Janet Nelson
“The amusement park business is a profitable venture in itself,” says Gene Mulvihill, president, owner and creator of the newest version of the amusement park at his ski area, Vernon Valley, N.J. “The advantage of turning a ski area into a summer activity center is that you already have built-in facilities: a restaurant, sewage, toilets, parking lots and land. That’s fixed overhead on which you’re already paying real estate taxes.”
Mulvihill’s $3 million capital investment is not only unique in the ski area business, it’s unique among amusement parks. The difference is active participation. Instead of merely walking around looking at the environment, riding a ride or eating exotic foods, the public comes to Vernon Valley’s Action Park to do< my youth, the only comparable event was the bumper car attraction at the amusement park, which I enjoyed for the release of aggression as much as for the skill of the activity itself.
Three summers ago, Vernon Valley stayed open during the summer with a familiar Alpine Slide. Two years ago, Action Park opened with an array of action-oriented events that customers paid to do: scaled down Lola race cars, foam mat rides down a water slide, a rapids ride in an inner tube, bumper boats like the bumper cars but on water, Dune Buggies, Go-Karts, skateboarding and grass skiing. To keep excitement at a high pitch, there were also periodic festivals, concerts and special attractions at the ski area. Last summer more events were added to the mix: racing boats, a children’s play park, roller skating, paddle boats and a walk on water activity.
Janet Nelson
Janet Nelson
As unique as many of these events are, none of them requires unusual (if any) previous skills. Yet, each one promises excitement, speed and sensation, and skills can be improved as the participants participate . . . and pay.
Through TV advertising Mulvihill has a market of more than 20 million people to tap in the New York metropolitan area. He attracts family groups and the high spending plus or minus 20’s generation for an average of six hours a day. While all of Action Park operates from 10 a.m. to dark and some of the events and restaurants/bars continue to 11 p.m., not everthing runs the full season from May through October. The water events are open from June through September (depending on weather) and the greatest volume of business is in July and August, peaking at Independence and Labor Days.
Janet Nelson
The profit margin is far from equal across all events, ranging from 30 to 50 percent on most. The Alpine Slide, for instance, can gross $12,000 per day, while the bumper boats may take in only $2,000 and the skateboard rink breaks even. But, the initial investment in the latter two is not nearly as great as the Slide.
Currently, Action Park occupies about 30 acres of land around the base lodge and across a major highway, but the ski slopes have not been touched. Mulvihill controls 2,000 acres in the vicinity and has at least 20 more events in mind for the future. Next summer, he anticipates opening a long speedy water slide from the top of the mountain and a tram on a track connecting various parts of the park as well as the Playboy Club, four miles away. Eventually, he says, Action Park will be bigger than Disneyland.
Janet Nelson
Obviously the first requirement for opening such a park is capital, and according to Mulvihill banks don’t want to finance amusement parks. “The ski area has to be profitable,” he says. “In addition, not all of these things will work at all resorts, so each ski area has to be custom fitted. The customers want clean parks and nice personnel, and we own the natural resources here, so we won’t destroy them. Environmentally the people here love us—we bring in money.”
While Mulvihill plays down the prospects for a great number of other ski areas developing similar parks, he admits that he is looking at a half dozen sites for development himself. He says he is willing to lease an area for the summer, put in turn-key operations or finance and consult on the development of new parks.
Janet Nelson
Is the concept of Action Park the future for summer ski areas? “The image of ski areas is active, not passive,” says Jim VanderKelen, president of SMI and creator of the Javalanche mountain slide. “With six to ten participation activities ski areas can pull people from as much as 100 miles away. I don’t know if they’re the same people winter and summer, but we do know they are young and they have money.”
Janet Nelson
Stig Albertsson, who started the entire summer activity boom with his Alpine Slide, says the concept is still in its infancy, a firm direction hasn’t been set. “Many ski areas can use four or six activities to make family day trips worthwhile and to keep people there for a longer time,” he says. “But the activities should be compatable with a ski area—you don’t need elaborate activities or sizeable investments to attract people.”
Janet Nelson
Action Activity Suppliers
- Creative Recreations, Route 3, Box 187, Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29577, (803) 448-2877. Water slides, inner tube water rides, bumper boats, Skeeter boats, props and figures. Home Office: Charles Grobe
- Inventex Corporation, Manchester, VT. 05254, (802) 362-2300. Alpine Slide, Transmobile, Water Slide and Water Bobs. Home Office: Stig Albertsson, Jeff Snerick
- Javalanche Inc., 1512 N. Rockwell, Midland, MI 48640, (517) 631-6091. Javalanche Slide. Home Office: Jim VanderKelen
- Lola-Grand Prix, 215 Main St., Chatham, N.J. 07928, (201) 635-1500. Lola racing cars. Home Office: Gene Mulvihill
- TMC Manufacturers Ltd., East Ridge Rd., Warwick, N.Y. 10990, (914) 986-2129 & (914) 469-2257. Happy Run mountain ride and Aqua Bump bumper boats. Home Office: Sam Koudelka
- Mountain Coaster Corp., 250 Dolphin Dr., Woodmere, N.Y. 11598, (518) 325-3623. Monorail ride. Home Office: Buddy Schattman
- Mountain Slide Ltd., P.O. Box 681, Mount Kisco, N.Y. 10549, (914) 241-1288. Formula 1 Summer Bobsled Run. Home Office: Bill Dresser
