Mt. Olympus - Hey SF, take notes

[scbb11Sketch]

Mt. Olympus was great, and it made me realize how much better it was than Six Flags despite my love for GAm's coasters. First of all, free parking. It was so much easier to not pay anything to put my car on a piece of asphalt for a few hours and be able to leave and return easily. We left a few times to rest and freshen up at our hotel, and it was very convenient. Secondly, no strollers. I didn't see one stroller and it made my day to not be tripping over them and having them taking up the paths. Third, the food and souvenirs were not overly priced. They tasted better and were cheaper period. I like paying 3.50 for Dippin Dots instead of 8. Fourth, the go-karts were free. Here is a ride that everyone in the family can do. Six Flags wants to be so family friendly, make the go karts free and make them longer and with more karts. The families will flock. They were so much fun, had great capacity, and everyone could do them. Finally, the coasters actually interacted with the landscape! I loved going under the parking lot on Hades and travelling through the forest on Zeus. Think of how much better Superman would be if they put a fake Metropolis cityscape up and the track wove in between the buildings. Whizzer is still popular because of the trees it travels through and how close it comes to the ground. We need the coasters to have more reason rather than just more parking lot coasters.

So this was my rant. I had a great time at Mt. Olympus. The water park was great too! It was a pretty unique place with the go-karts and all the wooden coasters. Some things were hard to find so I think they need to label the coasters better. Hades was really the only one with a prominent sign, but if that's all they need to work on, congratutlations Mt. Olympus because you have a great park.

[ragingbullchick]

I, too, love Mt. Olympus! I thought it was great!

[shockwave guy mark]

I was supposed to go, but of course my family complained.

[FRD714]

So lines were pretty damn dead your saying?

[scbb11Sketch]

No, the lines weren't dead, but it was a breath of fresh air to get on a coaster without waiting an hour. On Wednesday, the lines for Zeus and Cyclops were near walk-ons with Hades being maybe 15 minutes. Thursday, though, Hades was half an hour, sometimes longer. Zeus always fluctuated. Sometimes it was a walk-on, other times it was 15 minutes. All the go-karts had 20-30 minute waits both days. As far as the slides at the water park go, some were walk-ons, others were more popular and were 10-20 minutes. I don't mind waiting 20 minutes for a good coaster. It's when I go to Great America and have to wait an hour for V2. That's why I always go to Great America on Monday-Wednesday. Never on the weekends.

[FRD714]

Well these rides do run 1 train so it makes sense but its still not bad.

[Galvan]

Wait a minute, let me understand the point of this thread, Your comparing a small amusement park to a major chain because:

A. You didnt have to pay for parking
B. You didnt have to trip over a stroller
C. Because you didnt have to wait in a long line?


Let me be the first person to tell you to get your head out of your ass, and secondly If your that stupid to trip over a stroller in the pathways you shouldnt be allowed to go to a theme park in the first place.

There is no comparison to Mt. Olympus and Six Flags, none Six Flags easily is a better park then that place on any day, even the worst ones.

They only thing that park has going for it is Hades, but after that zero, if you dont like go-karts, or waterparks (like myself) Then your going to find the place save for Hades pretty dull.

[w00dland]

^But Galvan, if you do like waterparks or Go carts you can easily spend a day there and have a really good time there. Their waterpark(s) are totally huge, they have something for everyone inside there. Their gocart tracks are excellent for anyone who drives them, and while it might not have as much to do as a Six Flags park, value wise it's beats anything in the Dells and can be a less expensive alternative for famalies in Wisconsin.

