They violated the number #1 rule of safety, "if it isn't documented, it wasn't done. " I can't imagine anyone operating per legal requirements NOT documenting training. It's the surest way to CYA. Shady, shady, shady!
Right? You know their poorly organized when they can’t produce training papers. You can forge them in 8 hours after the accident if you got your shit together.
I was one of the operator of OPA that day, every worker was J1 from differents countries. Our training consisted in another operator with some time of experience (sometimes was just one day) who teached how play the buttons. In our time there many atracctions had problems and the solution of the mecanic was just temporary.
I mostly stuck to the go karts, but even those were sketchy. Legit had a family try to run me off the course for the sin of passing someone. I didn’t say anything because I knew they wouldn’t care/take action.
This happened to my grandpa, Tony Theisen. It was a very hard time for our family and he unfortunately passed away in 2020. This rollercoaster changed our lives and he was never the same after - he had a permanent severe brain injury.
@@thepuncakian2024 On this exact coaster - I was in my junior year of high school at the time. It was a horrible time for my family and he was never the same man after.
I don't understand it. The woman "witness" stated that she was nervous about the lap bars being loose and had to "hold her own bar down during the entire ride". Yet, when they got back to the station and got off the ride, didn't say or mention anything at all to the operators or ride crew to notify them that there may be an issue? She just went along her day thinking ... 'I live, it's not my problem'?
I’m honestly surprised nobody has died at this park. I went in 2014 a couple of days before the slingshot accident. All the rides look held together by duct tape and glue. Maybe they are doing better now I hope.
There have been quite a few deaths at Mt. Olympus. None because of the rides yet. Though there was that kid who trespassed and fell off a water slide during winter
As a Wisconsinite whom lives near there I can tell you this, It. Has not. Changed. Their company only cares about buying new buildings to add to their “empire” and neglect everything else. I went there just last year and the rollercoasters looked like they would just fall apart at any moment, especially the Pegasus one, the last sharp turn it takes the track literally tilts a few good inches.
I rode Opa dozens of times when I went in 2010 and rain had unfortunately closed down almost everything outside. I was initially surprised to hear the Mt. Olympus doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to safety, but then I recalled a few things: - sketchy go-kart tracks with violently colliding go-karts - one of those freefall slides with the rolling hills that looked like the rider was going to fly off every time I watched it - the Poseidon's Rage wave pool generates a single 10+ ft tall wave that sends people crashing into each other - coasters well-designed to make projectiles fly off your person Yeah, I suppose it actually adds up
The wave pool is abysmal. I remember being a little girl and landing on a strangers shoulders like a teen couple at a concert. I’ve also seen the pool many a times take a ladies bikini top with the wave.
I remember going into that wave pool as a kid with my dad. We went up to the front. We had a good few rounds in the pool before a 10 ft wave sent a grown man crashing into me. His weight dragged me under and pinned me down as the onslaught of waves that followed kept him from getting back up. I was being suffocated by this man's ass. Quite literally, because that's how he landed on me. My dad had been right next to me when I went under and was none the wiser. I could not get out of that pool fast enough. I am not surprised that they have a poor reputation after that fiasco.
I actually went to Mt. Olympus in 2015, I had no idea this had happened. I went on all the wooden coasters and had a blast. I was surprised so many people say it's one of the worst parks in America, but it makes more sense now seeing this.
Mt. Olympus has ruined their park and is ruining the Dells. Notice how the family owned motels on the strip are being taken over by Mt Olympus and they are taking horrible care of the motels. Such a shame.
@@retroryan838I go there a lot and it's really fun and it's really cool but I feel like the person who owns this place should take a better care of it
Did a little more reading on this. The victim was 63 and spent three weeks in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, in addition to breaking his back, neck, wrist and toes. His wife would end up divorcing him because of changes in his personality and temperament after the accident. To quote her: “My life changed forever. I’m not the same person; neither is he.” So while thankfully this accident wasn't fatal, it still ended up causing a lot of grief and negatively affecting the lives of friends and family.
"In sickness and in health" goes out the window when it doesn't benefit them I guess. (This isn't about women, it's about people in general that take the oath then dip out when things get tough)
The personality changes when someone sustains a TBI can be impossible to deal with. Overnight they become a different person. In a similar vein when working with cancer patients providers are taught to handle the knowledge and that a womens husband will leave her due to the diagnosis. The same training doesn’t apply to men that get diagnosed as the wife will stay
My dad got a TBI after we went to the beach, a wave knocked him over, and he hit his head on a rock. He was in a coma for a week or so. I try to remember him as the person he was before it happened and not the person that slowly became more confused, angry and irritated as time went on. Within a few years of the accident, he took his own life. :/
I’m so glad to finally see a video about this incident. Mount Olympus was my family’s summer vacation every year in the late 2000s. While I have fond memories there, the park is TERRIFYING. All the rides are rickety and poorly maintained. The main example that comes to my mind is the Trojan Horse go cart track. As far as I know, you can no longer drive up the horse. But when you were able to, it sounded as though the carts above you on the track were going to fall through the wooden flooring. OPA was a ride I went on many of times as a kid. The restraints were incredibly poor. My parents made sure to sit on the edges because of the looseness of the restraints on children, even those who are well above the height restrictions. Through the turns you could feel yourself slide to the edges of the car. There’s actually a picture my parents have of my little brother crying at the height bar at the beginning of the ride because he wasn’t tall enough. He was sad he never got a chance to ride before we stopped going, but in hindsight it was a good thing.
I rode this coaster several times around 2012/2013 and remember feeling deeply nervous about the general amount of space allowed by the lap bars. To be fair though I usually feel like any wild mouse type ride is going to result in my death. The Dells and Little Amerricka were the first places I rode coasters and it's a miracle that I ever got on another coaster after some of those janky experiences. ALSO I will NEVER understand why manufacturers are allowed to omit seatbelts as a safety back up. Especially with small time rides often operated at lesser parks and traveling fairs. The boost in capacity is not worth it.
When I went to Little Amerricka around the late 2000s or 2010 or so, I rode on a "mouse" ride like this one there, and it was legit one of the most rickety scary rides I've ever been on. Somehow they let a kid like me go on alone, and there were no real safety measures in my car besides a bar with grippy orange foam on it for you to grab onto if you're uh, the size of an adult. Such was not the case for me. I kept being thrown around so much at high heights that I started almost crying, and for the sake of survival I uncomfortably leaned forward enough to wrap my arms around that bar and locked them in place for dear life. After the ride ended I was shaking and when I finally got to have a breather (my slightly older brother was on another ride so he couldn't comfort me until some minutes later, and the adults who brought us were pretty unkind) I noticed that the inner parts of my elbows where I'd been holding the bar were bleeding a bunch because I had put all of my strength into making sure I stayed in place. Genuinely horrific experience and it made me hope nobody would have to go through what I did. When I went to Opa later on, their version of the coaster felt way safer by comparison, but then again it was years before this accident occurred. In general it might just be that they became more and more lax with upkeep as the 2010s went on - I would believe that.
@@renkitty sheeeeeesh that’s terrible!! I had a similar experience on space mountain at Disneyland, of all places. Felt way too small for the restraints, all I remember was ducking my head down for the entire ride (even in the picture taken on the ride I’m barely visible), wrapping my arms around the handlebar in front of me, and praying every time that the track jerked and veered to the sides that I wouldn’t get tossed out. Every turn felt like a brush against death. Didn’t suffer bodily harm nearly to the extent you retained, though. Just the existential trauma no kid should endure 🥲 so sorry to hear of your experience, I can’t imagine the pure terror and adrenaline rush that prevented you from realizing how torn up your elbows were getting. Plus the fact that the adults who took you weren’t nice, that’s no good at all :(
I still haven't been to Little Americka. I drive past it all the time while working as a package courier, but usually it's been the off season or after hours. When it comes to a dedicated trip, who's gonna go there when Six Flags is the same distance (and I had a pass), so I've pretty much just ignored it until work took me by there. Shame to hear they have half-ass operations too. I figured with their family focus, safety would have been a priority.
I went to mount Olympus in the late 2000s, I remember that I didn’t meet the height requirement but the operator still let me ride. At the time I was thrilled, but looking back on it that was very unsafe and could’ve ended very badly.
The accident victim, 63 year old Anthony Tielsen did survive the accident and went on to live until 2020 when this funeral notice was published online with a photograph of a smiling older man who very much resembled the same man: Anthony "Tony" J. Theisen, age 70, of Fremont, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, December 27, 2020, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah.
