Amusement Park Disasters (Volume 2) : Theme Parks

Since the late nineteenth century, amusement parks have been providing countless hours of enjoyment for people all around the world. Often driven by the latest technology and advances in mechanical engineering, the thrill rides at parks like Disney Land, Great America, and other independent parks offer a controlled environment to experience terror and excitement. While these rides, and the parks in general, are very safe and held to strict safety standards, there are times when the unthinkable happens—a cable snaps, a safety harness breaks—and the once safe ride becomes a nightmare for passengers. Far more often than not, tragic amusement park accidents are the result of human foolishness or, far less often, operator error. But other times, they are a bizarre fluke; a one in a million mechanical problem no one saw coming. Either way, the results can be shocking, horrifying, and even deadly.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:27Speaker 01

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• 1:19Speaker 02

  Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid.

• 1:37Speaker 02

  This is morbid. Morbidito. This is gonna be a morbid one for sure. Is it? It is. What are you doing? Amusement park disasters, part two, baby. She takes us here again. 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." Uh, the one... Okay. No, no, don't look at me like that. She just had the smuggest look on her big red head.

• 2:09Speaker 03

  We're doing theme parks today.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  You're doing theme parks?

• 2:12Speaker 03

  Not just amusement parks.

• 2:13Speaker 02

  Oh goodness. I haven't, I haven't been to, I, I mean, it'll be a while, I think, before I go back to Disney because I was just there.

• 2:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 2:20Speaker 02

  So.

• 2:21Speaker 03

  Um, for sure. That's, so you know what my thing?

• 2:25Speaker 02

  Talk to me.

• 2:25Speaker 03

  I'm realizing more and more that I, and this is not everybody's bag, obviously. I'm just like, um, a little bitch when it comes to like not wanting to die. Uh, so

• 2:36Speaker 02

  Well, that's good.

• 2:36Speaker 03

  I am not one of those people who seeks risk

• 2:41Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 2:42Speaker 03

  in any way, shape or form.

• 2:44Speaker 02

  No, you really don't.

• 2:44Speaker 03

  And I'm okay admitting that. I know that probably makes me a little boring and that's fine.

• 2:49Speaker 02

  I don't think it necessarily makes you boring. I think you're exciting in different ways.

• 2:53Speaker 03

  I think, well, I try to be, but I'm certainly boring in that way. I think because I, when I say don't seek out risk, I don't seek out risk in any way. If something is risky.

• 3:04Speaker 02

  No, I know.

• 3:05Speaker 03

  It's a no for me.

• 3:06Speaker 02

  I know. That's where we've always differed.

• 3:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, we differ violently in that.

• 3:09Speaker 02

  My god, I was risky business as a younger gal.

• 3:12Speaker 03

  And I've never been a risky business person. I've always had a really

• 3:16Speaker 02

  Well, you're

• 3:18Speaker 03

  maybe unhealthy at times, respect for the, uh, for my mortality.

• 3:23Speaker 02

  Your chart in general though, and it makes so much sense because even just like, even just looking at your big three. You are a Capricorn sun, so you are so rooted to this earth, you don't want to go.

• 3:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, no.

• 3:34Speaker 02

  You are a Virgo, uh, rising. So the older you get, even less likely you are to seek that out. And then you're a Cancer, uh, moon. So you're like, like you're good where you are.

• 3:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 3:50Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? Like you like your home.

• 3:52Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 3:52Speaker 02

  You like your things. You like your creature comforts.

• 3:55Speaker 03

  I like my routines. I like my, yeah, that's how.

• 3:58Speaker 02

  And also like, you're not, I mean, you're a goat, you're a crab. And I forget what represents Virgo.

• 4:06Speaker 03

  A virgin.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  There you go. Not willing to change. Stubborn and unwilling to change.

• 4:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's me.

• 4:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:14Speaker 03

  And it's, I think finally I've realized like, like, I'm like, all right, yeah, that's just who I am. Cause I've always been like, I know, I just don't like it and I don't know why, blah, blah, blah. 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, cause I was just like, oh yeah, that's just, I'm boring and that's okay.

• 4:32Speaker 02

  I don't think you should say it like that.

• 4:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:34Speaker 02

  Cause I don't think you are boring.

• 4:35Speaker 03

  I'm just not risky.

• 4:36Speaker 02

  You're not a thrill seeker.

• 4:37Speaker 03

  No, I'm definitely.

• 4:38Speaker 02

  That's what you need to say.

• 4:39Speaker 03

  What it is.

• 4:40Speaker 02

  You're not a thrill seeker.

• 4:41Speaker 03

  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 enough.

• 4:52Speaker 02

  Well, now, no, that's not true. That's not true at all.

• 4:55Speaker 03

  But, no, but like to seek out thrills. I feel like I have thrills.

• 4:59Speaker 02

  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.

• 5:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 5:07Speaker 02

  And you love a scary movie.

• 5:08Speaker 03

  So that's a different kind of thrill.

• 5:10Speaker 02

  As a thrill, it's just a different kind of thrill. I don't, I think you don't need like life threatening thrills.

• 5:16Speaker 03

  No, I absolutely do not.

• 5:17Speaker 02

  And I think some people like, I also think like, you're a very like, what is the word pragmatic? Like, like you're analytical. Like I think you think of the risks and the payoff.

• 5:33Speaker 03

  For me is, is big.

• 5:35Speaker 02

  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, like they're not like, I would love to have a life threatening experience today.

• 5:45Speaker 03

  A little freer with, with how they think about it.

• 5:47Speaker 02

  How I feel like.

• 5:48Speaker 03

  Which is not a bad thing. That's the thing.

• 5:50Speaker 02

  No, I don't think it is either. Like, I think we're just different.

• 5:52Speaker 03

  I think this makes me understand the other side of it a little better.

• 5:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:57Speaker 03

  Once I understand, cause 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.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  It is valid. Yeah. Whatever you want to do with your body, as long as you're not harming somebody else is valid. So like fuck anybody who's gonna give you hard time.

• 6:23Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 6:24Speaker 02

  But are we talking about like thrill rides right now specifically?

• 6:27Speaker 03

  That are that are risky business.

• 6:29Speaker 02

  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 and like probability. And like you're getting out your marbles from like fifth grade when we learned about probability.

