YoshiFan

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.

These are the merge points I remember Comet, ramp to the station sooperdooperlooper, bottom of the stairs Skyrush, bottom of stairs? Great Bear, right outside the station Trailblazer, exit with rows blocked off Storm Runner, bottom of the stairs Sidewinder, right outside the station Fahrenheit, either the top or bottom of the steps Wild Mouse, ramp to the station Lightning Racer, in the middle of the ramp to the station, maybe 15 feet from the loading area Wildcat, end of the switchbacks before the ramp

They changed it this past season and no longer have the rows blocked off. Now you can wait for any row you want except for Trailblazer.

With how crowded the park can get even during the spring and fall, this seems like a good option for someone visiting once a year or less who wants to get a lot of rides in. As a pass holder, I wouldn't bother with it since I try to only visit on days when lines are short. The only issue is with more people probably using the system, I think they need to control the merge points better and let less people in line past the merge points. I was at the park on a Sunday in October and although I didn't see anyone using Fast Track, if someone were to use it, it still would have been around a 25 minute wait because the line was all the way to the bottom of the stairs and 1 train was running and Fast Track would have saved maybe 5 minutes and would make it difficult to marathon the coaster. It would be better to leave the stairs empty and leave most of the line in the switchbacks so it's only a 3 - 4 train wait for Fast Track. At Comet, over multiple visits I noticed it depending on the person at the bottom of the ramp if they let the ramp fill up or tried to keep the ramp so Fast Track users could walk right into the station. Most let the ramp fill up. Wildcat is another bad one, the merge point is at the "30 minute wait from here" sign.

I remember going to the Philadelphia location when I was a kid. I can still picture some of the arcade with redemption games being on the 2nd level and video games on another level in a more open area and. I don't remember much of the other attractions probably because of my age at the time, around 6 or 7 years old. I went to my cousin's birthday party there and my school also had an 8th grade fall trip there. I remember they had a small tea cups ride and bumper cars and a really good indoor playground / soft play area since it had some challenging obstacles compared to similar setups.

Dorney avoids having to rename a ride. Now are they going to bet SFNE over the Super Bowl?

I'm still hoping they are going to add some weekdays (besides Good Friday) in between opening weekend and Easter weekend. 2 years ago they opened on the Wednesday and Thursday before Easter and it empty but crowds were still low. If not, I guess I'll stick to my usual plan of trying to get there Sunday of opening weekend since some people have school and work the next day (some schools in suburban Philadelphia have spring break the week of the 26th).

I find it interesting they made it a point to mention it had half the riders other coasters had. Even if the trains were going out full (of course this being Dorney, that rarely happens), 1 Stinger train holds less riders than Talon or Steel Force and both of those usually ran multiple trains plus Stinger seemed like it took longer to dispatch than other coasters. Not to mention all the down time Stinger had. And this is why I keep my Patriots gear tucked safely away once I leave New England. I made the mistake wearing it once out in public at an Oakland train station on the way to Great America. I wrongly thought it wouldn't matter much at Great Adventure since even though it's in the NY sports market area, they have some connections to Philadelphia sports like Iron Pigs (Phillies AAA affiliate) ads in the park in past years and with the Philadelphia area being one of the main markets for the park. I had an answer ready if anyone said anything about my Eagles sweatshirt on my final trip this season "11 and 1."

It's nice to see one of the teams I root for involved in one of these bets. Usually as a Philadelphia sports fan, I'm used to seeing other teams involved. One thing that surprised me was how many Steelers fans there are in the Allentown area and in the Scranton area. The Sears near me has no Eagles items and all Steelers even though Pittsburgh is close to 5 hours away compared to 2 hours to Philadelphia from Scranton and just over an hour from Allentown. One good thing about going to Dorney is at least I avoid negative comments when I wear Phillies and Eagles shirts, compared to Great Adventure where I have had some comments I can't repeat here said when I wear those same shirts.

It looks like March operating days might be added slowly. Now the calendar shows March 30th and 31st as 10:30 to 9.

I just think the March hours haven't been posted yet unless they changed opening day. From the newsletter sent on December 26th: "Holiday in the Park is Open Daily Through January 1 The holidays aren't over yet -- the lights are still twinkling, the cocoa is still piping hot, and the coasters are still racing! Holiday in the Park is open every day through January​ 1, including New Year's Eve until 9 p.​m. and New Year's Day. Celebrate the last week of 2017 with a funnel cake and kick off 2018 with a plunge down Nitro. We'll then temporarily close until March​ 24 to prepare for an amazing 2018 season. " The earliest opening day has been is around March 20th to 23rd. It depends when Easter is, in 2014 the park didn't open until April 12th.

It reminds me of the Frequent Faller coaster that was supposed to be added to Hersheypark in 2005.

The good thing is that there are a lot of slides and with some of the slide complexes, they platforms are built over each other and they fit a lot of slides in a small space. Only counting Speed Slides as 1 slide and Aqua Racer as 1 slide and no kids slides, there are 22 different slides. With 2 wave pools, 2 lazy rivers, 1 family play area and 4 kids areas (2 regular and 2 really small areas), they have more than some stand alone water parks.