I was at My Olympus a few years ago and on Hades, a maintenance worker was working on something in the station track while the train was cycling the track with guests on it. He jumped into the track when the train dispatched and jumped out before the train returned to the station. He repeated this at least 5 times.
Hello Wisconsinite here! I’ve been to MT Olympus quite a few times, once around 2018 and just last year, I will say that the rollercoasters looked hella sketchy, I rode both the Zeus one and the Pegasus one, the latter was very “jostley” it made me almost loose my cookies but I already have motion sickness to begin with. not only that the track would bend a few inches whenever the carts made a sharp turn, like it could fall apart at any moment. This year I skipped out on the rides and went to the water park, the lazy river was absolutely crazy, it was pretty overcrowded and went immensely fast for a lazy river. My brother almost drowned a few times due to drunk people not paying attention in the lazy river itself. not only that most of the employees were very distracted and negligent, most of the time on their phone, there were a few lifeguards that were attentive, funny thing when I was there this year an ambulance had to be called in due to someone getting hurt. The one good thing I’d say about my trip is that the Starbucks was pretty nice, although white chocolate iced lattes are enough to win me over. I really hope they decide to up their security and safety protocols before someone gets hurt, it’s inevitable and sadly I feel nothing will be done until there’s someone dead and the family suing for damages. I’ll say I definitely enjoyed Noah’s Ark more waterpark wise, haven’t been there in years though so I don’t know how Noah’s Ark is now,
Hiya neighbor! Another Wisconsinite here, also been dozens of times as a kid and teen, including on Opa when it was new (it was my favorite ride at the time). They've definitely always had issues with staff (not checking belts/lap bars, ignoring passenger height needed to ride, letting people make bad decisions on the go karts, ignoring people drowning in the wave pool, etc). I don't remember ever being hesitant of the rides themselves until I went back in 2015ish like 6 months prior to their slingshot incident. Don't get me wrong, it's never been a fantastic park, but man did it feel like they started at at the bottom and kept digging. Honestly kind of a miracle more people haven't been seriously injured.
When I was 12, my 12 year old fríend passed out and turned white/pale in Poseidon's Rage and no lifeguard seemed to notice. Thank God my mom and I went with her and looked for her when we couldnt find her after the wave.
from the milwaukee area, we go there every year cause my dad likes the go karts. one time i saw the (wooden) hades coaster LIGHT ON FIRE. it was open the next day
My brother went to Mt Olympus over 10 years ago. He told me when he rode on Hades, it was really sketchy. The ride vehicle had a big hole in the floor and they were performing maintenance on the support structure near the end of the ride while the ride was still operating.
I worked at Michigan’s Adventure (a Cedar Fair park) for a summer, and it’s always shocking to hear stories like these. It’s really not hard to train your staff to operate and check rides for maximum safety, and even less hard to follow said operating and safety procedures.
@@CoasterCollege They always told us to prioritize safety over throughput, as any responsible park should. Nothing but good things to say about my time there.
When I was younger I used to love this park. But when I got older and came back knowing what I know as a ride operator I seen how many safeties they break and just the lack of awareness. Jumping across the station track. Attendant being on their phone. Not caring about weight restricting. It's crazy I remember all of me and my co-workers would talk about how we would not like to work there because being held liable for an accident when park is just full of accidents waiting to happen.
When I was little, I went to this park multiple times per summer. I absolutely loved it. Now that I'm older, I can see how severely sketchy a lot of things in this park are.
I have visited mout Olympus once in 2021. It was not too sketchy, not at all, and they were retracking a ride, which showed they at least cared a bit. But yeah, their track record isn't the best. Let's hope they change that
Ive lived in Wisconsin my whole life and used to go to My Olympus every summer starting in 1998. Stopped going in 2013 as park operations and maintenance had just gotten steadily worse and worse every year. The last year I went we got stuck on Hades on that first hill after the second tunnel and had to climb down the side of the ride. Hades got stuck at that same hill six other times that summer lol. Adding onto this with another observation I just remembered. Timber falls used to have a roller coaster called Avalanche and while it shook you to hell that coaster was more properly maintained than any ride at Mt Olympus and Timber Falls is a Mini golf park lmao.
I love going to Mt. Olympus. The rush of adrenaline you get on the rides can't compare to the amount of back and shoulder pain you get. Each time I visit, the rides become more and more rough
I've been to Mt. Olympus multiple times. The last time that I went was for my birthday back in 2013. We were standing by the Cyclops ride when a coaster was going by and we saw a piece of wood (a 2x4 about a foot long) from the ride fly off of it. We decided to never ride on that one. Not only is it super sketchy, but the one time that I actually did go on it, you could actually feel the ride shake as it went on corners. I'm very surprised that no accidents have happened on this specific coaster. Also, the majority of the outdoor rides for Mt. Olympus are made out of wood, even their biggest coaster, Hades. Luckily, I never went on OPA or any of the other indoor rides.
I went to Mt Olympus in 2007, and I definitely questioned the safety practices of that park - almost every coaster had at least one row roped off due to seats missing, etc. The last row of Cyclops had signs posted saying that it was limited to people 18 and up due to the insane ejector airtime in that row, but it was not enforced by any means.
I was going through the comments expecting something about the Cyclops. I went on it in 2007 or maybe 2008. I was in the back row and got enough air time I landed on the top of the back of the seat and fortunately bounced back into the seat.
I visited Mt Olympus in 2013 with Theme Park Review. We had an hour of ERT on Hades 360, and they just let us on without actually doing morning testing.
@@CoasterCollege There's another story going around about them performing maintenance on something in Hades' station _while the ride was running,_ but I didn't see that one. Apparently, there was a guy in the track well doing something with a hammer and a can of WD-40. When the train hit the brakes, he'd climb up and chill in the station while Mt Olympus took their sweet-ass time with the dispatch, then back down he'd go with his WD-40 and hammer. I'd classify this as "rumor", though.
I went to this park maybe 2-3 times per year since I live in Wisconsin. This is the only water park / theme park I had several bad experiences with. Everytime I go there the wave pool is insane even if you’re in the shallow end. My friend did smth wrong with her knee just walking in the wave pool shallow end with all that force and Ive multiple times cut open my leg. Their roller coasters still make me feel a bit uneasy with the restraints and how old they are. Everytime I go they are always fixing a ride there. I also went on this water slide one of the raft ones and not even lieing almost went off the side. I’ve been on lots of raft rides so I know that there is always a bit of raft possibly close to the side but let me tell you we were like halfway off almost the side. On their body slides I have multiple cuts and bruises from and I followed the correct procedures of how I should be laying down. I’ve been to many waterparks and theme parks in my life to know this is not a safe one.
I hope the person was at least compensated and able to rebuild their life somewhat. The operator fleeing is suspicious to me, not as if they are to blame, but as if someone else was trying to cover something up and they had an feeling about it. They are ABSOLUTELY guilty of not immediately hitting that ESTOP the second they even suspect an injury. You do not take chances like that, another car could have struck them, or a catastrophic failure could have happened while they hesitated. Not everyone can handle an accident or the responsibility of people trusting their lives to you, and that is ok. The employer is partially or fully at fault for placing them their and not emphasizing and/or not properly training them on emergency preparedness. A blind dry run is all it takes to screen that out. You quickly run to the operator urgently while no cars are occupied or something similar and tell them to immediately stop the ride
I mean… one person who was not there when they took initial statements from witnesses says the operator tried to run but she was the hero who made them stop the ride, she just left immediately afterward without talking to anyone. Meanwhile presumably dozens of people who were actually there when statements were taken say simply that the operator stopped the ride and make no mention of some mysterious disappearing hero. Not 100% that she’s a liar, but definitely questioning that. 😏
@@bookcat123 Also she just happened to have been riding the ride in the exact seat the guy got thrown from mere minutes before it happened to him. She's definitely a liar that wants to somehow make a tragedy about herself. Like wtf, Grandma, get a hobby.
@@bookcat123 As someone who's grandma spent a lot of time trying to involve herself in random local police proceedings, I can say with absolute personal experience that some old folk really really just wanna make stories up to feel important. The story is sus considering not a single other person saw the operator trying to flee. You'd think something as memorable as an operator making a run for it and a brave civilian making them turn around and do their job would definitely be something more people saw and remembered. I'd beelieve it if it was just "we were on that ride just before and I also thought my lap bar came loose". But the addition of "i personally made the cowardly operator stop the ride" sounds like an "and everybody clapped" meme.