• 6:48Speaker 03

  Your thought is, oh, what's the likelihood that anything could go wrong? My point of view is there's so much likelihood that something could go wrong. There is likelihood, period.

• 6:59Speaker 02

  Right.

• 7:00Speaker 03

  Like yours is like, what's the likelihood? I'm like, there is though, period.

• 7:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:04Speaker 03

  And so it's like, those are two, it's so funny, like the different ways of thinking.

• 7:09Speaker 02

  What are the odds? And you're like, there are odds.

• 7:10Speaker 03

  And I'm like, well, the odds exist.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  You're like, what if they're not in my favor?

• 7:15Speaker 03

  Which is crazy.

• 7:16Speaker 02

  See, I also just think, well, and I think having kids has a lot to do with this too.

• 7:20Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  Like, I think I've always been 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 have kids.

• 7:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm like, I've always been this way and I'm not gonna do, be different with humans.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  But I do wonder if I'll feel different. Cause 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.

• 7:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  Like you don't enjoy that. And I'm always like, oh, like what, it's fine. I'll go with them.

• 7:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:46Speaker 02

  And I know that makes you feel better.

• 7:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, which like, which like I do. So like, cause I know that that'll be taken as like, Elena doesn't let her kids do anything.

• 7:53Speaker 02

  I go with them and it's great.

• 7:54Speaker 03

  I, what you, what Ash is saying is like, I don't love it.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Like you're scared of the experience.

• 8:00Speaker 03

  I don't watch them doing it and be like, wow, how free and exciting. Yeah. My nervous system feels like I'm being hunted for sport 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 either.

• 8:15Speaker 02

  No, you don't.

• 8:16Speaker 03

  Like I, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm strange and.

• 8:20Speaker 02

  But I don't, I don't necessarily think you are because I think a lot of times when people become moms, they, they do change.

• 8:26Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  They're. Their views on a lot of that stuff. So I wonder, cause like, two years ago, I'd be like, come on, Elena, like, it's fine.

• 8:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:35Speaker 02

  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.

• 8:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:40Speaker 02

  And I think I might.

• 8:41Speaker 03

  It might change it a little.

• 8:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:42Speaker 03

  It might, it might not change it a lot. It might not, you know.

• 8:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:45Speaker 03

  Who knows?

• 8:46Speaker 02

  But even like your fear of flying, I know that got so much worse after you had kids.

• 8:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:50Speaker 02

  And I know I've heard of a lot of other people like that happening to them.

• 8:54Speaker 03

  Mm hmm.

• 8:54Speaker 02

  Cause I'm not afraid of flying at all.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:56Speaker 02

  But I wonder.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  You have like, I always, you always have something to lose, obviously, but you, you feel like.

• 9:02Speaker 02

  It's even bigger.

• 9:03Speaker 03

  An inconceivable amount to lose when you add kids to the.

• 9:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:07Speaker 03

  Equation.

• 9:08Speaker 02

  It's interesting.

• 9:09Speaker 03

  You know, so.

• 9:10Speaker 02

  So that's how we feel about things.

• 9:11Speaker 03

  Yeah. I just, I thought it was interesting. Cause I always go into this being like, fuck this, in which like, I still say, fuck this, but.

• 9:17Speaker 02

  See, and I go into this and I'm like.

• 9:19Speaker 03

  You're like, fuck, don't ruin it for me.

• 9:21Speaker 02

  I just don't want you to talk about a ride I've been on.

• 9:23Speaker 03

  Uh, I don't think I will.

• 9:24Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 9:25Speaker 03

  I'm pretty sure.

• 9:26Speaker 02

  All right.

• 9:27Speaker 03

  I guess we'll see.

• 9:27Speaker 02

  All right.

• 9:28Speaker 03

  Do we have business that we need to say?

• 9:30Speaker 02

  Like buy tickets to Radio City Music Hall?

• 9:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, buy tickets to.

• 9:33Speaker 02

  We're here 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.

• 9:41Speaker 03

  Getting the butterflies.

• 9:42Speaker 02

  But we have a really good show for you.

• 9:44Speaker 03

  Oh, and we announced our special guest.

• 9:46Speaker 02

  You listen to this, you will know that the special guest is the one and only Jonathan Van Ness.

• 9:52Speaker 03

  JBM.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Like, we also just have the perfect segment planned with him. It is going to be glorious.

• 10:01Speaker 03

  It's gonna be hilarious and I can't wait.

• 10:03Speaker 02

  I can't wait.

• 10:04Speaker 03

  So there's only a few tickets left.

• 10:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's not many.

• 10:07Speaker 03

  So snatch them up. And, um, I also posted about, um, the Butcher Legacy Tour.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  I'm excited for that.

• 10:14Speaker 03

  In August. That's gonna be fun. But, 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. Um, and preorder the Butcher Legacy.

• 10:26Speaker 02

  And we're gonna try to get her. To fly soon.

• 10:29Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'll try to get to, cause I know.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  She is really trying. We talked about it this morning.

• 10:33Speaker 03

  I had such a moment, cause I, I was seeing you guys be like, come to the south, come to, you know, come to Louisiana, like, come to California, come here, come here. And I was like, I want to. And I, and I wanna see you. And I want to come sign your books and like, do all that fun stuff. And I will. Yeah.

• 10:52Speaker 02

  I'm gonna, 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 do.

• 10:57Speaker 03

  I feel, I'm gonna try it. I'll try anything to get on.

• 10:59Speaker 02

  We should find somebody. Anybody know?

• 11:00Speaker 03

  Cause I wanna go to Scotland. That's the next big thing I wanna do.

• 11:04Speaker 02

  We have to get to Scotland.

• 11:06Speaker 03

  Scotland is calling me, so I feel like.

• 11:08Speaker 02

  I want to pet a Highland girl.

• 11:11Speaker 03

  I just.

• 11:12Speaker 02

  And I do realize that I can do that here.

• 11:14Speaker 03

  But it's different.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  But I want to do it in Scotland, please.

• 11:16Speaker 03

  I just need to land in Scotland because I feel like the second I step on that soil, I'm gonna burst into tears.

• 11:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, probably.

