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The Big Flop

Action Park: The Water Park of Your Nightmares with Sasheer Zamata & Chris Gethard | 9

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6884 Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At New Jersey’s most dangerous water park, people of all ages broke bones, tore flesh, lost teeth, and yes, even lost their lives. For some, Action Park was a rite of passage. For others, it was a lawless wasteland that needed to be stopped. Shady business dealings, headless crash test dummies, and the most shocking rides you’ve ever heard of are just the tip of the Action Park iceberg. Guests Sasheer Zamata (Best Friends) and actual Action Park survivor Chris Gethard (Beautiful/Anonymous) join Misha to break down the meteoric rise and tragic fall of this absolutely bonkers amusement park.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the Big Flop early and ad-free.

0:05.3

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

0:14.6

It's 1981.

0:26.2

Andy Mulvahill is working his lifeguard shift at the pool when suddenly he hears a splash.

0:33.1

He turns around and sees a kid thrashing around in the water. There's no question. This kid needs help.

0:43.6

See, this isn't just an ordinary pool. It's the wave pool at a New Jersey water park called Action Park, owned by his father, Gene Mulvahill.

0:48.4

Three foot high waves crash across the surface for 20 minutes at a time.

0:51.3

You can't tell the deep end from the shallow end.

0:57.1

Plus, hundreds of people pack into the wave pool together. It tests even the most experienced swimmers. Andy jumps into action, swims over, grabs the kid and pulls him to

1:02.9

safety. He saves his life. Now, at most other lifeguard gigs, you might expect a thank you,

1:10.1

but not at Action Park. The kid looks at Andy in the

1:13.0

face, searching for the right words to say. He looks him square in the eye and tells Andy to eat a dick

1:19.7

and then dives right back in. So over the course of the weekend, Andy says he and his fellow lifeguards will save no fewer than 30 people from drowning.

1:32.8

And that's just at one attraction.

1:36.0

In the 18 years, Action Park was open.

1:38.3

People of all ages, broke bones, tore flesh, lost teeth, and yes, even lost their lives.

1:45.9

For some, Action Park was a right of passage. For others, it was a lawless wasteland that needed

1:52.6

to be stopped. This is the story of Action Park.

2:06.1

Action Park was wild and and quite frankly, a lot of people got hurt over there.

2:08.2

The most dangerous theme park of all time.

2:11.5

The owner was like, I'm not going to hassle the kids with a bunch of rules.

2:13.2

I'm just going to leave safety up to them.

...

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