Amusement Park Disasters (Volume 2) : Theme Parks

Hey, Weirdo's, I'm Ash, and I'm Alena, and this is Morbid. [Music] This is Morbid. Morbidito is going to be a Morbid one for sure. Isn't it? It is. What are you doing? A amusement park disaster's part two, baby. She takes us here again. I remember last time I went to Disney and I posted everyone was like, "Damn, didn't you say you were never getting on another roller coaster again?" Yeah. I was like, "No, I trust Disney." Okay. No. No, don't look at me like that. She just had the smuggest look on her big red head. We're doing theme parks today. You're doing theme parks? Not just in amusement parks. Oh, goodness. I haven't been to, I mean, it'll be a while I think before I go back to Disney because I was just there. Yeah. So for sure. That's, so you know what my thing talked to me? I'm realizing more and more that I, and this is not everybody's bag, obviously. I'm just like a little bitch when it comes to like, not wanting to die. So I am not one of those people who seeks risk in any way, shape or form. And I'm okay admitting that. I know that probably makes me a little boring and that's fine. I don't think it necessarily makes you boring. I think you're exciting in different ways. I think, well, I try to be, but I'm certainly boring in that way. I think because when I say don't seek out risk, I don't seek out risk in any way. If something is risky, no, I don't know for me. I know that's where we've always different. Yeah. We differ violently in that. My God. I was risky business as a young girl. And I've never been a risky business person. I've always had a really healthy, uh, maybe unhealthy at times respect for the, for my mortality. Your chart in general, though, though, and it makes so much sense because even just like, even just looking at your big three, you are a capricorn son. So you are so rooted to this earth. You don't want to go. Yeah. No. You are a Virgo rising. So at the older you got even less likely you are to seek that out. And then your cancer, uh, moon. So you're like, like you're good where you are. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like you like your home. Yeah. You like your things. You like your creature comforts. I like my routines. Yeah. Like my, yeah. That's how it happened. And I also like, you're not, I mean, you're a goat. You're a crab. And I forget what represents Virgo. A virgin. There you go. Not willing to change stubborn and unwilling to change. Yeah. That's me. Yeah. And it's, I think finally, I've realized like, like, I'm like, all right. Yeah. That's just who I am. Because I've always been like, I know I just don't like it. And I don't know why. And then I was finally like, I don't, I swear you hit a certain age and you're just like, Oh, yeah. Fuck it. Like because I was just like, Oh, yeah. That's just, I'm boring. And that's okay. I don't think you should say it like that. Yeah. Because I don't think you are boring. I'm just not risky. You're not a thrill seeker. I think that's what that's what you need to say. What it is. I have absolute, when I tell you that not one cell in my body feels like I need any kind of thrill. I can't stress it. Well, no, no, that's not true. That's not true at all, but I know, but like to seek out thrills. I feel like I have you see, but you seek out a different kind of thrill is the thing. Like I do, I personally, I really do think you require thrills because you love a haunted house. Yeah. And you love a scary movie. So that's it in and of itself as a thrill. It's just a different kind of thrill. I don't, I think you don't need like life-threatening thrills. No, I absolutely. And I think some people like, I also think like, you're a very like, is the word pragmatic? Like, yeah, that's the word. And like, analytical. Like, I think you think of the risks and the risk pay off for me is right. And I don't think necessarily everybody is as analytical as you or as pragmatic when it comes to those things. So there, it's not that they need like a like, they're not like, I would love to have a life-threatening experience today. People are just a little freer with how they think of it. That's how I feel. Like, which is not a bad thing. No, I don't think it is either. I think we're just different. I think this makes me understand the other side of it a little better. Yeah. Once I understand it because I understand my point of view a little better because for so long, I've been like, I don't understand why you want to do these things. And I still don't like, I can't like put myself in that place to understand it. But I can sit there and look at my point of view and go, well, it's just the complete opposite point of view. And that's also valid. It is valid. You know, whatever you want to do with your body, as long as you're not harming somebody else's valid. So like, fuck anybody who's going to give you art time. Exactly. But are we talking about like thrill rides right now specifically? Yeah, like things that are that are risky business. See, I think a lot of people, myself included, just are like, oh, that'll be so much fun. And people do that all the time. Like, what's the likelihood of anything going wrong? Whereas you actually think about like data, yeah, and like probability. And like, you're getting out your marbles from like fifth grade when we learned about probability. Your thought is, oh, what's the likelihood that anything could go wrong? My point of view is there's a likelihood that something could go wrong. There is likelihood period. Right. Like yours is like, what's the likelihood? Like, there is no period. Yeah. And so it's like, those are two, it's so funny. Like the difference. It's like, it's like, what are the odds? And you're like, there are odds. And I'm like, well, the odds exist. Yeah. You're like, what if they're not in my favor? Which is crazy. Yeah. I also just think, well, and I think having kids has a lot to do with this too. Yeah. Like I think, I think you've got even, and I think that's probably why you're even more comfortable, like with the way you are now, though, because you're like, well, I've kids, like, I'm not going to do, be different with humans. But I do wonder if I'll feel different, because like, even when we go to the beach, like if like we go on like a friend's like boat or something like that, like you don't want them tubing or like, yeah, like you don't enjoy that. And I'm always like, oh, like what? It's fine. I'll go with them. Yeah. And I know that makes you feel better. Yeah. Which like, which like I do. So like, because I know that, I don't, that'll be taken as like Elena does. Yeah. She lets our kids do anything. I go with them. And it's great. What Ash is saying is like, I don't love it. Like you're scared of the experience. I watch them doing it and be like, wow, how free and exciting. Yeah. My nervous system feels like I'm being hunted for sports during the whole thing. I'm always glad I did it because they had fun and whatever. But like, I don't enjoy watching people I love do risky things. Yeah. I know you don't. Like I, it's, I'm, I'm strange. But I don't necessarily think you are because I think a lot of times when people become moms, they, they do change. Oh, yeah. They're, they're views on a lot of that stuff. So I wonder because like, yeah, two years ago, I'd be like, come on Elena, like