Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[prozach626]

Pretty soon, every restaurant is going to have the exact same menu as Applebee's. This is the Applewood smoked bacon cheeseburger with an extra paddy.

 

Good addition, though.

[SoCalJasonland]

There is zero chance of this breaking down. Screamin' Swings have always been reliable;-|

[prozach626]

And here I thought my comment was random.

[SoCalJasonland]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:39 PM, prozach626 said:

And here I thought my comment was random.

I guess since they are still selling new models of these, the parts and software issues must have been fixed so my other comment was 10-years too late.  Sorry,

[abovethesink]

We were at Hershey Park a month ago now, August 3rd.

Rain was forecast and it came. Basically we had from 10-2 and then from 8-10 with the middle of the day being a complete washout. Oh well, we did with it what we could.

Wildcat's Revenge - We followed the running of the bulls, so to speak, to gate drop the new RMC for our first rides. My son and the friend we brought for his birthday weekend rode together in the back row and I waited for the same row in the train after them. This was an amazing ride, even cold right at open. It is violent in all the best RMC ways. I hit it again later after the rain finally ended at dark and got two more amazing rides. The best ride of the three was my first night ride in the front, so maybe this is a front row RMC?

Storm Runner - This was my third trip to Hershey. The first was when Storm Runner was new and the second was during its extended Covid breakdown, so it had been a minute to say the least. The launch was just as punchy as I remembered. The ride was also just as short as I remembered. Forceful, fun, and brief. It is probably shakier than it was way back then, but it isn't bad and otherwise was as I remembered.

We tried to hit the rethemed Boomerang right after, but it broke down while we were next in line and we never came back.

Sky Rush - At this point, the boys ditched me. My son needed Lightning Racer, I did not, and we knew our window to ride would be short. They went off to the back of the park while I hit up Sky Rush to try the new restraints. The line looked long, but it moved quickly and I got in in probably a half hour. The new restraints improve my experience and I moved it up into the 30s in my top 50, but I am still left confused as to why people love or hate this so much. It is intense and short, I guess, but after that amazing drop it doesn't do a lot with the little track it has to work with. Good ride, but not one I get the passion about. I ended up getting another ride at the end of the night in the front which was good too.

From here, I went and found my pregnant wife who had wandered to ZooAmerica and then caught a sea lion show. We met at the monorail and took a ride before walking to Chocolate World to get lunch and beat the rain. We had tacos which were good, did the free Chocolate Tour ride which is cute, and then decided to kill some more time waiting for the teenagers by doing the train 4D movie that I can't remember the name of. That was fun and well done, though not worth the steep price probably. 

While we were doing the movie, the skies opened up to a torrential downpour with no signs of letting up for hours according to the forecast. Chocolate World filled up to the point that it was difficult to take a step in any direction. Not wanting to brave the rain for the car, we decided to wait in the epic Chocolate Tour line that was flowing out chaotically into the general area so the boys, who ran through the epic downpour and had found us, could do it. What else was there to do at that point? It took a while, but we made it through. By then, it was after 3 and the rain had slowed to a drizzle. We had 6 PM Chocolatier reservations. The boys decided to go brave the park and see what they could ride. My wife and I opted for car naps.

When it was time, we met in the restaurant and ate. I had the salmon and it was really good, much better than I expected from what I had read. After, we all ordered one of the ridiculous milkshakes, ending up with a photo op with all four flavors on the table. Stuffed, we wandered back into the park.

Candymonium - While walking to Candymonium, a woman leaving handed my son and his friend two flash passes that they didn't need anymore. They didn't end up working, for some reason, but the ride op at Candymonium took it as a glitch and they got to skip one line out of them at least. We were separated again by that and the two of them rode quickly. I waited in a line that would have been 20 minutes probably, but right before my train the weather struck again. I ended up sitting in the station for almost an hour. I was at least rewarded with two rides, however, as there was a weird delay between restarting the ride and reopening the queue. When we got back from our first ride, people were just trickling into the station and they sent us on a second lap. I really like Candymonium. I really like all B&M hypers and I think Candymonium is a good one. The ending is a little subpar and one of the two rides had the trims hit hard, but I get tons of floater and the trims almost completely ignored us on the second ride which made for a wilder ending. 

