Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

Uh, guys, I think one thing needs to be brought to attention.

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain has faster operations than this park.

And, if you have been reading the SFMM thread lately, you know that is a VERY bad thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys, we really should stop arguing about the coaster and go back to discussing the fact that they're still showing Piers' Karaoke video from last year!!! AMAZING!!!!

 

Just watched the vid on Youtube, what the hell?.....LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd rather hit my thigh on the restraints than hit my head. Throughout the flat rides and coasters I've ridden, I feel like I've had restraints digging in to my thighs enough to bear Skyrush. As intense as the ride is, maybe it will sway people away...and I'm all for it! I can't wait to ride this moster!

 

It is a shame to hear the crew is getting the ride dispatched so slowly, and I can't think of any coaster that I've ridden that unloaded on the same side the ride boarded...very strange. It seems like this short of a ride with such a large train would be able to cycle through lines quickly. Hopefully they figure a good system out and get thing sped up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder this about many coasters, but wouldn't it be more efficient to have people unload in the brake-run than having them return to the station? Especially since, on most coasters, the brake-run simple extends back from the loading area (as opposed to where the brake-run is curved around the back)?

 

Granted, I'm no engineer, but it would seem that the only problem with that idea is that the little cubby-holes would still be near the loading area. Surely, though, they could just put the cubbies on wheels or on a track (much like sliding glass doors) so that the appropriate cubbies could be repositioned between locations, no?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Granted, I'm no engineer, but it would seem that the only problem with that idea is that the little cubby-holes would still be near the loading area. Surely, though, they could just put the cubbies on wheels or on a track (much like sliding glass doors) so that the appropriate cubbies could be repositioned between locations, no?

 

Or they could use mandatory £0©Κ€®$.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm...

 

*They designed the restraint to fit the seat and not the rider* ... look at an empty seat. If the restraint was flat across the surface of your thigh as it is with an empty seat; you'd have a perfect ride.

 

I thought those restraints were a bit odd when the trains were first shown. It secures a very small area of your thighs vs spreading the force out over a larger area. They took into account rider arm / grip comfort based on the angle, but it's not a fully thought out "lap" bar.

 

Easy fix if willing to invest in an add-on "pillow" mod (cheapest way to go), but it could limit access for a few more riders.

 

Example: Look at Blue Fire or Manta West restraint for the difference in surface contact / design.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to offer up my review of ThighKrush, the new coaster at HP.

 

Rode this one twice, once in the front (second row), once in the back (last row).

 

It's a good ride that's really intense, especially for something at

Hershey. Sadly, the restraints are terrible. The ride doesn't really

have "airtime," as at the the crest of every hill (in the front), you

are greeted with torturous thigh-killing. The back is better,

especially the first drop where you really feel like you'll fly out. I mean,

it REALLY felt like I was going to fly out, so people will love that. Far

less painful ride in the back as well.

 

 

This ride would be far better if it had Intimidator 305-style

restraints and you could just enjoy the intensity of it without the

sharp pain your quads. Shame really as it's a pretty neat ride

otherwise.

 

 

Leaving the ride, you could overhear plenty of people making comments

of this nature.

 

 

The "ride the wing" stuff is pretty much a gimmick - it's more or less the same

style of seating that B&M hypers have offered for well over a decade,

where the outside seats hang over the track. The ride is so fast and

so short that the view of any sort is kind of an afterthought anyway.

 

Some more notes about my visit Monday-

 

Apparently, the coaster was out of commission early Sunday night due to

thunderstorms. On Monday, it was out from about 11am till the early

afternoon. This is info from some park guests. One park guest. So

believe it, or not.

 

 

When I got there, at 5pm, the Skyrush - and the entire Comet Hollow

plus Great Bear - was closed due to inclement packyderm. Seems

Ringling Bros., who were in town at the nearby Giant Center, were

closing up shop and getting out of dodge. This, naturally, brought on

a march of the elephants through the hollow. Or the whole park, I have

no idea.

 

 

So, long story short, we got in line outside of the hollow, and about

10 minutes later the elephants and I can only imagine some large piles

of shit were announced to be gone. They opened the gates, and about 15

minutes later, I was on the Skyrush, last row. For a reride, there was

a 25 minute wait. It was all very tolerable.

 

At the end of the night -8pm. - there was a 15 minute wait in the now

closed off queue, but the ride was down. They were testing trains and

then stopped. I have no idea if the people in line at closing time

ever got their rides on the Skyrush, or how long the ride had been down at

that point.

