Back from the Dells, Top ten shot to hell pt 1
Associated parks:
None
Sunday. Aug 7th
Attended family reunion with intention of staying at brothers and leaving monday early. Well no air conditioning led to the decision to leave as soon as we were packed sunday night 11:30pm.
Monday Aug 8th
After driving 4hrs to almost Michigan City In. I was too tired to drive. Rob my brother said he was OK so he continued the drive and I got about a hour sleep waking just in time to pay the tolls from hell. I swear! Every two miles on I-80 and I-90/94 through Illinois is a 80 cent toll. Stopping for Breakfast just north of Rockford for a bit and then we got to Delton about 11am
Getting our campsite and setup was pretty easy and quick. We were beat but wanted to see what the Dells had to offer.
Driving both strips a couple times and seeing most of what was available and also being beat for being up for the most part of 35hours We decided to take a Wisconsin Ducks (DUKS) trip/tour which is very good and gives a tour of what the Dells actually are.
The Ducks are amphibious military vehicles that were used in WWII and Korea to land troops and supplies where needed. They are also basically a troop transport on land also.
Back through the woods, Over a couple roads and then splashdown into lake Denton a lake manmade in the 30's orriginally to be a private resort. It was windy, the water was rough but there was some skiers and stuff out on the lake. Our tour guide and driver (ERIC) gave some insight and information about the boats and area on water only. The Ducks do only 6mph on water so he had time. We were on lake Denton about 15 minutes then took a few other roads to the Wisconsin River where we seen a few of the rock formations caused by quick glacial melting. Cool but not super impressive. Got to see some Jet boats buzzing up and down the river. We were on the river about a half hour then it was another landing and then the HOOK. The tour is well worth the 18 bucks for the tour. Eric makes another Q&A session and stops the vehicle about 500 yards from the station and then gives the pitch of how he's paid mostly by tips. IM THINKING BULL CRAP, Full boats of 30 leaving every 2 minutes at 18 bucks a crack, They can afford to pay these people good. So no tip from me. Basically it's laid out as a. If you buy these postcards or duck calls for anything more than $3 then he gets whatever is above that. Hell I wouldn't mind giving him a dollar tip, BUT YOU CAN'T do it that way.
Worth it but a dissapointment at the end. The tour is about a hour and fifteen minutes long.
We got back to camp about 6pm. Ate supper and Rob hit the tent and I went swimming, Falling asleep in my lawnchair for about 3hrs I awoke about 1am and spent the rest of the night sleeping soundly. Rob ended up with about 13hrs sleep and I got a solid 5 and add the three in the lawn chair. I never sleep 8hrs :)
Tues Aug 9th
MT. OLYMPUS
We'd pulled into the lot and filmed some and looked it over on monday but the size of Mt. Olympus cannot be understated. Combined with the waterpark and Indoor waterpark and resort Mt. Olympus takes up about 3/4 of a mile or more of the strip. Sitting right on top of the mountain and overlooking the parking lot is Hades with it's turn around out by the street. We get our wristbands from some very nice and friendly Czech ladies and proceed down a very steep hill into the park.
Obvious are saftey problems with basically ungatted acces to many areas like Cyclops and Zues, Hell the motorhouse of Hades is right on the exit path with the door wide open. Still it's made clear in WI that your responsible for your own actions. I seen no Ride at your own risk signs however.
Ok, Pegasus is right at the bottom of the entrance and also Mt. O's smalles woodie. I had heard this was a PTC Jr. It's a full sized woodie, Not big and nothing incredible but fun with a cornball ending slam to the brakes :)
Hey, Lets do em in order. Cyclops is along coaster alley which has Possidon go karts Cyclops, Atlantis, Zues and Hades at the back
Atlantis is closed and the welding pretty much goes on all day when the weather permitted.
Cyclops Wow! It's evident where THE DROP IS when you walk past it. It's also I believe the only woodie that runs through a dug out canyon. This coaster provided ejector air on the first, second and THE DROP with a mix of forces in between. The middle is a little dull but other than that, Cyclops is a winner. Probably just outside my top ten but easily in my top twenty.
Zues, I had heard everything from I love Zues to it does nothing for me and Its really rough this year. Glad I rode it! Some seatbelts were too short making me sit sideways in my seat on my first ride (Backseat) Drop, airtime, drop, airtime, drop, airtime turn around simular to Ravens without a lake and more of drop airtime with floaters all over it. Was it rough? It's obvious the train was shuffling badly on the two hills after the intitial drop but I was airborn the whole time and barely felt anything. This coaster cracked my top ten and is very close to top five.
Hades, We could wait no longer. Im not giving the blow by blow description Im sure many of you have read a dozen times by now. Im giving the highlights. After about a 20 minute wait from near the bottom of the stairs we got into 1.2 The backseat of the first car is known as the Schmeck Seat due to it's pivot action and I have heard Hades roxors in that seat so off we went. The first drop out of the station does nothing there but the effects of the pre lift sequence can be felt at very well and still be rideable. The big drop featured some air in 1.2 as well. The tunnel is nuts, turn drop, turn drop air latterals and then a double up out of the tunnel that I found fun. The turn around hill then the most blissful airtime floater all the way over the hump and back into the tunnel followed by some Moosh moments in the tunnel and the parallel hill to the lift. This hill gave a bit of float but is mainly the setup for the ending.
The drop off this leads into a hill that banks right with great latteral float air and a wicked insanely fast run with some air turns and a three quarter helix into the brakes. NEVER HAVE I SEEN A COASTER RUN THAT FAST almost 6000ft from the begining. I bet it's topping 60mph just after the Parallel lift hill and ends about 45mph hitting the brakes.
