America’s tallest water slide to rise in Wisconsin
Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park to break record
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They don’t call Wisconsin Dells the water park capital of the world for nothing. It’s the place where the indoor water park was born in the 1990s, and there are now a bunch of them throughout the vacation resort. There are also outdoor water parks. Mt. Olympus, which occupies a prominent spot along the Dells’ strip, has both an indoor and outdoor water park (and an indoor and outdoor theme park to boot). This season, the Greek mythology-themed park will also lay claim to the country’s tallest water slide.
Called The Rise of Icarus (great name!), it will stand 145 feet tall and offer intrepid guests the chance to climb all the way up and slide all the way down. There will actually be five slides on the new tower. They will all be body slides, so there won’t be a need to lug tubes up the gazillions of stairs (thankfully). Four of them will be located on a platform at the tower’s 60-foot level. Three of those will be enclosed, winding slides, while one of them will be a straight-drop speed slide with an open flume. The slide at the top will also be enclosed and wind around the tower. That’ll be the record-breaker.
“This brings thrills to the next level,” says Fofo Backhaus, director of marketing for Mt. Olympus and a member of the family that owns and operates the resort. (I’m not sure, but I don’t think she intended the pun.) “We’re always trying to bring something new and exciting to the Dells. We know The Rise of Icarus will make a statement.”
Mt. Olympus made quite a statement a couple of years ago when it introduced Medusa’s Slidewheel, a crazy contraption that spins a gaggle of intertwined water slide tubes around and sends passengers in circular rafts on a discombobulated ride. In a town that offers virtually every kind of wacky water park slide that’s ever been created, attractions such as The Rise of Icarus and Medusa’s Slidewheel certainly stand out.
The park will also introduce Icaria Splash ‘n Slide, a children’s activity area with 10 slides. Raging from 4 feet to 12 feet in height, they will be considerably smaller than the ones on the record-breaking tower and geared to younger visitors.
With the additions, “we will have slides for small kids all the way to this extreme 145-foot slide for real daredevils,” says Jason Hammond, the park’s safety director.
But just how much of a daredevil would you have to be to tackle the slide at the tippy top of The Rise of Icarus? Let’s try to put it into context.
Speaking of daredevils, I braved Daredevil’s Peak, the water slide tower at Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private Bahamian island for its cruise ship passengers. At the time it opened in 2019, the 135-foot-high attraction was billed as North America’s tallest water slide. Like The Rise of Icarus, Daredevil’s Peak features a series of slides, one of which is located at the top. And like the new ride coming to Wisconsin, the enclosed body slide at the apex of the tower winds around on its journey to ground level. I actually found two launch chamber slides located on the tower’s 75-foot level, which both have sheer drops, more thrilling than the 135-foot-tall slide. Yes, there were thrills, but because the angle of descent wasn’t all that steep, it didn’t yield a particularly fast ride. The Royal Caribbean attraction felt like a fairly typical body slide, just longer.
In 2020, DreamWorks Water Park at the American Dream mega-complex in New Jersey eclipsed Daredevil’s Peak with the 142-foot-tall Thrillagascar and Jungle Jammer slides. Nestled in the rafters of the cavernous indoor building, the straight shot speed slides include launch capsules and amp up the thrills to yowsa! level. While they may be shorter, the 125-foot-tall launch capsule slides at Universal Orlando Resort's Volcano Bay water park really pack a punch and are likely more thrilling than what’s on tap in Wisconsin Dells. Similarly, the 120-foot-tall Summit Plummet speed slide at Disney World’s Blizzard Beach pours on the thrills.
Looking beyond North American water parks, there are some real doozies out there. The tallest water slide in the world, at 167 feet, has long been Insano at Beach Park in Fortaleza, Brazil. But it’s been overtaken–and it’s not even close–by Icon Tower at Meryal, the water park that recently opened in Qatar. The slide on the top of that beast is 260 feet tall. Yikes!
Still, The Rise of Icarus at Mt. Olympus will be quite spectacular. And it’ll be a challenge just to give it a go.
“It’s going to be a tough hike up 270 steps to the top,” Hammond notes. He adds that there will be water fountains along the way as well as oxygen and other medical supplies should folks need assistance on the 15-story climb. It seems the park will be taking more precautions than the mythical, doomed Icarus, for whom the attraction is named.
What is the most thrilling water park ride you have experienced? Have you been to Wisconsin Dells?
I like the idea of water slides, but I hate "riding" them (body slides, that is. Tubes are fun). Thanks to more slender build, but they hurt my back (and occasionally draw blood...this is no joke). That combined with water up my nose and splashing in my eyes (did I mention I wear contacts?), I typically pass on the body slides.
I'll do something once, just to do it (like the floor drop slides), but I'd rather be riding a roller coaster.
We had a nice family trip maybe 12 years ago to Chicago with a stop at Six Flags Great America and then ended at the Dells. I got to ride the wood coasters at Mt Olympus, and we had a nice waterpark day at Noah's Ark. I would like to try the Medusa's Slidewheel type of attraction. I haven't tried a tall water slide yet. We do enjoy Holiday World's Splashin' Safari.