[scbb11Sketch]

First of all, Galvan, I think you need to get your head out of your own ass because you obviously have one opinion and stick to it without being open to others. Let me get this straight. The reason for you replying to this thread was what? The point of me posting this thread was to give my trip report and two cents. The point wasn't for some know-nothing moderator to belittle my opinion.
Yes, there is a comparison between Mt. Olympus and Six Flags. And the comparison is that Mt. Olympus does the family thing Shapiro is shooting for loads better than Six Flags ever will. And no, Six Flags is not a better place. It has better coasters which I love, but overall I would go to Mt. Olympus more. They had more intermediate rides for me to amuse myself with than Six Flags. I don't find Jester's Wild Ride, Trailblazer, River Rocker, Revolution, and Space Shuttle America to be entertaining. Everytime I go to Great America with my friends, we only do the coasters and are done with our day by 2. At Mt. Olympus I could keep going on the go-karts all day with no problem.
And yeah, not paying for parking is a big thing. It's a f*cking waste of money at Six Flags.
And if you're stupid enough to make a post like the one you did above, you have no business being a moderator on a coaster forum in the first place.

[skaterboarder254]

ok...i think your comparison to great america makes some sense but the free go kart argument...i dont know. half the rides there are go karts they can't really afford to charge you for them or no one will come. that's what i think anyway.

[themanoftheland8]

First, I have never actually been to Mt. Olympus, but these are just my opinions on general topics that relate.

I can definately agree with your opinion about parking. Having taken a trip to Indiana Beach recently, it is very nice to not spend an extra $15 on top of the already pricey admission at Great America. (I am saying this from a non-seasonpass holers point of view. I have a season pass and a parking pass, this is just off of what my friends have said.)

Secondly, I would agree that Mt. Olympus's admission is a much better value. Personaly, I think it is a GREAT idea to have a spectator's admission. My mom despises the admission price at GAm. When she goes, she comes just to walk around with my dad and sister (she doesn't like going on rides much).

However, I do believe that for the most part, GAm's staff is amazing. I don't see many workers who are slacking, but rather, workers who are working hard to get the train out of the station before the other one comes back. When I see ops on Batman who are literally running between rows to get the restraints checked, it makes my day, and I am always sure to compliment them.

[scbb11Sketch]

^Thanks. Yeah the spectator's admission is great. My mom also doesn't go on coasters, so it's always a waste when we go to GAm. Luckily the hotel we stayed at gave us 6 free tickets to Mt. Olympus. It worked out well because we got her on more rides than usual like the go-karts and even a few waterslides. And you're right - SFGAm does have a great staff. Some of the Mt. Olympus employees slacked with their jobs. Overall they did a good job though. It was interesting that not one of them was from the U.S. They were all European. I guess they didn't need to be as gung-ho as GAm employees since the coasters only have one train each, but the extra effort by GAm employees is always appreciated.

[zjohn1988]

Ive never been there but for the rides you pay for each one seperatly right and theres no general admission charge? How does it work?

I think Six Flags parks should have free admission if they want to keep their current prices for different things. the only problem would be guests leaving to get food cheaper outside the park. But then again, if guests dont have to waste $55 on admission, theyll think "wow i have an extra $55 to spend!" The free admission would also be a great first impression of the park! Ride wristbands could be maybe $35-$40 for all day, cheaper rate at night, and then they would be left with $15 in their pockets they could use for other things in the park. In reality they would be spending the same amount of money for the admission charge as if the admission charge wasnt there, but chances are if the guests didnt pay admission, there would be an effect to the guest making them spend more money inside the park.

[scbb11Sketch]

The way it works is they have a few different admission choices.
- A spectator admission for like 10 bucks to get into the park but not do any rides. Then you can purchase separate ride tickets like at a carnival for 6.50 each.
- They also have a wristband to do everything for 33.50 I think.
- Then I'm pretty sure they have some kind of admission for just the water park if you only want to do that.

I'm not 100% on the prices since we had free passes and ever had to worry about admission, but I'm pretty sure the above is right. Also, I never saw a ride-op check a wristband once, so I'm pretty sure you didn't even need to buy it lol. I saw one person with a separate ride ticket and the ride-op never took it from them. So it may not be perfect, but it worked. I thought the prices were pretty fair.

