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32-608: Mountain Creek Waterpark is a water park located in Vernon , New Jersey , United States , on the grounds of the Mountain Creek ski resort. The park consists primarily of water-based attractions and opened in 1998. Its initial life as Action Park , one of the first modern American water parks , was open from 1978 until 1996 and became infamous for its poor safety record. At least six people are known to have died as

64-582: A 2,130-foot (650 m) inflatable slide made in 2013 in Waimauku , New Zealand, was to be moved to Mountain Creek and installed there. Water park Water parks have grown in popularity since their roots of public swimming pools in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The first water park featuring water slides and wave pools was Wet 'n Wild, which opened in Orlando, Florida, in 1977. The United States has

96-589: A challenging year for the American ski industry with warmer than normal temperatures and snowfall at 50% of historical averages. Western Canada experienced above average and record snowfall amounts in some areas. In May 2017, it was announced that Intrawest would no longer exist as a public company after its acquisition by Henry Crown and Company and KSL Capital Partners. Intrawest resorts are now operated by Alterra Mountain Company , which announced its new name at

128-536: A consequently poor safety record. At least six people are known to have died as a result of mishaps on rides at the original park, and as such, it was given nicknames such as " Traction Park", "Accident Park", and " Class Action Park". In September 1989, GAR tried and failed to negotiate a deal with International Broadcasting Corporation that would result in the sale of Vernon Valley/Great Gorge, and Action Park, for $ 50 million. A few rides were closed and dismantled due to costly settlements and rising insurance premiums in

160-713: A privately funded real estate development company. In 2006, Intrawest was purchased by Fortress Investment Group , a private equity investment company, which resulted in the company being delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. Fortress was under financial pressure related to the Intrawest debt, but a new loan with a single lender was completed in April 2010 and all prior lenders were repaid in full. In recent years, Intrawest has strengthened its cash flows, despite 2012 proving to be

192-673: A result of mishaps on rides at the original park. Despite this, the park was very popular and attracted thrill-seekers from across the New York metropolitan area . On February 9, 1998, Intrawest announced the purchase of the majority of the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, including the Action Park property. After a massive overhaul, which included revamping rides and removing attractions deemed either outright unsafe or inappropriate relative to Intrawest's vision,

224-868: A venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Intrawest eventually spun off Whistler-Blackcomb and sold the last of its shares in that company in 2012. Today, the Intrawest network includes mountain resorts . Intrawest also operates Club Intrawest , a private resort club with nine locations in North America. The company is the largest developer and operator of resort properties in North America offering skiing , snowboarding , golf , mountain biking , lodging, and real estate opportunities at each of its resorts. Intrawest develops real estate at its resorts and at other locations across North America. The company owns Canadian Mountain Holidays ,

256-481: A year." Action Park closed at the end of the season as usual on Labor Day , September 2, 1996. Despite expecting to reopen the next year, on June 25, 1997, GAR announced the cessation of all its operations, including Action Park. Following the demise of GAR in 1997, Praedium Recovery Fund purchased the Vernon Valley-Great Gorge resort, and Action Park, for $ 10 million. The investment group put

288-756: Is another huge water park in the Dells. The largest indoor water park in the UK is Sandcastle Water Park in Blackpool , England, which opened in 1986. There are many water parks in southern Europe where the climate suits a long season. For example, in Portugal 's Algarve , there are three main parks: Aqualand, Aquashow, and Slide and Splash. Water play areas are similar to water parks and include urban beaches , splash pads , and smaller collections of water slides in many hotels and public swimming pools . For example,

320-635: Is in 2016 the largest indoor water park in the world. With five indoor water parks, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin has been dubbed the "Water Park Capital of the World". It showcases several of America's largest indoor and outdoor water parks, such as Noah's Ark Water Park . Wisconsin Dells is also home to the first indoor water park in the United States, which was debuted in 1994 by the Polynesian Resort Hotel. Success in extending

