Cold Trade for Warm Sunshine

Because I miss everything awesome, I was off the day Alice in Chains came to the Park to film segments for the Headbanger's Ball. Luckily, we can relive the magic via YouTube. Observe the band and Riki Rachtman fishing in Roaring Springs:



And Layne Staley losing his shorts on Surf Hill:



More clips can be found here, including Riki and Jerry Cantrell wrestling in Sumo suits. (In the Jungle Warriors ring. Yeah, I know. It makes no sense.) Those very same suits are still used at the Spa's annual Oktoberfest, proving that the organization is still not at all culturally authentic and/or sensitive and, more importantly, that you should never, ever put one of them on. It will take way more than a spritz of Lysol to vanquish metal sweat that's had 15 years to incubate. You can't snuff that rooster.

$3 off admission is no reason to patronize Pizza Hut

Okay, this seems to be just a normal 80s Pizza Hut commerical, featuring the comedy stylings of Rich Hall, until you get to the end:



The Park slapped coupons on everything for awhile. I also worked at the local supermarket, and would often witness people stopping in on the way to the park to steal coupons off Coke bottles. Come on people, 2-liter bottles were usually on sale for $0.99. Couldn't you just buy the bottle?

History Lesson

I found this on Gothamist today. It has nothing to do with the Park, but it's kind of hilarious. Observe, if you will, a young Matt Dillon discussing the evolution of the amusement park. I shudder to think what the Park's version of the Human Pool Table or Human Roulette Wheel would have been:




And a bit of Matt Dillon trivia- his aunt was, and may still be, an English teacher at my high school. She is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met.

The Action Never Stops

Here's another Park commercial from the 80s.

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Prominently featured are the Aerodium and the Rock & Roll Show, both of which could be heard from the mid-stations on the Slide. The Aerodium was run by a crazy German guy who liked to yell things like, "Up, Up, UP! You fly first class!" over booming dance music. The Rock & Roll Show how was an oldies musical revue- Doo Wop, 60s Girl Groups, etc. sung with ENTHUSIASM. Fun for the whole family! If your family is boring.

It doesn't get more Jersey than this.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube, here's a clip of the Misfits, sans Glenn Danzig, performing at the Park in the mid-1990s:



Jerry Only and Doyle both live in town.* Their dad owns a factory. I think Jerry coaches little league. Or is it youth soccer? They are pillars of the community. And the kids? They love 'em.


*As does Black Flag's Robo and Bobby Blitz of Overkill. What's attracting all these rockers? Must be the fresh mountain air. (Though, if the rumors are true, Bobby's son has severe allergies and spends most of his time in a bubble.)

I think this post's mostly filler...

Here's a commercial from the Park's heyday:



Oh, and Lady in the Yellow Shirt? It was never, ever like going to Broadway.