Any news on Avalanche (Timber Falls-WI Dells)?

Has anyone been out to the Dells recently to see if construction has even started on the new woodie at Timber Falls? I saw the coaster advertised in the latest Dells summer guide. They are claiming it will be the tallest and longest coaster in the state of Wisconsin. That means it has to be bigger than Zeus and if construction has started on it then it should be very noticable. One nice thing about this coaster and Timber Falls in general is that they are offering a 20 buck do everything package this season. That means you can ride the coaster, ride the flume, and play mini-golf unlimited. Their mini-golf is some of the best in the Dells IMHO. They are never overcrowded like their neighbor, Pirate's Cove which makes for a more relaxed experience. I'm also wondering if they are keeping the skyscraper on the premises with the new coaster.

Feel free to discuss :)

Just because they are advertising it to be the tallest and longest in Wisconsin doesn't mean it will be bigger than Zeus. Avalanche is scheduled to open sometime this season while Zeus is for next year. When it opens it probably will hold those titles, only to be eclipsed by Zeus. Kind of like the advertisements CP made with MF. When it opened they were true, but a few months later it had several records taken away by SD2000.

Adam

Adam: Zeus is already there. Been there for several years. The coaster you are thinking about is Hades.

I believe the other week over at Screamscape, a reader had sent in photos of the latest construction. So far just a couple of footers had been poured and some of the lumber is on site. I'm hoping it goes up fast, as I am going to be in the Dells mid June and would really like to have a chance to ride it.

According to the stats on RCDB, Avalanche is only going to be 76' tall and 2316' long, while Zeus is 90' tall and 2900' long. How can Timber Falls advertise it as the tallest and longest in Wisconsin?

Because this is Wisconsin Dells! ;) Everything is biggest and fastest anywhere, no matter what the real stats are.

Some footers are poured, and there seems to be a station foundation in the works, but that seems to be all that has happened. The coaster won't go near the Skyscraper location. If you didn't know what to look for, you wouldn't even know they were building anything.

-Nate

I just looked at the proposed layout from Screamscape. If that is what they are building this coaster has airtime potential written all over it. The road layout and such looks like the area around Timber Falls so I have to believe it is authentic to some degree. It will also mean that the sky scraper is going. I don't know how happy the Pedro's restaurant and the assorted shops in that little strip mall are going to be having a coaster circling the place though! Should make for fun when parking there though because you will have to drive under the coaster to get in.

On a seperate note, for those park history buffs out there, this is very close to the location of an amusement park that existed in the Dells back near the turn of the century. My uncle purchased a book about Dells history and checked out some of the sites a few years back. One of the sites was an amusement park that was located right on the river across from where the docks are for the Upper Dells boat tours and where the railroad bridges are. The entrance from the park was about 100 feet down from where Timber Falls property ends on the river side of the road. The original gate to the park still stands to this day. It's all that remains from that park. If you are ever curious it is a neat little thing to check out.

The park was called like Fort Dells or something. If you go into the McDonalds right there you can check out the pictures of the old park. I ate at the Rocky Rococo's and didn't even realize that Timber falls was where the coaster was being built. Not much going on vertically.

Sorry...open mouth, insert foot.

Adam

Actually BMCOASTER, that park (Fort Dells) was built in the 1960's. I actually remember going there in the 70's and they had a shoot out at the OK Corral thing going and the bad guy was Black Bart.(if you go to Black Bart's Buffet that is on the site of the Old Fort Dells and they have a museum all about the park)

The park I am talking about existed around the turn of the century until maybe the 1920's or right up until the depression and was located right on the river.

Again, the Skyscraper is not going. The layout goes nowhere near it.

-Nate

Nate: If you look at the layout on Screamscape, the coaster runs along the roadline, both on Hwy 12 and also on the side road that is used to access the park (I want to say it is River Lane). The skyscraper is right on the perimeter of the park in front of Pedro's restaurant. So with the coaster making two passes through this area there will be no room to safely operate the skyscraper. The skyscraper is currently wedged between the restaurant and the road with very little clearance on either side for track to go.

No, I've seen the footers for myself. Aside from the fact that the construction trailer is currently set up alongside the Skyscraper (you don't set up your trailer in the way of construction), the Skyscraper is in the middle of the parking lot. Obviously they're not going to get rid of their parking lot.

The coaster essentially circles the perimeter of the park twice, *not* the perimeter of the property. The coaster will cut either just behind or just in front of the current ticket booths, which is quite a ways from the Skyscraper. The black you see in the Screamscape layout is not just road, but parking lot as well. There's a good 50' between the ticket booths and the Skyscraper, and a good 100' between Pedro's and the Skyscraper.

-Nate

Has anybody seen lately how construction has been progressing?

I hope this is open in August as I will be up there enjoying my honeymoon.

There are new construction pics at screamscape now, Pale Rider.

I don't think it will have much airtime, because the trains has TWO cars on it. Needs to be more weight for good air.

So why can Gerstlauers bobsleds have some nice airtime and they only got 1 car?

According to RCDB, the trains have 3 cars. From that and the layout on screamscape, I really don't know if it will have air or not. The hills look a little drawn out. I bet if it does have air, it will be in the front.