- This page was last modified on 12 June 2025, at 22:39. Suggest an edit.
Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park facts for kids
| Previously known as Big Chief's Karts and Coasters, Family Land, Bay of Dreams, Treasure Island Resort, Pleasant View Motel, Copa Cabana (merged into Mt. Olympus) | |
 |
|
| Location | Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 43°36′55″N 89°47′22″W / 43.615145°N 89.789382°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opened | 1990 (as Big Chief's Karts And Coasters) |
| Owner | Laskaris family |
| Operating season | May through October (outdoor water and theme park) Year-round (indoor water and theme park) |
| Area | 102.2 acres (0.414 km2) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 51 (5 coasters, 37 waterslides, and 9 go kart tracks) |
| Roller coasters | 5 |
| Website | Mt. Olympus Website |
Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park is a super fun resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It's a theme park and water park all in one! The whole place is designed to look like Ancient Greece, with lots of cool stuff inspired by Greek myths and gods. It's even named after Mount Olympus, the mountain where the Greek gods were said to live.
Mt. Olympus has both indoor and outdoor water parks, plus exciting amusement park rides. The resort also includes many motel buildings that have been added over time, along with its main hotel.
Contents
History of Mt. Olympus
How It Started: Big Chief Karts & Coasters
The story of Mt. Olympus began with the Laskaris family. Demetrios “Jim” Laskaris came to the United States from Greece when he was 13. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he and his wife Fotoula opened a hot dog stand called “Big Chief” in Wisconsin Dells in 1970. It didn't do very well at first.
But the family didn't give up! With some savings, they built a small dirt track for three-wheeler vehicles. In 1975, they added a go-kart track called "Goofy Karts." Jim and Fotoula’s son, Nick Laskaris, became the go-karts' main mechanic when he was only 9 years old!
The family kept growing their business. Nick Laskaris became very good at designing go-kart tracks, even creating multi-level tracks that were unique at the time. Their place became known as Big Chief Go-Kart World.
In 1995, they added their first roller coaster called Cyclops. Because of this, they changed the park's name to Big Chief Karts & Coasters. They added two more roller coasters, Pegasus in 1996 and Zeus in 1997. By 1999, the park had grown to 107 acres!
Becoming Mt. Olympus Theme Park
In 2004, Big Chief Karts and Coasters got a new name: Big Chief's Mt. Olympus Theme Park. They really leaned into the Greek theme. Later that year, Mt. Olympus teamed up with another nearby resort, Treasure Island. This brought Treasure Island's outdoor Family Land Waterpark and indoor Bay of Dreams water park together with Mt. Olympus. This created the Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park we know today!
The park's biggest roller coaster, Hades, opened in 2005. Hades is a wooden roller coaster famous for its super steep drops. In 2006, Mt. Olympus opened the Parthenon Indoor Theme Park, a huge building with several fun rides, including a spinning roller coaster called Opa.
In 2007, Mt. Olympus bought Treasure Island completely. This added even more land and hotel buildings to the resort.
Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Today
The Lost City of Atlantis, a three-acre outdoor water park area, opened in 2012. It has seven new slides and a giant dump bucket.
In 2013, the Hades roller coaster got a big upgrade! It was renamed Hades 360 because it added a 360-degree loop and an amazing 110-degree turn. In 2016, "The Great Pool of Delphi" was added. This huge swimming pool holds 500,000 gallons of water and is one of the biggest pools in Wisconsin Dells!
Over the years, Mt. Olympus has also bought and updated many nearby motels and hotels. They've given them Greek-themed names like Poseidon's Village and Zeus's Village. This has made the resort much bigger, with over 1,300 rooms for guests.
Zeus' Playground: Outdoor Theme Park
Zeus' Playground is the outdoor part of Mt. Olympus where you'll find all the exciting theme park rides. This area has awesome go-karts, thrilling roller coasters, and other fun attractions.
Roller Coasters
- Cyclops - A wooden roller coaster with a 75-foot (22.9 m) drop. It goes up to 70 feet (21 m) high and weaves around the Zeus and Hades coasters.
- Hades 360 – This wooden roller coaster has a super steep 65-degree drop and can reach speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h). It drops 134 ft (40 m) and has the world's longest underground tunnel on a roller coaster! Inside the tunnel, the track banks at a 90-degree angle. In 2013, they added a 360-degree loop and a 110-degree overbanked turn.
- Little Titans - A smaller roller coaster perfect for younger riders.
- Pegasus - A wooden roller coaster that goes over Medusa's Drop. It's 1,600 feet (490 m) long, reaches heights of 60 feet (18 m), and has a 45-foot (13.7 m) drop.
- Zeus - A 2,700-foot (823.0 m) long wooden roller coaster. It speeds through a forest, climbs a 90-foot (27 m) hill, and then drops 85-foot (25.9 m) at 60 mph (100 km/h).
