Dells contruction update

Actually, I think it sounds just like Zeus. There's not much variation in Zeus' track between the drop and the turn-around nor on the return leg. There are no air-time hills, which is almost a requirement on an out-and-back, just a couple of jarring bunny hills. The relatively flat track keeps the speed up, so you get some strong laterals on the turn-around, but I never thought it was a particularly well-designed ride, especially when compared to Cyclops.

I really hope there are some surprises in Hades' tunnel (drops, bumps, small turns, trick track) or I fear it may be too similar to Zeus and be a disappointment.

So it wasn't just me! I was really disappointed in Zeus, too. I was hoping for a midwestern Timber Terror but I found lots of level track and short, jarring shots of air. It sure is speedy, tho ;)

And I thought that Zeus was rather fun. Not a lot of airtime...but just enough and plenty of speed. A night ride might have been the best way to truly experience Zeus. Especially before they took out all the trees.

Sure it was no Cyclops...but why have 2 coasters doing the same thing.

Still not making heads or tails over what Hades actually will do and not do. Still could be interesting. Might be dissapointing. Who knows till it is done.

I had fun on Zeus...but it's no Timber Terror.

Something tells me that Hades will NOT be a disappointment.

I actually greatly prefer Zeus to Cyclops, but that's largely based on many night rides in the front seat. I haven't ridden it since they wiped out all the trees so I don't know if there's a large impact or not, but last season's night rides on Zeus felt more isolated than those of the Raven or Legend. Plus, like many coasters, I think Zeus really comes alive at night. Every little bump begins to give some nice airtime, and the double dip can get nasty. Plus the turnaround is, IMO, incredible. I also appreciate the design of Zeus; it really is a good example of a terrain coaster.

-Nate

Zeus is in my top ten woodies, and I have not even been on it at night. The air is limited, but it is a fast wild ride that just tears up the track. I will be there for a couple hours tomorrow so I should be able to look at the construction and of course ride those two woodies. I have not been on Atlantis yet either.

Arrrrgh... hate... to... argree... with... Nate...

Zeus is an awesome night coaster. I'm wondering which coaster some of you were riding saying there wasnt much air in Zeus. I found it in abundance on that ride. While I do have to give the nods to Cyclops for being the more thrilling coaster, Zeus is at least a complete coaster. I'm hoping that Hades is also a complete coaster and much longer than even Zeus.

Maybe the air is not always the same. There are a lot of coasters like that. I have been there a few times and I was never overly impressed by the air on Zeus, but that does not mean there was not a lot when you went.

I never said Zeus has no air, I said it had short, sharp bursts of airtime. The turnaround was great. All-in-all a fun ride, just not what I was expecting.

Okay, I was at the Dells for a bit today. First let me say that Avalanche looks amazing. It is way better than the pics, and I cannot wait to ride it. The first hill is STEEP.

I took some pics of the Hades construction with my friend's camera, and maybe I can get them posted somewhere later. (I have never done that before so it may take some time.) The hill in the rcdb pics is most certainly a turnaround like moosh said. There is a nice crest at the top before the turn that just looks like airtime. The tunnel does look massive and I think wide enough for 2 tracks. I get the feeling that they are going to be angled a bit in the tunnel in the part of comming out into the turnaround. Also, it would not surprise me if there were small hills in the tunnel...it is just huge. The other side of the tunnel opens on the other side of the parking lot and perpendicularly faces Zeus. There is a lot of clearing going on directly on the other side of Zeus and a worker told me it was for the ride. I believe this is for the first hill and will go right over Zeus. It should look massive since the land slopes down from the parking lot so the elevation from the start of the lift will be very high compared to the drop to ground level (and beyond) on the far side of Zeus. I would not be surprised if some of the wording changes in the largest coaster in the midwest claims came from changing what elevation they measured the first hill from.

The park looks great and we got a few nice rides on Zeus and Cyclops before the rain got bad. Now with the POP, you only get one cycle on the coasters even if there is no one there. We certainly got our exersize on Zeus. :) This was just a detor on a trip I took and I may stop by again next week on my way back to check the status again. *** Edited 6/11/2004 3:35:35 AM UTC by RavenTTD***

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v295/raventtd/IMG_0525.jpg

I am not sure why, but only one pic came out. Here it is.

