YoshiFan

When I see people with the regular Fast Lane wristbands, I always wonder if they had never been to the park before and pre-purchased it or actually bought it once there and how much they regret it. Even if they pay $10 extra for Fast Lane Plus where it actually is helpful for skipping lines in Wildwater Kingdom, it still doesn't seem worth paying around $60 total for the day.

I was at the arcade getting a voucher from the ticket counting machines after spending $1.00 at some coin pushing machine. The first machine jammed up and when the voucher printed it has Kings Dominion listed. I go to the other machine and on that voucher it prints out Great Escape Lodge as the name. They couldn't even bother to get the correct park name printed on the vouchers. I should have gone to the other machine and seen what park name would print out on that voucher and it will be interesting when I go to redeem the vouchers, if they tell me they are from another park.

Even though I want something more thrilling, the park does need another under 48" coaster. All someone under 48" can ride is Wild Mouse and the kiddie coaster where Hershey has SDL, Comet, Laff Trakk, Trailblazer and Cocoa Cruiser for anyone 42" (Trailblazer and Cocoa Cruiser for 36") and Great Adventure has The Dark Knight, Skull Mountain, Runaway Mine Train, Harley Quinn Crazy Train and Road Runner Railway for someone 44".

There isn't an upcharge at Chickies and Pete's for the cheesesteaks. That amount shown on the screen shows how much they get reimbursed by Dorney but when you complete the order, it gives a total owed of $0 as long as you don't add anything extras that's not included. I agree it's confusing to see a price on the screen making it look like an upcharge.

I think Bizarro runs better with 2 trains. With only 2 people checking restraints, it's difficult not to stack the trains and when 2 trains are running, one train is usually getting to the final brakes when the other train is about to dispatch. I also agree about Kingda Ka. When the front row line has a long wait, I will go for the 2nd row and once in a while the 3rd row. I avoid the rest of the train. The soft straps that other Intamin coasters got would help make the ride more comfortable.

I think it was a combination of Balin's Jungleland removed, the tigers gone and getting people to walk through the boardwalk area where all those games and food places are.

It's the same at Great Adventure, usually that weekend is one of the weekends where there is bring a friend free in addition to other times throughout the year. I went to Great Adventure on Rosh Hashanah last year (it was on a Thursday). Crowds weren't bad. I looked up my trip report from last year ( http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Forums/index.php?/topic/5354-92117/ ) and waits were mostly 10 - 30 minutes. Hershey should be good on a Sunday. For some reason Sunday's in the spring and fall are usually low crowds while Saturday's are crowded. I know a Sunday is always going to be less crowded than a Saturday but it's to the point where there could be 30 - 60 minute waits on a Saturday and 5 - 15 minute waits on a Sunday that time of year.

That weekend has been bad the last few years since they have made it a bring a friend free weekend (I'm not sure if it is bring a friend free this year as well).

Hershey is also closed during Columbus Day weekend. Hersheypark in the Dark starts the 3rd weekend of October this year. If you do go to Great Adventure, I would plan to get most of the rides in on Columbus Day since it usually isn't that crowded. Not all schools are closed and with it being a school night and work night and the park open until 10, the ride lines are usually reasonable once people start to leave and others go to the Fright Fest attractions. The problem with that is Saturday and Sunday are going to be horrible as already mentioned. I have never gone to the park during Fright Fest on a Saturday and seeing pictures of traffic and crowds, I never will.

I went to the park twice in April this year and once in May last year. All coasters were open except Trailblazer (breakdown, not because of staffing). Some non coaster rides and kiddie rides were closed but nothing major. Almost all coasters were running multiple trains as well.

I kept watching the ride yesterday as it was moving up thinking it might start testing. Then when I saw it stopped for a few minutes, I went to Justice League and checked back, repeating that a few times but it never did test. Yesterday was one of the better days at the park I had in a while. Crowds were so low, that one of the times I rode Justice League, the line was completely empty and I had my own car which made it easier to not have any competition going for the high value targets. Even with the park so empty, 3 trains were still being run at Kingda Ka, Nitro and Bizarro. Some of the snack stands are now selling sandwiches and wraps that can be used with the dining pass. That should be helpful on days when the food lines elsewhere are bad.