What happened is pretty straightforward. No other park has had an issue with the same ride. Mt. Olympus is the sketchiest looking amusement park in the U.S. I'm not a betting man, but i know which of those two possible causes I'd point to...
Never been to Mt Olympus but I did work as an operator on a Zamperla twister at Fantasy Island (called the Crazy Mouse exact same layout and cars) The operator in charge of loading ethier was improperly trained or was neglectful as SOP at my park included pulling on the lap bars to make sure they were locked
I recall a POV of Hades 360 in which the ride is sitting on the holding brake and you can see an operator cross the tracks. Even at the small park where I currently work, that's a big no no! Safety needs to be omnipresent in this industry, but that's unfortunately rarely 100% the case.
[*edit: the following statement is incorrect, but rather than correcting it, I'm leaving it due to a point I make further in the discussion] Gotta give the two sideways thumbs hand signal & get a confirmation from your crewmates before crossing over the track. I've never worked in a park, and even I've picked that up (IDK if it's a universal hand signal, but I've seen it at two different chains at least, first noticing at BGT)
@@lightfantastik Both parks I’ve worked for have you cross your wrists over your head, but you can still only cross over the train. Unless a ride is locked out, I really don’t see any reason someone should be on the track to begin with. I can’t think of any situation in which it isn’t a workplace hazard, given that no track is meant to be a walking surface (even GCI’s with designated crossover points still only use those as a means to get to one catwalk from another).
@@lightfantastik Both parks I’ve worked for have you cross your wrists over your head, but you can still only cross over the train. Unless a ride is locked out, I really don’t see any reason someone should be on the track to begin with. I can’t think of any situation in which it isn’t a workplace hazard, given that no track is meant to be a walking surface (even GCI’s with designated crossover points still only use those as a means to get to one catwalk from another).
@@GermiesCoasterYard oh wait! The thing I described is the signal to unlock the restraints - I totally got that mixed up. You're right on the arms crossed over the head. I was wrong - just goes to show how important they are as well as training. If the ride ops are left to figure it out for themselves, they're going to make mistakes like I just did.
Living in Wisconsin, Mt. Olympus is one of the most accessible water and theme parks. The admission price is relatively affordable and they have a variety of things to do there. On one visit with a friend for her birthday, we rode the Opa many times. This was, oddly enough, one of the rides I felt safest in. So when, a few years after, the incident happened, I was very surprised! It was something of a local outrage.
🎢😯.. I just remembered something like this happening at M&Ds in Scotland in 2005.. my bar completely unlocked in the middle of the ride and I just pulled it back and slammed it down, it locked again but.. I never really appreciated how dangerous that had been, I never even reported that incident… 14 years old I just walked away afterwards..
Not surprised by this at all. I know Coaster Studios only briefly mentioned this accident in his video but as soon as he mentioned that park employees would allow you to have your phone out on roller coasters, security/bag checks were only active half the time, and he saw an employee physically climb onto the tracks of an active ride to maintain it in the middle of a ride cycle, I just KNEW a tragedy would have happened here.
Official accident reports. They can be very hard to find, leading to most channels not using them. I always link them in the description so others can check my work and reference them as needed.
Me and my family went to Mt. Olympus in 2022. We went on all the rollercoasters and on the Medusa water slide. They had a scale you had to stand on to get your weight. When we went they took everything seriously. Made sure that all loose items were in the buckets to the side. Even double checking lap bars. I don't know if this is how everyday is or if we just got good cast members.
Last time I went to Mt. Olympus was in 2020 and it was the sketchiest park I’ve ever been to. Coasters physically HURT to ride and as far as maintenance goes, I’m sure there’s 0. I will literally never step foot into mt. Olympus ever again. There’s a reason it’s so cheap to stay there. I’ve over heard workers at the wilderness talking about working for mt. Olympus in the past and how the owner is cheap and runs the whole place super shady-like. I advise against that place for everyone’s safety.
I rode this coaster the weekend before this happened. I was 8 months pregnant , they still let me on, and the bar still didn’t properly restrain me. I felt like I was holding myself in with all my strength. I’ve never rode another coaster or carnival ride since. Sadly i wasn’t too surprised and felt greatful it wasn’t me.
I went to Mt. Olympus in 2013. It's definitely one of the poorest maintained parks in the Dells. I was a teenager at the time, so I enjoyed all the rides anyways, but the coasters were visibly poorly maintained. Funny thing is I remember Opa being my favorite. I actually didn't know before now it had an accident and was removed, and I can't help but feel disappointed even though I know I would never go back to that park anyways lol
Mt Olympus has had a long history of rides breaking down and nearly killing people. In 2015 one of the cables on their slingshot ride snapped right as the ride was about to begin, and in 2013 a 10 year old girl was knocked unconscious on their teacups ride. This whole park is a giant hazard. The only reason it hasn't gone out of business is because they charge very cheap for park tickets. A family can buy 5 tickets here for the price of 1 Six Flags ticket
Visited the park a few times growing up and even went on the ride 2 years before the accident. It was definitely the most unsafe I have ever felt on a ride since I was thrown around in the seat to the point my dad had to hold me in place.
I've gone to mount Olympus many times. I have never felt fully safe going there. I was next in line for hades and it was at the start of a thunderstorm. They sent our car right after a huge bolt of lightning and thunder
I remember how close you can get to the wooden roller coasters. There's this one section where you can stick your hand out and touch the track if no one is looking. Scary stuff.
I went to Mt. Olympus once, about a year before this incident but only really did the water park stuff. The rides definitely seemed a little sketchy, but the wave pool was downright dangerously strong. I was standing in about knee deep water and was knocked down by a wave and dragged for several feet. And I was in my early twenties, not a child. Scraped my back up horribly on the concrete, I'm lucky that's all that happened. Definitely does not seem like the safest place.
Hi I’m going soon but they are doing better and they are nice and helpful and if you don’t like that wave pool then go to the other one but me personally I like the big wave 😂
I went last summer and I remember just how decrepit and run down everything seemed. They weren’t advertising it like that though, and I’m surprised by how well they were able to cover this all up. All I can say now is that I’m thankful that none of this us were injured, and I strongly encourage anyone who plans to visit this park, especially if you are bringing kids or other vulnerable people along, to do your research before visiting.
I went here on a field trip in middle school. I didn’t feel unsafe but didn’t get to ride much because we needed to be with a buddy at all times. However, small low budget parks and fairs were the norm for me at the time, so that’s probably why it seemed normal to me. The go carts were more fun than what most parks have.
I lived and worked in the Dells for a summer about 15 years ago (not there). They're sketchy AF, but get away with everything because they seem to own half the damn town. While it's great to have coasters in Wisconsin (really good ones if they were maintained properly!), I really wish they'd sell the place to someone better equipped to operate it properly.
There's a similar ride called Ricochet at Carowinds. The car doesn't spin, but the turns are still very sharp. I only realized while looking at the track layout.
The one time I went to Mt Olympus I avoided most of the rides and stayed on the water attractions. You could make a series just about the dells with all of its problems
I love your videos! Always well researched and informative. I know it's not really your thing but it might be interesting to have just to have a video all about small, local amusement parks. For example Beech Bend near Bowling Green, Kentucky and Camden Park, Huntington, West Virginia.
I grew up in Wisconsin in the 1960s, and remember visiting Wisconsin Dells then, when they only had outdoor children’s attractions, but no amusement rides, either outdoors or in. I’ve yet to ride a spinning mouse, but would like very much to, since they seem like a lot of fun.
I’ve done Ragin Cajun. It was a fun little ride. But it hurt my knee a bit granted I also ran a half marathon that day so it wasn’t fully the ride’s fault.
I have ridden Ice Mountain at Winter Wonderland, and it was quite fun, but also quite janky and at the end, when it was spinning really fast, it just suddenly stopped which was quite uncomfortable. I much prefer ordinary spinning coasters from Gerstlauer, Maurer, Mack, etc.
I really love your videos I know this is a weird descriptor but theyre very digestible I have adhd and its hard for me to retain information like this even though it intrests me, but your videos are really informative and are explained in a way i can process
I am a Wisconsin native, and have been to the dells many times, and the only park that is sketchy is mt. O. all of there rides are extremely rough, and while they are technically safe the roughness has lead to multiple injury's that usually go unreported.
