries at the Museum" telling fun stories from history. I'm also a journalist and former magazine editor. Ask me anything about Class Action Park, Action Park, theme parks, pinball... or anything else. And say hi on Twitter: @sethporges.

Chris Charles Scott: Hi all! I co-directed and produced Class Action Park. I had never heard of Action Park until my friend Seth told me about this strange and insane amusement park and I couldn't believe it was real. Turns out, it was—and I was instantly obsessed. Ask me anything about Action Park, Class Action Park, or college football and I'll answer from beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ed Youmans: I’ve worked in ski area management most of my life, working in New Jersey, Lake Tahoe, Oregon, and Colorado. These days I’m the general manager of a ski resort in Western, NY. I worked at Action Park from 1985 to 1995. I began there as a Ride Attendant and spent the last 5 years there as the Resort Operations Manager. I was immediately interested in contributing to this film mostly because I saw Seth’s mashable.com video on Action Park in 2012 and thought he did a better job than anyone ever had at painting a picture of what Action Park was all about. When I heard he was doing a feature-length film I thought “he’s the right one to tell the whole story”. After 10 years at Action Park, I was more or less burned out and at least a little “post-traumatic” - so I moved to Lake Tahoe and spent a couple of years rock climbing in Yosemite to decompress.

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Proof:

EDIT: Thank you for the great questions! We’re heading out now but don’t forget to watch Class Action Park streaming now on HBO Max! We’ll pop back in to answer some more questions later via (Ed) and (Seth & Chris)

QUOTE:

If you ask them on a basic level, "Do you think the way you grew up was healthy for a kid?" They'll say, "No." We laugh about it, 'cause what else are we gonna do? But we don't think it was healthy. And those people understand, like, no, it was really--You were swimming in pools where the lifeguards
weren't paying attention. You were going on rides that were poorly designed that people got hurt on
all the time. And we felt like we were on our own. We felt like the world was an unsafe place. But it's what we got, so fuck you. Tthat we were able to grow up the way we did and, simultaneously, so furious that we had to grow up that way.

A lot of kids who grew up in the '80s, they like to talk shit and tell stories, and when they got a couple drinks in them, it's about how fucked up and funny it was. But when they're with their shrink, it's just about how fucked up it was.

But a lot of things were. A lot of things were back then.

love the songs my black ass,the admiral,song of the minerals,a minute,and il porno star

I think everyone has had their own Action Park around growing up, an attraction that was infamous for its danger or its bad design.

What was your Action Park?

Mine was the old Wet and Wild Las Vegas, they had like a slide that was pitch black on the inside and water attraction where you tried to climb up a rope but it so impossible to hold on.

I saw a post of this same request made over a year ago on the forum. I thought I might pop this out there again as it’s been awhile and there will likely be new documentary recommendations.

I’m really looking for these total chaos events within history, with pop culture or controversy. I watched the Twin Flames doc recently and really enjoyed it. This documentary and the ones in the title are some that truly hit the mark for me, but would love other recommendations!!

Am I forgetting any?

Nia - Free Agents - Couldn't move arms for days because harness apparatus in the draw elimination was not set up right.

Cara Maria - Was in face off against Nia and dealt with similar arm and shoulder issues. May have made her arm stained too then later get broken in the season

Hunter (2x) - Horribly designed elimination against Leroy with great risk of injury. Shattered ribs from helicopter fall on Final Reckoning.

Tony - Spleen injury from design on Bloodlines with delayed care leading to him to collapse.

Tommy - Improper gear in an already dangerous challenge leading to concussion. Hours until care received.

Candice - design of challenge.

Ashley M. - severe injury on rivals 3 that could have gone much much worse.

Trishelle - Denied sufficient medical care on Rivals II for possibly infected cut from glass on floor at house.

Kyle - Wrecked by Fessy in unsafe Hall Brawl. Numerous other injuries.

Jay - Concussed and sent in for another round of battle on Total Madness.

Leroy - Horrifying accident on Vendettas with concussion with slow response on the scene as he was face down in water.

Timmy (Inferno 3) - Knees damaged from glass floor in elimination.

Jisela - Given elimination where she had to jump from very high up on to ground, shattering her leg.

Katie and Chet - injury and bad concussion from dangerous Cutthroat jumping challenge.

Katelynn - Dislocated her knee on FM2 where she had little safety gear on.

Abe and Sarah - Improper amount of water or electrolytes available for Cutthroat final.

Veronica - Permanently broken finger on Vendettas battle.

Nicole, Liv, Nelson - All severely injured on poorly designed truck wrestling challenge in Double Agents.

Arissa - Dietary restrictions not handled properly on AS1.

Not to mention the concussions that may lead to CTE, stomach and bowel issues from eating challenges, UTIs from scrubbing and grinding in soap challenge (Rivals III), psychological damage from edits and other players, numerous Challenges where the wrong type of helmets and PPE are used for the task at hand, broken bones, shredded fingernails from scratching on Dirty 30, head to head contact in Hall Brawls and daily challenges, long term physical and mental damage, close call with the wrong animals used on Bloodlines, and scars and breaks from finals and unnecessary falls from high up into the water on numerous seasons, poorly thought out tasks like the first challenge in AS1 without wet suits, and more! With no medical insurance for the immediate injury or long term damage.

Some injuries are unavoidable. But they need to do better.