AmyUD06

Cedar Fair parks did away with hand-stamps for this year (probably something about touching people), and instead issued return tickets to daily-ticket entrants and allowed multiple scans for season passes.

Haha I said the same exact thing when I went through it today. Literally, out loud, and loud enough for everyone in a 15 foot radius to hear me.

Just got back from a Tuesday day-trip to Hersheypark, so here's my photo-lite TR! Hersheypark - Tuesday, August 18, 2020 In lieu of my grand 2020 Amusement Park Roadtrip, which fizzled due to COVID, I decided to do a day-trip to Hersheypark today. I had last been there in 2017 on a Saturday as part of a work group trip (that I put together), once in like 2010, and previously numerous times as a kid, but this was really only my third trip there as an adult. The 2017 trip left me rather underwhelmed, particularly by the Saturday crowds, so I figured my odds would be better on a Tuesday. Nevertheless, I splurged for the Fast Track Unlimited (hereafter referred to as FTU because I like acronyms), which was my first time utilizing the park's skip-the-line program. Let's get the 2020-normal-ugliness out of the way.... COVID Procedures: As you may recall, I have zero fear of contracting COVID myself, but recognize the nature of the world and how we "all have to do our part" if we want things to be open. So, I wear a mask when required and social distance as instructed. I cannot say the same for the bulk of the crowd I encountered today. While I didn't see anyone blatantly without a mask, I'd say probably 50% were wearing it properly. Social distancing was virtually non-existent in ride queues, despite markers on the ground. I had to ask the group behind me to give some space in 80% of the lines I was in; the other times I made a point of thanking the group behind me for respecting the markers. The park did have employees stationed out on the midways enforcing mask rules, and coaster operators would remind people of the mask rules in their spiels, but there was no one monitoring queues to enforce masking or social distancing. Coaster exiting was all at the same time, and aside from the woodies and Trailblazer (Comet and Trailblazer had every cars' middle row blocked off, and the three GCIs had every other row blocked off), there were no seats closed to spacing. In the waterpark, I didn't notice any lack of chairs to encourage social distancing, either. After my Cedar Fair and Knoebel's trips, it felt a bit lackluster. On to the report! I arrived at the park right around 11:00 and was faced with this: Uh oh. Definitely glad I splurged for the FTU wristband, which was $100 today (the non-unlimited FT pass was $85, so it made no sense to get that one). Surprisingly, there was no tents for the temperature check, resulting in some people being turned away likely just because they were standing with the sun blaring on them for 5 minutes prior. Made my way to the ticket-taker, of which there were two rows of for some reason, and asked both where I could turn my FTU voucher into a wristband. Neither knew. Made my way to Candymonium, figuring I'll get it out of the way, and was turned away at the entry to put my backpack in a locker - yes, this is a mandatory-l0cker ride. Thankfully, Hershey's ride lockers, where required, are free for a limited time, which is something real nice that Cedar Fair and Six Flags could take a hint from. Back to the gate, showed my FTU voucher, and was let in ahead of probably 45 minutes worth of line. However, due to where the merge point is (at the bottom of the stairs), it still took me 10 minutes (on-and-off, including ride time) for the back row. How did I like it? Candymonim Review: It's a B&M Hyper of the modern variety. Meh. Couple of airtime moments, a couple that could-have-been if it weren't for trims on the up-hills, but generally quite forceless. That one turn that everyone talks about being "overly banked for a B&M" is cool though. And the queue is entirely indoors, and largely air conditioned, which is nice. At least it will draw crowds away from other rides, and it does look pretty... Yay, train shot. Oh, and the fountain is done and operational. Onward, I found a kiosk to convert my FTU voucher into a wristband, which is part of the "HPGO" system. I get what they're going for with this, having the ability track scores at the Cupfusion ride and times at the mat racer, but it seems overly complicated. Onward to Comet, which was 7 minutes for row six. Note that this was the first of many rides that the FTU did not help me at all due to the merge location well before the station (imagine Millennium Force's Fast-Lane merge, and that's almost every coaster at Hershey). Great classic woodie, skid brakes and buzz bars and all. Next up was my #1 in the park, and #3 steel coaster I've been on, Skyrush! First ride took me 16 minutes for a back-row, left-side wing seat. Note that the FTU did not help here either. WOW I forgot how intense this ride is. I kept my arms up the entire time, but it felt like it was trying to break me off at the torso with those laterals on the transitions. Combined with the fact that I definitely didn't leave enough room between my thighs and the bar, it was a little bit painful. I don't know how possible it is, but I feel this ride would benefit greatly from Maverick/Fahrenheit/I305 style restraints. Still a spectacular ride as is, but that one change might put it above Maverick and I305 to claim my number one spot. As SuperDooperLooper was closed (with trains in the station and on the final breakrun), it was time for the hike up the big hill (I forgot how hilly this park is!) to Great Bear. 7 minutes on-on-and-off, back row, bypassing probably 20-30 minutes of queue. Great B&M from the early days, when they weren't afraid to fit an entire zero-g-roll into 30 feet of track. And I will always love the creative support work down along the creek. Since I was in the area, I figured I might as well hit up their log flume, Coal Cracker (8 minutes, no FTU line that I could find). For those not in the know, this is one of the few