352-601: Is themed to match the community in which it is located. The theme is intended to enhance the community's destination appeal. Therefore, the amusement and leisure-time industry is becoming more concentrated, as winter sports are becoming common themes in summertime water recreation. A process of concentration can be observed in the hybrid versions of theme- , amusement- , and water parks. Some water parks are more spa-oriented. For example, SchwabenQuellen has no water slides; it has instead many saunas , steam rooms , "adventure showers", and relaxation-oriented water play areas. In

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384-593: The Chelsea Hotel in Toronto features a four-story water slide called the Corkscrew. According to estimates from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission , more than 4,200 people annually are sent to emergency rooms from suffering injuries on public waterslides. In July 2015, one drowning and at least three near-drownings were reported at water parks in the United States. On August 7, 2016, Caleb Schwab,

416-587: The 10-year-old son of American politician Scott Schwab , was decapitated on the Verrückt water ride at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City , Kansas. Following the fatal incident, Verrückt permanently closed. Intrawest Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc was a developer and operator of destination resorts and a luxury adventure travel company. The company was founded in 1976 as

448-428: The 1990s, and the park's attendance began to suffer as a recession early in that decade reduced the number of visitors. In early 1995, GAR operated Vernon Valley/Great Gorge and Action Park with no liability insurance, instead relying on self-insurance. However, they ultimately purchased liability insurance. As 1995 progressed, GAR's financial woes continued to accumulate, and foreclosure suits started being filed against

480-467: The 2000s, an effort was made to reduce long waiting lines by introducing conveyor belts to lift passengers or use water jets. An unusual feature at a water park is ice skating . Deep River Water Park in northwestern Indiana features ice skating, made possible by cooling pipes installed under their massive plaza. Some of the first indoor water parks are Tikibad at Duinrell (The Netherlands, 1984), Nautiland located at Haguenau (France, 1984),

512-746: The 2018 Outdoor Retailer show in Denver, Colorado. In 1986, Intrawest acquired Blackcomb Mountain from the Federal Business Development Bank, a Canadian Crown Corporation, and Fortress Mountain of Alberta (no relation to Fortress Investments LLC), a wholly owned division of Aspen Skiing Company . The company later went public, listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges and, in 1996, merged with Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation to form Whistler-Blackcomb resort,

544-589: The Action Putts Miniature Golf Course, and the construction of a temporary go-kart track by the same miniature golf course. A ride called the Sky Caliber, a vertically looping water slide, was also under development. Unlike the original Cannonball Loop, riders were to ride in bullet-shaped aluminum cages, and the slide would feature a taller and steeper approach, as well as a teardrop-shaped loop. The world's longest water slide,

576-584: The Aqua Mundo at Center Parc De Eemhof located at Zeewolde (The Netherlands, 1980) and Alpamare (Pfäffikon) (Switzerland, 1977). In 1986 World Waterpark was open in Edmonton , Alberta, Canada at the West Edmonton Mall . It is in 2016 the largest indoor water park in North America. Tropical Islands Resort ( Germany ), with an area of 66,000 m (710,418 sq ft),

608-615: The collection of rides the Vernon Valley Summer Park. Additional attractions would be built by 1980, and the park would evolve to a major destination with 75 rides (35 motorized, self-controlled rides and 40 water slides). The park entertained over one million visitors per year during the 1980s, with as many as 12,000 coming on some of the busiest weekends. However, Action Park became infamous for poorly designed, unsafe rides; under-aged, under-trained, and often under-the-influence staff; intoxicated, unprepared visitors; and

640-476: The company Angel Projects in charge of managing the resort, and aimed to pump in some $ 20 million to upgrade the ski resort's equipment, trails, and to remodel the water park. Canadian park operator Intrawest purchased the park and neighboring Vernon Valley ski area in February 1998. The Waterworld section of Action Park was revamped and then reopened for the 1998 season as Mountain Creek. The owners, aware of

672-466: The corporation. Law firms also sued for compensation for services rendered between 1991 and 1993. GAR negotiated a deal to temporary fend off an impending foreclosure, but in February 1996, the creditors who had taken on GAR's debt petitioned to force GAR into bankruptcy over the $ 14 million owed by the struggling company. GAR filed for Chapter 11 protection that following March but remained optimistic that they could regain their financial footing "within

