YoshiFan

There is a large group at the park Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I went to the park the same day they were there years ago and it was one of the most crowded I have ever seen the park except Fright Fest on a Saturday. http://www.ncsygreatadventure.com

The 2021 Operating Calendar has been released. https://www.dorneypark.com/explore/calendar-and-hours They are closed every Tuesday, they aren't even open during the week except Memorial Day until the middle of June and even that is only Wednesday - Sunday. Almost every day of the season is a 7 pm close with the waterpark never open past 6 pm. I'm glad other parks in the area like Great Adventure and Hersheypark have almost normal operating schedules and will be on daily operations starting at the end of May.

If they follow what other parks did, at the minimum, the B&M coasters should be loading every row. Maybe Maxx Force too since the seatbacks are so tall. I guess the absolute worst case scenario would be every other row on all coasters except X Flight and Superman unless the state decides to be strict and require skipping rows on all the coasters.

Skipping both SFGAM and SFOG when I visited Chicago in 2002 and Atlanta in 2003. I had a horrible opinion of Six Flags parks at the time because of how poorly Great Adventure was run (thankfully it's much better now) and wasn't an enthusiast so I would have skipped most of the larger coasters there even if I had gone but looking back it still would have been nice to add some more credits to my count. I also had the opportunity to visit La Ronde in 2006 when I visited Montreal but hearing about how bad the park was and riding past the park on a bus tour where you could look at a lot of the park for a few minutes and seeing no coasters running because dispatches were so slow, I don't regret not visiting.

I’m planning on only visiting local parks next year, Hersheypark, Dorney, Great Adventure and Knoebels. Maybe Legoland NY once too. I’d be happy just being able to go to parks a few times each month compared to this year where I only got to visit Knoebels twice and Hersheypark once.

New restrictions in PA starting Saturday https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/new-coronavirus-restrictions-just-announced-by-pennsylvania-gov-tom-wolf/A4KPJWHDJ5HNBP27NTUMMQQTKM/ It sounds like the park should be able to stay open but indoor rides might not be able to run and no indoor shows.

Normally I would say Thursday because almost (or all?) schools in the area including PA and NJ would be closed for election day and only NJ schools would be closed on Thursday. I have gone on that Thursday I think 2 times in the last 4 years and lines are usually very short, especially the last 2 hours the park is open. I looked up one of my reports from a previous Thursday at the beginning of November, I got 24 rides in 5 hours to give an idea of how low crowds were. The good thing is even on a weekday in November, Great Adventure is really good about having most rides open. Last year I went on Veterans Day on a Monday and only 1 or 2 rides were closed besides the rides usually closed that time of year and it was probably the least crowded I had seen the park in a few years.

Coal Cracker used to be listed as open for Hersheypark in the Dark but the last few years, even when it was warm out it was still closed and now it's not listed as running anymore except for Spring and Summer. I guess with staffing such an issue this time of year, with the ride taking so many people to run and temperature dependent, they probably would rather have those ride operators elsewhere.

I think the 35 - 38 degrees for other coasters is accurate. I was at the park 2 or 3 years ago and my phone was showing around 40 degrees and I rode sooperdooperlooper and the Triple Towers, then later it was down to the low 30s and the Triple Towers and all outdoor coasters closed. Edit, I looked up one of my trip reports, this was from 2017: "During my final sooperdooperlooper ride I looked up the temperature and it was 41, by the time I left the park it was 35 and the Triple Towers, Frontier Flyers and all the outdoor coasters except Cocoa Cruiser were closed. I had heard the lowest temperature the park will run the coasters is 38 degrees and that seemed to be accurate." Edit 2, I looked it up and here is the official policy: " What is your weather policy when there are cold temperatures? These rides MAY close when temperatures approach 38 degrees or lower. They MAY NOT open unless temperatures are above 38 degrees and rising: Fahrenheit; Ferris Wheel; Great Bear; Hershey Triple Tower; Kissing Tower; Lightning Racer; Capital BlueCross Monorail; Sidewinder; Skyrush; sooperdooperLooper; Storm Runner; Wild Mouse; and Wildcat. Candymonium may close as temperatures approach 34 degrees. These rides MAY close when temperatures are 65 degrees or lower. They MAY NOT open unless temperatures are above 65 degrees and rising: Bayside Pier; Breakers Edge Water Coaster; Coal Cracker; Coastline Plunge; East Coast Waterworks; Intercoastal Waterway; Sandcastle Cove; Shoreline Sprayground; The Shore; Tidal Force; Waverider; and Whitecap Racer. It may not be possible to identify which rides will be closed at specific times due to varying degrees of effects from inclement weather on our rides and attractions. We appreciate your understanding as we work to keep you safe and having fun!" https://www.hersheypark.com/info/faqs.php