 

 

By the way, a full queue on the SKyrush I'll estimate at 60 minutes

max. Every full wraparound line in the queue takes about 5 minutes to

traverse. The line moves quickly and the Queue isn't huge. If it ever

overflows the queue and goes down to the fountains, you'll be looking

at a really long line. The front row line spends very little time in

the station, so I think you can get a good guess on the amount of

cycles you'll have to wait by counting people on the stairs in the

front row line and adding a cycle or two. I would not recommend

waiting as the front ride is PAINFUL with the thigh-crunchers, and if

you really need to be that miserable you can get a 2nd row ride for

maybe an extra cycle over a middle row.

 

 

Sooper Dooper Looper was running it's new ugly-ass orange trains. Only

one, which contributed to a small line for the Looper, which I've never

seen. It was down to the bottom of the stairs. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes

for the Looper but that ride has never been more than a walk-on or one-

cycle for the front for me. I suppose the new trains and paint job on

the station, along with more people being brought down there for the

Skyrush contributed to it. I didn't notice any significant difference

in the ride itself, which remains an enjoyable vintage curio. The new

trains remain roomy and the lap bar remains surprisingly unobtrusive

on an inverting coaster. Would be great if you could have something

like this on the LochNess monster. Any arrow coaster would benefit

from it actually, as the headbanging would be eliminated. Wouldn't

want to be stuck upside down like that though, like what happened on

the demon 15 years ago.

 

 

The line at the comet at 6:30pm after our second ride on the Skyrush was very

short - one cycle. I wonder if the days or ridiculously long rides on

the Comet are over - will the Skyrush and new-looking Looper draw some

of the mob away from the Comet? We shall see.

 

 

Rides were pretty much walk-ons everywhere else, but I was pretty sure

Monday night Memorial Day wouldn't be too crowded and I suppose I was

right. Lighting Racer was running great, and so was the Wildcat - a little

rough yeah but I don't understand why people think this thing is so brutal.

 

One more note - I guess in preparation for HP's new "fast lane" option - which

I did not see advertised anywhere in the park - the center two loading gates for

every ride I saw besides ThighKrush (Looper and the three woodies) were chained

off with a "closed" sign. If no fast laners or disabled people showed up - which was the case the entire night - the ride ops would try to fill in the empty rows by having

guests enter through a different gate.

 

Seems like a pretty stupid and clumsy way to do the Fast Lane to me, if that is indeed

what was going on here. Will slow down the loading process for everybody, and

will also funnel people towards the back and front rows I think. HP is not a park where

I've EVER felt a Fast Lane is needed anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, Skyrush sounds like the best coaster built since ExGforce, and the Superman trio here in the US! This is great news! I'm a bit shocked at the amount of complaining about the intensity, this is EXACTLY what I want to see.... Another GREAT Intamin hyper coaster filled with negative G's! Woohoo! I just hope that Hershey doesn't tame as KD did with I305. It's a shame that I305 was tamed. Heck, it didn't even have very good airtime and yes, the positive G's were strong but that is why they have warnings. If people can't handle it then don't ride. There is a place in the coaster world for extreme rides and every tom, dick and harry doesn't need to ride every one! I can't wait for Skyrush this summer. How are the restraints, can only skinny people ride? What do they look like and are big people being turned away? Are there seatbelts too?

 

Also, with the amazing descriptions of this coaster, why would people still rank I305 higher?

 

Ted

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ride doesn't really have "airtime"

Post invalidated, better luck next time.

 

This is a matter of opinion. I don't understand how you can call it airtime when you are completely stapled in and enduring stinging pain on your quads. Prefer the B&Ms where you are actually allowed to leave your seat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Rode the ride the same places you did, didn't have anywhere near the amount of pain you did. And it had some of the best airtime I've experienced on any coaster, El Toro included (which also has tight lapbars).

 

And I'm overjoyed that Skyrush doesn't have 305's restraints.

 

On this matter we will agree to disagree. I am not the only one with this complaint, heard plenty of people saying the same thing in the Hollow.

 

I also noticed the front to be a little rougher (vibrations and shaking). Did you notice that at all?

 

I liked the ride and I'll ride it again, but I'll be staying in the back from now on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said in my own trip report, the only time I even felt any sort of pain on my thighs was when the train was sitting stationary on the brake run. I felt no sort of pain during the circuit at all. I rode in the very front and it was smooth as silk.

 

I'm not one to jump on the "Intamin is God" bandwagon, but the problem isn't completely Intamin's fault. My ride would have been much more comfortable if the attendant had let the restraint sit where I pulled it down to (just resting on my legs). Instead, they forced it down as far as it could go! The attendants at El Toro don't do that, and New Jersey is so much more safety-conscious than Pennsylvania!