[Chitown]

Six Flags should take note to what?

The rideops at Mt. Olympus are between being a corpse and being a walking zombie.

Hades being with only one train is a joke. Dive to Atlantis is just plain assinine.

Mt. Olympus appeals to families? Where? They have no characters, have no shows, no atmosphere, nothing.

Every corporate park charges for parking. Mt. Olympus is not corporate.

The go-karts are half of the rides at Mt. Olympus. Of course they aren't going to upcharge them. On top of that, the karts they have can be safely driven by a 5 year old because they are so slow.

If you like the park, that is great, but don't call out a corporate park to take notes because it's apples and oranges.

See how long it would take people to get really pissed off if Hades ran one train at a park like SFGAm.

[Director_Guy]

^Can Hades even fit two trains? Can any of their coasters?

[LAFFfan4lyfe]

sounds like some things worked out for you. I like Mt. Olympus, and had some fun at their waterpark too. I wish i could get back there soon, but my father only took my younger brother to WI dells this year.....bah!

[Galvan]

Yes, there is a comparison between Mt. Olympus and Six Flags. And the comparison is that Mt. Olympus does the family thing Shapiro is shooting for loads better than Six Flags ever will. And no, Six Flags is not a better place. It has better coasters which I love, but overall I would go to Mt. Olympus more. They had more intermediate rides for me to amuse myself with than Six Flags. I don't find Jester's Wild Ride, Trailblazer, River Rocker, Revolution, and Space Shuttle America to be entertaining. Everytime I go to Great America with my friends, we only do the coasters and are done with our day by 2. At Mt. Olympus I could keep going on the go-karts all day with no problem.
And yeah, not paying for parking is a big thing. It's a f*cking waste of money at Six Flags.
And if you're stupid enough to make a post like the one you did above, you have no business being a moderator on a coaster forum in the first place.

More intermediate rides WHERE? They had maybe 4 flats that I saw, and 6 go-kart tracks that where less then thrilling. And if you leave Great America by 2 each time you visit, then that only makes the lines shorter for me.

Mt. Olympus like everything at the Dells is a gimmick, they have as Chitown stated, zero in the way of a family type atmosphere that Six Flags has attempted to develop. So what, you dont pay for parking at Mt. Olympus, whoppie, I dont pay for parking or admission when i go to Great America.

It should also be noted that I visited this park along with Chitown, This week. As for the comparison with Six Flags, I have been to 8 different Six Flags parks, so I think I have room to talk.

[themanoftheland8]

Mt. Olympus like everything at the Dells is a gimmick

WOAH. I am seriously hoping you were just getting carried away with that statement.
I am going to start off with the definition of gimmick from dictionary.com

"A device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick, especially a mechanism for the secret and dishonest control of gambling apparatus"

From what I've heard, Hades and Avalanche are excellent coasters. (keep in mind I still haven't been to either of those parks ). I have, however, been to Noah's Ark, and I do not think that is a "gimmick". I feel that $27 for a day at Noah's Ark is an excellent price. I would not say that I feel cheated or deceived in any way when I go there.

[mallclerks]

I was able to check out mt olympus this june for the first time since maybe, 1999 or so. I love the park, and the only thing I can say I really hated was the amount of hills. The entrance is a giant hill downwards, which I thought was really awkward and anyone handicapped or an older person would have a hard time getting down it.

Other then that, the place is still great. Last time I went, it was like $18.00 for a pass to ride everything, which was simply some gokarts and the 3 coasters (pegasus, cyclops and zeus) The park has now atleast tripled in size with the addition of many more coasters, flats, water coaster, and an entire waterpark (which has not changed much from what I can remember) I think the new indoor themepark is something different, though not sure the point of it being indoors, not to mention it needed to be better themed inside, or something done since it looked like simply a big warehouse with some rides in it.