flumes left that have a little "jump-ramp" at the bottom of the main drop, causing the boat to skip along the water, generally resulting in not getting very wet (love it or hate it). Unforunately, for me who was trying to stay mostly dry, after the skips the boat hit a wall rather oddly, causing a big splash from the side, and my entire right half getting drenched. Oh well, it was sunny enough that I was dry by the time I got off of Trailblazer, which was next and a walk-on for row 3. After that, I was feeling a bit hungry, so I grabbed a larger-than-normal Superpretzel and a beer from the nearby stand, and collected my second wristband of the day (for being over 21). Next on the route was Sidewinder, 10 minutes for second-to-last row (no help from FTU). Normally Vekoma Boomerangs are auto-skips for me, but with the new-style vest-restraint trains they're not bad rides at all. I'm so glad that Morey's Boomerang finally got them. Made my way up to Fahrenheit, my #2 at the park and a great Intamin (6 minutes back row, bypassing 30-45 minutes of queue since this is the only coaster at the park where FTU drops you right in the station). Was great before the soft straps, and even better now. I'm not sure why Intamin never built more of these vertical-lift/beyond-vertical-drop coasters in the US. After that, it was time to make my way back towards Lightning Racer (so I could get the left side, the only credit I care about that I didn't have at this park). I decided against better judgement to give Wildcat a try. 21 minutes for the front row (again, no help from FTU), and it was surprisingly tolerable...until a pothole in the middle of a turn halfway through the ride, and then another rough transition. Walked down the ramp with a tinge in my spine and a wicked headache. To add injury to injury, the turnstile on the exit ramp decided to not move when I walked into it, jamming one of the rods right into my thigh, causing me to limp the rest of the day (it still hurts). Forget bringing in RMC, just burn it to the ground. Finished the limping-trek back to Lightning Racer, skipping both Laff Trakk (I hate spinning coasters) and Wild Mouse (been on one, been on them all), and got a lap on the left (Thunder) side, front row, in 7 minutes (bypassing three trains worth of regular queue with FTU) and then immediately a lap on the right (Lightning) side, front row, in 10 minutes. Great dueling coaster, which raced every time. On the second lap, my train won by less than a foot, which I thought was kinda cool. By now it was around 1:00, so I decided to stroll through the waterpark and decide whether it was worth it to get changed into swimwear and partake. This is where the crowds were, people. As it turns out, I did end up getting changed, and spent around 3 hours in the waterpark as a whole. Notably collected my third wristband here (for the lockers). I spent around 15 minutes in the wave pool (after a 10 minute wait - it still blows my mind that this park has a queue line for the wave pool, even in non-COVID times) and did four laps of the lazy river after a 40 minute wait. It was a 30 minute line to get a tube for their one tube-slide complex, then another 30 minutes to climb the stairs (I skipped, just estimated by how many people I saw). Water coaster and mat racer were closed. As with my trip in 2017, the waterpark continues to be a disaster. The lazy river needs to be put on Fast Track yesterday. I will say this, I *LOVE* the l0cker system they have for the waterpark, where you get a wristband and you scan it to open it each time, meaning you only need to remember the general location of the locker, not which specific number it is. After drying off and getting changed back into normal park clothes, it was time for another lap on Fahrenheit, this time in the front row (8 minutes, bypassing 45-60 minutes of normal queue). Feeling hungry again, so grabbed a garlic grilled cheese and side of mac&cheese (what a shock, right?) from the Overlook food court, both of which were good but not quite Melt or Tom+Chee level. The it was time for the second lap on Great Bear, this time in the front (11 minutes, bypassing 30 minutes of queue). From there, it was time for some more laps on Skyrush. First time around I braved the front-row line, taking a total of 34 minutes (no help from FTU), and rode in the front on the right-side wing seat. Just as awesome and intense in the front as the back. Immediately got back on for one more back-row lap (15 minutes, bypassing 10 minutes of queue), this time in an inside seat, which was slightly less twisty-forceful as the wings. Still had me leaning halfway in to the next seat though LOL. These two laps I was able to get a bit of space between my thigh and the bar, which helped but only a little, since they have a way of tightening as the ride works it way through the course. At this point, it was 6:00 (park closed at 7:00), so I figured I'd try to beat the rush of crowd exiting. Made my way back to the front, taking some pictures of Candymonium (yes, skipping another ride - sue me, it wasn't that good) and the new entrance, and then out - which is through the gift shop, even with all of the "avoid indoor spaces!" hullabaloo of Coronavirus -and back to my car and to the drive home. Which, if you Google map Hersheypark to Newark, DE, you will see is an awesome semi-twisty ride on backroads through Amish Country with maybe 20 minutes of highway the entire time...perfect for the Miata with the top down. I left Hersheypark feeling largely the way I did about it after my 2017 trip - Four awesome coasters (Skyrush, Fahrenheit, Lightning Racer, and Great Bear), but not worth a yearly trip despite being only an hour and 45 minutes from me. Too much crowd, the tragedy of the waterpark, the largely useless-ness of the skip-the-line system (though I was glad I had it for Fahrenheit alone), and the hilly, easy-to-get-lost in layout just don't work for me. Great park, no question about it, but not my cup of tea I guess. I'll leave you with a shot of the new main gate, at the end of the day, to enjoy. So long, Hershey.