Including me. I don't know if I got whiplash or something but my upper back hurt for days after going on the coasters. We don't plan on going there again solely for the atrocious hotel.
One event happed to me on hades 360. I was sitting in car 7 on the right. The ride operators shake the seat belts and pull hard on the restraint with their body weight. The girl in front of me got her seatbelt shaken but when it was shaked it came out. The horror look on her face when the operator buckled it back in and moved on to me was scary. Luckily she was safe. The seatbelt stayed in throughout the duration of the ride. And yet they didn't even care.
6:41 "..they complete the training, but do not document it." Speaking as an Engineer, while having no proof of training does not mean that training did not occur, it makes it odds of proving that the training DID occur vanishingly small. Or, to state it in plainer English, If you cannot prove the training occurred, then a reasonable person would assume that training did NOT occur. I actually had a personal encounter with this way of thinking. We got a recall notice for our dog's eye medication because the documentation that proved the production of said medication was performed in a way to prevent cross-contamination with another medication made on an adjacent line was missing. There was no proof that cross-contamination DID occur, but the lack of proof that it WAS done right was enough to trigger the recall. Bottom line: You should document EVERYTHING. The job ain't over until the paperwork is complete.
Mt. Olympus (the dells in general) was one of my childhood parks. Went MANY times growing up. Those wooden coasters scared the shit out of me. I still haven’t rode on most of them. I rode OPA a lot as a kid, it being a ‘generic’ steel coaster made me feel safer. I remember going one year and that whole indoor park area was closed and the coaster was gone. Mt. Olympus comes across very sketchy, I’m surprised their many wooden coasters haven’t had a big accident
I never knew this happened but I've been to Mt. Olympus plenty of time because its affordable. But the safety is sketchy, I'm not surprised this happened
I remember going to the giant wave pool in mt Olympus. I was really small back then, and the waves hit me right in the face and nearly pulled me under. It was friggin terrifying.
They have bad operations because all four wooden roller coasters run with just one train. In addition you have to be 18 or older to ride in the last car.
I believe in 2012 or 2013, for sure more than 10 years ago I was on Cyclops at Mt Olympus with a friend of mine, while we were 3/4 of the way through the ride, the seat belt became unbuckled and we both had to rely on the bar only to hang on. We couldn't get buckled back during the ride as we were moving around on the coaster seat. As we left we told the attendant the seat belt became unbuckled but couldn't check if it was a issue or not, or if they kept loading people there or not, as you need to clear the platform for your safety. Never rode on their coasters there after.
I would like for you to take a look into "El Pendulo" accident, in Tibidabo (Catalonia, 2010). It happened in my country, but not much information was released, and I would like to see if you can find what really happened.
Mount Olympus is the type of park that would train operators to tell guests “The restraint on seat 1 doesnt work so just don’t sit there” rather than fixing the problem
The lady at the end who calls police is unhinged, she rode in that seat and had to hold it down the entire ride and then she just fucked off? She could have made a bigger deal about her faulty lap bar. Not saying its her fault or responsibility but its incredibly strange behavior to then call later and blame staff.
i always wondered why there was so much empty space when i went to the indoor part of mt olympus in 2015 now i know why. this is so extremely sad. edit: i remember there drop tower lap bars like never worked right
I am blown away by the alleged “operator tried to flee”, not the first time we’ve heard something like that. That is almost more terrifying then some accidents themselves! The person responsible for pressing the buttons just…running away??? Talk about being trapped 😮
Mt. Olympus, you mean the place that just buys out shitty motels and then forces people to stay in horrible rooms to get some deals for getting into the park? Oh, Mt. Olympus, you mean the place that has a history of hiring a ton of people on H1-B visa and its CLEARLY evident? OHHHH, Mt. Olympus which is owned by one of the few guys who flaunts his wealth while spending almost no money on the park itself? Yeah.... That Mt. Olympus. This is coming from someone who has lived in the state his whole life and this was a popular thing for summer camps to take us to as well as school trips. It was, and always has been a joke.
I have been in this type of rollercoaster before (the track is called a wild mouse) and I’ve never felt unsafe on them because the people running the ride were vigilant and there was usually a cart or two out of order, which meant they had checked them. The one I’ve been on most is Pinball X in Hastings, which I’ve never felt unsafe on. My partner did however trap their groin in the lap bar, which made it a very uncomfortable and painful ride 😂. I have been in my fair share of fairground rides that shouldn’t have been run by the operator that was. My biggest one being a bouncer that was never locked down. The outside lock to the lap bar was never even checked and wasn’t pulled down. Also there was no safety other than that. I had to use my foot while the ride was beginning to run to try and slide the latch in place. Luckily I managed to do it before it began jolting, but I still spent the entire time holding the bar in order to try and protect my cousin from flying out if I hadn’t locked it correctly. Chances are, I wouldn’t have been able to actually hold it, but I still tried. I promised to never go on it again.
I was at Mt. Olympus around 2010. I rode all the coasters including OPA, think it was even the yellow car... Everything seemed maintained well enough, but that was years before this accident.
They violated the number #1 rule of safety, "if it isn't documented, it wasn't done. " I can't imagine anyone operating per legal requirements NOT documenting training. It's the surest way to CYA. Shady, shady, shady!
That’s actually a good way to put it
Mount Olympus has always been shady lmao, it's ran by a family who doesnt give a shit and just wants money
Right? You know their poorly organized when they can’t produce training papers. You can forge them in 8 hours after the accident if you got your shit together.
You missed the part where if the issue isn't documented in the first place you can claim you didn't know about it 🧠
I was one of the operator of OPA that day, every worker was J1 from differents countries. Our training consisted in another operator with some time of experience (sometimes was just one day) who teached how play the buttons.
In our time there many atracctions had problems and the solution of the mecanic was just temporary.
I'm amazed this park hasn't had more severe incidents. This is the only park I've been to where I actually felt unsafe.
It really does feel like the closest thing we have to a modern day Action Park.
It's super sketchy with the way it's operated. I'm surprised it hasn't been investigated more thoroughly.
I mostly stuck to the go karts, but even those were sketchy. Legit had a family try to run me off the course for the sin of passing someone. I didn’t say anything because I knew they wouldn’t care/take action.
Those wood coasters are so sketchy
cool, so i'm never going here ever 😀
It's a small detail, but I love when you use the simulator footage for people who've made these rides in-game.
The simulator footatge always helps visualize it
he actually also asks for them in his discord! i think it's really cool tbh
@@AmazingRoni that IS really cool.
🫡 didn’t make this one but did fujin raijin 2 and ntg! glad to see they’re appreciated :))
@@ConceptualCoasters you DID?? good job mate! it looked so amazing imo!!
This happened to my grandpa, Tony Theisen. It was a very hard time for our family and he unfortunately passed away in 2020. This rollercoaster changed our lives and he was never the same after - he had a permanent severe brain injury.
:(
Sure mate
Huh? On this coaster? Or a different coaster?
I’m sure being brain damaged runs in that family based on your lie lmao
@@thepuncakian2024 On this exact coaster - I was in my junior year of high school at the time. It was a horrible time for my family and he was never the same man after.
I always wondered how they could close Opa! Because it was the only coaster that they had in their indoor theme park. I guess now I know.
👋
@CZsWorld Omg i love that you follow this channel!! I love your videos
Can we have a round of applause for the manager immediately activating the EAP?
👏
👏 good show lad
⭕️👏
👏 👏 👏
👏 👏 👏!!!
I don't understand it. The woman "witness" stated that she was nervous about the lap bars being loose and had to "hold her own bar down during the entire ride". Yet, when they got back to the station and got off the ride, didn't say or mention anything at all to the operators or ride crew to notify them that there may be an issue? She just went along her day thinking ... 'I live, it's not my problem'?
Probably used to being called dramatic and didn't trust her own gut
This happened to me once and I reported it immediately. How could you not? That’s terrifying! And dangerous!
I’m honestly surprised nobody has died at this park. I went in 2014 a couple of days before the slingshot accident. All the rides look held together by duct tape and glue. Maybe they are doing better now I hope.
They're known for this 🤣
i heard they are much better now.
There have been quite a few deaths at Mt. Olympus. None because of the rides yet. Though there was that kid who trespassed and fell off a water slide during winter
As a Wisconsinite whom lives near there I can tell you this,
It. Has not. Changed. Their company only cares about buying new buildings to add to their “empire” and neglect everything else. I went there just last year and the rollercoasters looked like they would just fall apart at any moment, especially the Pegasus one, the last sharp turn it takes the track literally tilts a few good inches.