From there, I ran to the back for those night rides on Wildcat's Revenge (where I saw some of ElToroRyan's crew if you guys watch any coaster Youtube stuff) before deciding that I wanted to try to get on Great Bear and SuperDooperLooper with the under an hour I had left. There was basically no one left in the park, so it was just a matter of closing the distance power walking. But then, an opportunity presented itself...

Cocoa Cruiser - In the dark alone, I took a wrong turn and there it was. The one credit I did not have at Hershey Park by this point. The kiddy coaster. I sheepishly walked up to the empty station and asked the ops if I could ride without a kid. They said yes, so I had a zen ride in the dark on the kiddy coaster. I am approaching 300 and this is my most shameless credit, I think. One lap would have been fine, but it does three and I rode them.

SuperDooperLooper - What a fun ride in the dark! I remembered the old Schwarzkopf as a really fun inversion followed by aimless meandering and this is exactly what it was, but the wandering is more fun in the dark, unsurprisingly.

Unfortunately, while I remembered that much correctly, I did not remember where Great Bear's station was. With minutes to go before the park closed, I did not have time to get over there and instead jumped in the front row line for the previously mentioned front row ride of SkyRush. I did not have to wait long as a trio boarded and they yelled for a single rider.

That's all I got in, but it was everything that I made a priority at least. It would have been nice to get in things like Fahrenheit, Comet, Laff Trak, etc, but the day was what it was with the miserable weather. We all still enjoyed our day. It ended with sitting in the parking lot listening to the blaringly loud New Kids on the Block concert while we waited for the boys to find us. Their music isn't for me, but it was still fun to eavesdrop while waiting. All in all, it was a good day despite the weather. 

[teacherkim]

12 hours ago, abovethesink said:

We were at Hershey Park a month ago now, August 3rd.

Rain was forecast and it came. Basically we had from 10-2 and then from 8-10 with the middle of the day being a complete washout. Oh well, we did with it what we could.

Wildcat's Revenge - We followed the running of the bulls, so to speak, to gate drop the new RMC for our first rides. My son and the friend we brought for his birthday weekend rode together in the back row and I waited for the same row in the train after them. This was an amazing ride, even cold right at open. It is violent in all the best RMC ways. I hit it again later after the rain finally ended at dark and got two more amazing rides. The best ride of the three was my first night ride in the front, so maybe this is a front row RMC?

Storm Runner - This was my third trip to Hershey. The first was when Storm Runner was new and the second was during its extended Covid breakdown, so it had been a minute to say the least. The launch was just as punchy as I remembered. The ride was also just as short as I remembered. Forceful, fun, and brief. It is probably shakier than it was way back then, but it isn't bad and otherwise was as I remembered.

We tried to hit the rethemed Boomerang right after, but it broke down while we were next in line and we never came back.

Sky Rush - At this point, the boys ditched me. My son needed Lightning Racer, I did not, and we knew our window to ride would be short. They went off to the back of the park while I hit up Sky Rush to try the new restraints. The line looked long, but it moved quickly and I got in in probably a half hour. The new restraints improve my experience and I moved it up into the 30s in my top 50, but I am still left confused as to why people love or hate this so much. It is intense and short, I guess, but after that amazing drop it doesn't do a lot with the little track it has to work with. Good ride, but not one I get the passion about. I ended up getting another ride at the end of the night in the front which was good too.

From here, I went and found my pregnant wife who had wandered to ZooAmerica and then caught a sea lion show. We met at the monorail and took a ride before walking to Chocolate World to get lunch and beat the rain. We had tacos which were good, did the free Chocolate Tour ride which is cute, and then decided to kill some more time waiting for the teenagers by doing the train 4D movie that I can't remember the name of. That was fun and well done, though not worth the steep price probably. 

