The tallest waterslide in the US, The Rise of Icarus debuts at Mt. Olympus in Wisconsin Dells. How tall is it?
Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells now houses US’s tallest waterslide. The park opened The Rise of Icarus, a 145-foot-tall water slide attraction featuring five separate slides, on Saturday. One of the slides, The Fall, winds around a tower on its way down from the top.
“It was really fast,” Amanda Thompson said after riding The Fall on Saturday with her children, Dante and Marinda. “I felt dizzy when I got out, but it was really fun. That’s the fastest water slide I have ridden.” Thompson also said the long staircase leading to the top of The Fall provided “a great workout.”
Four other slides descend from a 60-foot-high platform on the tower, including The Drop, a straight slide with a steep decline that produces a similar amount of speed at the end as The Fall.
Marinda said she wanted to ride The Drop, while Dante said he intended to ride The Fall a few more times after their first descent.
The Fall is a reddish-orange slide that begins with a short, sharp decline before gradually descending and rotating around the Icarus tower. It lasts roughly 30 seconds before finishing at the longest ending of the five slides to adjust for riders’ speed coming out.
Both Marinda and her mother said The Fall felt like a long ride, even with the speed.
The Rise Icarus’ three other 60-foot high slides — The Voyage, The Flight and The Journey — wind around the tower and each other and end with a large splash.
Another rider, Minnesota native and boxer Sona “Slink Proper” Akale, said The Fall picked up a lot of speed as it went on and he expressed his enjoyment and thrill from the towering slide.
The Drop is the only straight slide of the five. A blue tube features a very short enclosed portion before opening up. The Drop has a steep decline, produces speed quickly, and lasts between 10 and 15 seconds.
The Flight is a teal-colored tube that winds around the right side of the Icarus tower. It features four turns before finishing and lasts roughly 20-25 seconds.
Luis de la Cruz, an employee, at Mt. Olympus tried out all five slides of the Rise of Icarus on a Wednesday afternoon. He praised the view of the Wisconsin Dells area from the top of The Fall standing at 145 feet. Mentioned that the waterslides at the Rise of Icarus were, among the best he had ever experienced.
“All of them have a different experience,” de la Cruz said of the five slides.
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Construction of The Rise of Icarus- the tallest waterslide in US
Mt. Olympus began construction on the Rise of Icarus just after last summer. It overtakes Thrillagascar and Jungle Jammer in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as the tallest waterslide in the U.S. and the third largest in the world, according to Water Slide Database, which still had Thrillagascar and Jungle Jammer, at 142 feet, listed as the third largest on Monday.
The world’s tallest waterslide, at 164 feet tall, is Kilimanjaro at the Aldeia das Aguas Park Resort in Barra Do Pirai, Brazil, near Rio de Janeiro, followed by Hurricane Tower, 147.6 feet, in Xianyang, China.
Operators shut down Verruckt, a former slide in Kansas City, Kansas, that stood more than 168 feet tall, in November 2017 after a 10-year-old rider died on it, according to TripSavvy.
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“It’s going to be a great addition to our family of rides and attractions,” Mt. Olympus owner Nick Laskaris said of The Rise of Icarus, adding he believes The Fall will be the most popular slide of the five and is for “thrill seekers.”
Mt. Olympus opened the second unique waterslide in the last three years with The Rise of Icarus. Medusa’s Slidewheel, which is part of the attraction’s indoor waterpark, is the only “rotating waterslide” in the U.S. and one of three worldwide, with the others located in China and Poland.
“It’s what we do here,” Laskaris said. “We bring one-of-a-kind.”
Laskaris added that Hades 360, the attraction’s largest roller coaster, is “the largest underground roller coaster in the world.” Following a large drop, the coaster runs through a tunnel underneath the Mt. Olympus parking lot to a segment on the east end of the lot.
Mt. Olympus will host an official opening ceremony on July 4, when the Laskaris family will introduce the US’s tallest waterslide-The Rise of Icarus and Icaria Splash ‘n Slide. Icaria Splash ‘n Slide is a 12,000-square-foot children’s attraction that will feature 10 small slides along with other aquatic features and a wading pool.
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