Wisconsin/Iowa Trip (Photo Trip Report)

Holy Angels Festival

West Bend, WI

Some of my relatives live up here, so we stayed at their house for a while. We also went with them to a zoo and Mt. Olympus before going to Adventureland.

The Holy Angels Festival is a big carnival-type setup that raises funds for a church and their school (I think.) The midway was really crappy and ghetto. Interestingly enough, at a church fundraiser, there was a crapload of alcohol, imitation slot machines, and other things that most churches would never have anything to do with. I only went on two rides (the bizzare swings and the scrambler) before getting the hell out of there. Ugh... way too ghetto.

Yes, I am one for the artsy photos...

I think that this picture turned out great...

Every carnival I've been to has one of these kiddy jungle things.

This ghetto ride just went in a curved rectangle shape, and was hooked up to a big car battery for power.

Pretty short ferris wheel...

Every kid that went on came flying off the slide.

Gotta love the blatant character rip-offs...

I'd never actually ride the Zipper, but it photographs really well.

I guess the "Starship" sign fell off somewhere. The entire ride looked like it was going to fly off, though.

How is that lady getting squished? And she looks like she is in pain... not enough padding, I guess (ahem...)

Happy Memories Zoo

Appleton, WI

This was an okay zoo. Overpriced. There were too many cages and not enough natural habitats. They also had too many animals that you could just pick up at a pet store. But, they had a really nice petting zoo area, with some great staff in there.

The best things, though, were two amazing signs that were in the park. (Pictured below.)

Aww... monkey...

More cute monkeys.

They're trying to get this pig to win the Wisconsin State Fair award for biggest pig. It currently weighs 947 pounds.

Llama with goats in petting zoo area.

Strangely enough, this is a chicken.

Feeding a baby skunk...

Aww, it's Bambi!

A llama in the petting zoo section. You were free with all the animals in one huge area.

Otter slide into malaria pool of doom...

Amazing sign #2...

Amazing sign #1 (read closely...)

Zebra...

Prarie dog orgy...

Necessary for any TPR PTR. (Whoa, they're anagrams!)

Big camel, little camel.

But it sure as hell wasn't a grey wolf!

I'm not sure what this animal was...

Parrot fight to the death...

An example of the "pet store" animals...

But then, it turns around. Shield your eyes!

The baboon looks nice from the front...

Mt. Olympus (aka Big Chief's Karts and Coasters)

Wisconsin Dells, WI

Wow, Mt. Olympus has changed a lot! We got free tickets there with our room at Treasure Island (a great deal). I hadn't been there since the olden days of Big Chief, the two sides of the park, and the "no insurance" poster. It still retains some of the "charm" from the old days (some bad workers, no checking lap bars on Zeus), but it has improved 100%.

The indoor waterpark was really nice, and had some great tube slides (you went really high on the turns), and body slides. Nice little place. However, the water in the outdoor park was freezing, so I went on one crappy slide and changed.

Hades totally kicked my ass. It was a great ride. There was one turn in particular that was really rough, but other than that, it was very smooth and out of control.

Another kind of artsy picture. Took about three shots to get it right.

A view of the "big three" at Mt. Olympus.

The olden-days picture, with Hades peeking over.

Yeah, Cyclops still owns your ass.

Half the rows on Cyclops weren't operational (luckily the fron and back halfs worked.)

Is it just me, or does this picture look Photoshopped? (It's not...)

Really tiny bumper car arena...

This ride was pretty damn good! Made your stomach drop a ton...

An Elissa-friendly mouse. There's almost no spinning on this spinning mouse. (I believe there's a POV in the Videographer fourm.)

Dive to Atlantis: based on lazy river technology, so it goes 2 mph through 90% of its course.

Hades heading up its lift.

My camera takes pictures too slow sometimes...

Hades has some nice little hops in the track which provide nice pops of air in the front (and sometimes in the back.)

Hades is a huge coaster. Its first drop is insane in the back.

I didn't really like the go-karts... too rough on the wooden areas.

The only log flume in America that needs someone to manually drain its cars every three hours.

Zeus was getting his wood replaced...

Hades was too intense for some...

Every single drop on Cyclops is insane in the back of the train.

Cyclops still kicks ass, after all these years.

Pegasus had potential, but it didn't deliver.

Yes, I am a credit whore...

Didn't go on it... didn't look very fun.

Triton's Tower... the water had to be at least 50 degrees...

It was a fun ride, but make sure you leave a little room between the harness thingy and your back.