• 11:23Speaker 03

  And feel like that's where I'm supposed to be.

• 11:25Speaker 02

  And then maybe never come back.

• 11:26Speaker 03

  Then we'll just stay in Scotland.

• 11:27Speaker 02

  Just Rosie O'Donnell it.

• 11:28Speaker 03

  So, yeah, there you go.

• 11:29Speaker 02

  She went to Ireland and it's just like.

• 11:30Speaker 03

  Let's go.

• 11:31Speaker 02

  See ya.

• 11:32Speaker 03

  But yeah, so I'll figure that out. Everybody.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  Everybody in the club going to Scotland.

• 11:38Speaker 03

  I mean, they have been fucking taking over Boston.

• 11:41Speaker 02

  I know, and it's been sick.

• 11:43Speaker 03

  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.

• 11:49Speaker 02

  I was just gonna say.

• 11:51Speaker 03

  To have Scotland come back every year.

• 11:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, our governor is literally working on it.

• 11:55Speaker 03

  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.

• 12:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:02Speaker 03

  Um, so, we love you.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  Let's work on that.

• 12:05Speaker 03

  We love you guys a lot. So.

• 12:08Speaker 02

  Let's split some haggis.

• 12:09Speaker 03

  Let's, let's get to it, shall we?

• 12:11Speaker 02

  I'm nervous for this one.

• 12:13Speaker 03

  This one's crazy. Um, so.

• 12:15Speaker 02

  He said you should be.

• 12:17Speaker 03

  This is wild. Let's, let's start with, um, with Walt Disney, shall we?

• 12:23Speaker 02

  You bitch.

• 12:23Speaker 03

  Uh, by the time Walt Disney conceived the idea of just, you know, a massive park where, you know, parents and childrens can play together in a world that was modeled by his, uh, like after his creations.

• 12:35Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 12:36Speaker 03

  Amusement parks, or at least something like amusement parks, were definitely already part of the landscape around the world.

• 12:42Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:43Speaker 03

  But what Disney had in mind was something way more elaborate than like Coney Island or Knott's Berry Farm. When it finally opened in July nineteen fifty-five, the rides and attractions Disneyland had to offer were definitely a far cry from the hyper-modern rides that were in parks today.

• 13:01Speaker 02

  Right.

• 13:01Speaker 03

  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.

• 13:10Speaker 02

  Which they still have.

• 13:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, there you go. Junior Autopia, a miniature car racetrack that operated on a rail, and the Astrojets, a rocket-themed spinning ride that lifted passengers into the air to simulate flying.

• 13:23Speaker 02

  And they still have that too in Tomorrowland.

• 13:25Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 13:25Speaker 02

  It's not called the same thing. It's called something else.

• 13:27Speaker 03

  Well, the park also included boat rides, a movie theater, animatronic shows, and the centerpiece of the park, a replica of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

• 13:36Speaker 02

  Gorgeous.

• 13:37Speaker 03

  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.

• 14:00Speaker 02

  Ah.

• 14:01Speaker 03

  They initially named the massive pile Holiday Hill, and then it was Lookout Mountain. And finally, after many dozen design elements and details were added, it became the Matterhorn.

• 14:12Speaker 02

  Oh shit.

• 14:13Speaker 03

  Named after the mountain in the European.

• 14:14Speaker 02

  I've never been on the Matterhorn.

• 14:15Speaker 03

  The Matterhorn is a big pile of dirt. Uh, 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 bobsleds 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.

• 14:42Speaker 02

  Tubular, bro.

• 14:43Speaker 03

  Tubular.

• 14:43Speaker 02

  Hollywood.

• 14:44Speaker 03

  Uh, 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.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Long, long ago.

• 15:01Speaker 03

  It was a little before 11:00 PM on May 15th, when 15-year-old Mark Maples boarded the sled with his friends Doug Gibbs and Gary Payne. Mark was in the middle seat with his friends seated in front of and behind him. The bobsled 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, headfirst and landed beside the lower track.

• 15:27Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 15:28Speaker 03

  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.

• 15:37Speaker 02

  I'm sorry, what?

• 15:38Speaker 03

  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.

• 15:46Speaker 02

  Jesus.

• 15:47Speaker 03

  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.

• 15:58Speaker 02

  Oh, that's awful.

• 15:59Speaker 03

  He was only 15.

• 16:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:00Speaker 03

  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."

• 16:13Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 16:14Speaker 03

  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.

• 16:29Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 16:30Speaker 03

  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.

• 16:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Which were obviously exacerbated when he landed headfirst on the walkway beside the track. The official response from Disneyland executives stood in direct conflict to the theory that Mark was thrown from the sled. In their statement, Disneyland said Mark, quote, "unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up, then fell out."

• 16:58Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 16:59Speaker 03

  That's what the witnesses are saying.

• 17:00Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 17:01Speaker 03

  Now, on the day of Mark's death, the Orange County Coroner, James Beisner, 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.

• 17:18Speaker 02

  Wow, that was brave.

• 17:19Speaker 03

  That would suck. Imagine if I, as like, if I was like the medical examiner and I had to go ride a roller coaster too, I'd be like, I don't want to do that.

• 17:27Speaker 02

  No.

• 17:28Speaker 03

  Don't make me do that.

• 17:29Speaker 02

  And especially after seeing a poor young man who died from his injuries on that ride.

• 17:33Speaker 03

  Yeah. Now, after completing the ride, Beisner determined, quote, "The boy, if strapped in, couldn't have fallen out."

• 17:40Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 17:40Speaker 03

  In addition to riding the sled himself, Beisner 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.

• 17:54Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 17:55Speaker 03

  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.

• 18:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:04Speaker 03

  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."

• 18:16Speaker 03

  When asked about a potential hazing, Doug and Gary did admit that they were part of what they referred to as a, quote, "boy's social club."

• 18:24Speaker 02

  Ew.

• 18:25Speaker 03

  Called Phidias, I think it is.

• 18:27Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 18:27Speaker 03

  And two weeks earlier, they'd invited Mark to join, but he declined the invitation.

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 18:32Speaker 03

  Both denied any involvement in a hazing that or any other night.

• 18:37Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 18:38Speaker 03

  Now, after the brief investigation, James Beisner concluded Mark Maple's death was, quote, "purely accidental." And a coroner's inquest was ruled out.