@@Quantum.Quasarrr i dont know about the rest but pegasus,s last turn has always been like that lol. its kinda infamous for it
I rode Opa dozens of times when I went in 2010 and rain had unfortunately closed down almost everything outside. I was initially surprised to hear the Mt. Olympus doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to safety, but then I recalled a few things:
- sketchy go-kart tracks with violently colliding go-karts
- one of those freefall slides with the rolling hills that looked like the rider was going to fly off every time I watched it
- the Poseidon's Rage wave pool generates a single 10+ ft tall wave that sends people crashing into each other
- coasters well-designed to make projectiles fly off your person
Yeah, I suppose it actually adds up
i mean maybe you shouldnt have anything that can fly off when youre riding a coaster :/
The wave pool is abysmal. I remember being a little girl and landing on a strangers shoulders like a teen couple at a concert. I’ve also seen the pool many a times take a ladies bikini top with the wave.
@@amiatanamedmichelle5539 miat
I remember going into that wave pool as a kid with my dad. We went up to the front. We had a good few rounds in the pool before a 10 ft wave sent a grown man crashing into me. His weight dragged me under and pinned me down as the onslaught of waves that followed kept him from getting back up. I was being suffocated by this man's ass. Quite literally, because that's how he landed on me. My dad had been right next to me when I went under and was none the wiser.
I could not get out of that pool fast enough. I am not surprised that they have a poor reputation after that fiasco.
One of the best wave pools in the world.
It's amazing
I actually went to Mt. Olympus in 2015, I had no idea this had happened. I went on all the wooden coasters and had a blast. I was surprised so many people say it's one of the worst parks in America, but it makes more sense now seeing this.
The coasters are fun, but the park's maintenance and upkeep are definitely terrible.
Mt. Olympus has ruined their park and is ruining the Dells. Notice how the family owned motels on the strip are being taken over by Mt Olympus and they are taking horrible care of the motels. Such a shame.
@@retroryan838I go there a lot and it's really fun and it's really cool but I feel like the person who owns this place should take a better care of it
Did a little more reading on this. The victim was 63 and spent three weeks in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, in addition to breaking his back, neck, wrist and toes. His wife would end up divorcing him because of changes in his personality and temperament after the accident. To quote her: “My life changed forever. I’m not the same person; neither is he.” So while thankfully this accident wasn't fatal, it still ended up causing a lot of grief and negatively affecting the lives of friends and family.
"In sickness and in health" goes out the window when it doesn't benefit them I guess. (This isn't about women, it's about people in general that take the oath then dip out when things get tough)
The personality changes when someone sustains a TBI can be impossible to deal with. Overnight they become a different person.
In a similar vein when working with cancer patients providers are taught to handle the knowledge and that a womens husband will leave her due to the diagnosis. The same training doesn’t apply to men that get diagnosed as the wife will stay
Woman moment
My dad got a TBI after we went to the beach, a wave knocked him over, and he hit his head on a rock. He was in a coma for a week or so.
I try to remember him as the person he was before it happened and not the person that slowly became more confused, angry and irritated as time went on. Within a few years of the accident, he took his own life. :/
@@ehfoiwehfowjedioheoih4829i mean, most of the time when a spouse leaves due to a diagnosis it's a man. just saying
I’m so glad to finally see a video about this incident. Mount Olympus was my family’s summer vacation every year in the late 2000s. While I have fond memories there, the park is TERRIFYING. All the rides are rickety and poorly maintained. The main example that comes to my mind is the Trojan Horse go cart track. As far as I know, you can no longer drive up the horse. But when you were able to, it sounded as though the carts above you on the track were going to fall through the wooden flooring. OPA was a ride I went on many of times as a kid. The restraints were incredibly poor. My parents made sure to sit on the edges because of the looseness of the restraints on children, even those who are well above the height restrictions. Through the turns you could feel yourself slide to the edges of the car. There’s actually a picture my parents have of my little brother crying at the height bar at the beginning of the ride because he wasn’t tall enough. He was sad he never got a chance to ride before we stopped going, but in hindsight it was a good thing.
I rode this coaster several times around 2012/2013 and remember feeling deeply nervous about the general amount of space allowed by the lap bars. To be fair though I usually feel like any wild mouse type ride is going to result in my death. The Dells and Little Amerricka were the first places I rode coasters and it's a miracle that I ever got on another coaster after some of those janky experiences. ALSO I will NEVER understand why manufacturers are allowed to omit seatbelts as a safety back up. Especially with small time rides often operated at lesser parks and traveling fairs. The boost in capacity is not worth it.
When I went to Little Amerricka around the late 2000s or 2010 or so, I rode on a "mouse" ride like this one there, and it was legit one of the most rickety scary rides I've ever been on. Somehow they let a kid like me go on alone, and there were no real safety measures in my car besides a bar with grippy orange foam on it for you to grab onto if you're uh, the size of an adult. Such was not the case for me. I kept being thrown around so much at high heights that I started almost crying, and for the sake of survival I uncomfortably leaned forward enough to wrap my arms around that bar and locked them in place for dear life. After the ride ended I was shaking and when I finally got to have a breather (my slightly older brother was on another ride so he couldn't comfort me until some minutes later, and the adults who brought us were pretty unkind) I noticed that the inner parts of my elbows where I'd been holding the bar were bleeding a bunch because I had put all of my strength into making sure I stayed in place. Genuinely horrific experience and it made me hope nobody would have to go through what I did. When I went to Opa later on, their version of the coaster felt way safer by comparison, but then again it was years before this accident occurred. In general it might just be that they became more and more lax with upkeep as the 2010s went on - I would believe that.
@@renkitty sheeeeeesh that’s terrible!! I had a similar experience on space mountain at Disneyland, of all places. Felt way too small for the restraints, all I remember was ducking my head down for the entire ride (even in the picture taken on the ride I’m barely visible), wrapping my arms around the handlebar in front of me, and praying every time that the track jerked and veered to the sides that I wouldn’t get tossed out. Every turn felt like a brush against death. Didn’t suffer bodily harm nearly to the extent you retained, though. Just the existential trauma no kid should endure 🥲 so sorry to hear of your experience, I can’t imagine the pure terror and adrenaline rush that prevented you from realizing how torn up your elbows were getting. Plus the fact that the adults who took you weren’t nice, that’s no good at all :(
Seatbelts are safety theatre, the ratchet style restraints should just be properly maintained.
This is totally what I experienced. I was really skinny at that time and nearly went through the side on the 360
I still haven't been to Little Americka. I drive past it all the time while working as a package courier, but usually it's been the off season or after hours. When it comes to a dedicated trip, who's gonna go there when Six Flags is the same distance (and I had a pass), so I've pretty much just ignored it until work took me by there. Shame to hear they have half-ass operations too. I figured with their family focus, safety would have been a priority.
I was on Opa the morning of the accident, my family found ourselves at a new hotel for the remainder of our vacation after hearing the news!
Did you get a refund or?
I went to mount Olympus in the late 2000s, I remember that I didn’t meet the height requirement but the operator still let me ride. At the time I was thrilled, but looking back on it that was very unsafe and could’ve ended very badly.
Bet that coaster ride was fun af tho.
It's always a good day when you release a new coaster breakdown!
The accident victim, 63 year old Anthony Tielsen did survive the accident and went on to live until 2020 when this funeral notice was published online with a photograph of a smiling older man who very much resembled the same man: Anthony "Tony" J. Theisen, age 70, of Fremont, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, December 27, 2020, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah.
I was at My Olympus a few years ago and on Hades, a maintenance worker was working on something in the station track while the train was cycling the track with guests on it. He jumped into the track when the train dispatched and jumped out before the train returned to the station. He repeated this at least 5 times.