One train operation is understandable, I went the second week of June and everything was a walk-on, so while I am sure waits get to 15 minutes for some things during summer, it is still nothing compared to most waits at something like 6 flags.

Heck, one thing I did not like, was waiting in the coaster car for 5 minutes for it to fill up a few times, since they seem to alternate if they feel like sending out an empty train or not.

So, I love the park, and think due to its size it can be compared to six flags now. It has gone from being a nice little center with a couple coasters and gokarts to a major theme park including a full water park and resort hotel with it. It is also a great value for the money, since you can either goto one of the other water parks in the dells, else goto mt olympus for the same price and get both a theme park and water park.

[Bob O]

As a comparsion, Mt Olympus is a joke when compared to SFGAM!!!! The park isnt what Shapiro or any big theme park operator would want..

I have visited Mt Olympus and have had a great time at the park. I think they have 2 excellant coasters in Hades/Cyclops, and they have some go-kart tracks that are fun. The water park is fun if the weather is warm and you are into swimming.
But other than that, the park has nothing at all to offer. The park employee's were for the most part AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!! They made SFGAM better than disney in comparsion. And with LOUSY ride-ops who speak little english and one train operation and SFGAM crowds the waits would be 3 hours at least.
Then you add little shade in the park, no theming, no shows/entertainment and very few rides and you can see that while some of us may like it, it doesnt have alot of appeal to famlies or it would be much busier than it is right now. because the Dells packs in alot of people in the summer.
Now, with alot of work it has potential, but a park that uses go-karts as its main draw will never draw crowds anywhere near that of SFGAM.
The park is a good value for the money for people who like go-karts and a few rides thrown in, but needs alot of work till it can come anywhere near that of the big parks in the industry.

[mallclerks]

The problem is, you can not compare these two parks. Great America was built from the beginging to be a big theme park, where as Mount Olympus began as I believe simply a few go-kart tracks and then slowly added in a coaster every now and then and more go-kart tracks. I think five years from now the park will be much different then it is now, just as five years ago it was only 1/3 the size it is currently. It is still a go-kart and coaster park, not a full blown theme park. If you look at each park seperate, you can see how both are excellent parks.

I think Mt Olympus is still merging together Big Chief and Family Land, as can be seen from the new indoor theme park this year that sorta links the two areas together. The park will only continue to grow into a better park every year. It is still a very small park in comparision to Great America, and you have to remember this when comparing the parks.

Keeping in mind a ticket to great america 55 dollars, where as mt olympus is 1/2 of that. Like great america you get a full blown waterpark, 4 wooden coasters, some smaller coasters, a water coaster, and plenty of gokarts. A few other rides are also available. So I think for the value of the park is great for the amount of money you have to spend.

[greatamerica2003]

Six Flags should take note to what?

The rideops at Mt. Olympus are between being a corpse and being a walking zombie.

Hades being with only one train is a joke. Dive to Atlantis is just plain assinine.

Mt. Olympus appeals to families? Where? They have no characters, have no shows, no atmosphere, nothing.

Every corporate park charges for parking. Mt. Olympus is not corporate.

The go-karts are half of the rides at Mt. Olympus. Of course they aren't going to upcharge them. On top of that, the karts they have can be safely driven by a 5 year old because they are so slow.

If you like the park, that is great, but don't call out a corporate park to take notes because it's apples and oranges.

See how long it would take people to get really pissed off if Hades ran one train at a park like SFGAm.

Let me add to this......

None of the employees speak English as a first language

Dive to Atlantis is a far shorter and weaker ride than Loggers Run or Yankee Clipper

When I was there it was full of teenagers, it was dirty, the music was WAY too loud, and it looked like it was incomplete.

That and they said they closed at 10, but then they closed at 9. I didn't get to use my last ride ticket, and I was in line for a ride that I got in at 8:55 and we were asked to leave the line by some moron from Bulgaria in broken english "You go now"