Park Profile
www.parkworld-online.com
“That was the roughest period of my life, getting
through the surgery, the chemotherapy, but I
Night at the
recovered well.”
Nick managed to keep the business going, with his
Theme Park
parents helping, but now from afar. They had moved While there will be no new
to Florida, joining their daughter Penny and her
rides at Mt Olympus for
family. But on November 27, 2004, Dimitrius
2010, an experiment owner
Laskaris died at the age of 63, struck by a car while
Nick Laskaris tried in 2009
taking his daily 14-mile walk. Fatoula survived him
will continue.
for exactly four years, joining her husband on
"I took my kids to see the
November 27, 2008. Their 39-year-old son Nick
movie Night at the Museum,
was now on his own. He carried on.
and they loved it,” he
“I was now the boss, alone, but now I was able to
explains. “It gave me an idea
express my vision. I had never liked the Big Chief
to do Night at the Theme
Park. We close the park at its
name – after all, Pop had named our hot dog stand ride. Mt Olympus Water & Theme Park now had a
normal time of 10pm, and
that just because he had the statue – so in 3/4-mile-long frontage on the Wisconsin Dells strip,
then reopen from 11pm to
appreciation of our family heritage, as well as the and a total 165 acres.
2am. We use subdued
theme that we now had with the Trojan Horse, we “Plus we built the Mt Olympus Mall, including the
lighting and moodier music to
became Mt Olympus Theme Park. I was thinking arcade, food stands, and, due mostly to the
create a mythological
about that name for years, but Pop's response was experience of my wife, the retail stores.”
atmosphere, and we have
'Would Pepsi ever change their name?' My mom and The beautiful Eva Laskaris (neé Vlahokis) had
Greek characters roam the
sister Penny were against the name change, out of worked for the women’s clothing store The Limited.
park: The Titans, Zeus, Hades
respect for Pop, but I felt it was the right thing to do. “Eva brought all the retail to Mt Olympus. She and Poseidon. It's a big hit.
I bought out Penny, and not only changed the name understood the market, selling to the crowd, though And surprisingly, it's all
of the park, but spent millions on landscaping, she learned quickly that she can't sell fancy dresses families, very few if any
concrete sidewalks etc.” and name-brand items at an amusement park. She teenagers."
learned to sell T-shirts!”
Just Add Water Nick and Eva had two daughters, Fotini and
Also in 2004, Nick entered into an $80 million Maria, now 11 and 13.
merger with two other major Wisconsin Dells “We make both our girls work like my parents
attractions, the Bay of Dreams indoor waterpark and made me work, very hard. They put long days in the
Family Land outdoor waterpark, both owned by the retail stores, yet they still get to play with their
local Mattei family. “It was the perfect fit,” Nick friends. They enjoy it.”
recalls. “Mt Olympus had been a dry park, but Does either of them have the amusement industry
suddenly, with the merger, we had water. Our in her blood?
Gary
Kyriazi is
customers could have fun in any kind of weather.” “Fotini, I think. She seems to understand the wider
the author
As expected, business went up for the combined spectrum of the amusement industry.”
The Great
parks, making more together than they had Today, Nick Laskaris, big, likable and humorous,
American
separately. This continued for three years until Nick, but also tough, confident, determined, and
Amusement
in typical Laskaris fashion, bought out the Mattei seemingly indomitable, appears mythical in his own
Parks A
family. The same year (2007) he purchased an right. Does he ever rest?
Pictorial
adjoining 365-room hotel and renamed it Hotel “Well, my hobby is my work,” he admits, “but still I
History and writer/producer
Rome. The Poseidon's Rage wave pool also opened take vacations. We go to the Bahamas once a year. I
America Screams starring
that year, followed in 2008 by the River Troy raft haven't changed running Mt Olympus from the way Vincent Price, the first book
my father ran Big Chief. Everything is done in-house, and TV special on amusement
our marketing, construction, even the furniture in parks. He lives in Arizona and
Hotel Rome.” has been a writer, researcher,
The breakneck speed with which Big Chief/Mt
and consultant for the
Olympus grew seems to have ebbed a bit, with just
amusement industry for 35
one addition in 2009, a Sky Coaster concession
years
called Almighty Hermes.
“We're concentrating more on our marketing and
BOTTOM OF PAGE: A sketch
growing wisely,” adds Nick. “With the theme park,
showing what 3/4 mile of Mt
Olympus looks like alongside
the waterpark, and the hotel, we're offering
the Wisconsin Dells “Strip”
packages with the smaller parks and hotels. It's a
LEFT: The Trojan horse creates
community effort. It helps both the small properties
great visibility on the strip TOP
and us. After all,” Nick shrugs, “we were once small
LEFT: Mt Olympus Water Park
ourselves.”
FEBRUARY 2010 39
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140