zburns999 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Haven't posted here in a while, but I visited Hersheypark for the first time in a few years yesterday, and figured I'd share my two cents... I arrived with a group of friends around 10:30, after stopping at a local Giant Market to take advantage of the discounted tickets (fantastic deal, btw). We decided as a group that we would hold off the urge to hit Skyrush first, and instead make our way to the back of the park before the crowds got there. This plan, as I've seen outlined countless times in this thread, worked much better than I anticipated. We were able to hit Fahrenheit, Storm Runner (with one train operation), Tidal Force, Wild Mouse, Wildcat, and Lightning Racer x3 in about two hours. I'll sum up the rest of the day in a series of positives and negatives... Positives: -Skyrush is every bit as incredible as I expected. Was able to get on twice, once in the back-left wing, and once in the front-right center. I'm not sure which I preferred, as both experiences were very different. The back-left wing was just total insanity, unlike anything I've ever really experienced. I've never white-knuckled a ride like that before. The front, in my opinion, offered a bit more air-time with a more traditional coaster feel. I didn't have a single problem with the restraints. I actually found them to be super comfortable. The key is really to make sure you're slouched in your seat a bit so that the contact point between the restraint and your body is at your waist, rather than your thigh. Overall, this was an incredible ride. Not sure how to rate it among my favorites, though, as it just seemed so different than anything I had ever been on. It's really in a league of its own. -I had never been on Fahrenheit. It was a ton of fun. Much better than I expected after so many mediocre reviews. Don't skip this one! -Storm Runner is still kicking ass. -The East Coast Water Works may be the best thing in the whole park. -The Skyrush crew was fantastic. They were dispatching the train quickly and efficiently, making one-train operation seem bearable. Also, during an instance of technical difficulty, they were calm, informative, and got things going again smoothly. Kudos! Negatives: -Fahrenheit didn't open until well after 11:00. The crew seemed very nonchalant, and never showed any real determination to get the thing running. -The Sidewinder crew was easily the worst I've ever experienced. We sat for 5-10 minutes waiting to dispatch because there was some argument/confusion about fast track guests not being allowed on the ride without a shirt. Ridiculous. Actually, that leads me to my last point... -The execution of the Fast Track system is completely pathetic. Never in my life have I seen a park rope off entire sections of a train for fast track users. And for good reason; it didn't work! It slowed dispatch times immensely, and continuously sparked confusion when regular guests were being made to leave their groups/preferred rows to load into the middle of the train. I really hope that the park gets their act together with this and find a better means of execution. Overall, it was a fantastic day at Hershey. While operations weren't the best I've seen, it was evident that most of the staff was trying/enjoyed what they were doing. For the select few that obviously wanted to be anywhere but at Hersheypark, well, I didn't let it ruin my day. And oh yeah, Skyrush is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrt Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Geez, what a sorry bunch of complainers! So what if there's some pain from the restraints? Bruises aren't gonna kill you.. It's a first of its kind ride, you can't expect everything to be perfect right away. I found everything else pretty much flawless on the ride. And I sucked up the pain for the whole maybe 2 or 3 minutes I was in contact with the noodles. Seems like people are intentionally being pessimistic about this ride as if it's the worst ride in existence cause you get a little leg pain.. You all want insane airtime.. but then they give it to you and all you do is complain about it hurting. Look on the bright side. At least the only real adjustment they have to make is on restraints, rather than having a terrible ride layout or needing excessive trims. Jeez, people always find something to complain about! I recall Storm Runner and Fahrenheit having similar problems when I rode them a few years back, but they were very easily corrected and nobody even remembers them by now. I found the ride fantastic. I've never felt such strong ejector air or intense g forces. I loved the simple yet effective layout, a perfect blend between what people expect when it comes to a great coaster. Intense g's along turns, some great laterals even, jammed with airtime, smooth (as in not jackhammering or headbanging) and personally I really enjoyed the QDC's. Plus, for having one train, the line moved quickly and I never waited longer than a half hour. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but before you make concrete judgement on the ride you still have to realize it's in its first month or two of operation and you can of course expect things to change over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 -The execution of the Fast Track system is completely pathetic. Never in my life have I seen a park rope off entire sections of a train for fast track users. And for good reason; it didn't work! It slowed dispatch times immensely, and continuously sparked confusion when regular guests were being made to leave their groups/preferred rows to load into the middle of the train. I really hope that the park gets their act together with this and find a better means of execution. They should just implement the fast lane system that Cedar Fair parks have. That is my favorite system. Ride all you want all day with no specific times. Just show your bracelet and you still get to pick your seat (least I did at Kings Island). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnychen Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 ^ I agree. The FastLane system is my favorite one so far. I really like not having to reserve times to come back and being able to ride as many times as you want. Having Fastlane riders get inserted into the station is great and allows you to choose your seat. I tried it both in Kings Dominion and Carowinds and loved it. I skipped the system at Hersheypark since you are allowed to only ride once per a ride. Which is not worth it for the price they charged. Plus the roping off of fasttrack seats is just a horrible system. One operator at Stormrunner just let the Fastltrack seats go empty when there were no fasttrack riders and not allowing people from other lanes to fill seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Hershey is not a large park, so it's not hard to see what there is to do. . What do you mean......I always thought the place was huge?? My wife took one of those walking/step measuring devices to ECB and we walked 14.8 miles that day!!!!! From Lightning Racer to front gate is one hell of a trek!