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This is very terrible to hear. I recently saw O'Connell two or three weeks ago right before I was about to start my shift. He seemed perfectly normal and didn't look like he was ill. He has helped Hersheypark over the last 10 years grow into what it is today. We have seen Roller Soaker, The Claw, Frontier Flyers, Founder's Circle, a new Music Box Theatre, Storm Runner, Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge, Fahrenheit, but most importantly The Boardwalk, the Seaquel, and Skyrush added when he was GM. He has played a very big role in turning Hershey from just a one-day destination to a multi-day family vacation destination with a lot to offer. He will be missed.

Nope. They couldn't have this year since it was fenced up, but I don't think they needed to use it for awhile. The longest I've ever seen the line was to the end of the first switchback.

Yes, but I'm just saying what I've been hearing from the GP.

Looper has been referred to have been purple by people, but Bear is the closest to have been referred to be purple.

Please be more specific. There's several rides that have purple track (or did at one point or how you look at it): SDL, RS, Great Bear, and Wild Mouse.

http://keystonethrills.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/hersheypark-skyrush-update-45-46-10-10-10-12-11/ The top and bottom for the lift hill has arrived along with many more pieces! Somebody needs to see if this is 50 degrees. FInally, here's a calculated guess on what Skyrush would look like in the Hersheypark skyline.

I'll upload it to TPR or youtube sometime tomorrow. Sorry about that! ^ Yeah, now that you think about it, I really don't remember seeing many people dressed up. As far as joining you guys up there, I'll have to take you up on that.

^^^ ^^I think only the rides towards the back of the park are the only ones open and for the Pioneer Train, they have the station next to the Twister at the bridge going over to the campground. Let's get back to the report. This section features more Black Diamond photos, nighttime photos and video. Right after Black Diamond, I went over and checked out the swap meet, which was filled with many cool and nostalgic items for sale. I ended up getting a piece of the Raven at Holiday World for free, six postcards from the 70's and 80's of Hersheypark and Cedar Point, a retro Sooperdooperlooper pin, and a 1999 Hersheypark Coasters brochure. Oh, and a GCI drink coaster. Next, I went to the front of the park, got my ride on the Skyride, which gave great views of the nearby mountains and the leaves changing then went on the Auto Skooter, which was running in top form as well as the Carousel. Power Surge gave a good ride and since I rode by myself, it was even more intense with the car leaning to one side. It was around 4:30 at this point so I went to the Phoenix Junction for dinner, which was awesome as always then got my wristband for the evening. I met back up with the two friends from earlier and rode Haunted Mansion, got some ice cream, rode the Skooters again twice in a row, Kosmo's Kurves, Flying Trapeze, and Carousel again. Here's where PPP starts to blow my expectations. We next got in line for the Pioneer Train, which had a 15 minute wait. From looking at past trip reports of this event, I was really expecting just a few night rides on Phoenix and Twister, a swap meet, a few halloween decorations and that's it. I turned out that Knoebels added a couple of spooky scenes along the train route, which I have to say, were very well done and the working model of a roller coaster in front of the train station added a nice touch. Next, we went over to Twister and got a night ride on it (and walked right on). The haunted scenes in the queue were well done and what was suprising was that they had scare actors hiding on the exit ramp! As for the Flyers, you know they're running well when you can hear them banging into the other cars and/or ground. Darth Vader even got into the action as well. Looked like he found his new Death Star. Did a nighttime ride on Phoenix and it gave some extreme rides this year. I almost flew out on the 2nd far turn around and I realized that you can't get a more extreme ride on it than that. With a few minutes left until closing, we ran over to Black Diamond to get one last ride. Turns out it was only a 15 minute wait and was still as good as earlier in the day. I then said bye to Anthony and Laura and drove the two hours home. PPP totally blew my expectations and had to be the best enthusiast event I've ever been to. I already plan on returning next year for this. Here's a link to the video: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=2353856399355 I want to thank J.M.M. Studios for snapping this and the next photo of us on the first ride. They did an awesome job on the interior as well as the station area. The best time to ride the Skyride has to be during this event. Normally this view is great in the summer... ...but it better in the fall. Are the Lusse skooters in Oregon as good as these? Phoenix was going riding more extreme than usual. The tunnel is themed and had a fog machine making it even better! He rides on the dark side. Around 6pm, Black Diamond still had an hour wait. The pick-axe gate was a cool touch. Then night fell and the park got insane. There was almost a full moon. The park brought in some extra workers to get Flying Turns done. Warp-speed through the graveyard! Weee... Yes, I would want to get that credit. No running lights, decorations, perfect. Evil spider taking over Twister. This is what happens when you don't like PPP. For this event, I was really expecting long lines of 15+minutes on all the rides. Turns out that Twister was a walk-on, but most of the other rides wern't too bad. His head is on the other side of the track. Why in the world did they decide to bring in a random carnival Monkey Maze?? I had to partisapate in the Flyers during this event. These guys were die-hard pros. I think I got mine up to that caliber, but I'll do better next year. ...then Darth Vader showed up. Check out the video to see him in flight! I was pretty much dying while watching this. lol With nothing but the moonlight, this is the best way to experience the Phoenix. I only did this one other time and that was a few years ago in August on the last ride of the night. Queue theming. Fog makes everything better. I pretty much only waited around 10 minutes to ride. Tunnel themeing (don't worry, it's much more detailed deeper inside!). This is pretty much what it's lift hill looks like... ...and here it is with Night Vision! Still had the 30 second dispatches. I had a great time hanging out with these guys during the event. Sidenote: That nametag I made was pretty much a last-minute thing to go with my LaMaruc Bros. t-shirt and it was a failed attempt at having a costume. I think I'll dress up better next year. Black Diamond's control panel. We also ended up being the last riders of the day as well. Nerdy brake shot. There are no seat dividers, which was an added plus. This was a great end to a great event. I've always hoped to attend this event and now that I did, expect me to be at Phoenix Phall Phunfest 2012 next year. Thanks for reading!