it's fine. Yeah. But like the older that I get and like, maybe the closer I get to having kids, I'm like, I wonder if I'll feel that way. Yeah. And I think I might change it. Yeah. It might, it might not change it a lot. It might not, you know, yeah. Who knows? But even like your fear of flying, I know that got so much worse after you had kids. Yeah. And I know, I've heard of a lot of other people like that happening to that. Because I'm not afraid of flying at all. Yeah. But I just feel like you have like, I always, you always have something to lose. Obviously, but you, you feel like it's even just an inconceivable amount to lose when you add kids to the equation. It's interesting. You know, so, so that's how we feel about things. Yeah. I just, I thought it was interesting, because I always go into this being like, fuck this in which like I still say, fuck this. But see, and I go into this and I'm like, you're like, I don't ruin it. I just don't want you to talk about a ride. I've been on, I don't think I will. Okay. I'm pretty sure. All right. We guess we'll see. Do we have business that we need to say? Like buy tickets to Radio City musical. Yeah, buy tickets to the next Saturday, you guys, the 27th, like it's coming up so quickly. There's still so much to figure out and we're like stressed, but we're also so excited. We're getting the butterflies. But we have a really good show for you. Oh, and we announced our special time. You listen to this. You will know that the special guest is the one and only Jonathan Mendes. Like we also just have the perfect segment planned with him. It is going to be glorious. It's going to be hilarious. I can't wait. I can't wait. So there's only a few tickets left. Yeah, there's not many. So snatch them up. And I also posted about the butcher legacy tour. I'm excited. It's happening in August. That's going to be fun. But get your tickets to some stops on that because I'll be letting you guys know any updates. There might be some updates to that and all that fun stuff and preorder the butcher legacy. And we're going to try to get her to fly soon. Yeah, I'll try to get to because I know she is really trying. We talked about it this morning. I had such a moment because I was seeing you guys be like, come to the south, come to, you know, come to Louisiana, like come to California, come here. And I was like, I want to and I want to see you and I want to come sign your books and like do all that fun stuff. And I will. Yeah, I'm going to I'm trying to make it more of a priority to like fight through the fear. I think you need to get hypnotized. I really. I feel I'm going to try it. I'll try anything to get on. I need somebody. Anybody knows I want to go to Scotland. That's the next big thing I want to do. We have to get to Scotland. Scotland is calling me. So I feel like I want to pet a highland girl. And I do realize that I can do that here. But I want to do it in Scotland. Please. I just need to land in Scotland because I feel feel like the second I step on that soil, I'm gonna burst into tears. - Yeah, probably. - I feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. And then maybe never come back. - Then we'll just stay in Scotland. - Just Rosie O'Donnellet. - So yeah. - To it to Ireland and it's just like, - Let's go. - See ya. - But yeah, so I'll figure that out. Everybody. - Everybody in the club going to Scotland. (laughing) I mean, they have been fucking taken over Boston. - I know, and it's been sick. - Let me tell you, any Scottish listeners, we could not be happier to have you. - Could not. Boston is trying to figure out a way. - I was just gonna say. - To have Scotland come back every year. - Yeah, our governor is literally working like, literally trying to figure out a way to entice you to come back every year 'cause you have healed us in a way that I can't describe. - Yeah. - So we love you. - Let's work on that. We love you guys a lot. - Let's split some haggis. - Let's get to it, shall we? - I'm nervous for this one. - This one's crazy. So, he said you should be, as well. Let's start with Walt Disney, shall we? By the time Walt Disney conceived the idea of, just, you know, a massive park where parents and childrens can play together in the world that was modeled by his, like after his creations. - Yes. - Amusement parks are at least something like amusement parks. We're definitely already part of the landscape around the world. But what Disney had in mind was something way more elaborate than like Coney Island or not's very farm. When it finally opened in July 1955, the rides and attractions Disneyland had to offer were definitely a far cry from the hyper-modern rides that were in parks today, but that we know. The early rides included the Disneyland Railroad, which was a scaled down version of a locomotive that carried passengers to various parts of the park. - Which they still have. - Yeah, there you go, junior autopia, a miniature car race track that operated on a rail, and the Astro Jets, a rocket-themed spinning ride that lifted passengers into the air to simulate flying. - And they still have that too in Tomorrowland. - Wow. - It's not the same thing, it's called something else. - Well, the park also included boat rides, a movie theater and a matronik shows and the centerpiece of the park, a replica of Sleeping Beauty's castle. - Gorgeous. - Now, the construction of the castle alone created a significant amount of dirt and debris, obviously. But rather than just like haul it away, the engineers at Disneyland were like, wait a minute, we could use this stuff to build other features in the park. And in the years that followed, the dirt from the excavation of the castle site was gathered together into a massive mountain used to hide one of the pylons of the Disneyland Skyway. - Oh. - They initially named the massive pile holiday hill, and then it was a lookout mountain. And finally, after many tons of design elements and details were added, it became the Matterhorn. - Oh, shit. - Named after the mountain and the European island. - I've never been on the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is a big palator. With that mountain complete in 1956, Walt Disney got a new idea for a new ride. This one would be designed to simulate a toboggan ride through a snowy mountain environment. It was like a combination between a roller coaster and a dark ride. The Matterhorn Bob sleds quickly became one of the park's most popular rides when it opened in 1959. It was also the world's first tubular roller coaster they're called, which is like tubular. - Hollywood. - Which allowed passengers to go through tunnels and holes in the mountain's exterior, like interior rather than stay on a singular open air track. Now the first major safety incident at Disneyland occurred in 1964 on the Matterhorn. - Long, long ago. It was a little before 11 p.m. on May 15th, when 15-year-old Mark Maples boarded the sled with his friends Doug Gibbs and Gary Paine. Mark was in the middle seat with his friend seated in front of and behind him. The Bob sled had reached the top level of the track at the top of the mountain. It was just about to begin the steepest descent when Mark was thrown violently from the sled. Head first and landed beside the lower track. Now when the ride reached the terminal and the accident was reported, park attendants