Hello Wisconsinite here! I’ve been to MT Olympus quite a few times, once around 2018 and just last year, I will say that the rollercoasters looked hella sketchy, I rode both the Zeus one and the Pegasus one, the latter was very “jostley” it made me almost loose my cookies but I already have motion sickness to begin with. not only that the track would bend a few inches whenever the carts made a sharp turn, like it could fall apart at any moment. This year I skipped out on the rides and went to the water park, the lazy river was absolutely crazy, it was pretty overcrowded and went immensely fast for a lazy river. My brother almost drowned a few times due to drunk people not paying attention in the lazy river itself. not only that most of the employees were very distracted and negligent, most of the time on their phone, there were a few lifeguards that were attentive, funny thing when I was there this year an ambulance had to be called in due to someone getting hurt. The one good thing I’d say about my trip is that the Starbucks was pretty nice, although white chocolate iced lattes are enough to win me over. I really hope they decide to up their security and safety protocols before someone gets hurt, it’s inevitable and sadly I feel nothing will be done until there’s someone dead and the family suing for damages. I’ll say I definitely enjoyed Noah’s Ark more waterpark wise, haven’t been there in years though so I don’t know how Noah’s Ark is now,
Hiya neighbor! Another Wisconsinite here, also been dozens of times as a kid and teen, including on Opa when it was new (it was my favorite ride at the time). They've definitely always had issues with staff (not checking belts/lap bars, ignoring passenger height needed to ride, letting people make bad decisions on the go karts, ignoring people drowning in the wave pool, etc). I don't remember ever being hesitant of the rides themselves until I went back in 2015ish like 6 months prior to their slingshot incident. Don't get me wrong, it's never been a fantastic park, but man did it feel like they started at at the bottom and kept digging. Honestly kind of a miracle more people haven't been seriously injured.
I agree Noahs Ark Waterpark, Chula Vista, Great Wolf, Kahlahari, Wilderness, etc are better honestly.
When I was 12, my 12 year old fríend passed out and turned white/pale in Poseidon's Rage and no lifeguard seemed to notice. Thank God my mom and I went with her and looked for her when we couldnt find her after the wave.
Coasters are supposed to sway
from the milwaukee area, we go there every year cause my dad likes the go karts. one time i saw the (wooden) hades coaster LIGHT ON FIRE. it was open the next day
Glad you did this, I have all ways wondered what happened
I always assumed Mt Olympus are incompetent to the point of dangerous operations.
@@alaeriia01you assumed right i spose
My brother went to Mt Olympus over 10 years ago. He told me when he rode on Hades, it was really sketchy. The ride vehicle had a big hole in the floor and they were performing maintenance on the support structure near the end of the ride while the ride was still operating.
If anything, hades is the only safe ride. It’s too modern.
@@aaronhernandez2971 not even close. Hades is horribly bone crushing. Worst ride ever
@@nonyabizz3533honestly looking at hades as I finally rode it today. I can admit it Made my head hurt ALOT.
The ride translating to "GRANDPA!" in my native German language still cracks me up, lol
Same lol
And in Dutch /Flemish
It means older brother (from a female's pov) {okay, oppa, but same thing ;p} in Korean. I chuckled when I saw the name.
Exactly what I was thinking lol
great video dude! throwing me back into my ADHD hyperfixation on roller coasters again. gotta be one of my favorite interests lol
🤝
We’re all in this together ✊😔
I worked at Michigan’s Adventure (a Cedar Fair park) for a summer, and it’s always shocking to hear stories like these. It’s really not hard to train your staff to operate and check rides for maximum safety, and even less hard to follow said operating and safety procedures.
Cedar fair really is the gold standard
@@CoasterCollege They always told us to prioritize safety over throughput, as any responsible park should. Nothing but good things to say about my time there.
@@logan_page it absolutely sucks that they merged with Six Flags. I have a bad feeling about this
When I was younger I used to love this park. But when I got older and came back knowing what I know as a ride operator I seen how many safeties they break and just the lack of awareness. Jumping across the station track. Attendant being on their phone. Not caring about weight restricting. It's crazy I remember all of me and my co-workers would talk about how we would not like to work there because being held liable for an accident when park is just full of accidents waiting to happen.
When I was little, I went to this park multiple times per summer. I absolutely loved it. Now that I'm older, I can see how severely sketchy a lot of things in this park are.
I have visited mout Olympus once in 2021. It was not too sketchy, not at all, and they were retracking a ride, which showed they at least cared a bit. But yeah, their track record isn't the best. Let's hope they change that
It’s so annoying when you know these types of accidents could be avoided so easily.
Ive lived in Wisconsin my whole life and used to go to My Olympus every summer starting in 1998. Stopped going in 2013 as park operations and maintenance had just gotten steadily worse and worse every year. The last year I went we got stuck on Hades on that first hill after the second tunnel and had to climb down the side of the ride. Hades got stuck at that same hill six other times that summer lol.
Adding onto this with another observation I just remembered. Timber falls used to have a roller coaster called Avalanche and while it shook you to hell that coaster was more properly maintained than any ride at Mt Olympus and Timber Falls is a Mini golf park lmao.
I love going to Mt. Olympus. The rush of adrenaline you get on the rides can't compare to the amount of back and shoulder pain you get. Each time I visit, the rides become more and more rough
Still pushing for merch that says "On the morning of the accident the ride in question was functioning normally, however..."
I've been to Mt. Olympus multiple times. The last time that I went was for my birthday back in 2013. We were standing by the Cyclops ride when a coaster was going by and we saw a piece of wood (a 2x4 about a foot long) from the ride fly off of it. We decided to never ride on that one. Not only is it super sketchy, but the one time that I actually did go on it, you could actually feel the ride shake as it went on corners. I'm very surprised that no accidents have happened on this specific coaster. Also, the majority of the outdoor rides for Mt. Olympus are made out of wood, even their biggest coaster, Hades. Luckily, I never went on OPA or any of the other indoor rides.
I went to Mt Olympus in 2007, and I definitely questioned the safety practices of that park - almost every coaster had at least one row roped off due to seats missing, etc. The last row of Cyclops had signs posted saying that it was limited to people 18 and up due to the insane ejector airtime in that row, but it was not enforced by any means.
I was going through the comments expecting something about the Cyclops. I went on it in 2007 or maybe 2008. I was in the back row and got enough air time I landed on the top of the back of the seat and fortunately bounced back into the seat.
I adore these videos so much, I get so excited when a new one is out
I visited Mt Olympus in 2013 with Theme Park Review. We had an hour of ERT on Hades 360, and they just let us on without actually doing morning testing.
Oh my
@@CoasterCollege There's another story going around about them performing maintenance on something in Hades' station _while the ride was running,_ but I didn't see that one. Apparently, there was a guy in the track well doing something with a hammer and a can of WD-40. When the train hit the brakes, he'd climb up and chill in the station while Mt Olympus took their sweet-ass time with the dispatch, then back down he'd go with his WD-40 and hammer.
I'd classify this as "rumor", though.
I went to this park maybe 2-3 times per year since I live in Wisconsin. This is the only water park / theme park I had several bad experiences with. Everytime I go there the wave pool is insane even if you’re in the shallow end. My friend did smth wrong with her knee just walking in the wave pool shallow end with all that force and Ive multiple times cut open my leg. Their roller coasters still make me feel a bit uneasy with the restraints and how old they are. Everytime I go they are always fixing a ride there. I also went on this water slide one of the raft ones and not even lieing almost went off the side. I’ve been on lots of raft rides so I know that there is always a bit of raft possibly close to the side but let me tell you we were like halfway off almost the side. On their body slides I have multiple cuts and bruises from and I followed the correct procedures of how I should be laying down. I’ve been to many waterparks and theme parks in my life to know this is not a safe one.
Mt. Olympus is one of the few parks where I'd prefer there to be seatbelts.
I hope the person was at least compensated and able to rebuild their life somewhat. The operator fleeing is suspicious to me, not as if they are to blame, but as if someone else was trying to cover something up and they had an feeling about it. They are ABSOLUTELY guilty of not immediately hitting that ESTOP the second they even suspect an injury. You do not take chances like that, another car could have struck them, or a catastrophic failure could have happened while they hesitated. Not everyone can handle an accident or the responsibility of people trusting their lives to you, and that is ok. The employer is partially or fully at fault for placing them their and not emphasizing and/or not properly training them on emergency preparedness. A blind dry run is all it takes to screen that out. You quickly run to the operator urgently while no cars are occupied or something similar and tell them to immediately stop the ride
I mean… one person who was not there when they took initial statements from witnesses says the operator tried to run but she was the hero who made them stop the ride, she just left immediately afterward without talking to anyone. Meanwhile presumably dozens of people who were actually there when statements were taken say simply that the operator stopped the ride and make no mention of some mysterious disappearing hero. Not 100% that she’s a liar, but definitely questioning that. 😏
@@bookcat123 Also she just happened to have been riding the ride in the exact seat the guy got thrown from mere minutes before it happened to him. She's definitely a liar that wants to somehow make a tragedy about herself. Like wtf, Grandma, get a hobby.
