Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[coasterbear30]

El Toro doesn't staple? Then we must have ridden 2 different coasters. They stapled me EVERY time I rode it and it caused the ride to be really painful to me. Maybe it is because I am a little bigger but I highly doubt it. Even most of my skinny friends thought that it was painful because of the restraints. Don't get me wrong, I love El Toro and it is my favorite woodie but there is no doubt that it is painful. I had red marks on my thighs and stomach from the restraints. I have experienced really pain inducing stapling on I305, Fahrenheit and Storm Runner as well. While I think that most of these rides are really good, Intamin really should either stop stapling people to the point they can't breathe or come up with some kind of softer, comfortable restraint. It can't be that hard.

[ahecht]

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!!

 

Just as a data point, I found SkyRush painful, but didn't find GL:FF uncomfortable at all. I also found SkyRush's restraints ARE worse than El Toro's. It's not a negative G problem or an intensity problem as the restraints are painful even in the brake run.

 

...come up with some kind of softer, comfortable restraint. It can't be that hard.

 

I see what you did there

Edited May 29, 2012 by ahecht

[ahecht]

oops, double post

Edited May 29, 2012 by ahecht

[Swimace]

While I think that most of these rides are really good, Intamin really should either stop stapling people to the point they can't breathe or come up with some kind of softer, comfortable restraint. It can't be that hard.

I don't think Intamin is doing the stapling, I think the park's ride operators are

 

I personally felt no discomfort on El Toro. But truth be told, I think that comfort and restraint style can vary depending on a person's body type.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Swimace

[Manic Monte]

Ugh... I guess I need to get out to Hershey real quick, before the ride is trimmed up, and then the inevitable complains about trims start up.

[aLFREd_25]

^^ I was thinking the same thing. I would like to ride it before it gets trimmed.

Sky Rush looks like a great ride! I'm hoping that if I get to go to East Coast Bash, I will be able to hit up Hershey park the Friday before!

[Skycoastin Steve]

There are actually already three small trims on Skyrush's course. However, not one of them has any noticeable impact on the ride's speed.

[BeemerBoy]

I don't think Intamin is doing the stapling, I think the park's ride operator's are

 

I personally felt no discomfort on El Toro. But truth be told, I think that comfort and restraint style can vary depending on a person's body type.

THIS....a thousand times over.

 

If anyone doubts this opinion, then go sit in a test seat somewhere. I guarantee you won't feel any pain until either... A) You forcefully try to close the restraints, or B) Someone does it for you.

 

Just sayin'.

[Hilltopper39]

Even though the impact of the trims isn't very noticeable (according to reports) I wonder what the calculated difference in physical forces before and after the trims felt like. I saw some figures thrown around a few pages before opening about the difference in -G's with the trims that seemed fairly minimal, but a small figure on paper might have meant a huge difference in rider comfort.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is I wonder how much more complaining we would have seen had the trims not been installed? For what it's worth I think the ride looks awesome and is easily in my top 5 "want to ride" list in America.

 

Complaints about airtime being too forceful is like saying a beer is too cold.

[_koppen]

Even though the impact of the trims isn't very noticeable (according to reports) I wonder what the calculated difference in physical forces before and after the trims felt like. I saw some figures thrown around a few pages before opening about the difference in -G's with the trims that seemed fairly minimal, but a small figure on paper might have meant a huge difference in rider comfort.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is I wonder how much more complaining we would have seen had the trims not been installed? For what it's worth I think the ride looks awesome and is easily in my top 5 "want to ride" list in America.

 

Complaints about airtime being too forceful is like saying a beer is too cold.

 

The ride is trimmed less than a mile in speed, so i really doubt you would feel any difference.

[Hilltopper39]

The ride is trimmed less than a mile in speed, so i really doubt you would feel any difference.

 

That's what I'm saying, a 1 mph difference in speed doesn't sound like hardly a difference at all, but I wonder if they had engineers ride it before the decision to add trims was made or if they based it off of calculations alone (or maybe the thing was meant to have trims all along). Just curious.

[robbalvey]

So as I was walking towards Wildcat today, we passed by the Karaoke booth. My sister and I joked in reminiscince of the famous Piers video. Literally just as we wrapped up our conversation, we looked up at the monitors playing demonstrations and saw this.

 

 

Made. My. Life.

For those who don't get the reference, here's the original video.

 

Edited May 29, 2012 by robbalvey

[Tanks4me05]

According to actual G force limits, you have to be above -1.5 G's after 0.5 seconds. So my guess is that the airtime was just a little outside the legal limits, so they put the trims on so the ride will be just within legal airtime limits, meaning either it gets above -1.5 before the 0.5 second part, or it stays comfortably within the -1.4 range, as you can keep a ride at -1.4 for up to four seconds.

[coasterfreak101]

My God this thread is insane. This right here is why shows like Doomsday Preparers exist. The world is crashing and burning because restraints don't match the curvature of people's thighs, stock up on your bread, eggs, and toilet paper now.

 

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.

 

Ugh, can we not make this our new credo? How old are you, actually planning to whine to solve your problems...