refused to believe the story and assumed the boys were joking. - I'm sorry, what? - Yeah. It was only when the two girls riding in the car behind them confirmed the story that they rushed to find Mark in the tunnel and called paramedics. - Jesus. - When they found him, he was unconscious. He was bleeding from several wounds. He was taken to nearby Palm Harbor Hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died from his injuries four days later. - Oh, that's awful. - It was only 15. - When Mark's friends, Doug and Gary were interviewed, they both claimed they had no idea what caused Mark to be thrown from the sled. Gary said, I was looking up, heard a noise, looked down and recognized Mark's sweater as he was falling out of the side. - Oh my God. - Doug Gibbs was kind of like in the similar vein. He said, I felt him bump into me, but there was no way to tell what he was doing. It's a bumpy ride. According to witnesses, it appeared that Mark, quote, stood up on the ride when it was about one third of the way down the course. - Okay. - In standing up, Mark's head hit the one of the concrete beams on the ceiling of the tunnel, knocking him out of the sled and causing severe head injuries. - Yeah. - Which were obviously exacerbated when he landed head first on the walkway beside the track. - The official response from Disneyland Executive stood in direct conflict to the theory that Mark was thrown from the sled. In their statement, Disneyland said Mark, quote, "Unbuckled his seat belt and stood up, then fell out." - Okay. - That's what the witnesses are saying. - Okay. - Now on the day of Mark's death, the Orange County coroner, James Biesner, opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the boy's death and whether Disneyland execs could be held responsible. The first step in his investigation was a visit to the park and he actually rode the matterhorn himself. - Wow. - That was brave. That would suck. Imagine, if I was like the medical examiner and I had to go ride after a coaster too, I'd be like, I don't wanna do that. - No. - Don't make me do that. - And especially after seeing a poor young man who died from his injuries on that ride. - Yeah. Now after completing the ride, Biesner determined, quote, the boy, if strapped in, couldn't have fallen out. - Okay. - In addition to riding the sled himself, Biesner had two employees about Mark's size sit in one of the sleds and attempt to stand or free themselves from the sled without unbuckling the belt. Neither of them was able to do it. - Okay. - Now according to Mark's friends, nothing seemed out of the ordinary while they waited in line to board the ride and Mark gave no indication that he was planning to do anything reckless. - Yeah. - But in the days that followed, the Deputy Coroner Eugene Miller reported receiving multiple phone calls, quote, which have indicated the accident resulted from a hazing. When asked about a potential hazing, Doug and Gary did admit that they were part of what they referred to as a, quote, boys social club. - Ew. - Called Fidious, I think it is. - Okay. - And two weeks earlier, they'd invited Mark to join, but he declined the invitation. - Okay. - Both denied any involvement in a hazing that or any other night. - Okay. - Now after the brief investigation, James Biesner concluded Mark Maple's death was, quote, purely accidental. And a coroner's inquest was ruled out. - Okay. - In their statement to the public, the coroner's office said, quote, they found that Maple's and two young companions had been engaged in so-called horseplay, such as shoving each other, shouting at people, crowding ahead of others in the line. And that no proof has been found that it is part of any club initiation. - Okay. - Their conclusion was that one of the boys unbuckled the safety belt, quote, for no explainable reason, which ultimately led to Maple's tragic death. - That's horrible. - So it was simply just horseplay. - Yeah. - Now Mark Maple's death was just the first of several incidents in which parkgoers were injured or killed as a result of failing to follow the rules of the park. In fact, in the years that followed, there were several bizarre incidents, including park attendees, not only violating the park rules, but also violating the law in order to, like, impress their friends or, like, achieve some sort of, like, social status or something. - Right. - Now on June 18th, 1966, Disneyland held an all-night graduation party for the graduating class of a local high school. - Oh, wow. - The plan was for the park to close to the public at 11 p.m. but remain open the rest of the night for the graduating seniors to imagine that. - I'm like, I feel like they would not do that now. - Oh, no. I don't think they would. - Yeah. - And this was 1966. Knowing that the party would be off limits to anyone outside the class of seniors and the shaperones, but still wanting to join his friends for the party, 19-year-old Thomas Cleveland hatched a plan to sneak into the park and join the group. Assuming no one was going to notice that he graduated the year before that. - Okay. - Now around 9.20 p.m. Cleveland scaled the 16-foot fence at the northern edge of the park. - That's dedication. - Yeah. Then climbed one of the pylons in order to get onto the tracks of the monorail, which was the train that carries visitors to and from various parts of the park. - Yeah. - It's unclear what his plan was beyond that. I guess we can speculate that he was planning to walk the length of the tracks until he reached an area where his friends were gathered. I guess whatever the plan was, it was quickly interrupted when Thomas was spotted by two security guards who shouted, get down, jump, get off of there. - Yeah. - It must not have occurred to Thomas that the monorail would still be on an operation as long as the park was open or somebody was in there. Because as soon as the guards yelled, he seemed to realize the danger he was in. But rather than jump to the ground below, he fell to the fiberglass canopy between the tracks and tried to conceal himself from sight. And just as he did that, the monorail rounded the corner at about 25 miles per hour and struck him. Oh my god. He was killed instantly. Yeah. The driver of the monorail, Dallas Baker, never saw him on the tracks. But he did say he, quote, felt a bump after hitting him. Now the coroner's office determined that Thomas Cleveland's death from crush injuries, where it was purely accidental and Disneyland was not helped responsible in any way. That said, the coroner's report did mention that just after Thomas was struck by a train, guards saw, quote, two other youths who had not scaled the Disneyland fence running from the area. They were never identified, and they were presumed to just be additional friends of the graduating class. Thomas Cleveland wasn't the only person who suffered serious consequences for trying to sneak into the park undetected. In June 1973, seven years after Cleveland's tragic death, 18-year-old Bogden Delarot and his 10-year-old brother Dorian attempted to stay in the park overnight by swimming across the rivers of America and hiding on Tom Sawyer's Island. Oh god. I just think that alligators are pocket Isles. Well, and it's located in like that man-made river. So in the evening of June 22nd, Bogden and Dorian took the ferry across to Tom Sawyer's Island