Action Park

Summary

Criminal Podcast Episode Summary: "Action Park"

Criminal, hosted by Phoebe Judge and produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network, delves into the intriguing and often perilous history of Action Park, a once-popular amusement park in Vernon, New Jersey. Released on May 23, 2025, this episode provides a comprehensive exploration of the park's rise, its notorious reputation for dangerous rides, and the complex legacy of its founder, Gene Mulvihill.

---

Introduction to Action Park

Phoebe Judge opens the episode with a brief mention of Action Park, setting the stage for a deep dive into its infamous past. The park, known for its thrilling yet hazardous attractions, became a rite of passage for many in Northern New Jersey during the late 20th century.

---

Personal Recollections: Chris Gethard's Experience

Actor and comedian Chris Gethard shares his personal experiences and the broader community's perception of Action Park.

• Early Exposure and Community Legends:
  "Anyone who went to Action Park understood you could get really messed up going there. Not only did we know that it was a huge part of the appeal, it was part of why you wanted to go."
  (00:57)

  Gethard recounts how his introduction to the park came through church-organized trips, highlighting the severe injuries altar boys often sustained. He emphasizes the societal pressure and fear of judgment that surrounded the decision to visit the park.
  "If you grew up in northern New Jersey in the 80s, if it got brought up, you're too scared to go to Action Park. You're kind of soft and it could be used against you."
  (02:04)

• First Impressions and Ride Skepticism:
  Reflecting on his childhood visit, Gethard describes the initial sight of the Cannonball Loop, a particularly dangerous ride.
  "I remember seeing it and thinking to myself, oh, yeah, no, there's no way that would work. You can't, you can't do that."
  (03:16)

  He details urban legends surrounding the ride, including tales of test dummies losing heads and riders suffering severe injuries, which were ominously confirmed upon entering the park.

• Injuries and Lack of Safety Measures:
  Gethard narrates his own traumatic experience on the Tarzan Swing, where inadequate safety measures and hostile crowds exacerbated his fear and injury.
  "There was throngs of people chanting the word pussy at them... 'you ate shit, you little bitch.'"
  (17:34)
  He underscores the absence of proper assistance, noting,
  "There was no help. The vibe was that you were on your own, do what you want."
  (18:17)

---

Gene Mulvihill: The Visionary Behind Action Park

Seth Porges provides an in-depth look at Gene Mulvihill, the enigmatic founder of Action Park.

• Background and Entrepreneurial Spirit:
  Before transforming the land into Action Park, Mulvihill owned ski resorts and was involved in penny stock fraud with his company, Mayflower Securities. His conviction led to the suspension of his company in 1974, the same year he acquired the ski resorts.

• Creation of Action Park:
  Seeking to maximize the use of his properties beyond the short skiing season, Mulvihill innovated by building unconventional rides like the Alpine Slide, which opened in September 1976.
  "Gene Mulvihill said, it's outrageously fantastic."
  (06:43)

  By 1978, the park expanded to over 250 acres, featuring various sections such as Motor World and Water World, officially launching Action Park on July 4, 1978. The inaugural day included unique events like a Dolly Parton lookalike competition and a tobacco spitting contest, reflecting the park's unconventional approach.

• Design Philosophy and Risk-Taking:
  Mulvihill lacked formal experience in theme park design but was renowned for his imaginative and reckless approach to ride creation.
  "He just went ahead and did it. I think there's something in our culture that's drawn to these individuals who break rules for the sake of breaking rules."
  (07:18)

  Rides were often built without proper modeling or testing, relying instead on Mulvihill's intuition and the creativity of unconventional designers.

---

Dangerous Attractions and Their Consequences

Action Park's allure was significantly tied to its dangerous rides, which became the source of numerous injuries and fatalities.

• Notable Rides:

  • Cannonball Loop: A 50-foot vertical drop with an upside-down twist, immediately signaling the park's risky nature.
  • Man in the Ball: A PVC pipe track that disastrously failed during a test, leading the ride to crash into a swamp (13:27).
  • Aqua Scoot: A water-based sled ride with perilous rollers that posed severe risks to riders.
  • Tarzan Swing: A high-risk swing over frigid water, infamous for causing disorientation and mockery from onlookers.

• Fatal Incidents:

  • George Larson Jr.'s Death (07:27:10 - 07:38):
    In July 1980, a 19-year-old lost control on the Alpine Slide, resulting in a fatal head injury after flipping off the track. "The park had messaged the newspapers that it wasn't the ride that killed George, it was the rock that hit his head that killed him."