I was at the park on opening day. There's more things gone than there are new. Stinger is gone, dining options on the season pass meal plan are more limited, and Thunderhawk is closed because 6 months wasn't enough time to retrack 150 ft of track. The only things new are the burrito place (which I haven't tried), the Dorney Park sign by Apollo, and more Coca-Cola refresh stations (still no Freestyle stations). They're also teasing Haunt down by the Grave Walkers entrance with new props set up already. The only other things worth mentioning is that the holding break on Possessed still isn't working and I've heard the Troika is running at a normal speed now (last year it didn't seem to operate as fast as every other Troika I've been on, but I haven't personally ridden it this year yet). And that's pretty much it, nothing exciting at all. If they went to the trouble to add more soda fountains, I would have liked to have seen at least a couple of Freestyle machines added instead. Besides the regular fountains attracting bees (the one near the entrance is usually really bad), I hate how limited the flavor selections are. Maybe the Freestyle machines attract bees too but I never noticed it at the outdoor machines at Great Adventure. Thunderhawk closed makes the decision for me to stay away until June easier. Not that I think Thunderhawk is that good of a coaster, it's difficult to justify going to the park for only 4 coasters (not counting Wild Mouse) and WWK not open for the season yet.

No rides have single rider lines. Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge did have one but they changed it to a Fast Track line this season.

Yeah it isn't as easy to figure out which days will be empty compared to years ago. I used to be able to look at the operating calendar and pick out least crowded days. Now in the past few years, some of those days like Friday nights at the beginning of Fright Fest have gotten more crowded. Same with Easter Sunday, usually walk ons all day, now 30+ minute waits this year. The park has also changed some things to bring in more crowds. The weekends after Labor Day before Fright Fest were low crowds up until a few years ago, now with bring a friend free, they got very crowded. The crowd on Friday is going to be over 90% school groups so there should be hardly anyone using Flash Pass. I think the only time they ever sell out of Flash Pass is during Fright Fest and maybe an occasional summer day like a Saturday near July 4th.

Besides the issues of having to worry you could get stuck on the lift for 90 minutes or the ride valleying (it happened more often compared to other boomerangs), I hated the restraints because I felt they pushed into my shoulders and I found the ride to have too much headbanging, especially in the cobra roll.

With it being a Saturday with great weather, rain tomorrow and discounted Springtime in the Park admission, I thought the park was going to be extremely crowded and wasn't even considering going until I saw the wait times a few hours after opening and that they weren't that bad and decided to go to the park at the last minute. Most coasters were 20 - 30 minute waits, with some like Lightning Racer almost a walk on and the usual longer waits like Laff Trakk at an hour. I was expecting to open up the app and see 90 minute - 2 hour waits. Coal Cracker was open. That was a nice surprise with the warm weather. Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge's single rider line is now a Fast Track line. The Hershey drop tower was not running in combo mode and was running in Space Shot mode which I had never seen before. Sidewinder and Trailblazer were closed, when riding Storm Runner I saw a mechanic working at the side of Trailblazer's lift hill. I happened to be right near Storm Runner when it reopened after a breakdown and only had to wait a few minutes. Almost all rides were running at full capacity, 4 trains at Lightning Racer, 2 trains at Storm Runner.

The park was surprisingly empty today (compared to Easter Sunday the past few years where it got somewhat crowded in the afternoon), everything except Laff Trakk was 10 minutes or less and a lot of coasters were running 2 trains even with the low crowds. Rides that were only running 1 train like Wildcat and Storm Runner had the 2nd train on the transfer track or other loading area so it looks like they should be able to run the 2nd trains if they have the staffing and crowd levels need the 2nd trains. All coasters were running except Trailblazer and most flat rides were open. It was also nice to not have rows assigned at Fahrenheit and being able to wait for whatever row you wanted. Breakers Edge looks like it is going to be a really great attraction. sooperdooperlooper's queue was changed where Fast Track now is at the entrance and the main lines doesn't go under and around the station anymore. The beginning of the queue has just switchbacks instead of those diagonal sections of path.

The hours for opening weekend keep getting reduced. First Sunday went from an 8 pm to 6 pm closing, now Saturday changed to a 6 pm closing as well.

There are music competitions for schools either close to the park or in some cases in the park and then afterwards, the students spend time after the competition at the park. The awards ceremonies are also sometimes held in the parks (I know at Great Adventure they use the old stunt arena for that). Locations and days are listed here: http://www.musicintheparks.com/WhereWhen The 27th is also Math Day http://www.hersheypark.com/groups/schools.php

I'm probably the only one that cares about this but I was looking at the operating calendar and now another season pass preview was taken away. Originally Friday April 27th was supposed to be for season pass holders, then opening got pushed back another week. WWK had the weekend before Memorial Day weekend May 19th and 20th as open for pass holders only. Sunday the 20th was taken off the calendar and now Saturday the 19th is gone too so that's 3 days of season pass previews taken away. I didn't care about the April day but was looking forward to an extra WWK trip since the water park season is so short.

