Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[Moose]

They could always take one train out of commission at a time, but I'm guessing along as it's not a safety concern, modifications will occur in the offseason.

[gisco]

I can see them doing a temporary fix now and a permanent one during the off season. I can't see them pulling one train at a time on a ride that already has capacity problems.

[PAL]

Unless the park announces they are reconfiguring the noodles, this is nothing more than hot air. I think this started with wishful thinking and a hopeful reading of one of Lance's posted rumors. Selfishly, my only hope is to get there before HP trims Skyrush to death to quash the complaints.

[chadster]

^ This.

[coasterfreak101]

The park has already stated that they have no desire to slow the ride down.

[coasternut]

I was at the park yesterday - Monday afternoon. They only had 1 train running, but they were moving the line effectively. They were doing the best with the same load / off load platform. I rode it 2x with once in the middle. The ride IMO is better in the middle than the wing springboard effect. I've not had a problem with the noodles, but I'm a marathon rider that enjoys the abuse.

 

The clock is broke on the building. It's stuck at 3:00. At least it's right 2x a day.

[coasternut]

They fixed the clock this afternoon on the Sky Rush building. The ride needs some work... One train, but good dispatches. Tomorrow - Wednesday my last day here. I rode it 2x again today (row 2 outside), and I'm still not a fan. I guess I'm just an inside kind of guy.

[coasterfreak101]

What are the chances that one train is out for some restraint work? Even with it being a weekday, one-train operation on their brand-new roller coaster seems odd, especially given its already-low capacity.

[KDcoasterMAN]

Heading to the park this weekend. I've read all the park previews and wanted to hear the opinions of what I should expect this weekend.

[Skycoastin Steve]

One train operation is no less efficient than two train operation at this point.

[molemaster43]

I was at Hersheypark today for the first time. Overall, the park was awesome and the rides were incredible. I rode 9/12 coasters at the park (Roller Soaker was closed and Fahrenheit and Sidewinder looked sickening). So, I am going to give some reviews of the rides I rode at Hersheypark:

 

Wildcat: First ride of the day. This was only my second GCI coaster ever. I have to say, this ride was pretty fun. The first drop was really good and the ride seemed to rattle you around, but not bang you around like some other wooden coasters. Overall, pretty good ride: 8/10.

 

Lightning Racer: My third GCI coaster and my second favorite (behind Thunderhead). This is, by far, my favorite racing coaster, as it is, in my opinion, much faster than some of the racing coasters I've ridden (Rebel Yell, Kennywood Racer, etc.). Overall, incredible ride: 9/10.

 

Wild Mouse: Your typical wild mouse. Fun, like most of the wild mouses I have ridden. Overall, fun: 6/10.

 

Storm Runner: This is my favorite ride at Hersheypark. Easily. The launch on this ride is absolutely incredible and the rest of the ride is just plain old fun. Overall, awesome ride: 10/10.

 

Trailblazer: Meh. This ride felt short for a mine train. Overall, boring: 4/10.

 

Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge: Another incredible shooting ride. 197000 points! Overall, fun: 7.5/10.

 

Coal Cracker: A fun water ride that really didn't get you wet, which I wasn't that happy about. Overall, fun ride: 6/10.

 

Great Bear: Amazing B&M inverted coaster. I could not even feel the first two inversions. That is how great that was. It also has a great B&M roar to it. Overall, incredible ride: 8.5/10.

 

Tidal Force: Tall Shoot-the-Chutes that got me SOAKED. I wasn't dry for 3-4 hours! Overall, fun ride: 6/10.

 

Skyrush: The new ride for 2012. Or my slogan, a new pain in my legs. This ride hurt SO MUCH. Everything was fine until the first airtime hill. The drop and lift hill were really fun to me. Overall, painful ride in the legs: 4.5/10.

 

Sooperdooperlooper: My second Schwarzkopf. Not really a fan. It felt really short and it just wasn't thrilling. Overall, okay: 6/10.

