Zach urged me to be social, so I’ll try. I can always click on the direct link to go back to this thread.
I have always loved Hersheypark. It was my favorite family park until I discovered Knoebels. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been to the park for 20 years more or less. I’m sorry that I missed its growth over those years. Wildcat was new when I was there last, and it was actually smooth and fun then. Hersheypark still has those nice family touches, but it’s certainly a good rival for Great Adventure with an overall exciting variety of coasters and rides. Chocolate World and the zoo make it even better.
On to the rides...
Comet has always been a great woodie, and it’s neat now that the other rides have grown around it and Sooper. I get frightened by heights where I can feel them, so I freak on drop towers. Still, I forced myself to do the three drop towers from smallest to tallest and loved the combo of effects. Fahrenheit and Storm Runner are great fun, and Hersheypark gets points for keeping some of the classic rides like the monorail and Coal Cracker. I miss the spinning chuck wagon, which didn’t take up much space and should still be there. I’m surprised that they took out the themed Ferris wheel-like ride near the entrance. Times change... The Chocolate World ride has been improved, and you gain five pounds just walking into that building. Laff Trakk was just bad. You can see the entire ride, and it’s boring.
My faves of the day were Lightning Racers and Skyrush. Lightning Racers ran perfectly and made me laugh as we ran neck and neck against the other side. At night, it’s absolutely beautiful with the chase lights. It made me feel like I was back on the Boardwalk in my favorite place in the world - Wildwood, NJ. Skyrush challenged me! I loved the speed, launch, layout and airtime. Despite being a seasoned rider, I could not keep my hands up for the whole ride. This monster flings you all over the place in an epic, manic, devious ride like that Betty White thing that Zach said.
I must disagree about that dark ride. It’s the worst dark ride that I’ve ever experienced outside of a sketchy carnival. The artwork is only surpassed in its dreadful nature by the animatronic characters. The guns didn’t work, and the targets were stupid - people on poles, people playing sports, people smiling, etc. We just wanted it to be over and put down our guns. Even worse, the restraints are overkill because of some track hills. They are going to retheme it next year. Why bother?! Just give people real guns and grenades, and let them destroy the site.
I’ll go back to Hersheypark on my own more often now like I used to do.