  • Other Fatalities:
    Between 1980 and 1987, multiple deaths occurred due to accidents on the Alpine Slide, wave pool drownings, electrocutions in the kayak ride, and heart attacks, earning the wave pool the ominous nickname "grave pool."

• Legal and Safety Issues: Action Park faced over a hundred lawsuits due to the high number of injuries. Despite federal investigations into underreported earnings and lack of proper liability insurance, Mulvihill continued to operate the park with disregard for safety standards.

---

Regulatory Crackdown and Closure

By the early 1980s, regulatory bodies began to clamp down on Mulvihill's operations.

• SEC Investigation and Legal Troubles (20:19):
  The SEC uncovered fraudulent activities, including money laundering through a fake insurance company, leading to Gene Mulvihill's guilty plea on multiple criminal counts.

• State Intervention and Land Sale (22:00):
  In an effort to sidestep increasing legal pressures, Mulvihill negotiated the sale of the park's land to the state of New Jersey for approximately $800,000, effectively ending his control over Action Park.

• Bankruptcy and Park Closure (29:05):
  Facing mounting lawsuits and financial strain, Action Park filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and subsequently closed. While many rides were dismantled, the Alpine Slide remained operational for another year with enforced safety measures before its eventual removal.

---

Legacy and Cultural Impact

Action Park left an indelible mark on the local community and those who experienced its extremes.

• Personal Scars and Community Memory:
  Chris Gethard reflects on the lasting psychological impact of the park, expressing discomfort and a desire to prevent new generations from enduring similar dangers.
  "I think a lot of the people going, man, I wish it was still like that. No, you don't. I don't really think you wish it was like that. I don't want my kid going to a place like Action Park, you know? No way."
  (31:48)

• Gene Mulvihill's Reputation:
  Despite the chaos, Mulvihill was hailed by some as a visionary entrepreneur. Former officials like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie praised his unique spirit, while his son Andy Mulvihill provided insight into his father's unconventional logic and relentless pursuit of his vision.

• Cultural References and Continued Interest:
  The story of Action Park continues to captivate listeners and has inspired documentaries, such as Southpour's "Class Action Park," highlighting the park's notorious legacy.

---

Conclusion

The Criminal episode "Action Park" offers a riveting examination of a place where thrill-seeking met rampant negligence. Through personal anecdotes, detailed historical accounts, and critical analysis, the episode sheds light on how Action Park became a symbol of both entrepreneurial audacity and regulatory failure. The legacy of Action Park serves as a cautionary tale about the costs of prioritizing profit and spectacle over safety and responsibility.

---

Notable Quotes:

• "Gene Mulvihill said, 'you're not going to find this at Disney.'"
  (13:30)

• "Gene says, 'you can't see the bottom of the ocean either. That doesn't mean you stop people from swimming in it if they want to.'"
  (31:48)

• "Gene's son later said, 'I can tell you he did not stay awake at night worrying about lawsuits. My dad was not a warrior. He was a doer.'"
  (29:49)

---

Additional Resources:

• Southpour's Documentary: Class Action Park
• Official Website: thisiscriminal.com
• Support and Membership: Criminal Plus

Transcript

[Phoebe Judge]

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[Chris Gethard]

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[Seth Porges]

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[Seth Porges]

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[Phoebe Judge]

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[Seth Porges]

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[Phoebe Judge]

This episode contains language that may not be suitable for everyone.

[Chris Gethard]

Please use discretion Anyone who went to Action park understood you could get really messed up going there. Not only did we know that it was a huge part of the appeal, it was part of why you wanted to go.

[Phoebe Judge]

Chris Gethard is an actor, comedian and writer.

[Chris Gethard]

But most importantly, I am a real product of northern New Jersey. I have first heard of Action park because the church in my neighborhood, Our lady of Lourdes, they used to send the altar boys there on an annual summer trip. Every summer, invariably the altar boys would come back with burns on their skin. One year a kid came back with a broken bone. Action park must have had some deal with the Catholic diocese in North Jersey to give cheap tickets out because all of a lot of the legend of it was spread by these altar boys going and coming back real messed up.

[Phoebe Judge]

Chris was in third grade when he was first invited to go to Action.