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704-464: The first couple of years. As a result of problems at the original Action Park, New Jersey toughened its amusement regulations. During the Mountain Creek era, many of the rides built during the heyday of Action Park boasted large bilingual signs advising patrons of just what the ride entailed, how deep the water was in metric and US customary units , the age it was most appropriate for, and

736-438: The image problems created during the Action Park era, sought to differentiate themselves from their predecessors. By this time, Mountain Creek was no longer the state's largest water park, nor was it the draw that it was during its original heyday, as other water parks built around the region have since divided the market. Since Intrawest was a ski resort corporation, the water park would be leased out to Palace Entertainment after

768-529: The largest and most concentrated water park market, with over 1,000 water parks and dozens of new parks opening each year. Major organizations are the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and WWA ( World Waterpark Association ), which is the industry trade association. Water parks which emerge from spas tend to more closely resemble mountain resorts, as they become year-round destinations. For example, Splash Universe Water Park Resort

800-709: The largest heli-skiing operation in the world. On November 12, 2013, Intrawest filed an initial public offering (IPO) with the New York Stock Exchange to raise up to $ 100 Million. The filing states that the money is being raised, "for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which may include potential investments in, and acquisitions of, ski and adventure travel businesses and assets." In 2016, Intrawest initiated significant reductions in full time staff to achieve rapid cost reductions. Numerous key staff positions have been eliminated at its corporate headquarters and resort locations. This follows

832-510: The owners of the resort bought out the operating lease to the water park. This returned control of the former Action Park property, as well as the entire former Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, to the Mulvihill family, as they had retained ownership of the ski area that was renamed Crystal Springs following GAR's bankruptcy. In April 2014, the Mulvihill family changed the name of Mountain Creek back to Action Park. However, on May 29, 2016, it

864-409: The park began in 1976 when Eugene Mulvihill and his company, Great American Recreation, the owners of the recently combined Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski area, wanted to find a way to generate revenue during the summer, so they opened a 2,700-foot-long (820 m) alpine slide down one of the steep ski trails. For the summer of 1978, Mulvihill added two water slides and a go-kart track , and named

896-478: The sale of the Club Intrawest time share lodging operation to Diamond Resorts International at the end of 2015. It is unclear regarding the company's longer term strategies as it continues to display inconsistent approaches in its business and staffing model. In 2017, Intrawest was sold to Henry Crown and Company (which owns Aspen Skiing Company ) and KSL Capital Partners for $ 1.5 billion. In May 2017, it

928-413: The state regulatory ID numbers . Safety rules were strictly enforced at the new park, although alcohol was still available. In 2010, Intrawest, which ended up in bankruptcy proceedings itself as a result of a leveraged buyout , sold both the Mountain Creek ski resort and the water park to the owners of Crystal Springs Resort. The water park would remain under lease to Palace Entertainment until 2011, when

960-515: The tourist season and turning water park resorts into vacation destinations has resulted in tremendous industry growth. Usually, resort hotels featuring massive indoor water parks have been reserved for overnight guests. Companies like Great Wolf Resorts /Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Resorts have branched out from their origin in Wisconsin Dells to open new locations around the country. Mt. Olympus Theme and Water Park (formerly Family Land)

992-441: The water park was reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark . In 2010, the Mountain Creek ski area and waterpark was sold to a group led by Eugene Mulvihill, the former owner of Vernon Valley/Great Gorge and the owner of the adjacent Crystal Springs Resort. It was under the new ownership that the name of the water park was changed back to Action Park in 2014. Two years later, the name was reverted to Mountain Creek Waterpark. The idea for

Mountain Creek Waterpark - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-632: Was announced that the Action Park name was again retired and that the park would revert to the Mountain Creek Waterpark name. In the summer of 2014, the Zero-G — a double-looping slide featuring two inclined loops — opened. The Zero-G was located on the tower for the H-2-Oh-No super speed water slide. In 2015, plans for new park attractions were announced. These included a new lounge area and pools, relocation of batting cages to near

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