and hid from park security until after the park closed. Okay. So they were on the island. Once they were certain the park was closed and assumed everyone had left for the night, they entered the water and started swimming across to reach the shore. It appears that they probably misjudged the distance from the shore to the island because it's pretty far. Because not long after they entered the water, Dorian became exhausted and told his brother he couldn't swim any further. I ate so sad. In order to help him, Bogden told his brother to put his arms around his neck and he would carry him across. Oh, but unfortunately those did. It became clear that his brother's weight was too much to carry and he too became tired. Around 10 pm that evening, security officers heard Dorian's cries for help and took a boat out to find where it was coming from. It didn't take long for them to find Dorian who'd managed to stay afloat by just like treading water like doggie paddling essentially, but Bogden was nowhere to be found. When they returned to shore, park security called Anaheim Fire and Rescue for help. In the following morning, just before 6am, Bogden's body was discovered, quote, "lauged in the rapid section of the river." He had drowned at some point during the night. Oh, that's so sad. Now while incidents like these are very rare, obviously they did continue to happen at the park, and in 1984, for example, two drunk visitors stole a maintenance boat and took it for a ride on the rivers of America. Hello. Not long after leaving the dock, the boat hit a rock and one of the men was thrown overboard. Oh. By the time his friend was able to get back to shore to help him, his friend is head-drawn. Oh, man. Following the drowning death of the man who stole the boat, Disneyland managed to avoid serious accidents and deaths for nearly 15 years. And when the next death did occur, it was not the result of recklessness, but of negligence on behalf of the park. Oh, no. On December 24, 1998, Lewan, Fy Dawson, and his wife, Liu Tui Vuong, we're visiting Disneyland with their young son, and we're excited to go on the Columbia, which was a replica of an 18th-century tall ship that was described as, quote, "one of the park's tamist rides." As the boat approached the dock, Lewan and the other visitors waited in line, while an employee threw the mooring line around one of the ship's cleats, which is the metal bar where the line is tied, before the boat had stopped moving. Now with the line tied securely to the dock, the way to the ship pulling in the other direction, because it was still moving, it had not stopped, was too much strain on the cleat, and the bolts holding it down sheared off. No longer bolted to the ship, the eight-pound, 12-inch iron cleat, when flying in the direction of the crowd with tremendous force. The cleat hit park employee, Christine Carpenter, and Lileg first, shattering her foot and breaking her ankle. Oh my God. Then flew into the crowd, striking Liu in the face, and Lewan in the head. Oh. Yeah. Park employees immediately called emergency services, and the injured were taken to the hospital for treatment. All three had suffered serious injuries. Liu had extensive damage to her face that caused nerve damage and paralysis. Oh my God. But Lewans were way more severe. In addition to the blunt force injuries to his skull, the impact caused severe brain injuries and injuries to the blood vessels in his head. Dr. Richard Kim told a reporter a few days later that the injuries were both together, made it unlikely he could survive. Yeah. The time he arrived at UC Irvine Medical Center, Lewan was already brain dead. He was placed on life support in order to give family time to come to the hospital and say goodbye, and support was ended 11 hours later. The same day, Liu had extensive surgery to repair the cuts to the right side of her face, which mind you, is Christmas Day? Yeah. That just occurred to me, because they were waiting on December 24th and the next day, Christmas, their family asked to come say goodbye to him. Yeah. Like, I got that poor fucking family. It's horrific. And in the months after that, Liu would have several more surgeries, but it was unlikely she would ever regain full control over the right side of her face again. Wow. And following the deaths, the coroner's office began an investigation, and an investigation was also opened by the Anaheim Police Department. In their official statement, Disney officials released a pretty vague statement clearly intending to avoid, you know, incriminated language of any kind, they said, we're checking the Columbia's mechanical and structural components, and that was it. In the coroner's investigation, Deputy Coroner Richard McInelly determined that the accident had been caused by the Disney workers failure to follow proper procedure with regard to should the ship's docking. McInelly wrote in the report, "The normal procedure when the ship is coming into fast is to not secure the moring line." Make sense. Um, instead, Carpenter should have waited for the captain to overshoot the dock and slowly reverse into position at the dock. Right. That makes sense. Because she didn't know the captain was planning to overshoot. She threw the moring line around the cleat too soon and the tension on the rope essentially created a high velocity projectile that was fired into the crowd. Yeah. The police investigation into the accident also revealed somewhat troubling aspects to the park's approach to such incidents, rather than being taken directly to the scene of the accident, when a detective arrived at the park, he was taken to a conference room where he waited for, quote, "a considerable time before being met by a park official," but the time he was taken to the accident site, the entire scene had been cleaned up by park staff, and anything that could be collected was gone. That's not good. A few days later, the debris from the accident site, which included the broken cleat that hit everybody in two teeth, were located in a dumpster and turned over to investigators. Oh, that's fucked up. By the end of the week, the Anaheim Police Department did conclude that there was no attempt to destroy evidence or impede the investigation. Lieutenant John Herrodden said, "We determined that Disneyland didn't clean it up to destroy evidence of criminal conduct. They cleaned it up, in my opinion, because it was unsightly." Yeah. Which, like, that probably was the reason, like morally, is it lovely to put it away to give to a investigator, you know, to throw it in a dumpster? Two years after the accident, Liu and her family settled with Disney, but the terms are not made public. Though it's not nearly as popular, we're moving away from Disneyland, don't worry. Though it's not nearly as popular, well known as Disneyland, California's Great America amusement park has been a heavily attended park since it opened in the mid-1970s. I've never been there. Like Disneyland and many other parks, they've had their fair share of tragic accidents over the years, developed by the Marriott Corporation, and opened to the public in the spring of 1976. Great America was just trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of amusement parks and compete with the parks like Disneyland and California and King's Island and Ohio. Though it never really reached that level of