shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States

in Vernon, New Jersey, in the Sussex County hills

Action Park

Name: Action Park — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— the summer everyone survived.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A water park in the Sussex County hills that ran from 1978 to 1996 and became, in its time, the most notorious amusement park in America. The Alpine Slide ran a thousand feet down a ski hill. The wave pool drew lifeguards in shifts. People still wear the t-shirts. The land lives on as Mountain Creek; the legend lives on its own.

from the studio

— bring it home

Action Park, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Action Park

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Action Park operated from 1978 to 1996 on the slopes of Vernon Valley / Great Gorge ski resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey, about 75 kilometres northwest of New York City. It was founded by Eugene Mulvihill through a holding company called Great American Recreation. At its peak the park covered roughly 200 hectares across two divisions, Waterworld and Motorworld, and drew more than a million visitors a year. After a series of injury lawsuits and a 1996 bankruptcy it closed. The site reopened in 1998 as Mountain Creek.

— informed by Wikipedia: Action Park

— the season

Action Park ran on the standard New Jersey amusement calendar: Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with weekend-only operation in the shoulder weeks of May and September. The ski operation occupied the same slopes from December through March. The famous attractions of the water side, the Tarzan Swing into the cold spring-fed pool, the Tidal Wave pool, the Alpine Slide rebuilt from leftover ski-resort track, were warm-weather rides that closed when the leaves turned. Locals timed their summers by them.

— informed by Wikipedia: Action Park

— the visit

Action Park itself is gone. The land it stood on operates today as Mountain Creek Resort, with a redesigned water park, the same ski hill, and a few traces of the old layout visible to those who know where to look. The original Cannonball Loop slide was decommissioned. A 2020 HBO documentary, Class Action Park, and a 2018 oral history by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen brought the park back into wider memory; the merchandise at the resort's gift shop now leans into that legacy.

— informed by HBO: Class Action Park (2020)

— where

United States · Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey

— position

41.2007° N · 74.4848° W

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

at the lake

Mountain Creek Resort

successor resort

5 km S

Vernon Township

town

10 km E

Appalachian Trail (Wawayanda section)

trail

25 km N

High Point State Park

state park

Action Park

Mountain Creek Resort

Vernon Township

Appalachian Trail (Wawayanda section)

High Point State Park

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Action Park — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

Action Park stood in Vernon Township, Sussex County, in the northwest corner of New Jersey, roughly 75 kilometres from Manhattan. The site is now Mountain Creek Resort.

It opened in 1978 and closed at the end of the 1996 season after the bankruptcy of its parent company, Great American Recreation. The site reopened as Mountain Creek in 1998.

It became a byword for unregulated American amusement. Six visitor deaths and frequent injuries gave it the nickname Class Action Park and a long cultural afterlife.

A water slide that ended in a full vertical loop. It opened briefly in 1985, was closed by the New Jersey Department of Labor, reopened, and closed again. It never operated for any sustained period.

A handful of attractions were absorbed into the redesigned water park at Mountain Creek, and pieces of the old Alpine Slide track are visible on the ski hill. Most of the original infrastructure has been removed.

The 2020 HBO documentary Class Action Park and the 2018 book Action Park by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen are the most cited sources on its history.

— about the piece in your home

It carries strongly to anyone who spent a Jersey summer there between 1978 and 1996. A Medium with a handwritten studio note has been a meaningful gift for that exact recipient.

Nostalgic Americana, eighties-modern, and game-room or rec-room walls. It works against panelled wood, exposed brick, and warm neutrals; less so in formal living rooms.

Eighties and nineties nostalgia continues to drive demand for warm, place-specific wall art. Action Park sits at the cult end of that current, with a buyer who knows the reference cold.

A single Large above a standard sofa. For a game room or bar wall, a four-tile Mural extends the scene; a nine-tile Mural anchors a full feature wall.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for wet or splash-prone walls. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and will not fade with steam or daily cleaning.

A microfibre cloth with water. No abrasive cleaners or scrubbing pads.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original studio work made under Reid Wender's eye. We do not license images in or out.

— if this one stayed with you