The notorious wave pool at Action Park in Vernon, NJ.
Gobbledygeek episode 413, “Action Park: Everything Is Legal in New Jersey,” is available for listening or download right here and on Apple Podcasts here.
As Hamilton taught us, everything is legal in New Jersey. So we shouldn’t be surprised that it was once home to Action Park, the most dangerous amusement park in the world. Eugene Mulvihill’s vision of a lawless hellscape with pleasure as its only principle is the American Dream in miniature, with a guest appearance by Donald Trump himself! Paul and Arlo discuss the new HBO Max documentary Class Action Park, which brought the Mulvihill legend to their attention; some ancillary material available on YouTube, including one insane post-credits sequence; how Paul would love to bean somebody with a flaming tennis ball; and their respective childhoods, one as a latchkey kid in the ‘70s/’80s and one as a cowardly nerd in the ‘90s/’00s. Will they emerge unscathed? Tune in and find out!
Next: another episode of your favorite podcast. No, not that one. This one. Wait. Come back.
THE BREAKDOWN
Total Run Time: 01:24:00
- 00:00:30 – Intro / Main Topic
- 01:21:07 – Outro / Next
THE MUSIC
- Action Park commercial (1983)
- “Don’t Talk to Strangers” by The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Turtle Tunes (1994)
THE LINKS
- The Most Insane Amusement Park Ever (Video)
- Defunctland: The History of Action Park (Video)
- TMNT: Don’t Talk to Strangers (Video)
Gobbledygeek 