Nitro1118

I've went twice during weeknights the past week and a half. Both times I got 5 laps on major rodes in only 2.5 hours, and that was while dragging my feet. Everything should be under 20min waits after 7pm.

Could be, but it's kind of early to send that much stuff. Honestly I am stumped as to what that is based on the picture.

Sorry for double post, but GAdv got a pretty large shipment of something in yesterday. Who knows what it is for yet, but at least things are starting to get interesting. Posted on Great Adventure Connoiseurs FB page.

I'm not a big flats guy, but ut is definitely still an area of need for the park. They've made some strong leaps with Skyscreamer (plus the flats it came with), Zumanjaro, El Diablo and making the safari an immersive attraction. However, Dorney and Hershey put us to shame in terms of flat rides. I would not complain one bit if that is our 2017 addition. However, I really hope they don't go in Chiller's spot. From the old Music Express to Freefall is prime real estate for a big roller coaster to finally revitalize that area and spread out crowds.

After recent Hershey trip... Steel: 1) Wicked Cyclone 2) Superman: The Ride 3) Skyrush 4) Millennium Force 5) Apollo's Chariot Wood; 1) El Toro 2) Voyage 3) Boulder Dash 4) Phoenix 5) Cornball Express

Yeah, the ride selection at the park is exceptional. Big and versitile collection of coasters and a ton of flat rides. HP is definitely a must-visit for any enthusiast.

After 4 years, I finally decided to make the long overdue trip back out to Hershey Park for a mini-vacation with my girlfriend. Originally, we were supposed to head out to Cedar Point, but had to back out for work/financial reasons. After a 3 hour drive from Monmouth County, NJ, we hit the park up for 2.5 hours on Monday night, then were there all day on Tuesday (with a 2 hour break at our hotel around dinner time). Ride count: Skyrush 6x Lightning Racer 3x Storm Runner 2x Great Bear 2x Comet 2x SDL 2x Fahrenheit 1x Wildcat 1x Laff Trak 1x Wild Mouse 1x Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge 1x The Whip 1x Skyway 1x Chocolate Factory Tour 1x Zooamerica 1x Notes: -As I mentioned in the Hersheypark thread, I liked Skyrush much better on this trip than during my 2012 trip, where I found it overrated. This time around, the pacing felt quicker, and I was in a better mood than the last go-around. The unnecessarily painful restraints (why can't Intamin just angle the lap bar for greater surface area on the leg?!?) still kill its marathon potential, and makes that last bunny hop a little brutal after the previous 30 seconds of thigh-crushing, but it is still an amazing ride. Intense ejector, quick pacing, and amazing laterals that really toss you around viciously in the winged seats. Cracked my top 5 steel and top 10 overall. -Loved the vest upgrades on Storm Runner and Fahrenheit. It was my first experience with this variation from Intamin, and they definitely added to the ride experience for each. Crossing my fingers SFGAdv cracks open their wallets to get these on Kingda Ka. Anyway, both rides were running great. Fahrenheit is a quirky coaster with some cool elements and surprising intensity, and Storm Runner is still one of the more underrated/overlooked coasters out there. -WTF happened to Wildcat?!? I haven't ridden it since 2007, and boy was it pretty awful today. The La-Z Boy Millenium Flyers made it tolerable, but some major work needs to be done to this ride. -Lightning Racer is still running remarkably well for a 16 year old wooden coaster. Perfectly smooth for a wooden coaster and the racing element never gets old. -Laff Trak was a bit disappointing. The outside of the building and queue were very well done, but the ride area was a little bland and the cars didn't spin much compared to other spinning mouse coasters. Solid addition, but that's about it. -Zooamerica was another disappointment. I am severely spoiled by SFGAdv Safari, but Hershey's collection was very limited, presentation was kind of poor (hard to see a number of the habitats), and some of the enclosures seemed excessively small for the animals they were housing. -I wish I had another day at the park to really dig in to their flat ride collection. They have a very good collection of flats, especially in terms of classic flats like the Whip and Flyers. -Operations were a little shaky around the park. Most ops seemed disinterested and many coasters were stacking trains. Storm Runner had its back 2-3 cars completely blocked off for Fast Track users, whom I saw 0 of on either of my 2 rides. Skyrush went down to 1 train ops tonight. I will say, though, there was a ton of staff everywhere, and I noticed 0 closed attractions. -Overall, had a great 1.5 days at the park. Hershey is a beautiful, well-rounded park with so much to do for every age group. I definitely can't wait to make it back out within the next couple of years. Some pics...