• 18:47Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 18:47Speaker 03

  In their statement to the public, the coroner's office said, quote, They found that Maples 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.

• 19:04Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 19:05Speaker 03

  Their conclusion was that one of the boys unbuckled the safety belt, quote, "for no explainable reason," which ultimately led to Maples' tragic death.

• 19:14Speaker 02

  That's horrible.

• 19:14Speaker 03

  So it was simply just horseplay going wrong. Now, Mark Maples' 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 else.

• 19:41Speaker 02

  Right.

• 19:42Speaker 03

  Now, on June 18th, 1966, Disneyland held an all-night graduation party for the graduating class of a local high school.

• 19:50Speaker 02

  Oh, wow.

• 19:51Speaker 03

  The plan was for the park to close to the public at 11:00 PM, but remain open the rest of the night for the graduating seniors. Can you imagine that?

• 19:58Speaker 02

  I'm like, I feel like they would not do that now.

• 20:01Speaker 03

  Oh, no, I don't think they would.

• 20:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:03Speaker 03

  And this was 1966. Knowing that the party would be off limits to anyone outside the class of seniors and the chaperones, 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.

• 20:21Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 20:21Speaker 03

  Now, around 9:20 PM, Cleveland scaled the 16-foot fence at the northern edge of the park.

• 20:27Speaker 02

  That's dedication.

• 20:28Speaker 03

  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.

• 20:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:39Speaker 03

  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.

• 20:48Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 20:49Speaker 03

  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."

• 20:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:58Speaker 03

  It must not have occurred to Thomas that the monorail would still be on operation as long as the park. Was open. 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. Just as he did that, the monorail rounded the corner at about 25 miles per hour and struck him. Oh, my. 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. Oh. After hitting him. Now, the coroner's office determined that Thomas Cleveland's death from crush injuries were, was, it was purely accidental.

• 21:43Speaker 03

  Yeah. And Disneyland was not held responsible in any way. No. 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.

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• 23:05Speaker 05

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• 23:39Speaker 03

  Now, 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 Bogdan 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.

• 24:02Speaker 02

  Oh, God, I just think of alligators or crocodiles.

• 24:05Speaker 03

  Well, and it's located in like that man-made river. Now, on the evening of June 22nd, Bogdan and Dorian took the ferry across to Tom Sawyer's Island and hid from park security until after the park closed.

• 24:16Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 24:16Speaker 03

  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 of the island because it's pretty far.

• 24:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:31Speaker 03

  Uh, because not long after they entered the water, Dorian became exhausted and told his brother he couldn't swim any further.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 24:38Speaker 03

  Um, I, it's so sad.

• 24:40Speaker 02

  That's awful.

• 24:40Speaker 03

  In order to help him, Bogdan told his brother to put his arms around his neck and he would carry him across.

• 24:46Speaker 02

  Oh, but then you were gonna get exhausted.

• 24:48Speaker 03

  Unfortunately, though, it became clear that his brother's weight was too much to carry and he too became tired. Around 10:00 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 doggy paddling essentially, but Bogdan was nowhere to be found. When they returned to shore, park security called Anaheim Fire and Rescue for help. And the following morning, just before 6:00 AM, Bogdan's body was discovered, quote, "lodged in the rapid section of the river."

• 25:21Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 25:22Speaker 03

  He had drowned at some point during the night.

• 25:24Speaker 02

  Oh, that's so sad.

• 25:25Speaker 03

  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.

• 25:38Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 25:39Speaker 03

  Not long after leaving the dock, the boat hit a rock and one of the men was thrown overboard.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 25:44Speaker 03

  By the time his friend was able to get back to shore to help him, his friend has drowned. 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 24th, 1998, Oh. Luon Phi Dawson and his wife Liu Tui Wuang were visiting Disneyland with their young son and were 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 tamest rides." As the boat approached the dock, Luon and the other visitors waited in line while an

• 26:27Speaker 03

  employee threw the mooring line around one of the ship's cleats, which is the metal bar where the line is tied, Mm-hmm. before the boat had stopped moving. Now, with the line tied securely to the dock, the weight of the ship pulling in the other direction, because it was still moving, it had not stopped, Mm-hmm. with 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 went flying in the direction of the crowd with tremendous force. Oh. The cleat hit park employee Christine Carpenter in the leg first, shattering her foot and breaking her ankle. Oh, my god. Then flew into the crowd, striking Liu in the face and Luon in the head. Oh. Yeah.

• 27:12Speaker 03

  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 Luon's 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. By the time he arrived at UC Irvine Medical Center, Luon was already brain-dead. He was placed on life support in order to give family time to come to the hospital

• 27:54Speaker 03

  and say goodbye, and his 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.

• 28:06Speaker 02

  That just occurred to me because they were waiting on December 24th in line and the next day,

• 28:11Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:11Speaker 02

  Christmas, their family has to come say goodbye to him.

• 28:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  Oh, my God, that poor fucking family.

• 28:19Speaker 03

  It's horrific. And in the months after that, Leah would have several more surgeries, but it was unlikely she would ever regain full control over the right side of her face again.

• 28:27Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 28:28Speaker 03

  And following the death, 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, incriminating 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 McAnally determined that the accident had been caused by the Disney workers' failure to follow proper procedure with regard to the ship's docking. McAnally wrote in the report, the normal procedure when the ship is coming in too fast is to not secure the mooring line.

• 29:11Speaker 02

  Makes sense.

• 29:12Speaker 03

  Instead, Carpenter should have waited for the captain to overshoot the dock and slowly reverse into position at the dock.

• 29:19Speaker 02

  Right, that makes sense.

• 29:20Speaker 03

  Because she didn't know the captain was planning to overshoot, she threw the mooring line around the cleat too soon and the tension on the rope essentially created a high-velocity projectile that was fired into the crowd.

• 29:31Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:32Speaker 03

  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. By 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.

• 30:00Speaker 02

  Well, that's not good.

• 30:01Speaker 03

  A few days later, the debris from the accident site, which included the broken cleat that hit everybody, into teeth.

• 30:10Speaker 03

  Were located in a dumpster and turned over to investigators.

• 30:14Speaker 02

  Oh, that's fucked up.