I took this picture after getting my spine crunched on the Disko.

Those signs are AWESOME!

And some of the pictures turned out really, really good.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Opa! was terrible. After our first ride, our cars spinning mechanism failed to catch, so they sent us around for another go - spinning the ENTIRE TIME, rather than just after the half-way point. It was CRAZY.

Last Part...

Adventureland

Altoona, IA

I love this park. It's one of my home parks, and I dearly love it. The rides are fun, yes, but the best thing about it is its atmosphere. It just has a fun, safe, enjoyable atmosphere that makes your day great. The employees are so much fun (most of them are retired) and make your day fun. Get to this park not so much for the credits, but for its nice atmosphere. You won't regret it.

One of the most relaxing, enjoyable rides anywhere.

Here comes the Tornado...

This hill gives good lateral air for the entire train, but in the front car, it is insane.

Ah, this is better.

The lady just had to run in front of my picture...

If you turn up your speakers all the way, you'll be able to hear the screams of pain from the riders.

This is the Dragon, built by O.D. Hopkins...

I though Robb was in Europe!

(Just kidding, Robb.)

A crazy Rotor...

One of the few Breakdances in the US.

Great program... this is how they all should be run. Crazy.

One of the few surviving, well-run Falling Stars.

Adventureland's new ride, Splash Over, which replaced the crappy Mixer. Moser made it- they make good replicas of Huss rides- this one also smashes your balls. Although, this one ran a great program.

Ditto...

Ditto...

View from ferris wheel...

Artsy photo...

I love Space Shots...

Adventureland's midway...

The rest of the Adventureland photos...

The sky ride goes right over the log ride. (Which for some reason we call River Rapids.)

Just look at the expression on the lady's face!

The trees just surround you on the chairlift...

Why does it say "Fuji?" The world will never know.

Gliding through the log ride at night.

I probably ruined the on ride photo's picture by taking mine. (Mine went like a millisecond before the other.)

A little blurry, but cool anyways.

This one came out pretty cool.

Outlaw's drop and second hill.

Another good Moser replica. Can you see the plane in the picture?

Even this part of the Dragon is rough.

Another, but with Tornado's train in it.

Nice sunset w/ coasters picture.

Tornado isn't a top ten coaster, it's just a fun ride.

You can get an idea of Dragon's (crappy) layout from here. We are cursed to have the only Hopkins coaster with OSTR's.

Tornado at the bottom of its first drop.

Tornado going up its lift.

The Tornado has a lot of bouncy airtime in the front seat.

The first day we were there, no one even got a sprinkle on them from this ride. People were getting soaked the next.

Let's ride the A-Train!

We also spell "carousel" "carrousel." WTF?

You don't see Paratroopers much anymore.

I was taking this picture to show how not to ride the sky ride, but I just noticed he's itching his balls.

Always nice to see someone report on how much Cyclops pwns Adventureland looks nice too. Any chance of getting a pov of Outlaw anytime? Or shots of more than just the first two drops?

Oh come on! Ride the Zipper, they are SO much fun!

Anywho, GREAT TR! Tons of photos is what I like. And I could never get tired of Hades photos.

^^ It is very hard to get photos of anything on Outlaw's layout other than the first two drops. It goes under its structure, and it is away from all of the paths. Maybe if I bring my camera onto the ride.

In addition, I don't have a video camera at this time, but am considering getting one. If I do get one, and get the permission of the operators, I will try to get a POV of all the coasters there. This may be late (late July/late August), but I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for the comments. My family calls me a camera Nazi sometimes, but, in the end, they are thankful for my photography in then end. Just wait until I go to China and post my mega-photo trip report. No coasters, but I'm sure it'll be worth looking at in the random forum.

I'd never actually ride the Zipper, but it photographs really well.

They do look freaky but are actually comfortable and thrilling.

I get to ride one tomorrow.

Nice TR. I'm glad someone else appreciates Adventureland's atmosphere. Friendliest staff I've ever seen at that tiny little park. If it was located in Ohio, it just might get a Golden Ticket for the staff.

I'm right with you on Dragon. Burn it, I say. They even added seatbelts to the horsecollars. Yeesh.

You can get some pretty decent pictures of Outlaw's back half from the road and (I assume) from the circus.

Reon-basically, it does a 270* to the left, then turns around and does a 360* to the right before a 180* left onto the brake run.

Again, nice TR.