[Chris Gethard]

Park and my parents did not want me to go. We had all heard about the place. My parents were dead set against it. But if you grew up in northern New Jersey in the 80s, if it got brought up, you're too scared to go to Action Park. You're kind of soft and it could be used against you. You could be judged for that.

[Phoebe Judge]

Action park was in Vernon, New Jersey.

[Chris Gethard]

I think even people who grew up there would not be offended if I said it's kind of the middle of nowhere, really a gorgeous part of the state. This is when New Jersey really becomes the Garden State. Rolling hills, farms, long stretches of boredom. And then you finally get there and it's on the side of a mountain. It looked like a regular water park. Although famously you knew something was really wrong because one of the first things you saw to the entrance, I believe off to Your right, right after you entered was the infamous slide that had the loop de loop.

[Phoebe Judge]

It was called the Cannonball Loop. A more than 50 foot vertical drop in total darkness, ending with an upside down twist.

[Chris Gethard]

I remember seeing it and thinking to myself, oh, yeah, no, there's no way that would work. That won't work. You can't, you can't do that. There's just no way that would work. I knew at the age of eight or nine, absolutely no way that that was a good idea. And you heard stories around North Jersey. The big one that we all heard growing up was that they were sending test dummies down it and the test dummies were coming out with no heads. That it was ripping the heads off the test dummies. You started to hear stories that kids would get flung into the side of it and their teeth were being knocked out. And not only were their teeth being knocked out, but then the people who would go after them were sliding over their teeth. So you heard urban legends about this ride. And to enter and see it right away did verify. Oh, everything I've heard is true.

[Phoebe Judge]

I'm Phoebe Judge. This is criminal. Before Action park was built, the area around it was home to a pair of ski resorts. Vernon Valley and Great Gorge. They were owned by a man named Jean Mulvihill.

[Seth Porges]

Dean Mulvihill was the creator of Action park, the founder, the auteur, the madman, genius, visionary, criminal overlord of the place.

[Phoebe Judge]

Seth Porges has spent years researching Action park and Gene Mulvihill. Before he bought the ski resorts in northern New Jersey, Gene had a company on Wall street called Mayflower securities, which got involved in penny stock fraud.

[Seth Porges]

This was the Wolf of Wall street era. This is when you'd have these boiler rooms full of shady phone salesmen calling people up at their dinner table and telling them they have the deal of a lifetime. If you buy now, this stock can only go up.

[Phoebe Judge]

Penny stocks are cheap shares of small companies. Scammers often create a buying frenzy around them to drive up prices and then dump their own shares.

[Seth Porges]

That's what Gene did. Gene was a penny stock guy.

[Phoebe Judge]

After an investigation by the securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, Gene's company was suspended in 1974. It was the same year that he bought the ski resorts. But in northern New Jersey, it only snows for a couple of months. So the ski slopes went unused for most of the year. And Gene wanted to find another way to make money, especially during the summer. First, he built a ride on the side of the mountain, a long, curving Track made from cement and asbestos and put little plastic sleds on it. When there wasn't any snow, you could still take the ski lift up and then ride 2,700ft down. Gene Mulvihill called it the Alpine Slide. It opened in September of 1976. New Jersey Star Ledger reported that employees said it wasn't dangerous, though, quote, there is talk that someone got a broken thumb and someone else received a dislocated shoulder. Gene Mulvihill said, it's outrageously fantastic.

[Seth Porges]

You know, Gene is a fascinating person. He is somebody it's kind of impossible not to feel some form of an attraction towards. You know, this is a guy who in many ways encapsulates a lot of the things that we sometimes wish we could get away with doing. He just went ahead and did it. And I think there's something in our culture that's drawn to these individuals who break rules for the sake of breaking rules. And Gene was somebody who was drawn to the idea that if somebody told him he couldn't do something, he absolutely wanted to do it just because he.

[Phoebe Judge]

Started building more rides. And by 1978, there was an entire water park around the Alpine Slide. It was over 250 acres and had different sections like Motor World with go karts and jet boats, and Water World with cliff dives, river rafts, and a wave pool. He called it Action Park. It officially opened to the public on July 4, 1978. The day featured a Dolly Parton lookalike competition and a tobacco spitting contest. Visitors were asked to fill out a survey about what they liked and what they didn't. One guest said, quote, almost drowned. Someone else said, lost my teeth. A third person said, bees. Action park was one of the first water parks in the country. Gene Mulvihill was hoping that Vernon, New Jersey, could become the next big national resort town.