• 30:15Speaker 03

  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 Herndon 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."

• 30:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:34Speaker 03

  Which, like, that probably was the reason.

• 30:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:38Speaker 03

  More, like morally, is it lovely?

• 30:42Speaker 02

  No. Put it away to, like, give to investigators.

• 30:44Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 30:45Speaker 02

  You know, throw it in a dumpster.

• 30:47Speaker 03

  Two years after the accident, Leo 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 now, 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.

• 31:09Speaker 02

  I've never been there.

• 31:10Speaker 03

  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 in California and Kings Island in Ohio. Although 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.

• 31:40Speaker 02

  Ah.

• 31:42Speaker 03

  Now, among the park's most popular rides was Willard's Whizzer, a speed racer model steel roller coaster with a height of 70 feet and a stop and a top speed of 45 miles an hour.

• 31:53Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 31:54Speaker 03

  Despite being the park's biggest and most popular attraction, the Whizzer had a myriad of problems from the start. Among the biggest issues was the ride's braking system.

• 32:03Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 32:04Speaker 03

  Which would occasionally fail to engage as quickly or fully as necessary.

• 32:08Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 32:09Speaker 03

  And trains would sometimes bump into one another at the terminal.

• 32:12Speaker 02

  That feels like a big deal.

• 32:13Speaker 03

  Feels like a big one. Between the opening of the ride in 1976 and an 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 29th, 1980. Under similar circumstances to those known to be problems on the Wizard. That afternoon, thirteen year old Kyle Foss waited 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.

• 32:56Speaker 03

  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 crane, trains and was crushed to death.

• 33:10Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 33:11Speaker 03

  Of the six passengers already seated in the train, three were ejected from the ride and landed in a pond.

• 33:17Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 33:18Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 33:19Speaker 02

  The thought of being ejected from a roller coaster is one of the scariest things.

• 33:23Speaker 03

  That's what keeps me off roller coasters, to be honest.

• 33:25Speaker 02

  I have to tell you, like, nothing bad happened to me by any means, but the Velocicoaster 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 the thought of being ejected into a cool, cool pond.

• 33:47Speaker 03

  No.

• 33:49Speaker 02

  No.

• 33:49Speaker 03

  No.

• 33:50Speaker 02

  No.

• 33:50Speaker 03

  I can't see that's my problem. I can't. The, the possibility is there, so I'm out.

• 33:55Speaker 02

  I can't really fucks with water near rides.

• 33:58Speaker 03

  It's, it's a no.

• 33:59Speaker 02

  Which like you would think like the thought of like plummeting to the ground is much worse, which like obviously it is, but something about like a ride that goes like through the water or like something like that.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  Well, it's like a plane and people on a plane, they say they're more scared to fly over the ocean.

• 34:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:14Speaker 03

  Than land when like in reality, which one do you really want to hit?

• 34:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:19Speaker 03

  It's just something about water.

• 34:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know.

• 34:21Speaker 03

  We're not supposed to really be in it.

• 34:22Speaker 02

  No, I know. That's the thing.

• 34:24Speaker 03

  Like we know it somewhere in ourselves.

• 34:26Speaker 02

  It's true.

• 34:27Speaker 03

  But, so in their response to this tragedy, officials from Great America were surprisingly terse. Uh, after confirming the death, the park released an official statement to 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." Whether they wanted it to or not, speculation quickly followed.

• 34:54Speaker 02

  Just gonna say.

• 34:55Speaker 03

  And many started to blame the ride's braking 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."

• 35:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, I would think so.

• 35:10Speaker 03

  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.

• 35:19Speaker 02

  Not true, though.

• 35:21Speaker 03

  Despite that, Vice President of the Park, J. 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."

• 35:39Speaker 02

  So that's a problem.

• 35:40Speaker 03

  The specifics of the explanation are like a little difficult to follow.

• 35:44Speaker 02

  They are.

• 35:44Speaker 03

  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.

• 36:02Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 36:03Speaker 03

  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.

• 36:12Speaker 02

  Right.

• 36:12Speaker 03

  The entire accident unfolded in like less than three seconds.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 36:16Speaker 03

  In the aftermath of Kyle's death, the ride underwent several upgrades to its safety systems, and seat belts were added to the cars.

• 36:23Speaker 02

  I feel like seat belts should always be in the cars.

• 36:26Speaker 03

  Kyle's parents filed suit against Marriott, asking $11 million in damages. The result of that suit is unknown.

• 36:33Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 36:33Speaker 03

  With the exception of an accidental drowning at the water park in 1989, Great America managed to avoid any catastrophes for almost two decades.

• 36:41Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 36:42Speaker 03

  Until a bizarre accident put them back in the spotlight in 1998.

• 36:48Speaker 03

  Now around 2:30 PM 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.

• 36:59Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 37:00Speaker 03

  During this, 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.

• 37:22Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 37:23Speaker 03

  The area would have been dangerous regardless of the model of the ride, but as an inverted roller coaster and where like passengers hang from the rail in the seats, the danger was much greater here.

• 37:34Speaker 02

  Yup.

• 37:35Speaker 03

  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.

• 37:50Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 37:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 37:52Speaker 02

  Holy shit.

• 37:53Speaker 03

  The day after the incident, park inspectors tested the ride and determined that Top Gun, quote, "in no way malfunctioned or experienced any other problems." A spokesperson, Tim Shinad, 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.

• 38:20Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 38:21Speaker 03

  Now, although the situation seemed 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."

• 38:35Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 38:36Speaker 03

  The discrepancy started a public dispute between the family and the great, and great America. In response to their claims, Shinad 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 Marek 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.

• 39:06Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 39:07Speaker 03

  What's bizarre, because I'm sure you're like, where's the bizarre part about this? This is tragic and sad.

• 39:12Speaker 02

  It's very sad.

• 39:14Speaker 03

  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 and living in Mexico.

• 39:34Speaker 02

  What?

• 39:34Speaker 03

  The man who died at Great America was eventually identified through fingerprints as Suarez Robles.

• 39:41Speaker 02

  What?

• 39:42Speaker 03

  Following the identification, his body was released to his family, who returned to bury him.

• 39:49Speaker 02

  What?

• 39:50Speaker 03

  Isn't that just what?