While we were doing the movie, the skies opened up to a torrential downpour with no signs of letting up for hours according to the forecast. Chocolate World filled up to the point that it was difficult to take a step in any direction. Not wanting to brave the rain for the car, we decided to wait in the epic Chocolate Tour line that was flowing out chaotically into the general area so the boys, who ran through the epic downpour and had found us, could do it. What else was there to do at that point? It took a while, but we made it through. By then, it was after 3 and the rain had slowed to a drizzle. We had 6 PM Chocolatier reservations. The boys decided to go brave the park and see what they could ride. My wife and I opted for car naps.

When it was time, we met in the restaurant and ate. I had the salmon and it was really good, much better than I expected from what I had read. After, we all ordered one of the ridiculous milkshakes, ending up with a photo op with all four flavors on the table. Stuffed, we wandered back into the park.

Candymonium - While walking to Candymonium, a woman leaving handed my son and his friend two flash passes that they didn't need anymore. They didn't end up working, for some reason, but the ride op at Candymonium took it as a glitch and they got to skip one line out of them at least. We were separated again by that and the two of them rode quickly. I waited in a line that would have been 20 minutes probably, but right before my train the weather struck again. I ended up sitting in the station for almost an hour. I was at least rewarded with two rides, however, as there was a weird delay between restarting the ride and reopening the queue. When we got back from our first ride, people were just trickling into the station and they sent us on a second lap. I really like Candymonium. I really like all B&M hypers and I think Candymonium is a good one. The ending is a little subpar and one of the two rides had the trims hit hard, but I get tons of floater and the trims almost completely ignored us on the second ride which made for a wilder ending. 

From there, I ran to the back for those night rides on Wildcat's Revenge (where I saw some of ElToroRyan's crew if you guys watch any coaster Youtube stuff) before deciding that I wanted to try to get on Great Bear and SuperDooperLooper with the under an hour I had left. There was basically no one left in the park, so it was just a matter of closing the distance power walking. But then, an opportunity presented itself...

Cocoa Cruiser - In the dark alone, I took a wrong turn and there it was. The one credit I did not have at Hershey Park by this point. The kiddy coaster. I sheepishly walked up to the empty station and asked the ops if I could ride without a kid. They said yes, so I had a zen ride in the dark on the kiddy coaster. I am approaching 300 and this is my most shameless credit, I think. One lap would have been fine, but it does three and I rode them.

SuperDooperLooper - What a fun ride in the dark! I remembered the old Schwarzkopf as a really fun inversion followed by aimless meandering and this is exactly what it was, but the wandering is more fun in the dark, unsurprisingly.

Unfortunately, while I remembered that much correctly, I did not remember where Great Bear's station was. With minutes to go before the park closed, I did not have time to get over there and instead jumped in the front row line for the previously mentioned front row ride of SkyRush. I did not have to wait long as a trio boarded and they yelled for a single rider.

That's all I got in, but it was everything that I made a priority at least. It would have been nice to get in things like Fahrenheit, Comet, Laff Trak, etc, but the day was what it was with the miserable weather. We all still enjoyed our day. It ended with sitting in the parking lot listening to the blaringly loud New Kids on the Block concert while we waited for the boys to find us. Their music isn't for me, but it was still fun to eavesdrop while waiting. All in all, it was a good day despite the weather. 

Don't be ashamed of your zen kiddie coaster credit. Everyone on this board has had those moments. We've been wanting to get back to get Wildcat's Revenge and since we are low on days off and funds after an epic Europe trip......we are flying in to Philly late on the first Fri in Oct, then driving to Hershey which means we will get to the hotel about 1:30 am (massively cheaper than trying to fly to Harrisburg which would also include a layover) then we'll do the park during the Halloween event all day Sat and are driving up to Knoebels on Sunday which is 2 hours out of the way, just to spend about 4 hours there before we have to be back at the Philly airport to get home Sunday night so my son can work on Monday. What could go wrong? Point is we all do super weird things to satisfy this hobby/obsession/compulsion, whatever it is.