[Seth Porges]

He said that why would people fly all the way to Orlando or to Anaheim to go to a Disney park when, hey, I'm an hour and a half from New York City, I'm two hours from Philadelphia. I'm a day trip away? He wanted to turn Vernon into the next Orlando. And to a lot of people, the, you know, people who grew up in this bucolic town, the preservationists, they were really, really scared of that. Then you also had the other side of Vernon, which are the people who wanted the growth, wanted the business, wanted the tourists, wanted the customers. And they were the people who largely, for many decades, were and still are in charge of Vernon. And so Gene could get away With a lot.

[Phoebe Judge]

But did he have any background in theme parks? I mean, he's a stockbroker.

[Seth Porges]

No, no, of course not. You know, I think he's somebody who looked at Walt Disney and said, that guy's creative. I can do that. And it's like, what if Tony Soprano looked at Walt Disney and said, I want to do that? Is really what Gene was. Gene didn't have a background in a lot of the things he did. He didn't have a background designing rides, but he was the single most prolific ride designer at Action Park. He would personally tinker with the rides. Never mind. This guy has no idea how to engineer anything. He had imagination. All these rides just seem to resemble things you would doodle in the margins of your notebook. And that's what Action park was. It was somebody taking these ideas from their imagination and willing them into existence and either not knowing or not caring what would happen when they entered the real world.

[Phoebe Judge]

The Cannonball Loop, the first slide you saw when you walked into the park was based on something Gene had originally drawn on a napkin. Gene's son Andy Mulvihil, has said, some people think of my father as a berserk Willy Wonka.

[Seth Porges]

He earned a reputation for being willing to take risks when it came to whether or not a ride made sense or would possibly even work. The rides at Action park were designed by some, sometimes Gene himself, sometimes his employees, sometimes just these oddball designers who nobody else wanted to touch. And so people who nobody at Disney or Six Flags or Wet n Wild wanted to talk to would track Gene down at amusement industry conventions and be like, hey, I got a ride. You're going to want to build this. And Gene would just go, sure, let's build it. What could go wrong? And then they just build the ride without any modeling or testing, and then see how it worked.

[Phoebe Judge]

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[Seth Porges]

You'd step inside this ball and you'd just roll down a track down the side of the mountain. First of all, a great name for a ride and a truly ludicrous idea for a ride. What could go wrong?

[Phoebe Judge]

Gene Mulvihill said, you're not going to find this at Disney.

[Seth Porges]

The track was made of PVC pipe. Well, the day they decide to test this thing out, it was like a sweltering hundred degree day. And the guy who built this ride, the designer, he didn't quite realize that PVC pipe warped under extreme heat. And as this guy is going down the mountain on this ball, the track just breaks apart and the ball just continues to roll without any track. Down the hill, over Route 94, over the highway, into a swamp on the other side.

[Chris Gethard]

There was one called the Aqua Scoot. You sat on some sort of sled and it went. There was water involved, but it also went over these rollers. Chris gathered and I don't want to be too crass, but I do distinctly remember Looking at that and going, if you fell off the sled, that think your bathing suit could get caught in between those rollers, Your testicles could get caught in between the rollers. I remember sizing it up immediately and going, the. The reward is not worth the risk. When it comes to the old Aqua Scoot, I will be opting out of the Aqua Scoot experience.

[Phoebe Judge]

What, what were some of the other rides that you looked at and just thought, no?

[Chris Gethard]

Sadly, I, like many kids of my generation, looked at the rides and said, yes. I went on the Tarzan swing and the Alpine slide. The Tarzan swing was a bad idea. I ate it so hard on the Tarzan Swing, it was not good.

[Phoebe Judge]

What, what was the Tarzan swing?

[Chris Gethard]

