amy_mel

When I took my kids to Epcot my then 10 year old daughter wouldn't sit still on Journey Into Imagination. The end result of her fidgeting was that as the vehicle door slid open it sucked her flip flop in with it. End result: my kid broke the ride and caused everyone to be evaced.

I heard a news report that said these dogs are on the endangered species list. Do you think whoever has authority over protected species will give the go ahead to put down the herd in this case? I don't know who gives the go ahead on something like that.

HLN (I know, not the best of news sources) put this on their Facebook page and people are all kinds of pissed off. They are equating beer at one meal in a table service restaurant to drunken mayhem and orgies throughout the park. Jeez lighten up and have a beer - Gaston would!!

^ agree with this. In addition, this is the last weekend before school starts in this area and next weekend is Labor Day weekend. I would expect the park to be crazy with people squeezing in one last visit.

In my opinion the Monday/Tuesday is the better choice. While Harrisburg schools have already gone back, this is the last week of summer vacation for almost every other district in this area so crowds may be heavier either way. If you are willing to leave the park there are lots of good food options, both chain and small private owned. In the park the smokehouse is probably the best option.

The wifi was kind of sketchy in Chocolate World but pretty good throughout park itself.

^ when leaving the park make a right onto Hersheypark Dr and go past the outlets. Troeg's has a gigantic brewery on the right. I'm pretty sure they do tours and such. They are a local favorite in the area. I'm not a beer drinker myself so this is the opinion of friends and family who are fans. Also there are small microbreweries in the Harrisburg area. Appalachain Brewing Company is pretty popular and I've always had good food there too. edit: I looked up their website. They do free self guided tours or for $5 they have tasting tours which include tasting and a free glass.

Ops weren't this bad last year. I haven't been to the park this summer as I opted to not renew my season pass due to being pregnant. There were occasional issues that would pop up but these descriptions are sounding ridiculous, almost like there is no supervision at all. They do hire a lot of young people and they also have a volunteer program but from my experience, that program provides more than adequate "training" to help a crew operate any ride in the park. I hope they figure things out and get back to normal for next season.

The best way I can suggest is the same as Fahrenheit. Get there first.

So based on the color of the coaster, Hershey and Intamin will now no longer do business with each other? Never knew color was that meaningful. SkyRush is the third of a 3 coaster deal but I didn't realize that prohibited the companies from tackling any further projects. There are plenty of Intamin products that Hershey does not have but would compliment the park nicely.

We are season pass holders at Hershey. The crowds seem to be different this year due to Skyrush. Personally I would recommend the Dorney/Knoebel's trip because you just never know how Hershey's ops are going to be on any given day, holiday or not. If you do go with Hershey, get there before opening. They start letting people through the gates at around 9:50 and the rope drops at 10. Keep heading left and hit up Fahrenheit first. The plan given above seems to be working well. Skyrush clears out around 1:00 or so for some reason

I don't understand all the raving over the new train on Sidewinder either. I rode once last summer and once was still more than enough. I left the ride with a headache and one very unhappy 9 year old. It was the only ride he really wanted to try that was new to him and he was very disappointed.

Food is typical park fare. There is really nothing, in my opinion, that stands out as a must try. The Smokehouse (down by Trailblazer) is hit or miss but when it's good, it's very good. I heard they changed vendors though and portions have gotten small for the price. In that same area is a country music show that is very good also. I am not a huge country fan by any means but this is newer stuff so I enjoyed it. Double check the preview plan. I thought that if the park closed at 10, the preview started at 7.

^ unfortunately when people feel that they are entitled to things, they don't bother. Then the excuse becomes "well I didn't see any signs".

Well, the Jerry Sandusky trial was in recess all day so I guess the reporter needed something to do.

