JDo217

My friends and I will be taking a trip down to VA on those dates and doing the parks on the 23rd - 24th (monday-tuesday). I know the park will probably be packed on Memorial Day weekend but do the crowds start to build up that week before? I've never planned a trip this early before but we've potentially got a free house to stay in if we decide this month, so yeah. Also, does Busch have any deals for 2 day visits for nonresidents? I see an awesome 2 day 2 prk deal but it's for residents only :/

Just an update: we decided to push for the gold FPs after all. The expenses won't be pretty that day but the weather is supposed to be great, there's a free concert in the park, and I know there's a deal where you can get 1/2 off tickets. My recent horrid experience at GAdv in August made me never want to experience lines that bad again. On the online order form, it says that pick up time is 11. Do i HAVE to pick it up then or can I get it whenever I want? Also, are most of SFNE's flash pass lines ones that eventually merge with the standby lines or are they ones that use the exit? I find the exit entrance ones to be so unorganized

I went on a Tuesday but back in mid June. I would head straight for Bizarro at opening. It was only a 20-30 min wait as opposed to the 90+ min monstrosity later that day. Also Mind Eraser and TDK are right there, though I'm not sure if you want to do Mind Eraser. TDK loaded really slowly from what I remember, so try and do it early on. I rode Cyclone mid day and the line wasn't bad - maybe 20 mins at most. Pandemonium was bad though.Half the queue was filled and it was a little more than an hour wait, what with them having to alternate between Flash pass and stuff. That's one ride that should NOT have the flash pass option! Anyways, I'm going to SFNE this Saturday. Are crowds super unbearable on weekends there?

I can only describe Dorney for you. The park usually isn't very crowded. It'll probably get more crowded once the water park closes though. But in my experience, I've gone on a Sunday and Tuesday in July and almost every single roller coaster was a walk-on. Also, Thunderhawk is actually kind of fun if you sit towards the front in a middle row. I made the mistake of riding in the back the first time and came off all sore. If you could do two parks in one trip, that'd be awesome though. I don't think Dorney could last you the whole day unless you plan on doing the water park too. I've never done the water park and it always seems like we're just re-riding everything for the sake of not wanting to leave too early.

If the Comet or SDL were to go, at least I could say I already got my last rides on both this season. The Comet was my first true coaster and SDL was my first looping coaster. I'm interested to know what Hershey has planned though. I think they really just need a high capacity, long ride. A giga or hyper would feel kinda out of place at HP but I dunno, just give us something amazing Hershey!

Thanks for all of the advice guys. One last question, mostly directed at locals who know the roads I'm going there on a Saturday morning (leaving from Long Island, NY). Would there be less traffic if I took the Throgs Neck Expwy (I-695) to the I-91, or if I took the Hutchinson to the Merritt Pkwy to I-91? I have an exit list in front of me and I know I need exit 47W when I'm on the I-91 but if I take the Merritt all the way to the I-91, would that leave me too far north or am I good?

From what I could tell, Ka was open all day. We did skip it though because we didn't do it in the morning and the lines were all ridiculous by the afternoon. In the morning, we made a bee-line to Superman. I go there 2-3 times a year on average and that was the first time I've ever been on it; consequently, it was also the first time I made it past the queue in the tunnel (turned around every time after seeing the line). These were the wait-times at opening to around 11:30/12: -Superman - walk-on (but the queue backed up VERY FAST) -Batman - walk-on -Skull Mountain - walk-on -Nitro - walk-on -TDK - 5-10 mins to get into the pre-show -Bizarro - 15 mins -Rolling Thunder - 15 mins -Runaway Mine Train - walk-on After 12 though, the lines started to get ridiculous. El Toro, Nitro, and Bizarro filled all of their switchbacks, Skull Mountain was out of the cave/hallway area, and Batman was almost out into the garden area. We waited in line for El Toro and it was almost a 1.5 hr wait through the whole queue. We didn't even attempt KK since it was hot and judging by all the other lines, we guessed it would've been a pretty bad wait. For the love of god, GAdv needs to learn to put some shade on their lines, ESPECIALLY El Toro's. Seriously, they didn't have the tarps/awnings up and the whole queue was in direct sunlight. It was pretty clear that everyone was dying from the heat. That made it suspiciously easy for the guys with the carts of water and lemonade to sell to the people waiting in line >_> The crews on Nitro and Bizarro really did their jobs well though. We got on line for a second ride on Bizarro and even though all the switchbacks up to the 90 min mark were filled, it took us at most 30 mins to get on. Same story with Nitro. Rolling Thunder and Batman seemed to be loading really slowly. El Toro was really slow too, but when I was in the station I noticed they had to recheck the restraints on certain cars. Not sure if it was bc people didn't fit or what We left around 7 and all of the queues for the big rides (El Toro, Bizarro, etc) were still filled to capacity

Posting from my phone. I had an overall decent day; I went with a friend who had never been before and we got a ride on everything except kingda ka, which is saying something considering it's august. We managed to squash almost everything in in the first two hours, when almost everything was a walk-on. The lines toward noon and on were BRUTAL, but I will say that some of the crews did a good job moving the lines along. I got some shots of the remaining GASM loop and some of the cranes doing demolition, which I'll hopefully upload later when I'm at a computer.