 

El Toro doesn't staple? Then we must have ridden 2 different coasters. They stapled me EVERY time I rode it and it caused the ride to be really painful to me. Maybe it is because I am a little bigger but I highly doubt it. Even most of my skinny friends thought that it was painful because of the restraints. Don't get me wrong, I love El Toro and it is my favorite woodie but there is no doubt that it is painful. I had red marks on my thighs and stomach from the restraints. I have experienced really pain inducing stapling on I305, Fahrenheit and Storm Runner as well.

 

I've been stapled on every coaster you've mentioned, especially El Toro, and have never experienced pain. It's tight to move, but there is no pain. Maybe you're just built differently, but there certainly is doubt that El Toro is painful, at least for me (and all the rest of the people I get off the ride with every time loving it and not complaining a bit).

 

Intamin really should either stop stapling people to the point they can't breathe or come up with some kind of softer, comfortable restraint. It can't be that hard.

 

I guarantee that the Enthusiasts of the World would find a way to complain if teddy bears and fluffy pillows were restraints. Nobody will every win. The restraints they have are the restraints we're all gonna have to deal with. So let's deal with it.

 

Even though the impact of the trims isn't very noticeable (according to reports) I wonder what the calculated difference in physical forces before and after the trims felt like. I saw some figures thrown around a few pages before opening about the difference in -G's with the trims that seemed fairly minimal, but a small figure on paper might have meant a huge difference in rider comfort.

 

What the guy above me said. They probably just needed a very minute difference in forces, and that small alteration in speed gave it to them. It's not like I305's back half, where the ride physically has to be trimmed down greatly by design, it's just small bits of speed that need to be knocked off. For another example, see the trims on iSpeed. Just a tiny bit of speed knocked off, presumably to make the heartline roll bearable.

[alpengeist04]

Pier's video= WINNING!!!!

 

The last 10 pages, not so much.

[Manic Monte]

At this point I wish the "lapbar hurt my legs" people would just STFU. If you can't handle it, go marathon on Great Bear.

[Rider117]

Ride it before you act like it won't effect you.

 

The ride is amazing, but it beats your thighs up. Which I don't mind, I can't wait to see the ERT line for this.

[Hilltopper39]

According to actual G force limits, you have to be above -1.5 G's after 0.5 seconds. So my guess is that the airtime was just a little outside the legal limits, so they put the trims on so the ride will be just within legal airtime limits, meaning either it gets above -1.5 before the 0.5 second part, or it stays comfortably within the -1.4 range, as you can keep a ride at -1.4 for up to four seconds.

 

Just curious, but where do these "legal limits" you're talking about come from? Are they set by the park's insurance agency, state inspection agencies, ASTM, IAAPA, specific ride manufacturers or what? And who enforces compliance with the codes? I don't doubt your logic (it actually makes a lot of sense) I'm just interested because I've never heard of a singular organization that enforces the same set of regulations for all rides at all parks in the world.

[coasterfreak101]

^Not legal as in the court law, legal as in if you don't stay within certain limits over certain periods of time the human body will start to suffer.

[SuperShawn]

The ride looks awesome and worth some pain and defensive riding. Personally I can't wait to get up there and take whatever it's going to dish out to my thighs over getting the crap beat out of me on rough rides that just beat you to death with no pay off.

 

Now back to a much better use of my time:

 

[Tmcdllr]

The ride doesn't really have "airtime"

Post invalidated, better luck next time.

 

Super Like!

[ejl191]

Finally got onto Skyrush today, and didn't experience any of the thigh pain people are talking about. I do a lot of weight lifting so I have pretty big legs, so I was expecting some pain, but was pleasantly surprised. Loved the ride though.

 

One odd thing I noticed, Fahrenheit seemed to have a way longer line all day than Skyrush did. Super Dooper Looper did too, though that may have been because they were running one train.

[bubala]

I rode Skyrush today in the first row on the edge seat, and that darned coaster was trying it's hardest to throw me out! I swear! Going down that first drop, I really felt like I was was being pulled right out of my seat! And, I got that feeling several more times durin the ride. There is plenty of air on that coaster!

 

My lap bar tightened down at the bottom of the first drop, which made the rest of the ride extremely painful on my thighs. I'd go as far to say it was excruciatingly painful at times. My thighs still hurt now, 9 hours later! I learned from that fist ride though. The second time I rode, (in the back row, edge seat) I held on to the bars below my seat, so I would not have my thighs violently bashed up against the lap restraint again. That made the ride much more enjoyable for me.

 

I like the ride. It certainly won't make it into my top ten, but then, I prefer less intense coasters.

 

I have a couple of minor complaints about the station:

1) Black metal handrails + direct sunlight = OUCH!

2) Why on Earth did they design it so that you enter and exit from the same side of the train? That makes for a much longer load/unload time.

[Wes]

I hadn't been paying much attention to this ride, but I went and watched the POV on Youtube and all of the sudden, my legs started hurting. Is this normal????

[bubala]

Super Dooper Looper did too, though that may have been because they were running one train.

 

I rode SooperDooperLooper at 1pm. Both trains were on, and it was a walk on. Fahrenheit only had two trains on. That could have been why the lines were so long.