Interesting pic insofar that on top of the lifthill there is a greek flag on it. I can understand with them having a Greek mythology park why they would have that, however, on construction pics of Avalanche over at rcdb.com there is a Mexican flag flying at the top of their lift hill. Anyone know the significance of that one?

Bob, Thats not the lifthill. Thats the turn around :)

Chuck

Yes, you're right! Stupid me. :) Thats a big mutha!

Big Chief's has just updated their site with a new map. It's better, but still not great. Also, there has been a change in the description of Hades. If there is anybody else on this site that is excited about the new dells coasters, try living up here. One more year...one more year...

Just got back from Mount Olympus Theme Park. I talked to one of the managers in the park who seemed all to happy to talk to me about the park. He told me that most of Hades was going to be underground. I challenged him on the Worlds Largest claim on the website and he said that it will be the largest underground coaster. I really like the park with the new POP setup. I got in quite a few rides on all the coasters and got in some go-karting which I didnt do very often before the park went totally POP.

I did notice some SERIOUS safety issues today including two employees jumping up and down on a boat on Dive to Atlantis trying to get it to go. I have pictures of some of the safety issues although I dont think I will post them. I'm considering sending them to the state ride inspectors office though.

Hey Bob, What about sending them to Nick while you are at it? I am sure he might not be to happy seeing them but it sure beats state inspectors and might actually get the results you are looking for. Oh, and what you saw at Mt. Olympus is pretty typical for all of the Dells area attractions from what I have seen.

Bob, we went to Mount Olympus Park on Saturday. I think they have very rude employees. One safety thing I noticed was that the female op on our second ride on Zeus, didn't even check the lap bars. I also know for a fact that the guy behind me didn't even have his seat belt fastened. I'll have more in my trip report.

I traveled thru Wisconsin again yesterday and stopped in the Dells to check out the construction. Sorry, no pics this time.

Avalanche was being tracked while I was there. There are metal strips from the station to most of the way down the first drop and they were laying wood on the first banked turn.

Hades had more work done since the last time I was there. They started a different section of the turnaround and they are not too far from joining them in the middle. I am not sure which way the train will go on the turnaround, but I think it is going to go up that curve that you see in the rcdb pics. Also, it is obvious that there is going to be a cross over. The track leading to that climb will be on the outside toward the main road in the tunnel, and the track coming the other way will go over it and take the inside rout in the tunnel. There is room for another hill before that other side goes into the tunnel, and it looks like it will enter the tunnel a bit further down than the other side exits. There are beams over the tunnel for a roof, and there is a section with a hole where I think the other side will enter. You can sort of see it in this pic:
http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery2667.htm?Picture=2
I looked at it pretty close and I think the track could go thru it. The drop down from there is pretty large and if there is a second hill leading into that drop, it could be nice airtime.

On the other side, there is a new footer the leads right up to Zeus. Like I posted last time, the lift hill should go right over Zeus. And from the looks of it, the return had to go over Zeus again. I don’t know what the record is for highest average speed of a woodie, but with all that speed required at the end of the ride and with this being mostly underground, this could get that record. Looking at the distance from the entrance/exit of that tunnel near Zeus to Zeus and the height required to go over that coaster; that could be a great place for a double up on the return trip. The terrain on the other side of Zeus slopes away pretty fast which should allow for nice drop or two on the other side unless the station is high off the ground like Zeus’.

I just got back from SFStL and was thinking about Hades while on Boss. After the first drop on Boss, it goes on level track and has a bit double down and then a tiny hop with great airtime. There is more than enough room in the tunnel on Hades for small hops like that one on Boss and Hades should have more speed than Boss (or at least as much). I did not see the tunnel in person when it was still an open ditch, but from pictures, the turn in it looks sharp. The not-so-sharp, low, high-speed turns on Boss had very forceful laterals. I can just imagine what it will be like in that tunnel. I bet they will be highly banked with one track on top of the other at nearly 90 degrees. There is no evidence of that yet, but that is how I am picturing it right now. I’m starting to think this will be one hell of a ride…pun intended.