My girlfriend and I began our 2 day stay at Hershey tonight, replacing the original/more expensive CP trip plan. I've been to the park in 2004, 2007 and 2012 (a week after Skyrush opened). In 2012, I only went for 4 hours, with 3 of those hours waiting for the rides to reopen as a storm a couple miles away kept everything closed. Only got 1 ride on Skyrush that day, and came away disappointed. Found it painful and overrated on that trip. I've been itching to get back to give it a second chance as I knew the 3 hours of waiting killed my mood that day. Anyway, we got the park at 7:30 tonight, made a quick dash to Skyrush, and... Holy crap! Now, it is still quite painful and cuts off blood circulation to the legs to the point where they are numb by the time the train hits the brakes, but it definitely cracked my top 5 steel. The ride was absolutely hauling ass the entire circuit on each of my 3 rides, and especially for my 2 night rides. Maybe my memory is just fuzzy, but I do NOT remember it ripping through the circuit like that during my 2012 ride or any POV's. It was also nice knowing now when to keep the hands up (airtime moments), and when to grab the restraints (lateral moments). I'd put it comfortably below El Toro, Wicked Cyclone, Voyage and Boulder Dash, but it has a case against any of the other 150 coasters I've been on. In those 2.5 hours, I got on Skyrush 3x, Lightning Racer 1x, SDL 1x, Storm Runner 1x, Reese's Cup Challenge 1x, and the Skyway 1x. Pretty much everything was either a walkon or 5min wait. If I wanted to, I could have done twice as much, but it was nice taking things easy and re-acclimating myself with Hershey's confusing layout. Got 12 hours tomorrow to cover all bases.

Then why does most people at SFNE Online have the same issues? They rode it the first month with rave reviews, and now are saying the vibrations from last year have returned. I've been on nearly 150 coasters and I can tell you on my visit one of the trains was flawless, and the other had massage chair vibrations. It's not a sensitivity or tolerance thing.

Maybe I'm immune to vibration then because I honestly didn't feel it at all on any ride. I'll see whats what when I get back up to the park later this summer to see if anything's changed. My point was that it probably wasn't having issues your visit. On my visit only one of the trains had issues, and at times during the year it was the other train having issues (or both). Probably has to do with the wheels or something. On ypur visit they were probably changed out. Because they are NOT something you wouldn't feel...

You can't miss it when the trains are doing it. It's not like a B&M rattle...it literally feels like a massage chair. It's very strange.

Wicked Cyclone is amazing, people just like to bitch incessantly about everything. The people complaining about Wicked Cyclone vibrating are the same ones that thing Gatekeeper has death vests and Valravn rattles. We rode is this season and last year during fright fest at the height of the "vibrating" and noticed no difference and thought it was awesome both times. The only reason I'd be hesitant to visit in July is because of VR on Superman. After seeing the horrific dispatch times in action at La Ronde we've decided to avoid SFNE for the rest of the season as imagining that (adjusting, readjusting, "mine isn't calibrating", "how do you put this thing on?" , "do you see the gun... no, okay get them another headset". "is this thing on right?") combined with the already atrocious dispatch times seems like the worst thing ever. I guess with a Flash Pass it's okay though, plus it's sort of cool to try once so if you want to spend the extra money it might be worth going then. On my visit last year in June one train had 0 vibrations, the other one had VERY significant vibrations. The difference in speed between the trains was definitely apparent, especially after the first outward banked hill. This isn't an issue people are exaggerating at all, though it doesn't ruin the experience totally.

Monorailorange- Any details on specific elements?

Wicked Cyclone was so tempermental due to the paint rubbing off the first month (hence why new I-Box's have the unpainted strip), and then getting hit with the SFNE botched train curse. This year it seems to have been fixed and by all accounts it has been flying.

History plays a huge part in that. 7-8 deaths in the last 17 years, several other non-fatal incidences, post-construction reprofilings, and heavy downtime for some of their highest profile rides (whether it is their fault or park's requesting current technology to push the limit and do things they can't adequetely handle) are good reason to be quicker to place the blame on Intamin. RMC has a few blemishes on their record, but nothing compared to the quantity or severity of Intamin's.

Wow I'm starting to feel old. I remember riding Nitro during SP preview week before the grand opening. I remember how amazed I was at my first hyper coaster. It was the coaster that really put the park on the national map, and I'm pretty sure 2001 was the park's most successful season (I forget if it was attendance or profit-wise).