There's a wire with a sort of triangle shaped bar at the bottom and you jump off a platform and you just swing out over water. The there's a couple very important things about the Tarzan swing, which is one, it was a natural spring. The temperature was unregulated. It was notoriously freezing cold. So you're dropping from 15, 20ft, depending on how much momentum you get, and you are dropping into really slimy looking, frigid water. The design of the Tarzan swing was really genius, especially in a place as rowdy as northern New Jersey because the line looped around in a way where everyone online watched you jump. Now, some people would get up there and have the upper body strength to like pull themselves up and do a backflip and fall into the water and would be met with raucous applause from all the people watching. Some people would go one hand at the end and throw up the middle finger and everybody would cheer because it was naughty. I personally witnessed people pull their pants down and moon the line. It was also met with cheers. But if you weren't met with cheers, you were met with like a Roman colosseum level of derision. I was an 8 year old kid and I remember I went to jump off the platform with the Tarzan swing and I am, I am a meek man now in my 40s. I was a little tiny late bloomer kid with glasses. It was not good. I had no upper body strength. As soon as I jumped off, I felt my arms kind of wrench at the shoulders and immediately realized, oh, no, I can't do this. I can't hold on. And then I went down. I remember my feet hit the water which created this drag. And I remember just thinking, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. And then I was pulled up maybe five or six more feet and then wiped out. And when I came up from again, shockingly cold water. Shockingly cold water. I'm confused, I'm overwhelmed. And I see that there are people shouting, booing, mocking me, yelling things.

[Phoebe Judge]

What are they yelling? What are they yelling?

[Chris Gethard]

I mean, yelling things that you'd have to bleep on a podcast.

[Phoebe Judge]

No, it's okay, we can bleep them.

[Chris Gethard]

I mean, people would wipe out and you'd have throngs of other people chanting the word pussy at them. Coming out of the ice cold water and hearing someone yell, you ate shit, you little bitch. Something like that. And then you look up and realize it's like a dad who's there with his family. Like adults, grownups, drunk, late 20 year olds yelling things at kids like who was working there?

[Phoebe Judge]

I mean, oh, I mean, did you get a sense that you, the, the rides were dangerous, but you know, okay, at least when the person gets injured, someone will be there to help.

[Chris Gethard]

No, there was no help. There was no help at Action Park. The vibe was that you were on your own, do what you want, and if you eat shit at any point today, maybe you or your friends can get you to safety, but you can't depend on the workers. The workers were teens.

[Seth Porges]

I mean, this was a summer park. So basically half of Vernon High School worked at the park in the summer is what happened. And you know, Gene liked having young employees there because they didn't ask questions. If you're 16 years old, you're not second guessing this guy. And it became this rite of passage for so many kids in the Vernon area to work at Action Park.

[Phoebe Judge]

So basically you needed no skills to get a job at Action Park.

[Seth Porges]

No skills. And they didn't really care about labor laws. New Jersey law required people who operated rides to be 16 years old. Action park didn't care about that. You have 14 year olds operating rides and Gene was paying off people who would give him heads ups when inspectors would come by. Whether it was labor inspectors or ride inspectors or insurance inspectors, whatever inspectors like Gene knew before these guys were going to show up. So if you have a 14 year old who shouldn't be operating that ride, maybe the day the inspector goes by he's at home or maybe he's just working like a hot dog stand.

[Phoebe Judge]

In 1982, the state of New Jersey began to look into Gene Mulvihil's businesses in Vernon Valley. Gene's resorts were on land leased from the state and the state believed Gene was underreporting his earnings. Eventually they discovered that his organization had failed to report millions of Dollars of revenue. But there is more. Gene didn't have liability insurance, which was required by the state. If anyone asked, Gene would point to a policy with a company called London and World Assurance limited, A company he'd formed in the Cayman Islands.

[Seth Porges]

This fake insurance company wasn't just there to allow him to not actually pay for insurance. It also became a vehicle for a number of other criminal pursuits, including money laundering.

[Phoebe Judge]

At one point, the state of New Jersey said Gene wrote a check for $175,000 that was supposedly to pay his insurance premium. But then he passed it through 13 different companies and back to Vernon Valley, New Jersey. Spent two years on their investigation. In the end, Gene and his company pleaded guilty to criminal counts of fraud, theft and conspiracy. They were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Gene was ordered to give up control of Action Park.

[Seth Porges]

They say you're no longer allowed to operate this facility because you are just willfully breaking the law left and right. And Gene says no. He basically decides he's just not going to do what they say. He instead basically stops following rules even more than he had before. Basically sets out to become the worst tenant he possibly could be, with the express goal of pissing off the state of New Jersey so much that they would throw their hands up in the air and say, we are done with this guy. We don't even care anymore.

[Phoebe Judge]

Eventually, Gene struck a deal with the state. They agreed to sell him the land where his ski resorts and Action park operated. Gene told the New York Times his businesses were a big bonanza for the area and said, quote, they should pay us for being here. No one could understand how Gene got away with it.

[Seth Porges]

In the end, they agreed to sell him the whole mountain for basically $800,000 just to get him off their back.