^ Yeah, they added the seatbelts to Dragon and Sidewinder, and Splash Out probably came with them. It's probably an insurance thing, like adding seat belts to Tornado and Outlaw a couple years ago.

It's quite unfortunate that few go to visit this park. (Probably because it's in the middle of nowhere.) But it is really worth the trip.

Oh, I forgot to say something. (Well, actually a few things. It was late last night.)

- If anyone wants larger sizes of any of the photos, I'd be happy to provide. I know that some of them could make good wallpapers for your computer. Just PM me and tell me what you want.

- True story: We were at Mt. Olympus, waiting for one of the go-kart tracks (I believe Heilos.) The guy moves the bumper thingy (that switches the pit area on and off) to the middle, and tells riders to go back to the pit. He directs them both visually and verbally. A young kid comes flying down the track, and smacks right into the barricade and the worker. He just then continues driving, going for another lap around the track, as do others while the poor man is down.

It was incredible (in a bad way) to see the man get hit. He just went flying, and landed on his back. He looked pretty badly hurt, but the other operator just made sure he could still walk. No replacement worker was ever called, nor was the ride shut down. If I had been the other operator, I would get everyone off of the ride, and shut the ride down, because safety it most important. I would also call for a replacement- he shouldn't be working just after he got injured!

^wow that is a scary story, hope the guy's ok, gonna leave a major bruise. How is Outlaw by the way, never hear about it?

^Outlaw is a fun little coaster with some intense lateral air. It's barely ridable anywhere but the front anymore, though.

True story: We were at Mt. Olympus, waiting for one of the go-kart tracks (I believe Heilos.) The guy moves the bumper thingy (that switches the pit area on and off) to the middle, and tells riders to go back to the pit. He directs them both visually and verbally. A young kid comes flying down the track, and smacks right into the barricade and the worker. He just then continues driving, going for another lap around the track, as do others while the poor man is down.

 

It was incredible (in a bad way) to see the man get hit. He just went flying, and landed on his back. He looked pretty badly hurt, but the other operator just made sure he could still walk. No replacement worker was ever called, nor was the ride shut down. If I had been the other operator, I would get everyone off of the ride, and shut the ride down, because safety it most important. I would also call for a replacement- he shouldn't be working just after he got injured!

I know what you mean. Mt. Olypmus never ceases to amaze me with its disregard for saftey. No spiels, no lap bar or seatbelt checks, lack of fences in some places. It's incredible.

At CoasterCon, I was on the Trojan Horse Go-Kart track (I never want to get that close to the underside of a horse again) and I was bombarded by a group of idiotic and reckless college students. The bumped into me - hard. I was knocked off course and I got stuck, unable to move the go-kart at all. I was right behind an op and it took him three full laps to notice. The worst part - the people who crashed into me got off with no penalty. They continued to do the same thing on other go-kart tracks all day (the same thing happened to a friend of mine on Medusa's Drop).

^ I didn't find the Outlaw to be terribly rough in the back. It was rougher than the front (which is almost glass smooth) but very bearable for me. Although, I have a pretty good tolerance for rougher rides. The lateral air is great- some of the best lateral air I've ever experienced.

Also, Mt. Olympus seems to be improving a little in regards to safety. Lap bars/safety restraints were checked everytime on every coaster except Zeus. For some reason, even though they had a two person crew, no restraints were checked (other than visually.) Also, they would wait on that ride until the train was full to dispatch. None of the other rides did this. Small improvement. They need to teach their employees to pay attention, and figure some motion or call for track crossing.

Also, why is there no seat belt or harness in the go-karts? Simply having a harness-type setup (which every other go-kart place has) would help considerably.

While I was looking through my photos, I found something really strange.

Look at the ferris wheel pictures. Why the hell does it say "Fuji?" It is a Chance Ferris Wheel, so it couldn't be the name of the company.

Methinks it was from Fuji-Q Highlands. Does anyone else know more?

Dude you should have Pm'd me! I live so close to the Holy Angles fair....after all I live in West Bend! But there is no way that you would have know

Maybe next time!

I ahve a question about Adventurland. Isn't there an indoor wood coaster called "Underground" or something like that? It's on rcdb.com but nobody ever mentions it.

So many good coasters I'll never get the chance to ride...

Great pics.

^^ It's more of a dark ride than anything. It's gravity powered, therefore a credit, but very slow with very few drops. CCI built it.

It has show scenes and a bizarre plot, but it's pretty good theming for a park that never does theming on rides. (More than cardboard cutouts).