Well I decided I'll probably go with the flash pass on Saturday. And sorry but what's an "SP" discount on the flash pass? I'm pretty psyched to find out what the front row on Bizarro is like, I'll be honest. Also, if I order my flash pass online, is there a certain time I have to pick it up by? I was thinking of making a dash for Bizarro right when the park opened, then pciking up the flash pass after that

How have lines been so far on weekdays this summer? I went in early June when everything except KK was a walk-on. But I'm going again on tuesday for a little and I'm hoping it won't be crowded

I definitely don't need any of the credits at SFNE as I've been on everything there. I'm mainly going to be doing Bizarro and Cyclone. I want to get as many rides on Bizarro as I can. Is Flash pass usually accurate with the times? If I scan the Flash Pass then get on the standby line for Bizarro, can I do the flash pass line right after? Or is the window for the flash pass not big enough for me to do that? (Does it even work like that >_>) Also, last time I found that the ops at SFNE just did a pretty awful job of loading in general. Cyclone and Batman's lines were just barely out of the station yet it took us almost 30 minutes to actually get on the ride

Ah, anyone know how long Bizarro's waits have been this summer? I'd be fine with just hitting it up right at the beginning of the day then later on. I'm set on waiting for the front and back rows at least once though. Never got a chance to last time and I've heard they're both great Any suggestions where to sit for Boulder Dash?

I've actually never used a flash pass before but I might consider it. I don't think we can afford the Gold FP but maybe the regular one. I know Saturday will be super busy but we're really only there for a front and back seat ride on Bizarro. Nothing else at the park was really that interesting the last time I went. I do hope Bizarro will be running more smoothly this time though; last time I went in mid-June, it broke down three times while I was in line and I waited two hours in line for one last ride that never happened because it closed for the rest of the night

I usually avoid going to theme parks on Saturdays at all costs but this will be my first time at LC and I really want to get in a night ride on Boulder Dash. Probably gonna go to SFNE in the morning then LC after 5. I've been to SFNE already so I'll mostly just be there for Bizarro and Cyclone. Am I going to want to kill myself over lines at SFNE? I went on a weekday in June last time and Bizarro had a 1-1.5 hour wait I've never been to Lake Compounce before but I think I should be able to do everything in 5 hours

I was just at the park yesterday and I have to say it was really enjoyable. The weather turned out to be great all day despite predicted thunderstorms. All of the rides were open except for The Claw. The park was pretty crowded, but the last two times I've been to HP have been weekends, which were much worse. The lines however, weren't bad at all. We hit the Comet around 10:30 and it was practically a walk-on. SDL and Lightning Racer were walk-ons all day. Wildcat opened an hour late and we did it right away. Not sure how long the line got later though. Great Bear was a 5 minute wait at most. We didn't do Fahrenheit early since one of my friends wasn't really a roller coaster rider and we had to work our way up from the smaller rides first. I think I only waited around 30 mins in line though. Storm Runner was really something. The wait was at most 30 minutes (most of the wait being in the station) but the ride feels like it's gotten better with the years. The middle had so awesome pops of airtime but the back was just insane - ejector air over the entire top hat and a nice pop just before entering the barrel roll. Definitely don't remember it being like that back in 2004. The ride is still pretty smooth too. Fahrenheit was great too. It was a little rough around the Cobra Roll but nothing too bad. Also, as I said earlier, one of my friends wasn't really a "roller coaster person" and she'd only been on maybe 1 roller coaster her entire life. By the end of the day though, she went on everything besides roller soaker. Her favorite was Great Bear; I think B&Ms tend to be really popular with people who aren't looking for a super intense ride. She enjoyed Fahrenheit too, minus the first drop. Oddly enough, she bruised herself on SR. She was holding on to the black bars and the side of her upper arm kept getting bashed into the seat during the ride. I was confused by this until I got on again and realized that if you're holding the grab bars correctly, your arms actually can get pretty beat up if the ride is bumpy. Anyways, I'll post a Photo TR later

I'm kinda bummed the weather reports are now saying 50% of thunderstorms all day Thursday I'm praying that the forecast will change but I doubt it will so close to the date. I don't mind if the rides close down for part of the day but I'm hoping they won't shut down all day. We're going anyway though since this is really the only opportunity I have

F1Shy, if you're working Fahrenheit the 29th I'll probably see you. And it figures this is the one day of the week it's slated to thunderstorm. Only 30% chance though and only scattered thunderstorms. This shouldn't really be a problem right?