[prozach626]

Nah. Childless adults on kiddie coasters is cringe. I forgive you, since there were no children on it.
 

Those car naps tho... I have a hard time living without them anymore.

I'm glad you had a fun trip.

[teacherkim]

On 9/4/2024 at 3:26 PM, prozach626 said:

Nah. Childless adults on kiddie coasters is cringe. I forgive you, since there were no children on it.
 

Those car naps tho... I have a hard time living without them anymore.

I'm glad you had a fun trip.

Ok, Boomer as my son would say. Of course I mean that as attitude not literally since I am older than you. I'm 56 and I don't need car naps. Just did 14 theme parks in 14 days in Europe without a nap. And you feeling like an adult on a kiddie coaster is cringe says way more about you than them. Just like the old guy that scowled at me for riding my cart down the parking lot at Target yesterday, lol. I mean it was a perfect grade of downhill all the way to the car why not have a little fun. Why is every old man at the end of every episode of Scooby Doo against having fun?! 

[prozach626]

11 hours ago, teacherkim said:

And you feeling like an adult on a kiddie coaster is cringe says way more about you than them.

Yeah. I'm way good with that.

Most junior coasters are specifically designed for children. The exception is an adult with their child/relative. It's on the level of seeing a grown man by himself on the playground. Being on a junior roller coaster and having the mindset of, "Yeah, this is kind of fucked up, but I'm going to do it anyway" is way different and more understanding than "Yeah, this is totally normal." If you're going to do it, own it. At least the OP understands this.

Don't talk shit on my car naps...

[teacherkim]

29 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

Yeah. I'm way good with that.

Most junior coasters are specifically designed for children. The exception is an adult with their child/relative. It's on the level of seeing a grown man by himself on the playground. Being on a junior roller coaster and having the mindset of, "Yeah, this is kind of fucked up, but I'm going to do it anyway" is way different and more understanding than "Yeah, this is totally normal." If you're going to do it, own it. At least the OP understands this.

Don't talk shit on my car naps...

Annnnd that is the whole problem. Everybody's normal is different. Trying to justify it as not normal because it makes you uncomfortable or weirds you out or isn't your thing or  you're worried about what others may think or whatever just doesn't work for me. If you aren't breaking a rule/law or violating someone's else's rights and let's be VERY clear; somebody doing something you personally don't like is not a violation of your rights, it's only a violation of your rights if their action prevents you from exercising your free will, people tend to confuse rights and beliefs all the time........then IT. IS. OK!

For example I think a public car nap that takes time out of an expensive theme park day is kind of weird and wasteful BUT it doesn't prevent me from enjoying my day so have at it. It is ok, even if I wouldn't do it.

[prozach626]

OMFG stop lecturing me. No one said shit about anyone's rights being impeded upon. Take your teacher hat off. You're not going to "save" me from my right to make cautious judgements about certain behavior. You and I do not, nor likely will not, ever see eye to eye. But, that's not good enough for you, which says something about you as well. I don't share all of your values. I'm entitled to that. We're probably both good contributing people who go about life in completely different ways based on the experiences and exposure we have had in our lives. 

The majority of the world outgrows riding children's rides and shopping carts at some point in time. People outgrew Legos, Ninja Turtles, and Flintstone vitamins. It's not about caring what other people think... It's about your interests following the natural progression of maturing past our childhood desires. It's why you're getting weird looks. If you think this isn't what the majority of parents are thinking then you can't read the room.

I'll address the naps, only because you're hyper focused on that topic. Swing shifts, getting up at 5-6am to exercise before parks during trips, and diagnosed legit problems as a result of the former are why I benefit from a ten minute nap. Try alternating between 6a-6p and 6p-6a shifts sometimes multiple times within a few weeks while still having self discipline to wake up early and workout. I haven't had a consistent 9-5 in 13 years, and it slowly exhausts you over time. I hope that explanation is sufficient enough for you.