Yeah, the second time I rode it was at least four or five laps before they even put out the dispenser, and I missed two in a row about halfway through my ride. The first time I rode I often picked the ring out of the dispenser easily but it would slip out of my hand and fall to the carousel floor! I think I averaged around 6 or 7 rings, but I pittied the people who sat on the horses behind me since the ring would slip out of my reach and go flying behind me. I think there were a couple of rings laying on the ground behind my horse.

I might as well warn you guys ahead of time in saying that this was my first Knoebels coaster enthusiast event and that I may kind of go crazy with excitement about it. After a two hour drive from Reading (came home for the weekend from Hershey), got to the parking lot, which wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I've heard in the past of there being traffic jams backed up as far as Elysburg trying to get into the park, but other than a few stop-and-gos, it wasn't bad at all. Kind of had to hike to get the park though. I didn't really stop and take a look around inside the arts and crafts show because it really didn't fancy my tastes too much. Just went down a row on the main midway. From here I decided to see if the teaser posted on Friday was true and made a b-line for Black Diamond. Pretty much everyone was at the Covered Bridge Festival so it was only a handful of people at the ride who were mostly maintenance employees. They were sending the trains around and testing them and since nobody was in line at the moment i decided to wait it out since i got though most of the rides back in August (TR for that visit coming soon), that i would try to wait it out and see how it goes. I got to BD at 10:45am, got in line at 11am and people soon followed suit not too long after. The line would grow, then someone would announce to the crowd that it might be more than an hour until it opens, then 95% of them would leave and the same thing would happen every half-hour. While waiting, I met two guys from New York who decided to wait it out with me. I also met A.J. at this time as well and we pretty much spent the rest of the 2 1/2 hours swapping coaster stories and whatnot, but without them, I probably would've given up waiting much sooner. Around 1:30 most of the important people like Dick Knoebel and Tom Rebbie showed up. Mr. Knoebel and another guy (who looked very familiar, but forgot his name) got to go on the first train. Unfortunately the train had other plans and didn't grab on to the lift hill (video coming soon). After several tries they got it fixed, more family members got to ride, then we were next. At 2:20 we walked up to the station, another pair of family members got the front row, I got the second, and my two coaster enthusiast friends got the first row in the train behind me on the first train for the GP. While it isn't the Phoenix, Tiwster, or Kosmo's Kurves, it was a really great ride! The theming was excellent and had a lot of detail, while it did have drops, they weren't very intense making this a good ride for the family. The only two negatives that I found, that were very minor, were that the timing for the activation for the scenes were a little early and that the rumbling of the wheels made it hard to hear the ride sounds. Other than that, I'd rank it behind Phoenix as far as best coaster in the park. It was very re-rideable too. 9/10 That's it for now. I still have many more photos coming up as well as video so keep watching! After hearing all the awesome stories about former PPP events, I was super-excited to be able to be at one this year. Pretty much only three rides were closed for the event because of the flood. The Panther Cars... This kiddie ferris wheel, which seems to be in the middle of nowhere alog the creek (looks like it was lucky to not have floated away)... ...and the M&G carousel, which was missing it's horses. It's great to see that the park was able to come back and re-open a little over a week after the flood. This is a promising sign. SHE LIVES!!!! (insert evil laugh here). As for official ride sign for the ride database, I couldn't find an official sign so I went and took a picture of all of them. Have fun deciding Larry. You've been warned. The restraint system was was a retract-able seatbelt that locks (kind of similar to a car). No wristbands for this one. No one in front... The line went on the other side of the food court not long after i took this picture. Then they moved the line over to have it wrap around and zig-zag over near the eagle habitat. Rumor has it that the wait was 3hrs and 45 minutes later in the day (Fuji-Q wait time territory). The station theming looked great and the box of explosives covering the control panel added a nice touch. The storage track and maintenance area for the cars is behind that mural. The station set up was this. The train would move into the station, the passengers would load into it, passengers for the next train will be assigned a row and be told to stand in a box next to the train. the train dispatches. At the exit, the guests would get out and leave, the train would then move to a section in the middle to wait for the train in the loading section to dispatch, then etc. Robb might be lurking inside I guess. In all I waited 3 hours, I had no problem doing it and I made some friends in the process, who I hung out with later in the day. I got my 54th credit, which means that Skyrush will be #55 for me. More awesomeness of PPP coming up soon!