[Phoebe Judge]

We'll be right back. Support for Criminal comes from Bombas. Start your spring cleaning now by finally getting rid of your old, worn out socks and filling your drawer with socks you can actually wear. Bombas has high quality pairs which feel like a step up from other socks. They have everything from athletic socks to dress socks to ones you can wear every day. And they take comfort and discomfort very seriously. Like those moments when a sock starts to slide halfway down your foot inside your shoe. Bomba socks are designed to keep that from happening. Bombas half calf socks are my favorite. I like to give them away as gifts and sometimes I buy them just as a gift for myself and they never slip down. Bombas started making socks when they learned that they're the number one most requested clothing item in homeless shelters. So Bombas wants to thank you for shopping with them. If you've purchased from them, you've helped donate over 150 million essential items. That's a lot of socks and a lot of kindness. Go to bombas.com criminal and use code criminal for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B A S.com criminal code criminal at checkout. Support for criminal comes from selectquote you can think ahead and start preparing for your future now by finding the life insurance that's right for you. With selectquote. They've been helping people find life insurance coverage for almost 40 years. So they're good at looking past the standard one size fits all policies. With selectquote you can find a life insurance policy that fits your family's unique needs and budget, and they can help you do it quickly. A select quote license agent can help you find a policy in less than 15 minutes. If you're worried about making room in your budget on top of everything else, life insurance can be more affordable than you'd expect. Some policies cost less than a dollar a day. Plus select quote says that if you're in good health, they can get you same day coverage. No medical exam required. Select quote they shop, you save. Get the right life insurance for you for [e-mail] criminal go to SelectQuote.com criminal today to get started. That's SelectQuote.com criminal By 1981, Action park was getting more than a million visitors a year.

[Chris Gethard]

There's nothing in the world like Action Park.

[Seth Porges]

Come and act, family. With over 50 exciting rides, shows and attractions, Action park was enormously popular. And Gene was kind of a genius in one sense, and that's that he knew that the more people learned how dangerous this was, it wouldn't scare them away. It would bring them in. His lieutenants were basically telling him, you got to clean up your act. You got to make this park safe. And he didn't want to. He knew that every newspaper report, every TV spot that reported on the injuries and the safety record of Action park would just make the place more and more popular.

[Phoebe Judge]

The Alpine slide, the very first ride Gene Mulvihil built, was one of the most popular in the park. It was also one of the most dangerous.

[Seth Porges]

The Alpine slide alone, I was told on a busy Saturday was probably going to injure several hundred people in a single day. This isn't a thing where a couple people got couple scrapes and injuries. It's a thing where a sizable percentage of anybody who set foot in this park was going to get hurt and potentially have scars that they have to this day.

[Chris Gethard]

Everybody knew that the Alpine slide was the number one thing that hurt people at Action Park. Everybody in New Jersey knew that thing's messed up. People get messed up on that ride.

[Phoebe Judge]

On the afternoon of July 8, 1980, a 19 year old named George Larson Jr. Borrowed some money from his mother to visit Action park with one of his friends. Around 6pm he took the chairlift up to the top of the Alpine slide, got on his cart and started down the mountain down a newly opened so called expert track. According to an employee who was working at the time, the track was wet because it had just rained. Later reporting said that as he turned to look back at a friend, he lost control of his sled, hit a curve and flew out of the track. George Larson Jr. Flipped about 25ft down the side of the hill and hit his head on some rocks. After more than a week in a coma, he died.

[Seth Porges]

The park had messaged the newspapers that it wasn't the ride that killed George, it was the rock that hit his head that killed him. And that was the problem. There was nothing wrong with the ride. They said it was the rock.

[Phoebe Judge]

Seth Porges talked to George's family. They'd never given interviews about it before. His mother, Esther Larson said on the night George died, she was in so much pain that she walked into traffic. She told Seth Porges that the park was quote, a place where death was tolerated. Esther Larson says the family sued and settled for $100,000.

[Seth Porges]

And you can imagine just how much pain and grief they were feeling. You can understand the willingness to just have this end as quickly as you can. And the lawyer who's representing the family told them that they weren't going to get much more because George was a teenager and teenagers are liabilities and this is to be expected from teenagers.