• 39:52Speaker 02

  So like, the family fighting and saying like, no, like, the, the gate was open?

• 39:56Speaker 03

  I don't know what became of that.

• 39:58Speaker 02

  Was a man who's, who was alive's family?

• 40:01Speaker 03

  I suppose so.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  What?

• 40:04Speaker 03

  Yeah. Isn't that just bizarre?

• 40:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:07Speaker 03

  But it's like.

• 40:07Speaker 02

  I didn't know where you were going with that.

• 40:09Speaker 03

  Yeah. And I feel bad for the, the woman whose leg hit this person as well. Like, obviously, I hear, I feel horrible about the person who died.

• 40:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, duh.

• 40:18Speaker 03

  Suarez, but I feel like, uh, the person whose foot leg hit his head and he died.

• 40:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's.

• 40:24Speaker 03

  And then her leg broke in the process. So it's like, to have to deal with all of that, the emotional and physical toll of all of that.

• 40:30Speaker 02

  Right.

• 40:31Speaker 03

  The whole thing is just bizarre and sad. You're like, holy shit.

• 40:34Speaker 02

  That's so weird.

• 40:35Speaker 03

  And so avoidable. You're like, oh, I wish somebody had stopped them.

• 40:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know. That's the thing.

• 40:40Speaker 03

  Like, ugh, it's just a really wild one.

• 40:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's wild, for sure.

• 40:43Speaker 03

  Now, the operators of Great America had been fortunate to experience a very large gap between the deaths of Kyle Foss and of Suarez Robles. The next tragedy, though, occurred less than a year later.

• 40:55Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 40:55Speaker 03

  And this time, it wasn't the result of any kind of like reckless behavior.

• 40:59Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 41:00Speaker 03

  On the afternoon of August 22nd, 1999, 12-year-old Joshua Smurfet and his family were winding down their visit to Great America when they decided to ride Drop Zone. It's a free fall tow- like tower ride where riders are taken to the top of a 224 foot tower and then dropped.

• 41:19Speaker 02

  Those are like some of my favorite rides.

• 41:21Speaker 03

  Could not pay me.

• 41:22Speaker 02

  I love those rides.

• 41:23Speaker 03

  After settling into the four 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.

• 41:45Speaker 02

  Oh, my God.

• 41:46Speaker 03

  As his family watched in horror from the waiting area. According to spokesperson Tim Shinad, the harness was checked and locked before the coach started. We simply don't know what happened.

• 41:58Speaker 02

  That's not settling.

• 42:00Speaker 03

  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.

• 42:11Speaker 02

  Uh.

• 42:12Speaker 03

  With one of the other cars.

• 42:13Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 42:14Speaker 03

  He said, there is absolutely no way it could have contributed to the accident.

• 42:19Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 42:20Speaker 03

  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.

• 42:32Speaker 02

  But then how did he fall out of the fucking ride?

• 42:35Speaker 03

  Unfortunately, for all the things the investigation ruled out, experts were unable to identify how Joshua had managed to fall out 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.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  Oh, my God, what?

• 43:07Speaker 03

  Yes. And the other attendant who checked the safety harness was 16.

• 43:12Speaker 02

  No.

• 43:14Speaker 03

  Like, I'm sorry, I'm not putting my life in the hands of a 16 and 14 year old. And obviously, like, people riding have no idea.

• 43:22Speaker 02

  No, how are you supposed to know? You're not gonna be like, excuse me, how old are you?

• 43:25Speaker 03

  How old are you? Like, that's.

• 43:26Speaker 02

  Holy shit. That is, that would send me. I'd be like, and we're not riding that ride. Like, if I, if I knew.

• 43:34Speaker 03

  The safety harness was not found to be malfunctioning, but was it secured properly? We don't know.

• 43:40Speaker 02

  Is the question. Oh, wow.

• 43:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:44Speaker 02

  Oh, and he's 12 years old.

• 43:45Speaker 03

  12 years old.

• 43:46Speaker 02

  And his family watched that.

• 43:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:48Speaker 02

  These are, these are so awful.

• 44:00Speaker 06

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• 44:50Speaker 03

  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."

• 45:05Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 45:06Speaker 03

  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 he, the lawyer on behalf of Terry, the father, said, "But I'll say this. If the child were strapped in properly, the accident wouldn't have taken place. It's a matter of grad, gravity."

• 45:23Speaker 02

  Right.

• 45:24Speaker 03

  Ultimately, they did choose not to sue Great America.

• 45:27Speaker 02

  Big people.

• 45:28Speaker 03

  Big people. Now, the relatively limited number of accidents and deaths at parks like Disneyland in Great America is due in large part to like really high safety standards.

• 45:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, of course.

• 45:41Speaker 03

  Um, 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 part, with the park actually became part of its allure during its 20 years in operation. I've never heard of this.

• 45:56Speaker 02

  Tell me.

• 45:56Speaker 03

  This is...

• 45:58Speaker 02

  What was it called?

• 46:01Speaker 03

  Oh, I'm gonna tell you.

• 46:02Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 46:02Speaker 03

  In 1976, New Jersey businessman Eugene Mulvihill was looking for a way to make money during the offseason when his Vernon Township, New Jersey ski resort Vernon Valley was closed. Inspired by the success of parks like Disney and Six Flags, he founded a new company called Great American Recreation, and in May 1978, he opened Action Park in Vernon.

• 46:26Speaker 02

  I get so many TikToks about Action Park. Yes.

• 46:31Speaker 03

  Now Mulvihill's son, Andy Mulvihill, said before he opened Action Park, he had no experience of any kind running an amusement park. He said, "In contrast to Disney's carefully conceived Fantasylands, 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."

• 46:55Speaker 02

  That's quite a, that's a hefty statement.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  Yeah. At first, the park amounted to little more than a few go-kart 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."

• 47:29Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 47:30Speaker 03

  The key to Action Park's notoriety was in Mulvihill'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... This is a nightmare to me. Yeah, 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.

• 48:12Speaker 03

  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. Yup. Andy said it was not long before our visitors reworked our advertising to better reflect their experience. That new informal 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. When about halfway down the slide, he was thrown from the car he was riding in,

• 48:57Speaker 03

  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 lax safety protocols at the park were entirely responsible for George's death. But Mulva Hill 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,

• 49:39Speaker 03

  "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?

