TR: Mt. Olympus & Timber Falls

[DancingDays]

Well, my dad, a couple of my friends, and I decided to make the trip to the Wisconsin Dells yesterday for Hades and Avalanche, and I was really quite impressed by both rides.

 

Anyway...

We left at about 8AM and arrived at our first park, Mt. Olympus at around 10:30. Once in the park, we headed straight to Hades. The first turnaround and the lift hill really stand above the entire park, and are visible from anywhere in the park. The stairs in the queue that go up to the station are right next to the drop out of the large high adjacent to the lift, and when the train flies through this section, everything vibrates and rattles wildly. It really is too bad, though, that there is only one train, because it makes for a much longer wait, even with a short line. When we arrived, the wait was probably about 20 minutes, with the longest waits being about half an hour. Also, none of the ride ops seemed to speak English very well, though they did run the ride pretty efficiently, considering there were only two working at a time.

 

On to the ride itself: Completely mind-blowing. The speed of this thing rarely lets up, and the ride seemed to get faster and faster with each ride. Everything before the lift is great, with a number of spots of airtime. The drop out of the station gives a nice little pop in the back, and then you get two more spots in the double down, including the most forceful air I've ever felt on the second drop of the double down. You go from sitting down, to flat against your restraint instantaneously. You follow this up with a nice turnaround and then another little air hill with some great, strong air in which you are thrown to the right side of the car at the same time. The drop from the lift is also excellent, with great airtime all the way down, before flattening out for the tunnel. And the tunnels really are complete mayhem, you get thrown left, right, and suddenly the car just seems to fall out from under you before you hit the 90-degree banked turn. This really seems to be more of a gimmick than anything, because you don't really notice it until you see the track unbanking and realize it has already past. But from, that turn, you pop above ground with a great pop of air before being pushed back in your seat before the first turnaround. Here you get a bit of a breather before being hit with some heavy lats and the very nice long air hill which provides some excellent floater air before being thrown back into the tunnel. This time around you end in a turn that is banked in the opposite direction of the turn, as it feels as if the train is just going to completely derail. You then go up into the hill next to the lift, which gives some mild floating air, and drops you right back down under the structure before throwing you into a very intense turnaround, which can actually be somewhat rough, with some heavy vibrations. You then get another couple of pops of airtime and lats before turning around back into the brake run. The ride really is long, and is very punishing throughout. To me, it was very comparable to Raven's final section through the woods, but throughout the entire ride. The air was mostly small pops of air and floater air after the first drop, but the ride is so relentless. Each of my 7 rides was in the last car, though two of my friends rode front seat for their first ride, but were disappointed, saying they felt very little air, and that the back seat is just a completely different, and much more exciting ride. Hades immediately jumps to my number 1, just barely edging out Raven and Cornball Express. But I would recommend getting here as soon as possible, because if this ride is cared for as Zeus and Cyclops are (which is to say, very poorly), this ride may not be very enjoyable in a couple of years, because it already has a very sections that have some roughish vibrations.

 

We ended up riding Zeus and Cyclops one time each, because neither really impressed us. Zeus had some air, but it was actually just really very quite rough and painful. Cyclops, on the other hand, was a lot smoother, and had a few nice pops of air, but it really is nothing special.

 

We left Mt. Olympus at around 8 PM, and headed on over to Timber Falls for Avalanche. We paid our 14 bucks for the Evening Pass, and made our way to the station. There were very few people in the park, and only once did we have to wait 1 train. Avalanche is complete madness throughout. After the drop, it doesn't let up at all, and is a very punishing ride. The airtime throughout is completely awesome, with the perfect ejector, then floater air on every hill. This ride can be very rough, though. The first two air hills have some rather noticable kinks that cause you do be forcefully shoved back into your seat, causing a bit of pain. And every turnaround is very very rough. The train really weaves back and forth heavily, and the kinks in the turnaround that raps around the station are especially visible while waiting inside the station. The lats initially felt are extremely strong, and then you are shoved back and forth from side to side because of the extreme shuffling. But damn, is it a blast. We got 7 rides in about 45 minutes, even with the toll it was taking on our bodies. An instant favorite, but it could really use some work on the track.