Wind can change all that, though...the other day none of the major rides were open due to the cold/wind mix. Otherwise, you're good to go.

That first camelback looks like it will give the best airtime of any RMC. Very impressed by the overall pacing.

YES!!! Best investment of 2016. I thought I was going to pop a tire 2 days ago, they let it get really out of control.

Yes indeed! It makes me sad that the ability to "stage" our rides can be good- but the business model/finances cannot sustain them (those pics on the link support this comment!) On that note- it pains me to this day to have seen the "best ever" for SFGA go to waste- The Golden Kingdom/Kingda Ka area of the park.....it was the perfect combo for me when my kids were little- mom kept them busy in the "new" kids area, while dad took on the beast! What a waste of money that (now closed) area of the park turned out to be.....including that stupid train that was never opened, because of the hazard it created around the climbing area! Yeah, the Golden Kingdom is sad nowadays. When it opened it was really, really nice and a breath of fresh air. SF let it get rundown and a shell of its former self. Same thing with PDC to a lesser degree, although Macho Nacho is a great addition.

http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/SkullMountainQueue.htm For the Skull Mountain fans, above is a great spotlight on the original queue, courtesy of Great Adventure History. Cool read and photos.

Really? I wonder why. I was able to walk right along side the fence last Friday. I believe it was because the fence was unlocked due to workers going in and out of the construction zone. They probably didn't want any GP sneaking into the construction area.

Since it doesn't have a transfer track they remove that piece to remove and add the train. Ah, same reason as Joker, which I asked about last week when I noticed that piece missing last week. Should have known that. Thanks for the response. Anyway, as mentioned, I made a quick trip out to the park today. Stayed between 1:30-4:30. I really made it a point with my crazy schedule to visit the park since I work 12hr days every Saturday/Sunday, so this was one of the last times I could visit the park before it opens for full operation after Memorial Day. Ride count: El Toro 1x- magic seat Kingda Ka 1x- front row Skull Mountain 1x- back row -Park was mildly crowded. Parking lot was a little over halfway full, El Toro was a 20min wait, KK was 30min, and Skull Mountain 10min. Midways seemed more crowded than ride lines would indicate. -They are still running a thin crew with most food places closed. I was pleased to see pretty much every ride open, though, including Twister! -The KK line stopper was awesome. Usually when they let you proceed to the station, it is bottled up and into the small switchback. When we got to the station it was almost completely empty...just a 2 train wait for the front row! When possible/reasonable, first row of KK is the only spot anyone should ever consider. Butter smooth and it still gets my heart racing after 11 years. I've also come to the conclusion that my favorite post-launch element is the speed hill. The top hat is cool, but Zumanjaro kind of ruined the height-factor since on that ride you get a better and more prolonged view. The speed hill is pretty amazing in the front row for sense of speed. Underrated, in fact. -El Toro's A train (non-Kia) was running in mid-summer form today. Holy crap. Whenever you get airtime on the drop out of the turnaround, speed hill through the structure, and S-turn out of the twister section, you know it's a prime El Toro ride. Incredible airtime on the camelbacks. Everything felt twice as powerful as opening day in the Kia-mobile. -As mentioned, the spin fins have been added to Joker. The crews were working hard on the ride the entire time I was there. -Decided to showoff for my girlfriend and drop 8 bucks for the 3pt challenge, knowing I haven't played in years. Embarassed myself and the 10y.o after me beat me at it Did redeem myself with the traditional basketball game and won a hat, but my ego is bruised right now lol. Pics: Joker with an employee blocking guests from getting close to the fence. Kingda Plane Airtime... In wheel seats, this spot has gotten very bumpy last 2 years. Hopefully, the park addresses this soon. Ultra unique shot from smoking gazeebo. Left Twix-Right Twix: The Ride The skyline.

Just got back from park. Will post a report and a couple more pics, but two thing for now: Spinning fins have been added to Joker. Don't know if this has been noticed or explained...why is Harley Quinn missing track?

Skyrush for me. The restraints suck and are one of the few times I've ever been distracted during a ride, the layout is short, and while it's not a bad layout by any means, it is far from one of Intamin's best. The elements are amped up due to the winged trains and open restraints flinging you around everywhere, but I don't put the layout quite on par with the likes of EGF, S:TR, Toro, T-Express, Goliath at Walibi, Maverick, iSpeed, etc.. That is NOT to say Skyrush is a bad ride. It's incredibly unique and intense. I just don't "get" when people put it over many of the other Intamin (or RMC) greats. Overwhelming force alone doesn't do it for me.