 

What did I ever do to the ride operators to deserve a restraint stapling?!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, Skyrush sounds like the best coaster built since ExGforce, and the Superman trio here in the US! This is great news! I'm a bit shocked at the amount of complaining about the intensity, this is EXACTLY what I want to see.... Another GREAT Intamin hyper coaster filled with negative G's! Woohoo! I just hope that Hershey doesn't tame as KD did with I305. It's a shame that I305 was tamed. Heck, it didn't even have very good airtime and yes, the positive G's were strong but that is why they have warnings. If people can't handle it then don't ride. There is a place in the coaster world for extreme rides and every tom, dick and harry doesn't need to ride every one! I can't wait for Skyrush this summer. How are the restraints, can only skinny people ride? What do they look like and are big people being turned away? Are there seatbelts too?

 

Also, with the amazing descriptions of this coaster, why would people still rank I305 higher?

 

Ted

 

The only thing I see people complaining about is the restraints, not the intensity. If the restraints are causing discomfort and pain, then it is a valid complaint. I don't think they are going to trim it because that is not going to fix the problem with the restraints and I don't think it is chewing through wheels/causing greyouts like I305 was. I think they will wait until the off season to do anything to the restraints if they even do at all. From the videos I have seen most seem to be cheering and clapping when returning to the station.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said in my own trip report, the only time I even felt any sort of pain on my thighs was when the train was sitting stationary on the brake run. I felt no sort of pain during the circuit at all. I rode in the very front and it was smooth as silk.

 

I'm not one to jump on the "Intamin is God" bandwagon, but the problem isn't completely Intamin's fault. My ride would have been much more comfortable if the attendant had let the restraint sit where I pulled it down to (just resting on my legs). Instead, they forced it down as far as it could go! The attendants at El Toro don't do that, and New Jersey is so much more safety-conscious than Pennsylvania!

 

What did I ever do to the ride operators to deserve a restraint stapling?!?

 

So if the ride OPS stop stapling, which is probably unnecessary, then it may fix the entire issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said in my own trip report, the only time I even felt any sort of pain on my thighs was when the train was sitting stationary on the brake run. I felt no sort of pain during the circuit at all. I rode in the very front and it was smooth as silk.

 

I'm not one to jump on the "Intamin is God" bandwagon, but the problem isn't completely Intamin's fault. My ride would have been much more comfortable if the attendant had let the restraint sit where I pulled it down to (just resting on my legs). Instead, they forced it down as far as it could go! The attendants at El Toro don't do that, and New Jersey is so much more safety-conscious than Pennsylvania!

 

What did I ever do to the ride operators to deserve a restraint stapling?!?

 

So if the ride OPS stop stapling, which is probably unnecessary, then it may fix the entire issue.

 

The stapling IS needed, at least in the back. If I had the restraints as loose in the back seat as I usually do on Apollo's Chariot, I really feel like I would have been sucked out. Even stapled, it felt like I was a goner. That's pretty cool.

 

In the front, I think you'd be fine with a little room. They'd never even want to attempt to train ops to load up in that fashion, so it's gonna be all stapled, all the time.

 

The restraint design is to be blame. If enough people whine about it maybe they'll be forced to change it - like the alterations to 305.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be interesting to know what the thought process was on why the designed the restraints the way they did. Maybe in time the operators won't be so hard core about stapling everyone in. I can't imagine that even an inch would make that much difference in the safety of the rider.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, with the amazing descriptions of this coaster, why would people still rank I305 higher?

 

I rode both on Saturday, and I'd say I prefer I305 better.

 

SkyRush beat I305 in terms on strong airtime and intensity. However, I loved the insane transitions and speed that I305 had that SkyRush didn't. I also preferred I305's restraints, which seems to be a matter of split opinion on here. I found SkyRush's restraints to be uncomfortable, but certainly not to the level of being painful or detracting from the ride.

 

The bottom line, however, is that those two rides are (IMO) the two best steel coasters in the country. Some may like SkyRush better, and I wouldn't consider them "wrong", just to have different taste.

 

My top 5 would go something like this after the weekend:

I305 > SkyRush > Nemesis, Mega-Lite, and Bizarro/S:ROS (all three tied)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

305 has the height, speed, length, and positive g's over Skyrush. Skyrush has the airtime and lapbars over 305. If we're talking about which ride's restraints tighten down more during the ride, that's honestly a wash, because they both do. However, if 305 had lapbars, you would see some major injuries occur because of those lateral transitions.

 

All that aside, I still think 305 is better, but not by much. Skyrush is a phenomenal ride, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty convinced that the General Public is composed of wimps. The only ride in recent memory that literally felt uncomfortable was Green Lantern: First Flight..but that didn't stop me from riding it again and again. Also, if SkyRush's restraints aren't any worse than El Toro's, then there should be no reason for b*tching. Cut your losses because those restraints are the only thing keeping you from flying out of that train and onto the pavement! The Negative-G's are strong right? Be happy!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/