Thanks for the heads up! We're not water ride people though and when it's really hot out we usually just find someplace air-conditioned and stay there until we're ready to move again. Good to hear that Fahrenheit's line isn't too bad because the past few times I've gone, it's been nothing but a 1+ hr wait no matter what time. How have the lines been for Great Bear, SR, Lightning Racers, and Wildcat? I've never really seen SR's line past 30 minutes except for the year it opened, when the line was usually out of the queue. We're planning on staying till 9 or 10 so hopefully the crowds will thin out; hoping for night rides on Lightning Racer, SR, and Great Bear

I searched but didn't find a thread on this already. Anyway, I just downloaded the full version of the Ride Hopper app for the HTC Incredible. Does anyone have it and is it accurate? I looked up Hersheypark on it since I'll be going there next week and it's telling me Fahrenheit and Comet only have 20 minute waits and I'm finding that a little unbelievable on a Friday afternoon. I looked up SFGAdv though and basically it's what I'd expect; 90+ mins for Superman, Batman, El Toro, and KK. So yeah, anyway have this app and is it accurate?

So how have the crowds been so far this July? I'm going on July 29th. This is the first time I'm going in July. We're staying the whole day but I was reading through this thread and reading the horror stories of April and STITP. Should I expect crowds like that on a Thursday in July?

The past two years I've gone in August and the crowds are kind of what you described. 10-20 minute wait for SR, an hour or more for Fahrenheit, Wildcat, SDL and Lightning Racer 0-5 minute wait, Great Bear and Comet more than 30 mins. My brother was there today and said crowds were pretty much like that, and there was a concert in the park today. Also, he said SR was closed for the rest of the night for technical difficulties. Does anyone know if Hershey usually gets those problems fixed quickly? I'm really looking forward to riding it on Tuesday

Thanks for the responses guys. It turns out we're most likely going on the 20th instead, since that's the only date that really works for all of us. Question though: there's a concert slated for the 20th (Star Wars in Concert Tour at the GiantCenter). Will the park necessarily be more crowded because of this? I know when John Mayer and KISS perform at the park it'll probably be PACKED but I'm really not sure about the Star Wars thing. I guess if anything, the park will clear out around 7 since that's when the event starts.

I have the option of going any day from July 26-29 (Mon - Thurs). I know it's July and the park is way more crowded than in June but it's the only time I can go. I've been to GADv and Dorney recently and almost every ride was a walk-on on the day I went; I'm getting kind of lazy and spoiled with lines I'm thinking Tuesday right now but I honestly don't really have HP crowds figured out yet. Every time I've gone for the past three years, there have been huge crowds and minimum 30 minute waits for the coasters

July 12th Last summer one of my best friends spent a couple of weeks in Spain with a host family. This summer, the girl from that family came to the U.S. and spent two weeks here. We brought her to Coney Island for the day and I think she really enjoyed it. The sad part is that I live less than an hour away from Coney Island and I've never been there. We didn't really ride that much actually. We went for a ride on the Cyclone, which was fun but my neck paid for it the next day. That first drop really snaps your neck backward! We also rode the spinning wild mouse in Luna Park, which turned out to be fun too. The outside seats really get whipped around though. We walked along the beach and boardwalk and left after 4 hours or so since we didn't really want to drop that much money on rides. Next we drove over to Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Dumbo for an early dinner. This is a place everyone has been telling me about but I never actually tried it until today. We got there around 5:30 but it took us another half hour to actually find parking. There were only around 20 people in front of us on line but a lot of them were holding spots so the wait was around 30 minutes. The pizza was AMAZING though. I hesitate to call it the "best pizza I ever had" but at the same time I can't really name a place that I've had better pizza at. We finished off the day by burning off the pizza across the Brooklyn Bridge. There was also an awesome little ice cream shop along the dock where the ferry comes in overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Overall, an awesome day. The pictures are a little lower in quality since I used my phone to take them this time Spanish girl by the water. Curse my phone for taking dark pictures in the sunlight Coney Island skyline Now I can say I ate at the original Nathan's! you KNOW what this is Grimaldi's. Inside is very cozy and you're pretty much right next to strangers - makes for some good socializing Definitely awesome This was the line to get in after we finished eating... I can't believe this was the first time walking across the Brooklyn Bridge... and I live 45 minutes away... Woohoo, Manhattan skyline! Unfortunately, the Droid Incredible doesn't take very good pictures at night

Thanks. Also, on a somewhat related note, would you recommend Grimaldi's Pizzeria since we're pretty close by car? I normally wouldn't go out of my way to try all these things but my friend is bringing her friend from Spain with her and we wanted to show her some sights. I've heard some great things about Grimaldi's but I'm not sure if it's worth the trip