Yeah, I'm aware of the park's website listing, and based on reports on here it hasn't always been accurate. Also, another question that I can't seem to find the answer on their not-exactly-easy-to-navigate site: Masks in the waterpark? I assume that once you're changed into swimwear, you're okay to walk around the waterpark area without a mask, because where would you store it when you're partaking in waterpark attractions? Just trying to prepare myself as much as possible. Thanks.

According to their Facebook, Sea Serpent is back open with the new vest-restraint trains, so now the only coaster that isn't open in Wildwood is Great White. Gonna have to try to get up there soon. Weekday Daytime (until 5PM) ride wristbands are also now available for $30. Aaaand...the paid reservation system is gone.

I think you answered your own question.

Well, just bought my tickets for Tuesday the 18th, with a Fast Track Unlimited just in case (I plan on hitting the waterpark so minimizing lines for coasters will help). The last time I was here was 2017, and I recall lines being brutal, though that was a Saturday and in non-COVID times. As for the Waterpark, I know that the water coaster is closed, but the lazy river, wave pool, tube and mat slides are all operating, correct?

Sorry to hear your day didn't work out all that well. When you got the second and subsequent APs, did you show them the ones you already had so that they would give you a different time, as I had mentioned in my strategy? I too encountered some groups that would continually encroach upon my distancing. My strategy was to ask them once, and when they'd inevitably do it again, just let them go ahead of me and crowd on someone else.

If you're still in Sandusky, the only bar to drink at after CP is the Thirsty Pony. Last call is at 10 but they are running some kinda of special where they'll bring you four drinks right at 10:00 for less than normal price.

Hey now, he may have small kids.

Okay, so I'm not going crazy! I just watched that video over and over again, and I think I figured it out - since all of my recent rides (ie - all of them from 2017 onward) on Banshee have been in the back row, and the sound seems to play timed to the front row, that explains why I haven't heard it.

I'm serious. I either have never heard the scream or thought it was part of the rides operating mechanisms.

Yeah, that's a smart, sustainable business model...can they just sell the Busch parks back to an alcohol company already?

LOL. They can't pay for the rides they just built, and now they're talking about buying more parks?

Didn't even factor in the Resort Gate. Yeah, if you can be at the head of that line and make a brisk jog, that system might work for you....ride SV, then go get the APs for the other rides.

Only if you run and get on the first train or three. I found that by leisurely strolling back there, by the time I got there, there was already 30-50 people in the standby line (basically everyone that will run past you after the gate opens). Remember with the reduced capacity there's only a maximum of 12 people per train, and that's if there's no odd-number groups (say 1 or 3 people). The 20-30 minute delay of getting on the ride could negatively affect your ability to get the other passes in the initial drop, which was always my goal. If you do run and get on SV in the first few trains from the initial standby queue, you probaly won't get an AP for it - the line will still be back near the split to go left to Gemini or right to CCMR. If you take 25 minutes to get on and off the ride, you definitely won't get an access pass for it. Don't forget taking time to grab your stuff out of a locker afterwards, fighting the crowds in the locker area. I personally never wanted to have to rely on the second batch, but your mileage may vary. There are approximately 25% less passes given out in the second wave (4-5, 5-6, and 6-7, as opposed to the morning batch of 12-1, 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4). Also remember that if you do manage to grab a pass or two for the other 3 AP rides in the first drop, by the time you get them it will probably be a 2-3 and/or 3-4, right at the time you need to be lining up for the second drop. If you don't care about two of the other 4 rides, or are willing to interrupt your day for the second batch of passes, sure, but for me I'd rather not risk it. It just made more sense to me to grab all four passes early, get on those rides, and then take care of the rest of the park without having to worry about being in the right place at the right time.