It depends on the ride, how many trains are running and the employee at the merge point. At Comet, sometimes they keep the ramp going into the station empty, most times they let the ramp fill up although even at the bottom of the ramp it's a 10 minute wait with 2 trans running. Storm Runner is going to be almost 15 minutes even with 2 trains running. Last fall the line was just a little further back where the merge point was and it took 25 minutes with 1 train. Wildcat has a "30 minute wait from here" sign from the merge point if the ramp is completely full (I was never there last year when the line was up to that point to see if they let it fill up or not anymore). Others like Great Bear are almost right outside the station. sooperdooperlooper is going to be around 15 minutes from the merge point with 2 trains running.

I would expect crowds to be very bad that day. Fridays in the beginning of the season are Music in the Parks days plus maybe other educational groups. I went on a Friday in May in 2016 when Music in the Parks was there and lines were 30 - 90 minutes for the coasters. I wasn't expecting it to be that crowded because the same music competitions are held at Great Adventure and I have gone there on a Friday in April and May and the park is usually empty on those days.

I went on the Thursday that same week in 2015. Millennium Force was 45 minutes in the middle of the day, Maverick was an hour. I waited 15 minutes for TTD but that was right after a breakdown. Earlier in the day lines were longer than I was expecting for some of the smaller rides, Corkscrew as an example was 30 minutes (I waited until later in the day when it was a walk on).

After watching the game, I really would have liked to have seen a bet with Dorney and SFNE. It still feels unreal that the Eagles finally have won a Super Bowl.

1. What is the best park visit you had in 2017? Hersheypark on 10/15, almost no lines 2. Have you ever traveled to a park with a specific ride in mind only for it to be closed all day? No 3. GCI or Gravity Group? Pick one. GCI 4. How many different parks did you visit in 2017? 10 5. How many times did you visit your home park in 2017? 11 (Dorney) 6. What was the first RMC you rode? Sadly none yet 7. Best view from the top of a lift? The lake near Nitro 8. What new-for-2018 roller coaster are you most anticipating? Pick one. Steel Vengeance 9. RMC or Intamin? You can only choose one. Intamin 10. What was your favorite new-to-you ride of 2017? Disneyland Railroad (not many choices for me this year) 11. Money is no object. You can travel to any park in the world right now by snapping your fingers. Where are you going? Tokyo Disneyland 12. Have you ever made out with someone in a queue line? No 13. What is the last coaster that changed your top 10? Ghostrider 14. Disney or Universal? Disney 15. When is the last time you witnessed someone puke at a park? 2016 at Great Adventure 16. How many new credits did you pick up in 2017? If you don't count, take your best guess... Just 1, Freedom Rider at iPlay America 17. You're at Magic Mountain. You have a one hour ERT session on ONE coaster of your choice. You choose... Twisted Colossus 18. Name a coaster or ride that you passionately dislike. Stinger 19. What is the most amount of money you've spent on a Fast Pass? $125 for All Season Fast Lane 20. Skyscreamers or Windseekers? Skyscreamers 21. What is your most recent B&M credit? Silver Bullet 22. Best adult beverage at a theme park? (under 21: whats your favorite beverage you can only get at a park?) LeFou's Brew 23. Most irritating coaster nickname/abbreviation? Can't think of anything 24. Butterbeer or Dole Whip? Dole Whip 25. Favorite steel coaster *under* 100 feet? sooperdooperlooper 26. What's the best bathroom at your home park? The ones by Stinger and Cedar Creek Flyers, they are usually empty 27. Nighttime ERT on Lightning Rod or all-you-can-eat Cinnamon Bread? You can only choose one. Lightning Rod 28. If it were in your power, what coaster would you relocate to Knoebels? Laser / Teststrecke 29. What is the last thing you remember eating in a theme park? Chicken Fingers at Hersheypark 30. Your favorite coaster got equipped with on board audio x Spotify. What's your hype track? Rollin' by Limp Bizkit 31. Name the most disappointing ride you took in 2017. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage 32. Airtime hill or Zero G Roll? Airtime Hill 33. What is your favorite coaster/ride built before 1970? Comet (Hersheypark) 34. What's worse - splashed by malaria lake flume water or dripped on by chain lift grease? Water 35. Name an Intamin coaster on your bucketlist! Superman (SFNE) 36. You just won a 3 day trip with hotel and airfare included. The catch is you have to choose between Disneyworld or Cedar Point. Which do you choose and why? Cedar Point because I have only been there once and I'd rather ride Millennium Force over anything at Disney World. 37. Floater or Ejector? Floater 38. What was your worst park experience of 2017? Hersheypark on a Saturday in September. It was really crowded. 39. Name your favorite coaster under 41 feet tall. Woodstock Express (Kings Island) 40. End your post with an aerial shot of one of your top 5 coasters.