I’ve spent the last decade-plus watching videos on different parks on YouTube that I’ve never visited before. Because of this I’ve naturally made a bucket list parks in my head that I really want to visit. For years Mt. Olympus Theme Park was high up on that list and here I was on this trip finally getting to check it out.
Yes, I had heard countless stories about how horrible operations are at this park in the Wisconsin Dells and even how rough most of the coasters run. Still, there was just something appealing about all those wood coasters going over and under each other, and in Hades 360’s case, under the parking lot too. I wanted to check this place out for myself, even if I turned out not to like it one bit. I’ve already heard underwhelming things about one park I visited on this trip and I had a lot of fun there. That park was Michigan’s Adventure. Hopefully the same would hold true for Mt. Olympus too.
Things Start Off Kinda Weird
After we checked into our hotel last night I bought our park tickets on my phone, which came to $30 each (plus tax and the usual online fees). Not bad. The one thing I couldn’t find, however, was parking. Either they don’t charge to park, or you can’t buy it online. I had people tell me they charge for parking, but I’ve also been told by people that they’ve went and weren’t charged. I took the wait and see approach with all the conflicting info.
When we pulled into the parking lot today they were indeed charging for parking. I expected it to be around $20 bucks. Tickets were only $30, so I didn’t think it would be higher. Surprise! It was. Mt. Olympus charged $40 to park. That’s $10 more than our tickets. What? That’s also more expensive than I’ve seen at all of the chain parks I’ve visited in my lifetime.
Pegasus
Once we were inside I took some time to shoot photos around the park. I wanted to get that out of the way and also learn the park’s layout in the process. And when I finished up with my camera, we decided to stash my equipment in the locker bay in the middle of the park. With Pegasus right there, that’s where we went first.
Now normally starting off with the family coaster is a good way to get things underway. It’s something on the tamer side and usually pretty smooth. Well, this is Mt. Olympus and they have a reputation for some jank. My fellow enthusiasts are probably used to seeing Chris’ infamous clip from Airtime Thrills. It’s the one that shows Pegasus’ train coming in hot and cutting hard right, throwing riders about inside like rag dolls. So yeah, we weren’t doing the normal tame family coaster to kick things off.
Of our two rides on Pegasus, the first one didn’t feel so bad. I got off the ride thinking that its roughness is severely overblown. We were sitting toward the front, however, so that could have played into the experience. We’d later find out that was probably the case. Our second ride took place toward the back of the train and that ride beat us up quite a bit more.
Aside from the roughness, this coaster just doesn’t do much, to be honest. The park’s other wooden coasters all have elements and settings that are unique to them. Pegasus is the one woodie in the park that most feels like it was plopped down in the middle of and empty field. It goes over a food stand and next to go kart track. Not too scenic.
Cyclops
The next closest was Cyclops, which was also close to the lockers. I was looking forward to this one after seeing some videos on it. The infamous curved drop toward the end of the ride is what had me most excited. I even debated on making it my 500th credit, but ultimately decided that would be Hades 360.
Most of this coaster takes place pretty low to the ground after ascending its lift. There isn’t much of a drop off that lift either as you slowly turn to the left while up on the hill where you enter the park. Cyclops rides right next to the main pathway while being crossed over by Zeus and within eye sight of Hades 360. This area is just drowning in wooden coaster supports.
A lot of what you experience on this part of the ride is small twister elements before making your way to the curved drop. And boy does that drop live up to its reputation. The ejector airtime it provides is probably the strongest in the park. It seriously doesn’t look like much either. Be warned though as the inclined portion of track that follows is the roughest spot on the coaster. Ouch!
Like I said with Pegasus, this ride also comes in hot, scorching as a matter of fact. I have never heard upstop wheels spinning this hard, that fast, and for that long on a fully braked coaster before. Every wooden coaster at Mt. Olympus does this and Cyclops is probably the biggest culprit. It can’t be good for the trains. Seriously, they were still spinning once we got back to the station and were getting off the train.
Hades 360
And now for my 500th. I was going to have a memorable milestone one way or another with this one. Little did I know, we were going to have a memorable wait for it too. We lined up at a sign claiming a 30 minute wait. Since all the coasters here operate with one train and with the slowest operations I’ve ever seen, I expected the wait to be longer.