[Phoebe Judge]

In 1982, two years after George Larson's death, a 15 year old boy from New York named George Lopez drowned in the wave pool. Action Park's wave pool was one of the first in the country. Gas powered motors could make waves 3 or 4ft higher than the surface of the water. A week after George Lopez died, a 27 year old named Jeffrey Nathan stepped out of a kayak mid ride and was allegedly electrocuted by some wiring exposed in the water. He died of cardiac failure shortly after. In 1984, another visitor suffered a fatal heart attack. It was thought the frigid water under the Tarzan swing was responsible. That same year, a 20 year old drowned at the base of the cliff dive. In 1987, another teenager drowned in the wave pool, which locals and lifeguards had started calling the grave pool.

[Chris Gethard]

The thing that really baffles me and still messes me up to this day is I swam in a wave pool where people died. And I was a little kid assuming and hoping that to some degree that was an urban legend. But there were adults who knew that it wasn't. There were adults who read that in the Star Ledger. There were adults who worked at that place. There were people who were probably there when I was 8 or 9 years old swimming in that wave pool, who had been working there a couple years prior when a body had been removed from that wave pool. And I do get very disturbed by that.

[Phoebe Judge]

There were so many injuries at Action park that by some estimates, there were more than a hundred lawsuits filed against it. In some cases, federal marshals had to seize cash from Gene Mulvihil's businesses to collect judgments. Jean told the Star Ledger, quote, so what? They always got paid. Gene's son later said, quote, I can tell you he did not stay awake at night worrying about lawsuits. My dad was not a warrior. He was a doer. But in 1996, the park filed for bankruptcy. It closed soon after, the park was bought and redone. A lot of the rides were torn down, but. But the Alpine Slide stayed open for one more year. You had to wear a helmet and knee pads. Then they tore that down, too. Gene Mulvihil died in 2012. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said his unique vision and entrepreneurial spirit will be greatly missed. The state labor commissioner at the time said Gene was one of the most brilliant visionaries and entrepreneurs I ever knew. And the mayor of Vernon said, I've lost a good friend. A few years ago, Gene's son Andy, who worked at Action park and helped run different versions of the park later on, wrote a book about his time working for his father. In it, he tells a story about something he calls Gene Logic. He was telling his father why they needed to paint the bottom of the pool white so lifeguards could tell if anyone was sinking. Gene said, andy, you can't see the bottom of the ocean either. That doesn't mean you stop people from swimming in it if they want to.

[Chris Gethard]

This day in North Jersey, people will start, here's my scar that I got at Action Park. Oh, I got really messed up on the Tarzan swing. Listen to what happened to me on the Alpine Slide. I do think that there is some level of we all sit and tell stories about it because we all are now raising our own kids and realizing how beyond the pale it was. And I think a lot of the people going, man, I wish it was still like that. No, you don't. I don't really think you wish it was like that. I don't want my kid going to a place like Action park, you know? No way. I'm not sure why I ever went or why any of us did so.

[Phoebe Judge]

You wouldn't send your kids there. You wouldn't let them have the experience.

[Chris Gethard]

I have a son who's about to turn six, and if Action park was still around, there's not a world in which I send my son there. There's just.

[Phoebe Judge]

Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Katie Bishop is our supervising producer. Our producers are Susanna Roberson, Jackie Sajiko, Lily Clark, Lena Sillison, Megan Kinane and Dan o' Donnell. Our show is mixed and engineered by Veronica Simonetti. Southpour just made a documentary about Action park along with Chris Charles Scott. It's called Class Action Park. We'll have a link in the show notes. You can learn more about the show on our website thisiscriminal.com and you can sign up for our [e-mail] Newsletter we hope you'll consider supporting our work by joining our membership program Criminal. Plus, you can listen to Criminal, this is Love and Phoebe reads a Mystery without any ads. Plus you'll get bonus episodes. These are special episodes with me and Criminal co creator Lauren Spohr telling stories from the last 10 years of working together. To learn more, go to thisiscriminal.com plus we're on Facebook at criminalshow and Instagram @ criminalpodcast. Criminal is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more crowd great [e-mail] I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.

[Seth Porges]

Tribeca Festival returns to NYC June 4th through 15th. Every summer the festival takes over New York City's famed movie theaters and concert venues, and this year is no exception. With great groundbreaking films and television, musical performances and talks, live podcasts and immersive art, there's something for everyone all across the city featuring the world premiere of Billy Joel and so It Goes at the Beacon Theater, Becky G at the United Palace, a live recording of this American Life at Spring Studios, Indeed Theatre, and so much more. Tickets are on Sale [e-mail].