Struck By The Thunder of the Gods at Mt Olympus

I was awoken from my slumber at 5:45am at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn due to heavy rain and a curtain that was virtually non-existent, which let lots of light shine through. (WTF Holiday Inn?)

I wasn’t happy with my prospects for the day. The beginning of my tour is on an especially tight schedule because I have to get to Portland. I called Mt Olympus to ask if the coasters were closed due to weather and the girl on the line asked “Is it raining?” Outsourcing at its finest.

I ate breakfast, did a bit of work, showered, and headed out around 10:30am to at least take a photo of Mt Olympus. If I wasn’t going to ride the rides I should have proof I was there, if nothing else.

You tell me how this looks:

I sat in my car thinking about what to do when I heard it. The familiar scream of a cart-full of coaster riders taking a steep drop into the pits of Hades.

“Whoa! They’re running it!”

I dialed the number again. This time I asked to speak to someone in the public relations department. I explained what I was doing and asked if I could get a ticket to ride. (Don’t worry I didn’t ask like that … I can’t give away all my secrets.) Her response was “What are you talking about?”

I was not dealing with someone in public relations. Instead it was likely a teenage girl with no idea about anything except maybe what color she’ll paint her nails tonight and if Tommy will finally ask her out because she likes him so, so, so much.

I thanked her for her time and headed to the parking lot. After a 5 minute fiasco at the ticket window (there was no line, I was the sole person at the window) I got my $21.30 ticket (regular price was $25, but I reserved it online) and headed inside.

I felt excited and a bit amazed because there is no way I ever wanted to go back to Wisconsin Dells and that was the likely scenario if the coasters hadn’t been running. Mt Olympus has 2 coasters on my “must-ride” list and another on the “if I can” list. All 3 are wooden. All 3 were running.

My first stop was Zeus, a coaster that was accounting for quite a bit of shrieking. It seems there was a big high school event at the park today and those kids would not let a ton of heavy rain stop them. My kind of people.

It’s fitting that it was storming today considering Zeus is the god of sky and thunder, yeah?

Zeus has a top speed of 60mph and a first drop of 85 feet. Like most wooden coasters this first drop was painful. Add in heavy rain, 48F cold weather, and wind and it felt like my face was being massaged by Zeus’ thunderbolt.

Despite all the pain, the ride was phenomenal! I moved on to the next ride, as Zeus’ brother Hades had something else in store.

Hades is god of the underworld and this ride did that justice. According to the Mt Olympus website the Hades coaster has the longest underground tunnel in the world. (I explain it in the video below.)

With a top speed of 70mph, a 140-foot 65-degree first drop, and 4,725 feet of track, Hades outdoes Zeus by a longshot.

I can’t explain the feeling of going on a ride like this while it’s cold, rainy, and windy. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before and, while I’m sure it’s safe, it adds an extra element of unease to the ride.

Hades’ first drop:

Hades goes underground:

I show you more of Hades in my video below. [If you're reading this and don't see a video, click here.]

After Hades I went on Cyclops, which was a fun ride, but tame in comparison to its brethren.

And with that, I walked away, soaked to the core, and began my 4 hour commute to Bloomington, MN. Tomorrow I head to Valley Fair and Nickelodeon Universe (which doesn’t have any legit coasters, but it’s inside Mall of America which is unique).

For the complete set of photos from Mt Olympus (only a couple more) check out my Flickr page here.