LOL I always thought that was just part of the chain mechanism. Silly me. Nice.

Weird. I never heard it.

I was at KI both Friday and Saturday and can vouch for that. That said, CP is still pretty strict about it for the big 3, and less so for Dragster.

It's really not. I had great success using the following system each day both during my July trip and the one I just got back from: 1. Be there for gate opening, 10:00. This requires arrival at the park at 9:30-9:45 to allow time to go through the temperature screening. 2. Casually stroll back to Steel Vengeance. Even without running, you should be within the first 50 people in line for an Access Pass (hereafter referred to as AP). This Sunday and Monday I was in the 6th group and 1st group respectively, and believe me I was definitely strolling, and stopped for a bathroom break each day. 3. At 11:00 (or slightly before, as I noticed), collect your SV AP...it will definitely be for the noon-1:00 timeslot. 4. Casually stroll to Millennium Force. 5. By the time you arrive, the line should be shorter than it was at 11:00. When you get to the front, show them your Noon SV AP and they should give you a 1:00-2:00 AP for Millennium. From here, it depends whether your visiting on a Saturday or Sunday/weekday. If it's a Sunday or weekday, 6A. Loop around to Dragster, and show them your two previously acquired APs to get one for 2:00-3:00. 7A. Make you way back up to Maverick, and show them your three previously acquired APs to get one for 3:00-4:00. 8A. By this time, it should be around 11:45, and you're right back up near SV to get in line for the Noon AP group. 9A. From there, go about your day as you see fit. If it's a Saturday: 6B. Decide which is more important to you, Maverick or Dragster, and go there and get a pass, again showing your previously acquired passes. 7B. Try to go to the other one and get a pass. Note that they may be all out, in which case you'll need to carefully plan the rest of your day to be back in the area of that ride around 2:45 (when the lines start forming for the 3:30 distribution). Using that system, you're guaranteed a ride on each AP-coaster per day. It works, and really isn't that much of a hassle at all. Depending on other lines, you can try to squeeze some other rides in between your pass times, or just focus on being there at the time for the pass and then do other stuff at the park afterwards. Note that on this past Sunday, Dragster did not have enough of a crowd at some points to require AP use - they were still handing them out, but at both 11:00 and around 1:00 they were not requiring passes to get in line. EDIT: I see now that you're the guy who but doesn't believe a trip to Kennywood is worth it because Steel Curtain isn't operating, and have made similar other "debbie downer" posts, so there probably isn't any changing your mind.

Is your name Mandy that I met on TTD at CP today? She had the same philosophy.

LOL. At least they've got a sense of humor. And you never know, it could be a secondhand SLC from somewhere and technically be true...

Banshee and the Beast have lift-hill audio? News to me...I didn't notice it at all during my two days this weekend at KI.

So wait, was that you that drove 9hrs to ride?! If so then I was the one in the FastLane that let you go ahead of me! That front row ride was my last also! It was an awesome day!! Yep, that was me! Small world haha. Didn't have time to explain it all, but after visiting KI when they were only open until 7 and CP when half the coasters were closed back in July, I made another trip out here from Delaware (the state, since you have to mention this in Ohio where there's a town called Delaware) solely for the purpose of getting night rides at KI and a chance at Dragster at CP. Thank you again, so much. Not enough words to express my gratitude here. Had I known you were on here I would've invited you back to my hotel for a tasty adult beverage (since Ohio has gone stupid with their COVID restrictions for bars). Yeah, it was an awesome day. My complete report is forthcoming.

With my 1000th post, I do declare that my initial assessment of Steel Vengeance from a month ago was faulty. I think I got stapled on my back-row ride then, because on this trip I've gotten two back-row rides with some space between me and the lap bar and holy shit, this thing is awesome! Felt like I was out of my seat for half the ride. That said, and after some not-3-years-ago rides on the rest, my new CP existant-ride rankings are as follows (all changes noted in bold): 1. Maverick (back) 2. Steel Vengeance (back) 3. Millennium Force (front) 4. Raptor (back) 5. Top Thrill Dragster (front) 6. Gatekeeper (back) 7. Iron Dragon (back) {substantial drop) 8. Rougarou (back) 9. Magnum XL-200 (front or any non-wheel seat) 10. Gemini (any non-wheel seat) 11. Valravn (front) 12. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (any non-wheel seat) 13. Wicked Twister (back) {substantial drop} 14. Corkscrew (die in a fire) 15. Blue Streak (di in a fire) Not ranked: Kiddie Coasters since they're kiddie coasters and Pipe Scream because its not a coaster, and defunct coasters. My complete report from this trip is forthcoming.