 

Comet: My last ride of the day. One thing this ride should have but didn't, AIRTIME. I didn't feel any airtime on this ride, so I was bored. Overall, boring: 4/10.

 

Overall, it was a good park, it is just the Hollow's coasters weren't good. None of them. It really disappointed me. However, Minetown, Midway America, and Pioneer Frontier had awesome coasters.

[ansley]

Ok, so we, the family and I, made our way to Knoebels and Hershey today. Knoebels was great as usual, but later in the day 3 kids and I (one is my niece) made it to Hershey for the "preview" at about 8 PM. Line for Skyrush was 1 hour, with one train running. The employee at the line apologized for one train and suggested we return tomorrow at about 2 pm. We hit Great Bear, then Farenheit then returned to Skyrush for about a 40 min wait with one train. The line was actually moving ok, surprisingly. I do like the look of the coaster, standing under it at that huge support is very cool. Once I got a look at the train I was impressed. The seats look very B&Mish, with large restraints that come down. I looked at them but they didn't seem to have one point that hits your thighs. I rode 2nd to last rode inside seat right. My daughter rode outside right, son inside left, and niece outside left.

 

For some background. I've ridden about 500 coasters over the last 20 years, about 5 Intamin hyper coasters but not Ex. Gforce nor a megalite. I do love Intamin Hypers, they hold 3 of my top 5 steel. I'm 47 years old, and definitely now very overweight. My kids are 14 and 9, niece is 14 as well. I do like intense coasters, my daughter has a large track record, maybe 300. My son and niece do not, they are more like GP.

 

Ok, bottom line.....Skyrush is super intense, first drop might be the best I've been on!. We rode at about 10:05PM, it was blur with two very strong pulls in the 2nd to back row. My bar actaully had some space which scared me a bit on the drop, I've not felt like that since some loose lap bars on some classic woodies years ago, like GA Cyclone or original Riverside Cyclone drop. My son was stapled, I did it, and he was complaining about it before the ride. However, he is VERY skinny and only about 55 inches tall and with the reputation of this ride I wanted his bar down! The negative forces on other hills is extreme. As good as the 3rd hill on the Superman at SFA, but stronger...much like the best hills on Bizzaro at SFNE or El Toro. I did get some pain in the thighs, but I don't think any more than the 3rd row of Magnum when it is running well. Overall, not really bad, but I did hold on VERY tight and lift up hard on the bar when I hit the top of the hills after the first one. I really enjoyed the ride, it is truly great but too short! I'm not sure I would put it up at #1 after one ride, mainly because it is too short. I will get more rides tomorrow, it certainly is an interesting coaster. I also want to try the outside seats and back row and towards the front. It most likely will be in my top 3 or 4 steel coasters and IMHO is easily better than I305 and M. Force. Maybe not better than Bizzaro or SRoS at SFA but close. Again, I like longer coasters and it is just too short. My niece loved it, said it didn't hurt her. My son loved it, he complained some about me stapling him, but he really wants to ride it again. My daughter on the other hand came off disoriented and in a daze, and said it hurt her thighs quite a bit and I don't think she wants to ride again. So, some differing opinions there. She rode on right outside seat, but I was next to her. She can be a bit of a drama queen sometimes though.

 

Maybe some restraint mods will help the intensity on the thighs, but honestly not sure it will help that much with such strong negative Gs. YMMV.

 

Ted

[ahecht]

Great Bear: Amazing B&M inverted coaster. I could not even feel the first two inversions. That is how great that was. It also has a great B&M roar to it. Overall, incredible ride: 8.5/10.

How does not feeling the inversions make it great? If you can't feel them, what's the point?

[willh51]

^No headbanging? BTW, is your avatar the sign in Great Bear's queue?

[ahecht]

^Yes, one of the many superfluous signs that only Hershey would put up.

[cal1br3tto]

^Yeah, they sure have a LOT. At least they aren't annoying.