I think this is a new record for wait times. I have never seen a wait time posted of more than 180 minutes as long as I have had the app or checked queue times.

The new forums look excellent, the new features are also great.

Great pictures. I used to really like visiting Storybook Land when I was a kid. It’s good to see they added some family rides like the Tilt a Whirl and mini drop tower. Except for the train and antique cars, it was all kiddie rides when I used to visit.

If the weather is nice, it can be very crowded but not as bad as Great Adventure. Last year Trailblazer had an hour posted wait in the middle of the day, the larger coasters had up to 90 minute waits posted. There were also a lot of rides closed during the event last year, mostly flat rides but it caused coaster lines to be longer. Maybe with 5 weekends this year instead of 3, crowds will be more spread out.

In addition to the video games in the arcade, I also like that the prize selection compared to arcades in other parks like Dorney and Great Adventure. Besides having Hersheypark themed items for prizes, they usually have a lot of licensed sports teams items.

If there was an award for worst park policies, I think place would win it. How can they not sell food and then not allow it to be brought in, especially when their main customer base is probably families with kids?

I'd like to see more parks load coasters like Knoebels has this season. They leave an empty row between groups but rather than just using every other row, they allow groups to ride in rows without any spacing so there are fewer empty rows per train.

I'm glad to see they are open every weekend in October this year with I guess the buy outs and Antique Auto Show that normally took place the first 2 weekends cancelled. I am kind of surprised they kept the daily operations on weeknights in December, the few times I visited the park in past years on those nights, they were always empty. It also looks like Candymonium will be open for Christmas Candylane. I was not expecting that considering how strict they are about running rides in cold temperatures compared to Great Adventure.

Twister at Knoebels yesterday.

This was a late September Saturday 2 years ago. The past few years, Sundays are less crowded but still lines can be up to 45 minutes.

They have one in the front row. They are also in rows 3, 5 and 7. There used to be just 1 in row 5 but the park added them to more rows a few years ago.

Candymonium last Tuesday. I didn't think I was going to get any new credits this year and was glad to add a new coaster to my count.

They really increased the height requirement a lot compared to when it first opened. I remember in the 90s it was 42" to ride alone and I want to say 36" to ride with someone else but not 100% sure on that.

Phoenix at Knoebels. It felt great to be at a park and ride a coaster again.

It's a shame they couldn't get Wildwater Kingdom open or even a section of it open. That might have boosted attendance more than usual in September with the opportunity to keep the water park open later in the year without Haunt.

Hersheypark sent out this email yesterday: "We're excited to announce a new program starting today for our Season Pass Holders. While our Park capacity management remains unchanged, Season Pass Holders will not need to make a reservation before visiting. We will now automatically reserve daily capacity for our Season Pass Holder family so you’ll have the flexibility to visit whenever you choose. If you have already made a reservation, you do not need to cancel or take any action. Don’t forget, Hersheypark® and the all-new Hershey’s ChocolatetownSM are now open for fun, thrills, and sweet memories. Before your first visit, please carefully review our enhanced safety measures and protocols. Thank you for helping us keep Hersheypark Happy and Healthy. P.S. We can’t wait to see you!" I guess they can make this change because attendance has not been what they were probably expecting. Queue Times is showing a 5 - 15 minute wait for almost everything right now, even with the reduced capacities.