popularity, Marriott did successfully open a second park less than two months later, and eventually both were sold to six flags. Ah. Now among the park's most popular rides was Willard's Wizard, a speed racer model steel rollercoaster with a height of 70 feet and a top speed of 45 m/h. Despite being the park's biggest and most popular attraction, the Wizard had a myriad of problems from the start. Among the biggest issues was the ride's braking system, which would occasionally fail to engage as quickly or fully as necessary, and trains would sometimes bump into one another at the terminal. That feels like a big deal. It feels like a big one. Between the opening of the ride in 1976 and in evaluation in 1979, it was found that the malfunctions had resulted in 11 reported incidents of injury, but the extent of those injuries was not detailed. The first fatality occurred on March 29, 1980, under similar circumstances to those known to be problems on the Wizard. Afternoon 13-year-old Kyle Foss. in line with friends, and when the car train pulled up to the terminal, he and the other passengers were given the go-ahead to climb on board. Just as Kyle was climbing onto the last car in the train, a second train pulled into the station, although it was only traveling between three and six miles per hour, when the second train struck the first, the velocity and weight of the train was enough to knock Kyle off balance, and he fell between the two trains and was crushed to death. Oh my god. Of the six passengers already seated in the train, three were ejected from the ride and landed in a pond. Oh my god. Yeah. The thought of being ejected from a roller coaster is one of the scariest things. That's what keeps me off rollercoasters to be honest. I have to tell you like nothing that happened to me by any means, but the velocistar at Universal goes so fucking fast and you go over water and you're like upside down and it's just I thought I was a cool, cool girl who could do cool, cool roller coasters. I can't fucking handle that one anymore because of the thought of being ejected into a cool, cool pond. No. No. No. No. I can't see that's my problem if I can't. The possibility is there. So I'm out. I can't really fucks with water near rides. It's a no. Which like you would think like the thought of like plummeting to the ground as much words, which obviously it is, but something about like a ride that goes like through the water or like something like that. Well, it's like a plane and people on a plane they say there's more scared to fly over the ocean. Yeah. Then land when like in reality, which one it would be like a land day. Yeah. And it's just something about water. Yeah. I don't know. I'm not supposed to really be in it. No. No. That's the thing. Like we know it somewhere in ourselves. It's true. But so in their response to this tragedy, officials from Great America were surprisingly terse. After confirming the death, the park released an official statement the press that read simply quote, in order to avoid possible conflicting information, unnecessary speculation and any further confusion, we will not have any further comment at this time. Oh. Whether they wanted it to or not, speculation quickly followed. Just going to say. And many started to blame the rides breaking system for the accident, speaking on the condition of anonymity, one park employee told a reporter, quote, two systems had to break down for this to occur. The odds against that must be astronomical. Yeah, I would think so. After a two month investigation into the cause of Kyle's death, the park reported that quote, nothing was what was wrong with the wizard. And none of its systems had malfunctioned. Not true, though. Despite that, vice president of the park, Jay Robert Schultz went on to say, quote, a false electrical signal made the wizard's safety system think it was holding a train in an automatic braking system at almost the same moment, the real train signaled that it was coming into the same braking system. So that's a problem. The specifics of the explanation are like a little difficult to follow. They are. But essentially, when the system realized it had made a mistake, it released the braking system to clear out this fake train that it thought was there exactly as the real train was coming into the station. The fluke caused the system to be opened right when the real train pulled into the station. Although the braking system did catch the mistake, it only managed to slow the train down before it hit the car where Kyle was climbing into. Right. The entire accident unfolded in like less than three seconds. Wow. In the aftermath of Kyle's death, the ride underwent several upgrades to its safety systems and seatbelts were added to the cars. I feel like seatbelts should always be added cars. Kyle's parents filed suit against Marriott asking $11 million in damages. The result of that suit is unknown. Okay. With the exception of an accidental drowning at the water park in 1989, Great America managed to avoid any catastrophes for almost two decades. Wow. Until a bizarre accident put them back in the spotlight in 1998. Now around 2.30 p.m. on September 7th, 25-year-old Hector Mendoza, his wife of two months and his brother-in-law, rode the top gun roller coaster, now called Flight Deck. Okay. During this experience, Hector's baseball cap was blown off his head and landed somewhere on the ground below. After getting off the ride, the three decided to retrieve the hat. So they either climbed or otherwise got past the security fence around the perimeter of the ride, either ignoring or possibly not understanding the sign, ordering visitors to stay out. Okay. The area would have been dangerous regardless of the model of the ride, but as an inverted roller coaster, in where like passengers hang from the rail and the seats, the danger was much greater here. Yeah. It didn't take long for Hector to find his hat, but just as he went to pick it up, the coaster came around the corner, and Hector was struck in the head by the dangling foot of a passenger. The force of the blow killed Hector, and it also broke the passenger's leg. Oh my god. Yeah. Holy shit. The day after the incident, park inspectors tested the ride and determined that top gun, quote, "in no way malfunctioned" or experience end of the other problems. A spokesperson Tim Shenod told reporters, "This was a case of somebody that had entered an area off limits to park guests. We aren't entirely sure how Mr. Mendoza got into the area, but he went through a clearly marked gate and over a six-foot locked fence marked with bright red warning signs." That's according to them. Sure. Now, although the situation seems straightforward, Hector's family described things differently. A lawyer speaking on behalf of the family said, quote, "the gate and the fence was either open or wide enough to go through very easily. There was no climbing or jumping on the fence." Okay. The discrepancy started a public dispute between the family and the great and great America. In response to their claims, Shenod gave another public statement, explaining, "Two of our employees were the first to respond to the incident, and the first thing they had to do to get to the victim was unlock the gate." In fact, the investigation by Santa Clara police backed up his version of events. Sergeant Anton Morek