Go-Kart Tracks
- Helios Track - This track goes up, around, and back down again on multiple levels.
- Hermes' Turbo Track - Get ready for the fastest go-kart track at the park!
- Orion Intermediate Go-Kart Track - A track for those who are a bit more experienced, with karts for smaller racers too.
- Tiny Hero Go-Kart Track - A beginner track designed for the smallest racers.
- Titan's Tower
- Trojan Horse - This track used to go right through the belly of a giant Trojan Horse! It drops 35 feet (10.7 m) and has tight turns.
- Underworld Go-Kart Track - This track goes up and down towers, and even underwater! It was called Poseidon Underwater Go-Kart Track before 2018.
Other Rides
- Apollo's Swing - This huge swing is 100-foot (30 m) tall and can reach speeds of 70 mph (113 km/h)!
- Batting Cages - Practice your baseball swing here.
- Kiddie Swing – A gentle swing ride just for children.
- Kiddie Train - A fun train ride for little ones.
- Pan's Animal Farm - Get to meet and feed different animals.
- Rock Wall – A 30 feet (9.1 m) tall wall for climbing.
- The Almighty Hermes - This swing lifts riders 100 feet (30 m) into the air over the Poseidon's Rage Wave Pool, reaching speeds up to 45 miles per hour (72 km/h).
- The Manticore - A 140 feet (43 m) tall tower with spinning chairs that take 24 guests high into the sky.
Former Rides
- Catapult – This ride was removed in 2015.
- Dive to Atlantis - A water roller coaster that operated from 2004 to 2007.
Neptune's Water Kingdom: Outdoor Waterpark
Neptune's Water Kingdom is the outdoor waterpark section of Mt. Olympus, full of slides and pools!
Waterslides
- Blue Magnum Mat Slides - Race down these slides on a mat.
- Comet - A fun slide for children.
- Demon's Drop – A body slide with an 85-foot (25.9 m) drop!
- Deuces Wild - A tube slide.
- Double Barrel - An enclosed tube slide.
- Double Trouble – Another exciting tube slide.
- Dragon's Tail - A 300-foot (90 m) long slide with two drops.
- Lightning - A super fast enclosed speed slide.
- Little Dipper - A gentle slide for children.
- Thunder - A speedy slide.
- Triton's Fury - A 340-foot (104 m) long family raft ride.
- Triton's Rage – A 550-foot (168 m) long family raft ride.
- Triton's Challenge – Race your friends down this 350-foot (107 m) long, six-lane mat racer.
Other Water Attractions
- Bumper Boats - Drive and bump into friends on the water.
- Huck's Lagoon – A fun water play area for kids with tunnels, slides, cannons, and lots of water activities.
- Poseidon's Rage - One of the world's largest surf pools! It creates huge waves over 9 feet (2.7 m) tall.
- The Great Pool of Delphi - A massive 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m2) swimming pool holding 500,000 gallons of water.
- The River Troy – A faster version of a lazy river that connects to a shallow pool.
- Tidal Wave - The original wave pool at the park.
The Parthenon: Indoor Theme Park
The Parthenon was the first indoor theme park in Wisconsin Dells. It's designed to look like the famous ancient Greek temple!
Current Rides
- Balloon Ride - A gentle ride that lifts you up in a balloon.
- Bumper Cars - Crash and bump into your friends!
- Crazy Trolley - A fun, spinning ride.
- Rock Wall Climb - Test your climbing skills on this wall.
- Spring Ride - A bouncy ride.
- Tea Cups - Spin around in giant teacups.
- The Parthenon Arcade - Play lots of fun arcade games here.
Former Rides
- Go-Karts
- Disk'o
- Free Fall
- Opa
Medusa's Indoor Water Park
Medusa's Indoor Waterpark is a huge 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) indoor water park at Mt. Olympus. It used to be called the Bay of Dreams and was part of another resort before joining Mt. Olympus.
Waterslides
- Anaconda – A tube slide that feels like it's over 10 stories high!
- Boa - A basic tube slide, now a body slide.
- Cobra - An enclosed body slide.
- Diamondback - A body slide.
- Hispaniola Bay - A children's area with a 35-foot (10.7 m) long pirate ship, tunnels, five water slides, and lots of water fun.
Other Water Attractions
- Jaguar Hot Tub - A relaxing hot tub.
- Mayan Raging River – A lazy river where you can float along.
- Sacred Well Whirlpool - A fun whirlpool.
- Warriors Water Walk - A simple pool area.
Night at the Theme Park
In the summer of 2009, Mt. Olympus started a special event called Night at the Theme Park. During this event, some rides like Hades 360, Zeus, and the Trojan Horse Go-Kart Track would stay open late, from 10 pm to 1 am, on certain nights. Guests would even get free soda and parking! The idea came from Nick Laskaris after he saw the movie "Night at the Museum."
Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park at the Roller Coaster DataBase