@@bookcat123 As someone who's grandma spent a lot of time trying to involve herself in random local police proceedings, I can say with absolute personal experience that some old folk really really just wanna make stories up to feel important. The story is sus considering not a single other person saw the operator trying to flee. You'd think something as memorable as an operator making a run for it and a brave civilian making them turn around and do their job would definitely be something more people saw and remembered.
I'd beelieve it if it was just "we were on that ride just before and I also thought my lap bar came loose". But the addition of "i personally made the cowardly operator stop the ride" sounds like an "and everybody clapped" meme.
What happened is pretty straightforward. No other park has had an issue with the same ride. Mt. Olympus is the sketchiest looking amusement park in the U.S. I'm not a betting man, but i know which of those two possible causes I'd point to...
Never been to Mt Olympus but I did work as an operator on a Zamperla twister at Fantasy Island (called the Crazy Mouse exact same layout and cars) The operator in charge of loading ethier was improperly trained or was neglectful as SOP at my park included pulling on the lap bars to make sure they were locked
is this fantasy island in the uk/skegness area? cuz I used to adore riding it there XD
@ponderery no this one is in New York, it shut down in 2019 right before covid
@@gunmunz ah shame
This used to be my favorite ride as a kid! One year we went back and it wasn't there, we always wondered what happened to it!
same lmao, ig now we know
This was one of my favorite rides as a kid and I always wondered why it randomly went away. Thank you for this.😊
I recall a POV of Hades 360 in which the ride is sitting on the holding brake and you can see an operator cross the tracks. Even at the small park where I currently work, that's a big no no! Safety needs to be omnipresent in this industry, but that's unfortunately rarely 100% the case.
[*edit: the following statement is incorrect, but rather than correcting it, I'm leaving it due to a point I make further in the discussion]
Gotta give the two sideways thumbs hand signal & get a confirmation from your crewmates before crossing over the track. I've never worked in a park, and even I've picked that up (IDK if it's a universal hand signal, but I've seen it at two different chains at least, first noticing at BGT)
@@lightfantastik Both parks I’ve worked for have you cross your wrists over your head, but you can still only cross over the train. Unless a ride is locked out, I really don’t see any reason someone should be on the track to begin with.
I can’t think of any situation in which it isn’t a workplace hazard, given that no track is meant to be a walking surface (even GCI’s with designated crossover points still only use those as a means to get to one catwalk from another).
@@lightfantastik Both parks I’ve worked for have you cross your wrists over your head, but you can still only cross over the train. Unless a ride is locked out, I really don’t see any reason someone should be on the track to begin with.
I can’t think of any situation in which it isn’t a workplace hazard, given that no track is meant to be a walking surface (even GCI’s with designated crossover points still only use those as a means to get to one catwalk from another).
@@GermiesCoasterYard oh wait! The thing I described is the signal to unlock the restraints - I totally got that mixed up. You're right on the arms crossed over the head. I was wrong - just goes to show how important they are as well as training. If the ride ops are left to figure it out for themselves, they're going to make mistakes like I just did.
Great video! I really hope you get to 100,000 subscribers soon! You definitely deserve it!
Living in Wisconsin, Mt. Olympus is one of the most accessible water and theme parks. The admission price is relatively affordable and they have a variety of things to do there. On one visit with a friend for her birthday, we rode the Opa many times. This was, oddly enough, one of the rides I felt safest in. So when, a few years after, the incident happened, I was very surprised! It was something of a local outrage.
🎢😯.. I just remembered something like this happening at M&Ds in Scotland in 2005.. my bar completely unlocked in the middle of the ride and I just pulled it back and slammed it down, it locked again but.. I never really appreciated how dangerous that had been, I never even reported that incident… 14 years old I just walked away afterwards..
This park is shady AF. The fact that this is only major incident that has occurred is mind boggling.
I love these videos so much, I really get so excited every time I get a notification
Not surprised by this at all. I know Coaster Studios only briefly mentioned this accident in his video but as soon as he mentioned that park employees would allow you to have your phone out on roller coasters, security/bag checks were only active half the time, and he saw an employee physically climb onto the tracks of an active ride to maintain it in the middle of a ride cycle, I just KNEW a tragedy would have happened here.
I’m always staring at my notifications just to make sure you haven’t released a video i haven’t watched
Where do you get all this information from? The stories on this channel are so much different than other ones.
Official accident reports. They can be very hard to find, leading to most channels not using them. I always link them in the description so others can check my work and reference them as needed.
Me and my family went to Mt. Olympus in 2022. We went on all the rollercoasters and on the Medusa water slide. They had a scale you had to stand on to get your weight. When we went they took everything seriously. Made sure that all loose items were in the buckets to the side. Even double checking lap bars. I don't know if this is how everyday is or if we just got good cast members.
Good to hear that they aren't always bad!
Last time I went to Mt. Olympus was in 2020 and it was the sketchiest park I’ve ever been to. Coasters physically HURT to ride and as far as maintenance goes, I’m sure there’s 0. I will literally never step foot into mt. Olympus ever again. There’s a reason it’s so cheap to stay there. I’ve over heard workers at the wilderness talking about working for mt. Olympus in the past and how the owner is cheap and runs the whole place super shady-like. I advise against that place for everyone’s safety.
Bro they literally buy every ma and pa place around to expand there empire and nicer maintain anything. Hotels have major big problems aswell
I rode this coaster the weekend before this happened. I was 8 months pregnant , they still let me on, and the bar still didn’t properly restrain me. I felt like I was holding myself in with all my strength. I’ve never rode another coaster or carnival ride since. Sadly i wasn’t too surprised and felt greatful it wasn’t me.
God, that footage of the slingshot failing at the end of the video gave me chills.....
I went to Mt. Olympus in 2013. It's definitely one of the poorest maintained parks in the Dells. I was a teenager at the time, so I enjoyed all the rides anyways, but the coasters were visibly poorly maintained. Funny thing is I remember Opa being my favorite. I actually didn't know before now it had an accident and was removed, and I can't help but feel disappointed even though I know I would never go back to that park anyways lol
Thanks for the great video. So cool to learn about. I Appreciate your attention to detail.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Mt Olympus has had a long history of rides breaking down and nearly killing people. In 2015 one of the cables on their slingshot ride snapped right as the ride was about to begin, and in 2013 a 10 year old girl was knocked unconscious on their teacups ride. This whole park is a giant hazard. The only reason it hasn't gone out of business is because they charge very cheap for park tickets. A family can buy 5 tickets here for the price of 1 Six Flags ticket
HOW DO YOU MESS UP A TEACUPS RIDE???
That’s just two examples…long history is a stretch. There’s been at least 3-4 accidents.
Visited the park a few times growing up and even went on the ride 2 years before the accident. It was definitely the most unsafe I have ever felt on a ride since I was thrown around in the seat to the point my dad had to hold me in place.
I've gone to mount Olympus many times. I have never felt fully safe going there. I was next in line for hades and it was at the start of a thunderstorm. They sent our car right after a huge bolt of lightning and thunder
I remember how close you can get to the wooden roller coasters. There's this one section where you can stick your hand out and touch the track if no one is looking. Scary stuff.
Which one
I went to Mt. Olympus once, about a year before this incident but only really did the water park stuff. The rides definitely seemed a little sketchy, but the wave pool was downright dangerously strong. I was standing in about knee deep water and was knocked down by a wave and dragged for several feet. And I was in my early twenties, not a child. Scraped my back up horribly on the concrete, I'm lucky that's all that happened. Definitely does not seem like the safest place.
Hi I’m going soon but they are doing better and they are nice and helpful and if you don’t like that wave pool then go to the other one but me personally I like the big wave 😂
I went last summer and I remember just how decrepit and run down everything seemed. They weren’t advertising it like that though, and I’m surprised by how well they were able to cover this all up. All I can say now is that I’m thankful that none of this us were injured, and I strongly encourage anyone who plans to visit this park, especially if you are bringing kids or other vulnerable people along, to do your research before visiting.
I went here on a field trip in middle school. I didn’t feel unsafe but didn’t get to ride much because we needed to be with a buddy at all times. However, small low budget parks and fairs were the norm for me at the time, so that’s probably why it seemed normal to me.
The go carts were more fun than what most parks have.
I lived and worked in the Dells for a summer about 15 years ago (not there). They're sketchy AF, but get away with everything because they seem to own half the damn town. While it's great to have coasters in Wisconsin (really good ones if they were maintained properly!), I really wish they'd sell the place to someone better equipped to operate it properly.