said, "The first maintenance person tried to unlock the gate, but didn't have the right key. They had to wait for the second maintenance person to arrive." Okay. What's bizarre? Because I'm sure you're like, "Where's the bizarre?" Part about this. I'm wondering. It's very sad. A week after the accident, it was reported that the man everyone had identified as Hector Mendoza was not who he seemed to be. The identification had been made based on interviews with the family and the man's documents found in his wallet. However, they turned out to be fraudulent, and the real Hector Mendoza was alive in living in Mexico. What? The man who died at Great America was eventually identified through fingerprints as Suarez Robles. What? Following the identification, his body was released as family who returned to Buryham. What? Isn't that just what? So like the family fighting and saying like, "No, like the gate was open." I don't know what became of that was a man who was alive. I suppose so. What? Yeah. Isn't that just bizarre? Yeah, but it's like, I didn't know where you were going with that. Yeah. And I feel bad for the woman whose leg hit this person as well. I feel horrible about the person who died. Suarez. But I feel like the person whose foot leg hit his head and he died. Yeah, that's it. And then her leg broke in the process. So it's like, you have to deal with all of that. Yeah, that's a lot. The emotional and physical toll of all of that. Right. The whole thing is just bizarre and sad. You're like, holy shit. That's so weird. That's so avoidable. You're like, "Oh, I wish somebody had stopped them." Yeah, I know. That's the thing. It's just a really wild one. Yeah, that's wild for sure. Now, the operators of Great America had been fortunate to experience a very large gap between the deaths of Kyle Foss and Suarez, Robles. The next tragedy, though, occurred less than a year later. Oh, no. And this time it wasn't the result of any kind of like reckless behavior. Okay. On the afternoon of August 22nd, 1999, 12-year-old Joshua Smurfitt and his family were winding down their visit to Great America when they decided to ride drop zone. It's a free fall like tower ride where riders are taken to the top of a 224 foot tower and then dropped. Those are like some of my favorite rides. Could not pay me. I love those rides. After settling into the 4-seat coach, the ride attendant checked the seal safety harness on each rider and confirmed they were all locked in place. Then the car began its ascent to the top of the tower. When the car reached the 207 foot mark, it began its first big drop. At which point, Joshua slipped out of the seat and fell 20 stories to the ground below. Oh, my God. As his family watched in horror from the waiting area. According to spokesperson Tim Shenod, the harness was checked and locked before the coach started. We simply don't know what happened. That's not settling. That said, he did acknowledge that Joshua was among the last of the riders that afternoon as the ride was being taken out of commission for what they referred to as an unrelated maintenance problem with one of the other cars. Okay. He said there is absolutely no way it could have contributed to the accident. Okay. During a month's long investigation into the incident, it was determined that the ride had not malfunctioned during the ascent or descent and they determined there was no problem with the safety harness itself. But then how did he fall out of the fucking ride? Unfortunately, for all the things the investigation ruled out, experts were unable to identify how Joshua had managed to fall out of of that safety bar, still the investigation did raise serious concerns about potential violations that could have contributed to his death. Among other things, the 900-page incident report describes quote, poor training procedures and other potential problems at the park. One of those problems was that the ride attendant working the drop zone that day was 14 years old. - Oh my God, what? - Yes, and the other attendant who checked the safety harness was 16. - No. - Like I'm sorry, I'm not putting my life-- - 14 years old in the heading of a 16 and 14 year old. - And obviously like people riding have no idea of how hard he's supposed to know. You're not gonna be like, "Excuse me, how old are you?" Like that's holy shit. That is, that would send me. I'd be like, "And we're not riding that right." - Like if I knew. - If the safety harness was not found to me about functioning but was it secured properly, we don't know. - What is the question? - Oh, wow. - Like that, yeah. - Oh, he's 12 years, 12 years old. - And his family watched that. - Yeah, these are so-- - Yeah, full. (upbeat music) - In response to her son's death, Joshua's mother Tammy said she had no plans to sue the park. Nor did she believe that they were solely responsible. She later said, "All I can say is treasure "every moment with your child "because you never know when you might lose him." - Oh. - Joshua's father did not rule out a civil suit. He said, "I'd like to see this report "before I speak about it." But the lawyer on behalf of Terry the father said, "But I'll say this, if the child was strapped in properly, "the accident wouldn't have taken place. "It's a matter of gravity." - Right. - Ultimately they did choose not to sue Great America. - Big people. - Big people. - Now, the relatively limited number of accidents and deaths at parks like Disneyland and Great America and is due in large part to like really high safety standards. - Yes, of course. - But in the history of amusement parks and theme parks, there's one name that is so notorious for low standards that the risk of injury associated with the park actually being part of its allure during its 20 years in operation. I've never heard of this. - Tell me. - This is insane. - What was it called? - Oh, I'm gonna tell you. - Okay. In 1976, New Jersey businessman Eugene Mulvahill was looking for a way to make money during the off season when his Vernon Township, New Jersey ski resort, Vernon Valley was closed. Inspired by the success of parks like Disney and full six flags, he found a new company called Great American Recreation and in May 1978, he opened Action Park in Vernon. - I get so many tick talks about Action Park. - Yes. - Now Mulvahill's son Andy Mulvahill said before he opened Action Park, he had no experience of any kind running in amusement park. He said in contrast to Disney's carefully conceived fantasy lands, my father pieced together a series of ambitious and often ill-advised attractions on the side of a ski mountain in rural New Jersey that he had come to own virtually by accident. - That's a sight. - That's a hefty statement. At first, the park amounted to little more than a few go-cart tracks and miniature racing rides, but he quickly expanded to include water rides, boat rides and musical shows like those at larger parks, but on like a smaller budget. And almost no time at all, Action Park grew from a few hundred visitors in its first season to millions in the year or two that followed. Andy said we went from selling off-brand soda and taking out local newspaper ads to getting a Pepsi sponsorship and seeing our logo on McDonald's tray liners. - Wow. - The key to Action Park's notoriety was in Mulvahill's own theories about American society in the late 20th