Discussion:
Wisconsin coasters trip
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acer510
2019-08-18 17:52:08 UTC
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Middle of last week while on a week-long vacation I decided to take an impromptu trip north via Chicago to check out Bay Beach park in Green Bay and Mount Olympus in The Dells. I took the toll road that passes SFGA into Wisconsin through Milwaukee to Green Bay, a 450 mile one-way trip from my home in south central Indiana. Arrived at Bay Beach park around 12 noon and the free parking lot was nearly full on a Wednesday in mid-August. Lots of kids everywhere. Apparently school hasn't started yet up here in Wisconsin. Free admission to the park and all rides require 2 to 4 tickets to ride with tickets being 25 cents each. Zippin Pippin(the only woodie in the park)costs $1.00 to ride. Line was 30 minute wait, coaster is great thrills for adults and kids. The airtime pop out-of-your-seat is still there on the last drop into the station. I loved that they didn't staple you into your seat like lots of theme parks do. Took a break to ride the miniature train that runs nearby a large body of water(Bay Beach I assume ?) New for this year, a large Ferris Wheel with open air cabins that sits right next to the water. I didn't ride it but wish I did now. Interesting shirt being sold in the gift shop...logo on front of shirt read "The SCAT is where its at!!" In reference to their rare carnival ride that spins you standing up. I enjoyed a large soda for $1.50 and a regular size popcorn for $1.25 before leaving to get on the road toward the Dells. Arrived in the Dells later that day/evening. Found a room in Baraboo 2 miles away for $60 Thursday morning woke up had breakfast at Dennys. Parking at Mount Olympus is straight up $20 Walk up window price to get in was $35 + tax. Upon entry to the park I walked up 4 flights of stairs to ride Zeus, the 2nd biggest woodie in the park. A mechanic was working on the locking mechanism on one of the lap bars. Would've been nice if a sign or employee was at the bottom of the stairs letting visitors know that Zeus was down temporarally ((sp?). I headed on down the path towards my #1 woodie Hades 360 First ride before public riders was with water dummies in the first half of the train. When that train came back in the water dummies were removed and real humans filled the seats with me in seat 2 right side. I've had to do the walk of shame at some theme parks especially that park in Sandusky. Never had a problem with that on Hades 360. Aggressive yes but not like Voyage at HW in my opinion. LOVE that long cool underground tunnel that goes into the 360 degree barrel roll and the return trip through the tunnel again back to the station. Ended up with 3 rides on Hades 360 and 2 rides on Manticore a high flying swing ride near where the sling shot ride used to be. There are free water fountains near the restrooms in the park but they are expecting guests to purchase bottled water for $3 and bottled soda for $3.50 Zeus was running on my way out of the park but I was pretty tired by then so I didn't bother riding it. I drove by the former Timber Falls Adventure Park to see the remains of it. Sad to see that the park didn't survive. The Mexican restaurant next door is now called Kickers Buffet. Wished I had more time and money to spend in the Dells but had to get back home. Didn't get a chance to stop by Little A-Merrick-A in Marshall,Wisconsin either. I'll have to make a week long visit next year in awesome Wisconsin with a stop in Gurnee to visit SFGA.
s***@aol.com
2019-08-19 04:29:47 UTC
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Isn’t Timber Falls still open, with just the mini golfs? I’ve only been to the area once, about 10 years ago. I remember there being a mini golf with the rides around it on one side of a road, and a few mini golfs together on the other side. But it all being one price. Is one side completely closed (even the mini golf?), with the other mini golf only side still open? Or is the whole property open and just the rides were removed?
acer510
2019-08-19 10:07:02 UTC
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Post by s***@aol.com
Isn’t Timber Falls still open, with just the mini golfs? I’ve only been to the area once, about 10 years ago. I remember there being a mini golf with the rides around it on one side of a road, and a few mini golfs together on the other side. But it all being one price. Is one side completely closed (even the mini golf?), with the other mini golf only side still open? Or is the whole property open and just the rides were removed?
I didn't have my camera with me and I don't have a smart phone but from what I saw the entire park was leveled except for the fake rock structure that had the helicopter crash recreation(part of the mini golf experience. The other mini golf across the street had cars parked out front and was operating as normal,maybe they were waiting on riders to show up. Very odd not seeing that lift hill and first drop of Hellcat not being there along with the rest of the track being non-existent.
acer510
2019-08-20 00:13:48 UTC
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Post by s***@aol.com
Isn’t Timber Falls still open, with just the mini golfs? I’ve only been to the area once, about 10 years ago. I remember there being a mini golf with the rides around it on one side of a road, and a few mini golfs together on the other side. But it all being one price. Is one side completely closed (even the mini golf?), with the other mini golf only side still open? Or is the whole property open and just the rides were removed?
From what I saw the entire Timber Falls park is completely leveled except for the fake rock structure that had the helicopter crash re-creation and part of the log flume ran near it or through it. The Mexican restaurant that was near the loading station of Hellcat is now called Kickers Buffet. The SkyScraper ride is still there but I couldn't tell if it was still in operation or not. The mini golf course across the street from SkyScraper had a line of cars parked out front on the street so I'm assuming it was business as usual there. Very odd not seeing the lift hill and first drop of Hellcat along with the rest of twisted track. Too bad that the owner of Mt. Olympus couldn't have stepped in to save it.
s***@aol.com
2019-08-19 04:32:55 UTC
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I’m always surprised to hear of school starting before Labor Day, and you were surprised to see school hadn’t already started yet (well before Labor Day.) It’s strange how school years vary so much throughout the country.
w***@gmail.com
2019-08-19 13:41:49 UTC
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Here in central Indiana some school districts started school on July 24! The rest start during August.

When I was growing up (attended schools in Indiana and Ohio) the first day of school was always the day after Labor Day, every year.

The Indiana State Fair is always 2 1/2 weeks in August, and it seems strange to see only preschool age kids there during the day. Almost all the schools have started by the time the fair begins.

The difference with the early start school schedules us that the students get some longer vacations during the year. Some get two week spring breaks, and also a week long fall break. We only ever had two days off for Thanksgiving and a week off for spring break.

The total number of school days on the calendar is the same. Still, it does seem very odd to have back-to-school sales starting the last week of June, and school buses on the roads in July.
Ansley
2019-08-20 21:34:37 UTC
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Post by s***@aol.com
I’m always surprised to hear of school starting before Labor Day, and you were surprised to see school hadn’t already started yet (well before Labor Day.) It’s strange how school years vary so much throughout the country.
In the South most schools start the 1st to 3rd week of August. My kids started today, Aug. 20th but that is later than many schools in the deep south. We live in Western VA, but some of the counties around us started 1.5 weeks ago!

I think Schools should all start after Labor day...

Ted

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