[teacherkim]

12 hours ago, prozach626 said:

OMFG stop lecturing me. No one said shit about anyone's rights being impeded upon. Take your teacher hat off. You're not going to "save" me from my right to make cautious judgements about certain behavior. You and I do not, nor likely will not, ever see eye to eye. But, that's not good enough for you, which says something about you as well. I don't share all of your values. I'm entitled to that. We're probably both good contributing people who go about life in completely different ways based on the experiences and exposure we have had in our lives. 

The majority of the world outgrows riding children's rides and shopping carts at some point in time. People outgrew Legos, Ninja Turtles, and Flintstone vitamins. It's not about caring what other people think... It's about your interests following the natural progression of maturing past our childhood desires. It's why you're getting weird looks. If you think this isn't what the majority of parents are thinking then you can't read the room.

I'll address the naps, only because you're hyper focused on that topic. Swing shifts, getting up at 5-6am to exercise before parks during trips, and diagnosed legit problems as a result of the former are why I benefit from a ten minute nap. Try alternating between 6a-6p and 6p-6a shifts sometimes multiple times within a few weeks while still having self discipline to wake up early and workout. I haven't had a consistent 9-5 in 13 years, and it slowly exhausts you over time. I hope that explanation is sufficient enough for you.

Lol, sure you did. Clear implication by you that adults shouldn't be allowed to ride kid's coasters. I say it's up to the park, if they have a rule fine, if they don't then stop judging......even if you think it's weird. In my opinion you started the lecture by telling someone what they did was "cringe", that's inherently derogatory and I was simply presenting an opposing point of view.

I believe I clearly stated that you had every right to take a car nap even if it's something I wouldn't do, that was kind of the point of the whole statement.  I was expressing my personal views, had nothing to do with being a teacher. If I had my teacher hat on I would have given you a C- for your summarization and told you to re read my response, you missed the point of my counter point to what you said. See the difference?

Sorry about your history and work schedule but you chose your situation and are perfectly capable of changing it if you feel it's damaging to your health and well being. I too was a public servant although through a different medium and it's often unappreciated work.

I hope to NEVER outgrow cart riding; shopping's a drag, might as well get some fun out of it, lol!

[prozach626]

Thanks for motivating me to keep our daughter in private school.

[teacherkim]

2 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Thanks for motivating me to keep our daughter in private school.

Ok. On behalf of all the teachers that will now not have to deal with you as a parent, thank you.

[savetheclocktower]

I'll use Hersheypark terms in here so that it's still "on topic".  There should be no shame in riding Cocoa Cruiser if it's fun to them.  You can still have good clean fun as an adult while still acting maturely, such as not hogging the front from some kids who waited a long time, waiting one ride if a group gets split up because of you, not being loud and yelling things like "they ruined our ride, they turned the trim on!", not filming anywhere near the ride, etc.  I typically don't ride family coasters because I don't find them fun, but my younger brother who is also an adult likes to ride them for the credits, and I will shamelessly ride with him!  Don't be embarrassed to enjoy life!  Doing enjoyable things helps reduce stress and increases self-esteem.

One could question the creepiness of an adult at Hersheypark as a whole.  After all, people might consider it a "children's candy park", but that shouldn't matter.  Heck, Disney is even more of a place geared toward children and many adults go there because it is fun to them.  Even if they are judged because of it, who cares?  I think that it is more mature to be able to face the criticism and not let it ruin a way of having clean, G rated fun that does not harm anybody or break the law.  Why should "adult" fun have to be R rated behavior that can be considered morally questionable and has the potential to harm yourself or others?  Even the legal way of having "adult" fun is boring!  Amusement parks are way more exciting than watching the news, discussing politics and the stock market, or betting money on football teams only to have it go to waste!

I do agree, there are people that are creepy, and it's unfortunate that they ruin it for people who are not looking to cause trouble, but that still shouldn't stop you from having fun at an amusement park.  We all end up the same way eventually, and 100 years from now nobody will think we're a creep for riding family coasters.