century. Andy said my father seized upon the idea that we were all tired of being coddled of society dictating our behaviors and lecturing us on our vices. In order to reject that supposed coddling, Eugene embraced risk as part of his brand, which is the nightmare to me. - You have like what? - He wasn't embracing his risk. He was embracing other people's risk. - Is that even allowed when you own an amusement park? Well, rather than strap riders into the boat on a wave pool, visitors would simply have to cling to the raft, lest they be thrown from the boat. Likewise, riders on an alpine slide-style ride weren't confined to a track. They could control the speed of their car and its brakes. - Wow. - Of course, with a guiding principle based on increased risk, rather than safety and family fun, it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. - Yep. - Andy said it was not long before our visitors reworked our advertising to better reflect their experience. That new and formal slogan, Action Park, where you're the center of the accident. - Oh my God. - The first serious accident came in 1980, just two years into the park's operation. In July, 19-year-old George Larson was riding the alpine sled ride at the park, went about halfway down the slide. He was thrown from the car he was riding in, rolled down an embankment to landing 25 feet away and smashing his head on a rock in the ground. - Oh my God. - When emergency crews arrived a short time later, Larson was unconscious and soon he lapsed into a coma. He died a few days later on July 16th. - That's an awful way to go. - George Larson's family and friends contend that the lack safety protocols at the park were entirely responsible for George's death, but Mulvahill and Action Park spokespeople saw it a different way. Spokesperson Wesley Smith told reporters, "This is an action park where people are doing physical things to themselves. Their situation is not totally in our control." But Smith went a step further in denying any responsibility, saying the ride didn't injure Larson. It was a rock 25 feet away that hurt him. That same thing could have happened to someone falling off a bicycle. - How did they get insurance for this? - She smiles. - Now, despite Smith's assertion that George Larson knew the risks of the ride and had in fact ignored several safety warnings, others at the park were far less convinced it was operator error. - Yeah. - And in investigation into the accident by the office of workplace and compliance at the State Department of Labor, investigators spoke to several park employees who had previously voiced concerns about public safety at the park. I hand on that slide specifically. One of the summer attendants said, we knew something would happen. It could have been any of us. - Oh my God. - According to the report, there was no controls over the car's speed on the concrete track. And any number of factors, including whether the concrete was wet, could affect how the car performed, none of which was taken into consideration by the park. The park was cited for seven violations of safety standards, including having no access road for emergency vehicles to arrive. - You got to be fucking kidding me. - But ultimately, George's death was ruled an accident. - Wow. - Now in the weeks and months that followed Larson's death, reports of injuries began to pile up. Andy Mulvahill, a member of Eugene's son, said they careen down towering water slides that spit them into shower pools at such velocity that sometimes overshot and landed them in the dirt, laughing or bleeding sometimes both. They often lost their grip on swinging ropes and plunged into the freezing mountain. They emerged from like stinking of spilled diesel fuel from the overworked motorboats. - This is a nightmare. - Repeat visitors stuffed their pockets with band-aids and sported scabs and scars along their arms and legs. And yet none of those injuries seem to keep people from attending the park. - This feels like like an episode of Jackass. - Yeah. Like truly, on the contrary, the rumors of heightened risks seem to be one of the reasons people were so enthusiastic to come in the first place. Then in the summer of 1982, two years after George Larson's death, it happened again. In late July, 15-year-old George Lopez drowned in one of the wave pools. That same week, two men filed civil suits against the park alleging serious injuries suffered on a water slide two years earlier. Then in August, 27-year-old Nathan Langanthal collapsed while riding the white water kayak experience. Langanthal was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead when he arrived. In a statement to the press, action park spokesperson Diane Bochamp said, "There are reports of a possible electric shock, but no evidence of electrical malfunction has been found at the ride yet." - Hello? - Despite the park's repeated denials that Langanthal's death was due to their negligence, the Orange County New Jersey corner determined that Nathan's cause of death was, quote, "heart failure by electrocution." - What the fuck? - Still, action park refused to acknowledge reality, saying they tested all 11 fans that produced the waves and everything was in perfect working order. - Something has to be wrong. - Yeah, operations manager Adam Ringler told a reporter. - At this point, there's absolutely no malfunction. We would say it's not electrocution at this point, but there's nothing wrong with the ride, as if at the corner literally said that's the cause of death. - Argue with the corner. - Like, you're an operations manager. - You're not a doctor. - Kooky, kooky amusement park with no safety standards and you're telling the corner, you are wrong. - It's like in Widow's Bay. - The doctor, that's always just like, "Where did you go to medical school?" - Yeah, I love that guy. - Are he sure it's not an animal wound? - Does it look like it could be an animal wound? - No, not to me. - I love that. - So funny. Watch Widow's Bay, everybody. - Oh, you gotta, I watched it all in one day. - So good. - So yeah, in the state's investigation of the ride, however, investigators discovered a short circuit in one of the fans. - Imagine that. - Action Park said no problems. - Yeah, of course not. - Although they could not definitively say that was what caused the death, they acknowledged it was likely what caused the electrocution. - I would think. - In response to the coroner's report, Eugene Mulvahill said, there was nothing wrong with the ride and he had no marks on him. He probably had some kind of stroke or something. - Again, guys, where did you go to medical school? - The literal coroner whose job is to determine cause of death by actually looking inside of his body said the cause of death was heart failure by electrocution. - Eugene said, nah. - It's a stroke. - Nah. - Do you understand how different heart failure and a stroke are? - Yes. - Those are two different parts of the body, babe. - They sure are. - Now, despite the near constant injuries to parkgoers, the popularity of action park continued to grow. Day after day in the park's wave pool, swimmers were pummeled by waves that were stronger than they should have been for an amusement park. - Wow. - Andy Mulvahill said when the waves hit, their force caught our guests unprepared. Powered by the insulation sucking fans, the waves struck with