2 Months later, Mt. Olympus sent out a promo mailer via USPS that featured on a quarter of it....Of all Things.....OPA!!! Still have mine!
There's a similar ride called Ricochet at Carowinds. The car doesn't spin, but the turns are still very sharp. I only realized while looking at the track layout.
Took me 5 seconds to hear it was operating normally that day, what the hell could the rest of the video be about?
Blunt object
@@CoasterCollege lol
The one time I went to Mt Olympus I avoided most of the rides and stayed on the water attractions. You could make a series just about the dells with all of its problems
The water rides are probably more dangerous than the rollercoasters.
@@me-myself-i787 probably! Luckily I survived
raging Cajun at SFA is unironically incredible. my friend and I got absolutely obliterated on it last summer.
I'm riding it for the first time tomorrow, looking forward to it!
Are there any rides we should avoid?
I have a lot of questions, lol. But I'll only ask the 1 for now to save you time.
Please do a video detailing all ride incidents at Mt. Olympus!! 🙈
I’ve went to a local Wade show that had the Mighty Mouse ride a few years ago..rode it and everything was fine thankfully. This gave me chills
I love your videos! Always well researched and informative.
I know it's not really your thing but it might be interesting to have just to have a video all about small, local amusement parks. For example Beech Bend near Bowling Green, Kentucky and Camden Park, Huntington, West Virginia.
I grew up in Wisconsin in the 1960s, and remember visiting Wisconsin Dells then, when they only had outdoor children’s attractions, but no amusement rides, either outdoors or in. I’ve yet to ride a spinning mouse, but would like very much to, since they seem like a lot of fun.
I’ve done Ragin Cajun. It was a fun little ride. But it hurt my knee a bit granted I also ran a half marathon that day so it wasn’t fully the ride’s fault.
I have ridden Ice Mountain at Winter Wonderland, and it was quite fun, but also quite janky and at the end, when it was spinning really fast, it just suddenly stopped which was quite uncomfortable.
I much prefer ordinary spinning coasters from Gerstlauer, Maurer, Mack, etc.
I really love your videos
I know this is a weird descriptor but theyre very digestible
I have adhd and its hard for me to retain information like this even though it intrests me, but your videos are really informative and are explained in a way i can process
Thanks, that means a lot!
I am a Wisconsin native, and have been to the dells many times, and the only park that is sketchy is mt. O. all of there rides are extremely rough, and while they are technically safe the roughness has lead to multiple injury's that usually go unreported.
Including me. I don't know if I got whiplash or something but my upper back hurt for days after going on the coasters. We don't plan on going there again solely for the atrocious hotel.
@@thetinywitch8826 I remember we had to stay in their overfill motel ~2008, it was the worst weekend I've spent from home
Back Injury occurs on Scorpion's Tale at Noah's Ark too though
2:10 though recently they are switching to hydraulic restraints, that "ratch" in infinite positions and are safer
Reverchon first came up with this ride Concept, Zamperla licensed it in 2007.
One event happed to me on hades 360. I was sitting in car 7 on the right. The ride operators shake the seat belts and pull hard on the restraint with their body weight. The girl in front of me got her seatbelt shaken but when it was shaked it came out. The horror look on her face when the operator buckled it back in and moved on to me was scary. Luckily she was safe. The seatbelt stayed in throughout the duration of the ride. And yet they didn't even care.
6:41 "..they complete the training, but do not document it." Speaking as an Engineer, while having no proof of training does not mean that training did not occur, it makes it odds of proving that the training DID occur vanishingly small.
Or, to state it in plainer English, If you cannot prove the training occurred, then a reasonable person would assume that training did NOT occur.
I actually had a personal encounter with this way of thinking. We got a recall notice for our dog's eye medication because the documentation that proved the production of said medication was performed in a way to prevent cross-contamination with another medication made on an adjacent line was missing. There was no proof that cross-contamination DID occur, but the lack of proof that it WAS done right was enough to trigger the recall.
Bottom line: You should document EVERYTHING. The job ain't over until the paperwork is complete.
9:20 ...and there is why you document EVERYTHING. One of the citations was specifically about the lack of documentation on the training.
Mt. Olympus (the dells in general) was one of my childhood parks. Went MANY times growing up. Those wooden coasters scared the shit out of me. I still haven’t rode on most of them. I rode OPA a lot as a kid, it being a ‘generic’ steel coaster made me feel safer. I remember going one year and that whole indoor park area was closed and the coaster was gone. Mt. Olympus comes across very sketchy, I’m surprised their many wooden coasters haven’t had a big accident
I never knew this happened but I've been to Mt. Olympus plenty of time because its affordable. But the safety is sketchy, I'm not surprised this happened
I remember this ride due to accidentally hitting one of the the emergency stop when i leaned against a pillar ages ago
I remember going to the giant wave pool in mt Olympus. I was really small back then, and the waves hit me right in the face and nearly pulled me under. It was friggin terrifying.
They have bad operations because all four wooden roller coasters run with just one train. In addition you have to be 18 or older to ride in the last car.
I believe in 2012 or 2013, for sure more than 10 years ago I was on Cyclops at Mt Olympus with a friend of mine, while we were 3/4 of the way through the ride, the seat belt became unbuckled and we both had to rely on the bar only to hang on. We couldn't get buckled back during the ride as we were moving around on the coaster seat. As we left we told the attendant the seat belt became unbuckled but couldn't check if it was a issue or not, or if they kept loading people there or not, as you need to clear the platform for your safety. Never rode on their coasters there after.
I would like for you to take a look into "El Pendulo" accident, in Tibidabo (Catalonia, 2010). It happened in my country, but not much information was released, and I would like to see if you can find what really happened.
You answered your own question within the first 25 seconds loool
Mount Olympus is the type of park that would train operators to tell guests “The restraint on seat 1 doesnt work so just don’t sit there” rather than fixing the problem
The lady at the end who calls police is unhinged, she rode in that seat and had to hold it down the entire ride and then she just fucked off? She could have made a bigger deal about her faulty lap bar. Not saying its her fault or responsibility but its incredibly strange behavior to then call later and blame staff.
i always wondered why there was so much empty space when i went to the indoor part of mt olympus in 2015 now i know why. this is so extremely sad.
edit: i remember there drop tower lap bars like never worked right
What drop tower?
I rode this at the Missouri State Fair last year and I was cackling when I found out it was Opa
3:07 was that at IX indoor amusement park?
@@rollertoaster812 yes
I am blown away by the alleged “operator tried to flee”, not the first time we’ve heard something like that. That is almost more terrifying then some accidents themselves! The person responsible for pressing the buttons just…running away??? Talk about being trapped 😮
Mt. Olympus, you mean the place that just buys out shitty motels and then forces people to stay in horrible rooms to get some deals for getting into the park?
Oh, Mt. Olympus, you mean the place that has a history of hiring a ton of people on H1-B visa and its CLEARLY evident?
OHHHH, Mt. Olympus which is owned by one of the few guys who flaunts his wealth while spending almost no money on the park itself?
Yeah.... That Mt. Olympus. This is coming from someone who has lived in the state his whole life and this was a popular thing for summer camps to take us to as well as school trips. It was, and always has been a joke.
I have been in this type of rollercoaster before (the track is called a wild mouse) and I’ve never felt unsafe on them because the people running the ride were vigilant and there was usually a cart or two out of order, which meant they had checked them. The one I’ve been on most is Pinball X in Hastings, which I’ve never felt unsafe on. My partner did however trap their groin in the lap bar, which made it a very uncomfortable and painful ride 😂.
I have been in my fair share of fairground rides that shouldn’t have been run by the operator that was. My biggest one being a bouncer that was never locked down. The outside lock to the lap bar was never even checked and wasn’t pulled down. Also there was no safety other than that. I had to use my foot while the ride was beginning to run to try and slide the latch in place. Luckily I managed to do it before it began jolting, but I still spent the entire time holding the bar in order to try and protect my cousin from flying out if I hadn’t locked it correctly. Chances are, I wouldn’t have been able to actually hold it, but I still tried. I promised to never go on it again.
Wow what is the game/ software for the simulated/ animated recreation seen during the segment detailing the pawl wear and degraded parts?
A simple lap belt redundancy would be nice to add
I was at Mt. Olympus around 2010. I rode all the coasters including OPA, think it was even the yellow car...
Everything seemed maintained well enough, but that was years before this accident.