Hades is very re-rideable in certain seats. the front seat offers really nothing but visuals, The backseat is just plain F^*&^*N Nuts. It jacked me so hard off the seat in the backseat (Pre lift) that my foot came out from under the seat in front of me and came back and slammed the riser of my seat and bruising my heel bad. *You might say Hades gave me a Achilies heel*. The pain subsided enough by the top of the lift to enjoy the rest of the ride but that hurt bad. The prelift segment is just nuts, It's not real fast but it provides ejector and latteral ejector in four spots unlike anything I've encountered (Please use snug belts and bars in proper possition) not saying it would but the though of it could throw you was in my mind hard) The last latteral air before the lift kinda throws you up and to the side over the right side. I WISH PTC would either curve the sides or pad that area with the chrome strip cause it hurts and It's cracked ribs on many a coaster.
All in all, Hades not only lived up to the hype, but blew it away! The only thing I might change would make the final a full helix and make it a bit tighter.
Possidon Go Karts, ROCKS I bet we rode it 5 times. Fat people have the advantage and it has airtime :) I started in the back everytime on purpose and either won or lost to my brother in the rest.
Robo Coaster, couldn't ride looks un-natural
Disk-O was super fun and comfortable. Kinda like Delerium but not. Better in some ways with changes of speed and not in others, Amount of Highth.
Ate some fries and coke and the attendant seemed confused when I asked if they had salt but gave me the shaker they use for the full batch. Go figure.
Storms came in about 7pm and we were getting our last rides on Zues about this time Great ride even if he's throwing lightning bolts for Real :)
Ok, we figure the storm are here for the night. The park clears out. We had gotten 5 rides earlier on Hades with lines from 20-45 minutes. With the rain and showers the coasters are closed so we just do Possidon in the rain, They used half the karts and spaced you out some more than normal. The basic trick was not to crash as most of it is wet wood.
We are parched so we get a coke and ask for some water, The attendant is very very nice and tells me she cannot give out cups but when I finish my coke she will rinse and give me water. We both take advantage of that and give her a good tip in her college fund jar :)
Well at about 9pm we see Pegusus run and we were inline to ride Medusas Drop Go Karts. Heck with this, the coasters are running and its dark.
Off to Hades Well the lights are out and Rob says it's not open, I just continue to walk up the steps and there are about 5 guest sitting in the train. 1.2 is open and we grab it. Well the attendants on Hades were of the we don't give a crap variety all day. Not rude or anything, Just a could care less attitude and we were made to wait about 10 minutes before leaving. Our first night ride was with the station and area lights out which made it great, Don't know why Hades, Even the tunnel was even better at night, It just seemed to be!
2 more rides on Hades, The sign at the entrance to Hades says Ride closes at 9:30 Up the steps, Into the train and we are buckled in. The ops say RIDES CLOSED. LEAVE!
Im not mad or anything, It just seemed like the wrong way to do it. Im not mad mainly because I was told to expect it and also because there was no line and the fact that we'd gotten three night rides we didn't expect to get with the weather. Given different circumstances this policy would have made me pretty mad. Fortunately It didn't.
After that the storms came again and I guess the decision to close the park was made as it was basically deserted and raining hard.
Let me just say this. Other than the coaster area, There is no shade, The coaster area is hilly and lots of step and after a day doing that a ski lift or excallator would be a welcome sight to get out of the place, As it is, That hill is a killer. If he would replace that with a excallator to get in and out of the park, A lot of people would be happy.
Mt. Olympus, IMHO a awesome park with awesome coasters and Karts. Only a few changes mainly in customer service would make this among my favorite places to visit. 3 kick ass woodies and great karts. My kinda place and it's sure to get better even though we didn't do the what looked like excellent waterpark.
Charles Nungester
8/13/05
I look forward to going to hell. :-)
-Tina
Be on the ride by 9:30. It gets dark about 845.
Have fun in Hell
We did!
Chuck
The lake the ducks go into is Lake Delton, not Lake Denton. Almost all of the boat rides in the Dell's have the same tip policy, unfortunately. It makes for a very uncomfortable moment at the end of the trip. Most of the people working these are college students making money for their next year of college, so I end up sucking it up and giving anyways. Still, I don't like it.
Just curious if you hit Avalanche? I consider it to be the best piece of wood(and steel) in the area, if not anywhere.
Certain victory.
It jacked me so hard off the seat in the backseat......
Now Now Now Charles, this is a PG-13 rated site. :) Glad you had fun. So does that mean that Hades is now your #1?
Fate is the path of least resistance.
Yes we did ride Avalanche, I rode it probably 30 times and my brother was well over 50. Me personally? I give the edge to Hades. I could ride Hades all night but I couldn't do that with Avalanche.
Hades is easily top five and proabably top two in my book. Now Im salivating over Voyage.
Bob H. I tip when I feel its apropriate as in the nice girl at Mt. O's concessions telling me the way to get free ice water :) Yes it just left a sour taste in my mouth the way they did it. Like I said, Have a tip jar or something or just mention "Being in college, I graciously accept tips" but don't present it as a blackmail situation.
Chuck
pkidelirium said:
For the love of God!It is not hard!
it is spelled: Delirium. NOT Delerium.
I went to the Dells! Rode thier coasters! Neener, Neener, Neener!
I wonder how tempermental this coaster is going to turn out to be? I rode it a bunch of times during CoasterCon and I thought it was a super coaster, not too rough, lots of laterals and an all around intense ride.
I rode it a couple of weeks ago (on a very hot day) and it was very rough and just not the same ride.
I still give the overall edge to Hades. *** Edited 8/15/2005 1:32:10 AM UTC by Brad G***
"Heavily medicated for your safety!"
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