 

Storm Runner: This is my favorite ride at Hersheypark. Easily. The launch on this ride is absolutely incredible and the rest of the ride is just plain old fun.

Agreed; it's also in my top 20 steel. Lightning Racer is my second favorite coaster there, and makes my top 20 wood. Glad you had a good time!

[coasternut]

One train operation is no less efficient than two train operation at this point.

 

Steve I agree. To me it seems more efficient with 1 train. I can't see into the train garage to see if anything is happening in there.

[A.J.]

At this point, I'd bet that they're inspecting the other train to see just what they want done to the restraint system. That way, they can get into the design phase as soon as possible. Or, it could just be routine maintenance. Who knows?

 

In other news, I'm going down to Hersheypark again on July 25 for a day trip! I wonder if I'll run into the New Hotness USA tour?

[molemaster43]

Great Bear: Amazing B&M inverted coaster. I could not even feel the first two inversions. That is how great that was. It also has a great B&M roar to it. Overall, incredible ride: 8.5/10.

How does not feeling the inversions make it great? If you can't feel them, what's the point?

 

I'm not a huge fan of inversions, sometimes, the feeling on inversions messes with me and I end up getting sick and not riding much more (Thanks a lot, Sooperdooperlooper).

[CpBluestreakCp]

For those of you who have ridden Magnum and Skyrush, how do they compare? Is the ejector air that much worse than Magnum's final hills? I'm wondering since I should be visiting the park sometime in July or August and I need a good comparison of how it will feel.

[coasterfreak101]

It's better than Magnum, I think. Magnum offers quick, rough pops of ejector that might bruise your thighs. Skyrush offers insane ejector that lasts for multiple seconds at a time and also might bruise your thighs.

[VinTheAttendant]

^^I don't think there is a good comparison (in America at least) of how it will feel. It really is the strongest airtime I've felt on a coaster.I don't think all the reviews in the world on Skyrush can prepare you for the air it offers.

[gisco]

In other news, I'm going down to Hersheypark again on July 25 for a day trip! I wonder if I'll run into the New Hotness USA tour?

 

Nope, that is the day people are flying in for the Leviathon trip. New Hotness is after that! Missed them by a week!

[coasternut]

Strange thing happened today at Hershey around 2pm. At least 1/2 of all the rides stopped. I could only see 1/2 the park from where I was at. Even the water park stopped. The power to the stores stayed on, so they could still sell stuff. It wasn't weather related, the sky was clear and sunny. It must have been some major circuit breaker trip / fault somewhere. It was out for maybe 20 minutes then back to business which was fine with me.

 

I rode Sky Rush first thing again this morning just a little past 10. They're still running just 1 train, and the same is true for the past 2 days with StormRunner. I was last row left inside and didn't hate the ride. I guess I'm not a big fan of new Intamin's, and this fits that statement. That will be my last Sky Rush comment. I guess I should cut some cheese to go with my whine.

[Intaman]

I visited Hershey a couple weeks ago and more specifically to ride Skyrush. During my initial wait, there were about six "technical difficulties". I entered the line around 10:15 and got on the ride by noon. Of course, I waited for the front row.

 

Fast forward a few hours. Skyrush is down for about an hour. About 90% of the line cleared, leaving about thirty people. I decided to wait at the entrance. Fortunately, Skyrush reopened and I again rode front row, winged-seat.

 

There weren't any other operating issues with the ride afterward. I got in line once more around 9:40. Yes, I again waited for the front row. However, I took the right-winged seat this time. With only me and two other riders occupying the front row, this last night ride was awesome! I truly enjoyed it.

 

The air was cool, the train was essentially empty (we were the third to last group), and unlike the first ride, it was painless. In short, it was one of those almost perfect ride moments. I wanted more. Unfortunately, the park closed.

 

I love Skyrush. Technical issues aside, I easily put it near atop my list. The airtime is incredible. I am unsure if I have experienced anything quite like it.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Intaman