the same violent menace originally meant to create a mini, a series of mini shipwrecks. - What? - Yeah, the fog. - In fact, if there was any attraction more notorious for causing injuries at the park, it was the water slides in the wave pool. In August 1984, 20-year-old Donald DePass drowned when he was, quote, "Overcome by the water" after rocketing from a 10-foot high water slide into the pool. - Holy shit. - In response to the death, our guy Adam Wrangler there said, told reporters, it was, quote, a simple drowning. And the lifeguards were adequately trained. - Okay. - However, several parkgoers were less convinced, including one man who told a reporter the lifeguards on duty, quote, "Definitely need a little more help." - Yeah. - That's one thing that you don't want your lifeguard to need, is help. - Is more help, yeah. - A few years later, in the summer of 1987, another death occurred when 18-- - Please stay open for so long. - Well, this was when 18-year-old Gregory Grand Champs drowned in the wave pool. As always, the park went on the defensive. Marketing director Vernon Merritts said, there was no indication that the wave had anything to do with it. - But he drowned? - There's actually like a pretty big indication of that. - So yeah. - When you're drowning in a wave pool. Yeah, he also called the death a quote, "basic drowning." Yeah, although they were not held liable for the death during their investigation, the prosecutor's office, just discovered that after being pulled from the pool, lifeguards didn't attempt any life-saving actions like CPR. - Aren't they literally trained to do that? - That's part of their job. - Yeah. - When asked about that fact, Merritt simply said quote, "We're not quite sure he was not resuscitated." - Okay. I'd ask everyone okay there, but we know the answer is absolutely not. - To answer IDK. - We're not real sure why they didn't try to save his life. - Why the lifeguards did not attempt to resuscitate? - Of life? - His life. - Yeah. - Despite the park's wild popularity, by the late 1980s, state and local officials had grown kind of tired of the constant lives, the constant injuries and the constant deaths related to activities at action park. Andy Mulvihill said the state of New Jersey had never seen anything like it and had little idea how to control it. My father loomed large in the small town of Vernon keeping hundreds of people employed and using his political savvy, as well as his sometimes questionable legal means to make sure his passion project remained afloat. - I love this kid just reading his father to himself. - Action park remained open for 20 years, despite injuries being a near hourly occurrence. - His sunset. - 20 years this place was open? - Finally, in 1996, the year Ash Kell came, I said, "Shut it down, shut it down, everybody." - I said, "I like a safe amusement park." - Action park was forced to close. - Period. - Not as a result of accident or death, but because the company's creditors forced them into bankruptcy when they learned that they were not carrying any liability insurance. - So that's why you smiled up when I asked them? - I was sitting here being like, how the fuck would any insurance company sign on to wrap this place? - Exactly. - In the years since the park's closure, more information has come to light that explained at least in part, some of the problems experienced at Action Park in the 20 years. In addition to limited testing of new rides, the development of those rides was often undertaken by complete non-experts. - Oh good. - And they were almost always built on very small shoe string budgets where corners were constantly being cut. - Fantastic. - It was also a serious problem with training. Many, if not most of the park's employees, were just local teenagers who received completely inadequate training on the operations on the rides, safety protocols, life-saving techniques. But more than anything else, it was likely the Libertine attitude of the park itself that contributed to the accidents. With the park built on a quote, enter at your own risk ideology, patrons and employees were almost encouraged to behave recklessly without regard for their own safety, much less the safety of anyone around them. Andy Mulvihill said that approach made us national news. The New York Times called our father's creation the area's most distinctive expression of the amusement park in our age. They also called it a human zoo. Both of things were true. That's what his son said. - A human zoo. - Which it kind of is. - I mean, that's like. - Like you're seeing people at their most base behavior. - Yeah. - Like truly. - In reflecting on his father's creation and its legacy of risk and chaos, Andy Mulvihill summed up action park like this. It was a place that admitted anyone, misfits to clergymen, rich and poor, young and old, and told them it was theirs to do with as they pleased. Never again would they have such freedom in their lives. But the price for its success was sometimes paid by visitors, not all of whom came out alive. - Wow. - And now like America kind of feels like action park right now, - It absolutely does. - Yeah. - That's an absolutely. - We are. - We are action park right now. - And we gotta get. - 'Cause that quote, I was just like, - I don't know. - He was like, never again in their lives. I was like, "Ah, they made it this far." They'll see it again. - Yeah, life kind of feels like a human zoo. - That is amusement parks. Part two. - Period. - So that was a. - Yeah. - So those are some crazy. - Well, I'm happy that I've never gone on any of those rides. - Nope. - And that action park doesn't action park, because it doesn't exist. - No, I would not be trying to go to action park. I don't, I like safety precautions. - I like a thrill of safety precautions. - I like a thrill with a safety precaution in that kind of place. - You know, that's what, I don't love a thrill, but I love safety precaution. - But you like a haunted house scary movie thrill. - Yeah. - A thrill that does not cause me bodily harm. - Yes, yes, yes. - Wow. - All right. - Yeah. - That was a fun episode. - Pretty intense. - Do I have to get us a fun fact? - Yeah. - I guess I do. - I got a damn fun fact. - All right. - cows have regional accents, and they form tight friendships and get depressed if they're separated. So cows over here just be like mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - And then in England, they're like, "Moo, bitch." - Mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - Mo-cad. - I'm obsessed with it. Funny 'cause this all just came full circle, I'd like to pet a highland cow. - There you go. - I cannot do a Scottish accent though I am quite Scottish. - Yeah. - I've never been able to. - Never been able to. - I'm really only two British in Southern. - It's a hard one to do. - I got three accents. - That's it. - And that's it. - All right. We love you. We hope you keep listening. - And we hope you keep it weird. - But not so weird that you separate cows and it makes them sad. - Yeah. - And then they have to move in their different languages. - Or have really no safety protocols at a park you open. - Yeah, open a safe park if anything. - Yeah, or just don't open one. - We have it. - She's one. - We hope you have enough. It's fine. (laughs) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) [MUSIC]