It was. And with some rain coming into the area we got a scare that the ride was going to close too. We got that scare as we stood there first in line for the next train. All I could think is if they had sent the trains even a minute quicker on average, we would have gotten on. But nope.
I timed a few dispatches from when the train parked to unload to when it was sent back out again. The fastest one was around 4 minutes, 30 seconds. One of them was 11 minutes-plus. Most seemed to be between 5-7 minutes. Insane!
Thankfully the ride wasn’t closed and we got a front row ride on our first of two rides. I braced for the worst, but was so excited to see what this coaster had in store. And for the most part, I loved the ride! From start to finish, I had a blast riding this and found it to be nowhere near as bad as people claim.
I loved the starting portion of the ride after leaving the station. I saw a lot of new track here, so maybe this leg of the course was improved? Although this was good it wasn’t my favorite portion of the ride. The drop came next and while it was a good wooden coaster drop, what followed was like no other coaster. Hitting that cold, dark tunnel was insane. Then to be tossed into the inversion and small island out in the middle of the parking lot was a jarring contrast, but one that was welcome. Then it was back into the tunnel.
After leaving the tunnel I did feel some roughness in the track, but it was by no means horrendous. If the park is going to do some more re-tracking, this would probably be the next area to address. Everything out on the island was butter smooth, so no need to address that.
So yes, I’m glad I picked Hades 360 for my 500th. It’s one of the most unique coasters I’ve experienced and one I’d love to ride again. Hopefully the operations will be at least somewhat improved by then.
Oh, and we did get a ride in the second to back row before leaving the park. Operations were even slower this go around and the track did have more bite in the back. I didn’t hate it though, but would say stick to the front, if you can, if you’re worried.
Zeus
When arriving at the park, this coaster is one you’re going to see the most of as it runs along a lot of the parking lot and pathways inside. It also interacts with Cyclops and Hades 360, which had me wondering what track belonged to what coaster. Until I had the lay of the land inside the park, the only thing that gave it away was the color train on the track. If it was yellow, it was Cyclops. White, Zeus. And of course, Hades 360 has the steel supports and red train.
If Hades is too intense for you, I think Zeus will be your favorite coaster in the park. I also feel that its layout is a bit more complete than Cyclops, although it doesn’t have that one outstanding memorable moment. This just has a better mix of good ones. It looked like there had also been some recent trackwork done on Zeus too. I also found this to ride smoother than what I had heard online before visiting the park. I also think is is probably the smoothest of the four woodies at the park.
And for those wondering, yes, this ride comes in hot as “Hades” too. See what I did there? Yeah, I have jokes. But yes, more upstop wheels spinning like mad when you’re back in the station, getting off the train.
Final Ride Counts
Cyclops (2)
Hades 360 (2)
Pegasus (2)
Zeus (2)
This Was... An Experience
I must say that this park was indeed an experience. While I did enjoy myself, there were some things that were rather off-putting. The operations are the worst I have ever seen in an amusement park. And this wasn’t just my experience as I heard so many people saying this before we went. I just didn’t expect them to be as bad as they were. I always expect people to embellish with negatives, but that’s not the case here. They are indeed the worst. Jen agrees 100 percent too.
The fact that the parking is so expensive is wild to me. If you have a way to park off-premise and walk over to the park, I’d suggest doing that. Had I known, we would have looked to do that ourselves.
As for the rides, we rode the four coasters (unable to ride the kiddie coaster without a child) twice each. It took us several hours to get in those eight rides. Our lines weren’t overly long either. So if you find yourself going just for some coaster credits, just know you might need more time than you think. I feel like even a walk-on would be close to a 10 minute wait here.
I’m just glad we had enough people to fill our trains. I’ve also heard Mt. Olympus doesn’t dispatch partially full trains on slow days and will make riders wait until the train fills. Man, I’d be so mad if I went on a slow day and had to wait.
So am I upset with my experiences at Mt. Olympus? No. Things certainly could have been better, but I’m still glad I went and got to experience this unique park and its collection of unique wooden coasters. We didn’t have any other plans this day, so we weren’t feeling rushed. I’d be up for going back again one day.
Mt. Olympus Theme Park Photo Gallery - July 5, 2025
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CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Pegasus, Cyclops, Hades 360, Zeus
Jen
Captain
New Credit(s): Pegasus, Cyclops, Hades 360, Zeus