I talked to a security guard later who was in change of the area later and he said that it he talked to a few people in line and they said they were waiting 3hrs and 45 minutes at one point. I personally waited 3 hrs to be one of the first riders and I'm not dissappointed that I did because I met some people in line and we ended up hanging out for most of the day. Got to see A.J. ( I think I remember seeing you at ECB), which was cool. The ride pretty much is the most detailed indoor coaster I've been on (compared to Dark Knight and Exterminator at Kennywood). Everywhere you looked there was scenery and not some black void or nothingness to fill space. I pretty much think the storyline was this: You tesspass on a coal mine in the East Central Pennsylvania region (probably near Centralia) and there are currently miners working inside. One of the miners sets off some explosives and poisonous gas leaks into the mine. From here chaos insues and with the mine having some type of magical ability to give some of the miners, who died, to work as skellitons, pretty much the mine falls apart and you end up underground at Centralia (my favorite scene in the ride) and then go through the spinning barrel of fire. The whole event was MUCH more than what I expected it to be, which was just nighttime rides on the Phoenix, a swap meet, and a few halloween decorations. I will be posting a detailed Photo Trip Report tonight!

It was also listed on the 2011 Summer Season map, but with that being coal mining music, I think it's likely that it may be opening tomorrow.

Looks like I know where I'm heading first tomorrow. Now I'm excited. I'll be wearing my bright yellow LaMarcus Bros. t-shirt. and/or a Hersheypark sweatshirt jacket.

It's the first week in October and you know what that means... Phoenix Phall Phun Phest is this weekend. Anyone going this Saturday and would be interested in meeting-up? Oh, and expect a Photo TR from me as well.

Some of the station and lift hill track has arrived. You can check out the update here: http://keystonethrills.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/hersheypark-skyrush-construction-update-44-10211/

Aww. I remember riding that thing back in 2000 and it was one of the scariest skyrides that I was ever on. The steep incline after the station and with it's height being taller than Great White didn't help either. Hopefully it finds a home in another park.

The track amount has doubled and now some parts for the cable lift system have shown up. Check out the newest update here: http://keystonethrills.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/hersheypark-skyrush-update-42-92611/ Hello Intimidator-305...

And it sounds like it's going right where that rumored GCI was to go. ugh.

As someone who lives in the area when all this happened, the creeks rose VERY quickly and everyone should be lucky that it wasn't worse. I remember last Tuesday checking the weather and we were only supposed to get 4 1/2 inches of rain. The next day I ended up driving past that Pizza Hut and Wendy's twice. The first time at 9:30am, there were no roads closed in this area or flooding. It looked like a normal rainy day. Went past this way again at 12pm to pick up something and this time the road under Rt. 322/422 was blocked off as well as the exit ramps. The only ponding was under the bridge and in the turning lane at the intersection for Hersheypark Drive. Three hours later I then saw the picture of Pizza Hut and Wendy's under 6 to 7 feet of water. According to some employees, the water rose so quickly that one person had to escape through the Drive Through window! Outside my apartment, the parking lot just look like a river. The end result was with Hershey being divided into two and with close to 14inches of rain: more than 3 times what was expected. ZooAmerica did the best they can with what they knew about the weather. Nobody knew that it was going to be this bad, and there's only so much you can prepare for. What I found most interesting was that most people who have been criticizing them are people who live nowhere near the Hershey area and probably have no idea what this area has gone through. When the Zoo re-opens, they are getting a $10 or $20 donation from me.

Knoebels has posted a new set of photos to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150783427315551.728994.207828210550&type=1

A New update has been posted to the Keystone Thrills showing the main points of the flooding at Knoebels, Dutch Wonderland and Hersheypark. Aftermath photos of Skyrush's construction site and a few photos of the area along Park Ave. have been posted as well. http://keystonethrills.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/hersheypark-dutch-wonderland-and-knoebels-the-flood-of-2011-9911/

I was over taking a look at the damage this afternoon and took some photos. Expect them to be up tonight.

Here's a link to the album. https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150780115265551.728369.207828210550&type=1 Poor Ole Smokey...

Found this photo on Facebook that was taken several hours ago.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/media/set/?set=a.10150779501675551.728262.207828210550&type=1 Wow.