Oh HELL no.....

Wow. Not only does the slide itself look incredibly, and dangerously, DIY, what one can see of the park looks eerily like a similar amusement park we once had here in Indiana...One that was cobbled-together on the cheap by a family, with next to no real design or concern for safety. It housed a combination of used carnival rides and "attractions" cobbled together by the owners with materials from the local lumber yard.

Ill-conceived? Or brilliant?

OK ill-conceived.

Oh, Action Park. Every time I meet someone new from NJ I have to ask if they ever went as a kid. So many good (terrifying) stories. It's just insane that it stayed open as long as it did.

That is horrifying.

Oh, Action Park, indeed. That was my first thought.

There are websites, I believe, dedicated to collecting A.P. horror stories.

Ha, I came in here to say, "Oh, Action Park!"

Grew up not too far from there but never made it to the notorious Action Park. The fact that they had six fatalities in eight years of operation says everything.

There is a New Yorker cartoon, "Kavourky Park" which I cannot find for the life of me, but this would fit in with that.

That thing doesn't even have a splash pool at the bottom, does it? Just... asphalt?

This is some grade-D danger, indeed.

I actually couldn't read that whole article, because of the creeping horror in my brain.

Madamina, I think the thing at the end is a mat with water running across it. Some water parks still use those on certain slides. (And I've never been on one of those so I dunno how they feel to slide onto...)

The site where my gym now stands was one of the original 1930s London Lidos, very few of which remain in existence today.

The Lido was demolished in the 1980s and replaced with a 'water park' called FantaSeas, which had lots of pipes running round the outside and through the building to be used as slides. It was a death-trap and, of course, kids loved it. After a number of serious accidents, it was closed by the council within months of opening, and after lying derelict for years, it was demolished and my gym was built there.

You know that site that had videos of people as they saw goatse.cx for the first time? I have a feeling I had the same look on my face when I saw that water slide.

Yep, I was like oh, Action Park? This was only one of their horrifying rides. WE knew it was dangerous - we even traded these stories back in the day. Ridiculous place. Here is some more about it and still some more: "At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the park. It was given nicknames such as "Traction Park and "Accident Park", by doctors at nearby hospitals..."

An Alpine slide! There are several of those in Tennessee not far from the GA border, and they're a lot of fun (when properly built, maintained, and operated, obviously).

I thought of you, Miko, when I posted this, figuring you might be familiar with the place. :)

Yep, I'm with Miko, I went there once (for my 20th birthday with a huge group of friends). I NEVER would've tried this, even if it were open (not my thing). One of my friends ended up needing stitches after going down the concrete luge-thingy on a rickety small sled. Somehow he'd let his arm go astray and it hit the edge of the ride and took of some skin and left a gash. I remember one water slide..the initial drop was near verticle - for the first two seconds or so, I could not feel anything supporting me before I caught up to the slide. Got a HUGE wedgie at the end of that one, too.

I believe Action Park is now called Mountain Creek. I would never be able to visit it again, I'm much too attatched to the ground these days. Plus the whole place is hilly, and trucking up and down concrete paths in bare feet or swim shoes wears you out by itself.

I remember one water slide..the initial drop was near verticle - for the first two seconds or so, I could not feel anything supporting me before I caught up to the slide
Sounds a bit like this one, which is near my place. You stand on top of a hatch over the tube, the hatch drops away from you and you plummet straight down before connecting with the slide.