I checked a couple of dates and I did find that a single night on a Saturday in late July was $345. I also went farther out on a weekday in October and it was $105 for one night. Might have something to do with being new and so many people want to stay there they can get away with it for a few months. I just have a hard time swallowing that price, even for a new resort, when I can take my family in August and get 2 rooms to accommodate all 8 of us at Port Orleans and not spend $400 per night. I am a huge Disney fan and love going to Disney World but I think I will wait a while before trying this resort. Please bear in mind that the $345 price is for the Family suite, sleeping 6. A Standard room, sleeping 4 would only be $139 for the same nights. Of course, the only Standard Rooms will be in the Little Mermaid section (the last to open) and will be unavailable this august. The $105 in october is a standard room rate (not family suite - that would be $265 the same night) I totally get what you're saying. It comes out to just under $2000 for 2 standard rooms. I still get a better deal through my travel agent at Port Orleans. I'm sure every resort has this period right after they open. I am just taken a little off guard by exactly how high the rates are. It is a beautiful resort and if those rooms were the only ones available I would pay the rate because I would rather be at Disney than sit at home.

I checked a couple of dates and I did find that a single night on a Saturday in late July was $345. I also went farther out on a weekday in October and it was $105 for one night. Might have something to do with being new and so many people want to stay there they can get away with it for a few months. I just have a hard time swallowing that price, even for a new resort, when I can take my family in August and get 2 rooms to accommodate all 8 of us at Port Orleans and not spend $400 per night. I am a huge Disney fan and love going to Disney World but I think I will wait a while before trying this resort.

I swear I read somewhere on here that rooms were going for $400 a night though. Not much of a value if that's the case.

I have to agree with that! The line for Fahrenheit can get insane right from the time the park opens. Definitely hit that one up first.

Any of the "extreme rides" - sky coaster, slingshot, bungee type rides. No way. As far as traditional type rides, drop towers do it to me every time. Except TOT. I am fine with that one. The only coaster that has ever given me sweaty palms was Griffon. For whatever reason I couldn't get the OTSR to lock down the whole way and had a LOT of room to move. I was so shaken up that I told the op to either push with all her weight and squeeze me in or let me off. I ended up loving it. My daughter had a bad experience trying to get her first invert ride in too. She was 10 and finally met the height restriction. We were at Dorney and talked her into trying Talon and she was fine until we got to the station. Then it was full on melt down and the ops had to release the restraints to let her off. She ended up on Great Bear that same summer and was fine.

It really blows my mind that they are sending trains out with that many empty seats while the line is over even a half hour wait. I can see one, maybe two, but NINE! That's ridiculous on all levels. Seems to me like the ops just don't care to put in the effort to do their job and fill them. It looked like a whole row was empty in one of the pics!

First, my condolences on moving to York. I grew up there and to say there is nothing to do is an understatement. The walk from the Outlet area is not one I would want to make. I don't think there's a sidewalk and HersheyPark Drive can be quite busy. I would take the Chocolate World route instead. They say the first 3 hours are free but I was there the other day (for Chocolate World) and the attendants didn't check my ticket at all. It will get expensive if you go over the 3 hours parking there.

Next week is the last week of school for most districts in our area so it may depend. There are a good many schools that travel to Hershey for class trips and stuff. I always avoid the park on Monday and Friday. Tuesday through Thursday are typically decent. Just keep in mind that Fahrenheit will nearly always have at least a 45 minute wait. The line is painful to stand in at times (no shade and no misters). I usually have decent luck by hitting that first then going back to Lightning Racer and coming back toward the front and over toward Storm Runner and Trailblazer. Now with SkyRush that may have to change. I can typically hit all the coasters midweek and be out of the park before dinner time (say 4:30/5:00).

Didn't the park close early for bad weather last weekend some time? Our weather was pretty craptastic at times, that may have had something to do with Fahrenheit's line being so short.

Fast Lane Pass allows you to ride each ride once (except Farenheight and Skyrush) at a pre-determined time. The closest Giant is at the intersection of Cocoa Ave and FIshburn Road, about three miles from the park. You can also get $12 off coupons at the Dunkin Donuts near the Red Robin that is across from the park. You can also get discounted tickets at hersheypark.com by using the following coupon codes: 16075 - $14 off each ticket in May 16076 - $12 off each ticket in June 16077 - $10 off each ticket in July 16078 - $8 off each ticket in August or September The tickets at Giant also give you free parking right now. That's somewhere around $13 this season, I believe.