• 49:53Speaker 03

  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.

• 50:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:06Speaker 03

  In an investigation into the accident by the Office of Workplace Compliance at the State Department of Labor, investigators spoke to several park employees who had previously voiced concerns about public safety at the park, and on that slide specifically. One of the summer attendants said, "We knew something would happen. It could have been any of us."

• 50:25Speaker 02

  Oh, my God.

• 50:26Speaker 03

  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.

• 50:48Speaker 02

  You gotta be fucking kidding me.

• 50:50Speaker 03

  But ultimately, George's death was ruled an accident.

• 50:54Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 50:55Speaker 03

  Now, in the weeks and months that followed Larson's death, reports of injuries began to pile up. Andy Mulva Hill, remember Eugene's son, said they careened 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.

• 51:14Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 51:15Speaker 03

  They often lost their grip on swinging ropes and plunged into the freezing mountain. They emerged from lakes stinking of spilled diesel fuel from the overworked motor boats.

• 51:25Speaker 02

  This is a nightmare.

• 51:26Speaker 03

  Repeat visitors stuffed their pockets with Band-Aids and sported scabs and scars along their arms and legs, and yet, none of those injuries seemed to keep people from attending the park.

• 51:36Speaker 02

  This feels like, like, an episode of Jackass.

• 51:39Speaker 03

  Yeah. Like, truly. On the contrary, the rumors of heightened risks seemed to be one of the reasons people were so enthusiastic to come in the first place.

• 51:48Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 51:49Speaker 03

  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 Langenthal collapsed while riding the Whitewater Kayak Experience. Langenthal was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead when he arrived. In a statement to the press, Action Park spokesperson Diane Beauchamp said, "There are reports of a possible electric shock, but no evidence of electrical malfunction has been found at the ride yet."

• 52:31Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 52:32Speaker 03

  Despite the park's repeated denials that Langenthal's jet death was due to their negligence, the Orange County, New Jersey coroner determined that Nathan's cause of death was, quote, "heart failure by electrocution."

• 52:45Speaker 02

  What the fuck?

• 52:47Speaker 03

  Still, Action Park refused to acknowledge reality, saying they tested all 11 fans that produced the waves and everything was in perfect working order.

• 52:55Speaker 02

  Something has to be wrong.

• 52:56Speaker 03

  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."

• 53:05Speaker 02

  But like-

• 53:06Speaker 03

  There's nothing wrong with the ride.

• 53:07Speaker 02

  Brother-

• 53:08Speaker 03

  But the coroner literally said that's the cause of death.

• 53:10Speaker 02

  You can't argue with the coroner.

• 53:11Speaker 03

  Like, you're an operations manager-

• 53:14Speaker 02

  You're not a doctor.

• 53:15Speaker 03

  -at a kooky, kooky amusement park with no safety standards, and you're telling the coroner you are wrong.

• 53:21Speaker 02

  It's like in Widows Bay, the doctor that's always just like, "Where did you go to medical school?" I love that guy.

• 53:26Speaker 03

  "Are you sure it's not an animal wound? Does it look like it could be an animal wound? No, not to me."

• 53:31Speaker 02

  I love that.

• 53:32Speaker 03

  So funny. Watch Widows Bay, everybody.

• 53:34Speaker 02

  Oh, you gotta. I watched it all in one day.

• 53:36Speaker 03

  So good. So yeah, in the state's investigation of the ride, however, investigators discovered a short circuit in one of the fans.

• 53:44Speaker 02

  Imagine that.

• 53:45Speaker 03

  Action Park said, "No problems."

• 53:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, of course not.

• 53:48Speaker 03

  Although they could not definitively say that was what caused the death, they acknowledged it was likely what caused the electrocution.

• 53:54Speaker 02

  I would think.

• 53:54Speaker 03

  In response to the coroner's report, Eugene Mulvihill said, "There was nothing wrong with the ride and he had no marks on him. He probably had some kind of stroke or something."

• 54:03Speaker 02

  Again-

• 54:03Speaker 03

  Guys-

• 54:04Speaker 02

  Where did you go to medical school?

• 54:05Speaker 03

  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.

• 54:15Speaker 02

  Eugene said nah.

• 54:17Speaker 03

  It's a stroke.

• 54:18Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 54:18Speaker 03

  Do you understand how different heart failure and a stroke are?

• 54:22Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 54:22Speaker 03

  Those are two different parts of the body, babe.

• 54:24Speaker 02

  They sure are.

• 54:25Speaker 03

  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.

• 54:38Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 54:38Speaker 03

  Uh, Andy Mulvihill 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.

• 54:53Speaker 02

  What?

• 54:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 54:55Speaker 02

  The fuck?

• 54:55Speaker 03

  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."

• 55:12Speaker 02

  Holy shit.

• 55:14Speaker 03

  In response to the death, um, our guy Adam Wrangler there said, told reporters, "It was, quote, 'a simple drowning,' and the lifeguards were adequately trained."

• 55:24Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 55:25Speaker 03

  However, several parkgoers were less convinced, including one man who told a reporter the lifeguards on duty, quote, "definitely need a little more help."

• 55:33Speaker 02

  We, that's one thing that you don't want your lifeguard to need is help.

• 55:37Speaker 03

  Is more help.

• 55:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 55:38Speaker 03

  A few years later, in the summer of 1987, another death occurred when 18-

• 55:43Speaker 02

  How did this place stay open for so long?

• 55:45Speaker 03

  Well, this was when 18-year-old Gregory Grandchamps drowned in the wave pool. As always, the park went on the defensive. Uh, Marketing Director Vernon Merritts, uh, said, uh, "There was no indication that the wave had anything to do with it."

• 55:59Speaker 02

  But he drowned?

• 56:00Speaker 03

  There's, there's actually like a pretty big indication of that.

• 56:03Speaker 02

  So, yeah.

• 56:03Speaker 03

  When you're drowning in a wave pool.

• 56:05Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 56:06Speaker 03

  Um, yeah. He also, uh, called the ba- the death a, quote, "basic drowning." Um, yeah. Although they were not held liable for the death, during their investigation, the prosecutor's office discovered that, after being pulled from the pool, lifeguards didn't attempt any lifesaving actions like CPR.

