Mt. Olympus buys up and improves hotels on Dells strip

Haven't been to the Dells since 2005, but this was overdue back then.

Agreed. But, I still have the image of Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life in my head.

Sure hope they do better at maintaining and operating hotels better then they do operating and maintaining an amusement park.

Worst staff, worst food, worst operations, worst maintainence, and worst janitorial service of any park I have ever been to.

Just because they make money doesn't mean they are any good, the mob makes money too...

^But Brent, "the mob" is quiet about it. Shhhh..... ;)

They've got *the* amusement park in a REALLY busy tourism area during the season (it really is close to being the equal of Pigeon Forge or Branson in my experience). I've said for years it seems like a waste to have any amusement park without having nearby hotel(s) making crazy-money by offering an extra hour here or there of park operations and "meh" hotels at inflated prices. I still can NOT imagine how it's possible that Great Adventure stilldoesn't have at least 1,000 rooms of hotel space virtually printing money for the company.

SFGAdv not having a nearby hotel is one of the biggest mysteries in the amusement park industry, in my opinion.

When I was 16-years-old, I talked my family into taking my Sister and I to SFGAdv. I was in charge of finding us a hotel. That was a harder job than I expected. We ended up staying at a really bad Econo Lodge dump in Trenton. I mean, it was BAD.

^I'm with MagnumsRevenge, Mt. Olympus is hands-down, the worst operated, maintained and staffed park I have every been to. And I've been to alot of bad attitude places!

Other than Cyclops, I wouldn't have anything to do with the park, again. Hades was great when it opened, but has deteriorated to a pile of junk (nice 'high sides' on the trains *NOT*).

The employees were the rudest, slowest and most un-caring I have ever seen.

It's too bad, it's a nicely set up park, with potential... I sure hope they are better at the hotel bizness.

Came here to say what Magnum's Revenge and CoasterDemon said. Not sure fixing up these hotels is going to be an improvement if they have same crappy level of employees staffing them. Not that it matters. People will still pay an arm and a leg to visit there.

As a side note, did the family make their fortune with Big Chief's or elsewhere? That's a lot of money and they add new additions on pretty regular basis.

They may add additions on a regular basis but then they don't maintain them in the least.

The best Coaster in the Dells isn't at Mt. Olympus anyway.

All the restroom facilities in the "park" (well they may be what, 3 of them?) make a porta john at Lollapalooza on a 100 degree day in July look like paradise.

^One thing I thought was kinda strange but cool in a weird way - one coaster with a single lap bar and 2 seat belts per seat (Cyclops) and another coaster with a single seat belt and 2 lap bars (Zeus). Thought that was a good compromise - probably thanks to the Custom Coaster people.

Cyclops is a true top ride, in my book. I think it has fared *ok* over the years (in terms of maintenance) due to it's relatively small size.

Man, back in that day, all I used to hear about was how great those rides were.

rollergator said:
^But Brent, "the mob" is quiet about it. Shhhh..... ;)

. I still can NOT imagine how it's possible that Great Adventure stilldoesn't have at least 1,000 rooms of hotel space virtually printing money for the company.

Because Jackson NJ is in the middle of nowhere.. it's not close enough to Philly or NYC to keep a hotel afloat when the park is closed...

So I suppose a City of 25,000 halfway between Toledo and Cleveland has no business having about 10,000 hotel rooms then?

Aren't all those towns along Lake Erie tourist destinations themselves? Like the rust belt version of going to the beach

Jackson NJ is nowheresville, other than Six Flags and an outlet mall, there's nothing there.

Port Clinton would be the hub of that but regardless the tourist season is only about 4 months long. About half of the Hotels in Sandusky are closed out of season.

billb7581 said:

rollergator said:
^But Brent, "the mob" is quiet about it. Shhhh..... ;)

. I still can NOT imagine how it's possible that Great Adventure stilldoesn't have at least 1,000 rooms of hotel space virtually printing money for the company.

Because Jackson NJ is in the middle of nowhere.. it's not close enough to Philly or NYC to keep a hotel afloat when the park is closed...

So you close it during the off-season like CP (and half of the other hotels in Sandusky area) does. SF is missing out on a ton of money not having a hotel nearby. They could easily charge $200 a night and people would pay it without a second thought just to be close to the park. I mean the rooms at CP aren't worth paying that kind of money, yet they get upwards of $400+ a night for some of their rooms.

Are that many people coming from out of this area to go to Great Adventure? It's located in the most densely populated area of the country. Isn't the average (non enthusiast) park visitor just going to go to a Six Flags park closer to where they live?

Are people really going to pay 200 dollars a night, when they can stay 10 miles away for 65 bucks?

When they're getting their family of four an hour of "exclusive park access", then yes. Since GAdv also has the water park on site, it'd be a slam dunk to market a weekend getaway package.

edited: Tonight on the Mt. Olympus FB page - MT.O resorts will now have nearly 1,000 rooms and all of our guests play free at the Park. What sounds better "STAY & PLAY FREE" or "PLAY & STAY FREE”?
Thanks for your help. MT.O

I dont think so... 10 percent of the US population already lives within 3 hours of Great Adventure, making the need for additional hotel rooms moot.