 

Hmm, I'm not sure many of you will get through all of that...I guess I got a bit carried away.

[SharkTums]

I'm slightly concerned about your constant use of the word "punishing". :shock:

 

Elissa "not into painful rides" Alvey

[benzo41190]

^dont worry, they are not that bad.

 

You pretty long lines for Hades. Usually its only like 5-15 mins. But did you go on the log ride at both parks, they are really impressive.

[robbalvey]

Where did you guys ride Cyclops at? Two years ago the back seat had the most insane airtime EVER!!!

 

--Robb

[benzo41190]

Yah the back seat gives the most ait-time.

 

and the front is the best on Zeus IMO.

[N'at Man]

Newbie here. I've lurked for a while and I like this forum. Plus Derek keeps posting pictures of me so I signed up.

 

Anyway, Hades is amazing. The tunnel is one of the most thrilling first time coaster experiences you can have. I'd tell anyone to ride in the back seat the first time because you only get that initial experience one time. It's like getting shot into space with forces pulling you in all directions. The ending picks up at night but it is all uphill which hurts it a bit during the day. It's a hard coaster to rank but I put it at #4 on my list, one spot ahead of mighty Balder.

 

The back seat on Cyclops gives total ejector airtime on the big drop. The only drop that I think is similar is the second drop on the GA Cyclone in the way it lifts you and throws you on top of the seat divider. Choppy is the word for Zeus. Vertical shuffle may be a good term to describe it too. It's still a good ride but it could use some trackwork.

 

I only rode Avalanche in the morning but it was still very impressive. It made my top 15, edging Thunderhead. I couldn't see leaving Hades at night to give it another shot though. Avalanche is tough to ride repeatedly over the wheels. Non-wheel seats are fine and with the cushioning I wouldn't call it punishing. I'd call Cyclops punishing if you ride it hands up in the back. Avalanche is fast and aggressive while the S&S track has the trademark mistakes a la Tsunami/J2. Every hill has solid airtime although the entire ride is all left turns.

[DancingDays]

Yeah, all of Avalanche's turns are left-hand turns, but each one shuffles so much that you get thrown to each side,

 

But yeah, we just switched up being in the last row and second to last row, and honestly, the rides felt exactly the same...

 

And yeah, the air on Cyclops's big drop was crazy, but the ride is simply way too short. And Hades' second drop of the pre-lift double down is just as intense, IMO, even though it's not as long....

[robbalvey]

^^ Hey there Tim!

 

Great to see you on the boards! Your insight of the coaster world is always welcome.

 

Now we can put screen names to faces!

 

--Robb

[Reon]

"We ended up riding Zeus and Cyclops one time each, because neither really impressed us. Zeus had some air, but it was actually just really very quite rough and painful. Cyclops, on the other hand, was a lot smoother, and had a few nice pops of air, but it really is nothing special. "

 

Im gonna point at you and laugh now. First of all, during my visit I rode Zeus all over and didnt get airtime ANYWHERE! Then theres Cyclops...I think everyone established its ownage by now. In fact, its my favorite wood coaster, even better then Hades and Beast. As for Hades, I rode it when it was still new, so I got no airtime on it...of course this was right after riding Cyclops, so....

 

 

Jared "Cyclops>all wood coasters" Becker

[DancingDays]

Wow, Cyclops has one drop, compared to Hades' intense Raven-like flat-out intense sections. I prefer Cornball Express's 3rd drop and Raven's 5th drop to Cyclops's drop, just because they don't smash your back at the bottom, and have are part of spectacular all-around rides.

[Reon]

Heheheheh...ONE drop you say? For me its like this:

*Float down first drop and change seats (yes I get THAT MUCH air)

*Bounce in and out of my seat for massive airtime pops while going through those curves all the way untill the drop.

* Float down the drop, almost switching back to my orrigional seat, but not quite...

 

 

ph34r my lightness...