• 56:27Speaker 02

  Aren't they literally trained to do that?

• 56:29Speaker 03

  That's part of their job.

• 56:31Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:31Speaker 03

  Uh, when asked about that fact, Merritt simply said, quote, "We're not quite sure he was not resuscitated."

• 56:38Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 56:40Speaker 03

  I'd ask, is everyone okay there? But I know the answer is absolutely not.

• 56:44Speaker 02

  To answer IDK.

• 56:46Speaker 03

  We're not real sure why they didn't try to save his life.

• 56:50Speaker 03

  Why, why the

• 56:51Speaker 02

  Life Guards?

• 56:53Speaker 03

  Did not attempt to resuscitate his life.

• 56:57Speaker 02

  Yeah. Shit.

• 56:58Speaker 03

  Despite the park's wild popularity, by the late 1980s, state and local officials had grown kind of tired of the constant complaints, 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."

• 57:30Speaker 02

  I love this kid just reading his father to filth.

• 57:33Speaker 03

  Action Park remained open for 20 years despite injuries being a near hourly occurrence.

• 57:38Speaker 02

  His son said. 20 years this place was open?

• 57:41Speaker 03

  Finally, in 1996, the year Ash Kel came screaming into the world.

• 57:47Speaker 02

  Shut it down.

• 57:47Speaker 03

  She said, "Shut it down, everybody."

• 57:49Speaker 02

  I said, "I like a safe amusement park."

• 57:51Speaker 03

  Action Park was forced to close.

• 57:53Speaker 02

  Period.

• 57:54Speaker 03

  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.

• 58:04Speaker 02

  So that's why you smiled at me when I asked that. I was sitting here being like, "How the fuck would any insurance company sign on to, to rep this place?"

• 58:12Speaker 03

  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.

• 58:30Speaker 02

  Oh, good.

• 58:31Speaker 03

  And they were almost always built on very small shoestring budgets where corners were constantly being cut. 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 of 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 a park built on a quote, "enter at your own risk" ideology, patrons and employees were almost encouraged to behave recklessly.

• 59:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 59:06Speaker 03

  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.

• 59:28Speaker 02

  A human zoo?

• 59:29Speaker 03

  Which it kind of is.

• 59:30Speaker 02

  I mean, that's like...

• 59:32Speaker 03

  Like, you're seeing people at their most base behavior.

• 59:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 59:35Speaker 03

  Like, truly.

• 59:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 59:37Speaker 03

  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."

• 1:00:01Speaker 02

  Wow. I feel like America kind of feels like Action Park right now.

• 1:00:07Speaker 03

  It absolutely does.

• 1:00:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:08Speaker 03

  That's a... absolutely. We are Action Park right now. And we gotta get...

• 1:00:14Speaker 02

  Because that quote, I was just like, whoa. He was like, "Never again in their lives." I was like, "Ah, they made it this far."

• 1:00:21Speaker 03

  They'll see it again. Yeah.

• 1:00:23Speaker 02

  Life kind of feels like a human zoo.

• 1:00:25Speaker 03

  That... that is, um, amusement parks, part two.

• 1:00:30Speaker 02

  Period. Wowza.

• 1:00:32Speaker 03

  Yeah. So those are some crazy ones.

• 1:00:34Speaker 02

  Well, I'm happy that I've never gone on any of those rides.

• 1:00:36Speaker 03

  Nope. And that Action Park doesn't... You won't go to Action Park because it doesn't exist anymore.

• 1:00:40Speaker 02

  No, I would not be... I would not be trying to go to Action Park. I don't... I like safety precautions. I like a thrill.

• 1:00:48Speaker 03

  I love safety precautions.

• 1:00:50Speaker 02

  I like a thrill with a safety precaution in...

• 1:00:54Speaker 03

  Backing it up.

• 1:00:54Speaker 02

  Place.

• 1:00:55Speaker 03

  You know, that's what... I don't love a thrill, but I love safety precautions.

• 1:00:59Speaker 02

  But you like a haunted house, scary movie thrill?

• 1:01:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:03Speaker 03

  A thrill that does not cause me bodily harm.

• 1:01:06Speaker 02

  Yes, yes, yes. Wow. All right. Well, that was a fun episode.

• 1:01:11Speaker 03

  Pretty intense.

• 1:01:12Speaker 02

  Do I have to get us a fun fact?

• 1:01:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:14Speaker 02

  I guess I do.

• 1:01:15Speaker 03

  Get a goddamn fun fact.

• 1:01:16Speaker 02

  All right. Cows have regional accents and they form tight friendships and get depressed if they're separated.

• 1:01:24Speaker 03

  So cows over here are just being like, mokead.

• 1:01:26Speaker 02

  Moo bitch, get out the way. And then in England, they're like moo bitch. Moo, you little swat.

• 1:01:33Speaker 03

  Moo.

• 1:01:34Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:35Speaker 03

  I love that.

• 1:01:36Speaker 02

  I'm obsessed with it. Funny, because this all just came full circle. I'd like to pet a Highland cow.

• 1:01:41Speaker 03

  There you go.

• 1:01:41Speaker 02

  I cannot do a Scottish accent, though I am quite Scottish.

• 1:01:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:01:46Speaker 02

  I've never been able to.

• 1:01:47Speaker 03

  Never been able to.

• 1:01:48Speaker 02

  I can really only do British and Southern.

• 1:01:50Speaker 03

  It's, it's a hard one to do.

• 1:01:51Speaker 02

  I got three accents.

• 1:01:53Speaker 03

  That's it.

• 1:01:55Speaker 02

  All right. We love you. We hope you keep listening.

• 1:01:58Speaker 03

  And we hope you.

• 1:01:59Speaker 02

  Keep it weird. But not so weird that you separate cows and it makes them sad.

• 1:02:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 1:02:05Speaker 02

  And then they have to moo in their different languages.

• 1:02:08Speaker 03

  Or have really no safety protocols at a park you open.

• 1:02:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, open a safe park if anything.

• 1:02:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, or just don't, don't open one. We have enough. We have enough, it's fine.

• 1:03:41Speaker 03

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