'Action Park was the site of several fatalities in just the first five years of operation' -
Cannonball Loop: The infamous Cannonball Loop (pictured below) was the park’s biggest failed attraction, but it’s sheer audacity in concept has given it legendary status in amusement park lore. At the time, Great American Recreation was experimenting with new attractions.
At Action Park, attraction experimentation sometimes meant abandoning convention. In the case study of the Cannonball Loop, the convention which was abandoned appeared to be physics.
The design was extreme and bordered on the fantasy. Testing did not go well. Dummies exited the pipe missing limbs; one came out in two pieces. If there was suspicion of poor design, it was confirmed when a hatch had to later be added to the loop to remove riders who got stuck.
Debris and rocks would collect at the bottom of the loop, creating a sandpaper-like surface. Those who dared make the plunge suffered terrible cases of slide rash. Employees were offered $100 to test the outlandish slide, but few dared accept the offer.
Said one employee who gave it a go: “$100 did not buy enough booze to drown out that memory.”
read more here
http://sometimes-interesting.com/2014/02/07/there-was-nothing-in-the-world-like-action-park/
Horror stories here
http://www.buzzfeed.com/danm3/35-horror-stories-that-prove-action-park-was-the-6wr