Coaster Community

Mt. Olympus, Wisconsin Dells only mega-park, is located 30 minutes outside Wisconsin's capitol, Madison.  Mt. Olympus is wooden roller coaster heaven or hell - depending upon your perspective.  This relatively new park is nestled in the Wisconsin Dells among world-class water parks, roadside stands and free-standing carnivals.  The area is a retreat for work-weary Chicagoans, Madisonites and Milwaukeeans.  What was once a summer-only retreat is turning into a year-round destination with an ever-expanding assortment of indoor parks and recreation facilities.  Think of it as Branson without the country-music twang.

Without question, Hades is the premium ride at Mt. Olympus.  This long wooden-with-steel-support coaster moves fast, moves underground and has a surprise or two that will make you jump.  The first surprise consists of twists and turns underground in the dark.  You are lulled into a sense of ease by this chaotic yet smooth ride until the very end where there is a jolt similar to passing over railroad tracks at high speed.  The jolt was unexpected and unwelcome in such a new coaster.  The unusual jarring pushed my rating down a notch to 8.9 /10.  Very pleasing; but, it’s not perfect.  I look forward to additional future runs with hopes of some track-tweaking in the meantime.

Next up in this meat-sack's agenda is a trip on the famed Zeus - another woody with attitude.  You immediately drop down quickly from the station and eventually go up a larger lift hill.   This ride rated 7.5 / 10 because it was a good mix of speed, distance and thrills.

Pegasus was the third woody ridden at Mt. Olympus and was quite a letdown.  The ride was short and so so unmemorable earning a 5.3 / 10.  The fourth and final woody at this park was a short but hilly Cyclops which earned 5.6 / 10.

There was a kiddy coaster called, Little Titan, which this hotdog was too jumbo to ride.  Finally, they have a small metal mouser called Opa which was erected inside a large metal building.  Opa was a twisty litter bugger themed up as a mouse with hard turns and a modest amount of excitement earning it 5.5 / 10 on the fun factor scale.

You will get drenched on Atlantis, a coaster themed as a large stone pillar falling into the water.  This tracked log-ride soaks riders and spectators alike.  Don't forget to bring your swimsuit as the park has a pool and several other water features.

In addition to the roller coasters, there are flat rides galore.  Of special note is the Disko, an arced spinning ride where you mount your seat facing outward from the central disk  Locked into place, the disk-shaped platform spins around as it moves through the arc in a pendulum motion.

Make sure that you have finished your thrills before you fill up on the park's signature delicacy: Herculean gyros.  Little woolly lambs are loveable; but, there are many forms of love.  These gyros are most delicious.  Few combinations of lamb, salt and yogurt are so very, very satisfying.

New to the theme-park operations, the management at Mt. Olympus does not adhere to traditional theme park management style.  They allow all to enter, but only wrist-banded individuals may ride.  This open attitude created hopes for other forms of amusement park innovation.  Also surprising was the staff, which included mostly non-Americans, who were willing to bend the rules here and there.  Unfortunately line-jumping was common.

On the plus side of the column add that there were more than twenty flavors of soft-serve ice cream.  On the down-side, there were a lot of train-cars that were broken and out of service.  A big plus to the park is there are multiple go-kart tracks which are included in the price of entrance.  The water park is also included in the entrance price.  I like their style.  Spend a few hours, spend a day – you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied at Mt. Olympus.