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Yeah, Hershey definitely has a ways to go with their skip the line system. Blocking off entire cars of low-capacity rides, in no thanks to the Hershey ride operations (Fahrenheit, Storm Runner) just doesn't work. You're cutting your already-made-miserable hourly capacity, and hardly any of the trains going out even have Fast Track riders. It's a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathfearsnone Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I went to Hershey this week. It was my third time going took my fiance who has never been. Will not be returning to Hershey because of the flaws at the park. Skyrush felt like a 150 foot drop didn't feel or look 200 feet tall. The crew was dispatching trains every 15 minutes or more minutes at skyrush. Trains on other rides were running one train on major attractions. The employees were slow didn't care about moving in a timely manner and the fact the some employees were giving very rude stares at us as we entered lines. One at great bear where the employee turned his full body around and stared us down. Sorry Hershey but with the slow loading's and the rude employees we skipped the next day and went to Dorney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahecht Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Skyrush felt like a 150 foot drop didn't feel or look 200 feet tall. Really, your complaint about Skyrush is that it isn't tall enough? The comet is 84', so 150' would be less than twice that height. Skyrush is clearly more than twice as tall as The Comet: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I305KD Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 ^^ Operations are good or bad. It depends on the operator. One time, we waited 15 minutes for Apollo's Chariot, then the next day, the line started at the same spot, and we waited 45 minutes. It has happened to me alot. But the most efficiently operated coaster is Intimidator 305. Which has a fantastic station design, unlike Skyrush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathfearsnone Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Skyrush hurt while riding it hurt worse then the mean streak before re-tracking. And when advertised being 200 ft and not feeling like it It was hyped up and didnt live up to the hype that is all. I got off the ride limping I'm a small guy not alot of body weight so i was thrown against the bar. If it had hyper restraints i would of enjoyed the ride better. I realise it is 200 ft but just didnt feel like it. The drop levels out unlike most of the other coasters very quickly. The restraints ruined the ride for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahecht Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 ^^I think the most efficiently operated coasters are California Screamin or Paris' Space Mountain. Both can get pretty close to their 2400 people per hour THRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I have to say didnt look or feel 200 ft. The ride was pretty meh to me actually put it below meanstreak because of the pain level on the ejector hills. Just left bruises and was not fun. I Skyrush felt like a 150 foot drop didn't feel or look 200 feet tall. I realise it is 200 ft but just didnt feel like it. The drop levels out unlike most of the other coasters very quickly. Did you really have to mention that three times in two days? Because it appears you are just trying to rile people up by mentioning it over and over. I understand it is your opinion, but there is no need to keep posting it. I kind of suspect you are trying to rile people up since you mentioned Mean Streak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nozzy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I had a blast in the park yesterday! There were highs and lows, but it was nowhere near as bad as I expected with all the complaining on here... let's see Skyrush: As others have said there just isn't anything like it. The different seats all offer very different experiences, but all have great intensity. It's completely out of control... The lap bars can be tight, but it's not unbearable... especially depending on seat. With how much you fly around within the seat I'm kinda glad they are that tight! One train operation isn't too bad since the circuit is so quick (gotta love cable lifts) and while the unloading needs work the crew was good. The only time I saw two trains on the ride was broken. Operations in general: They definitely weren't the best in the business, but I've seen much worse. Dispatches were timely on all the coasters, and while it is stupid to have seats roped off for a system that seems very underutilized at least they were being filled before dispatching. My biggest complaint has to be the Claw: some guy's cell phone flew off the ride and slammed into the loose article bin (Ha! Irony!) and the ride then closed for "technical difficulties" as the operators and phone owner stumbled around looking for the pieces. Employees in general: Wow, what a mixed bag. We had some great employees during our visit, especially at the nice fry stand near the Kissing Tower (mmm Taco Fries). I also had employees slow to acknowledge our presence, looking uncertain about what to do at the front of a line (hint: smile and greet), and, my personal favorite, sitting on the ground hiding behind the counter at Subway! Improvements are necessary. The park was a mess on Friday too... lots of broken rides (though I think some was due to some tree damage at the Minetrain and Storm Runner- did I miss an overnight storm?) and unfortunately, the great path under Skyrush was closed off so I couldn't get pictures. I had a great day (helped by great company) and lines were short all day, despite a Dave Matthews Band concert last night. I'll definitely be returning next year for more, and hope to see more smiling employees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zburns999 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 The crew was dispatching trains every 15 minutes or more minutes at skyrush. Yeah, I'm definitely going to call BS on that one. Do you realize how long fifteen minutes actually is? That would make the line from the bottom of the steps about three plus hours. If you're going to attempt to tear the park a new one, at least say something that isn't a blatant lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I went to Hershey this week. It was my third time going took my fiance who has never been. Will not be returning to Hershey because of the flaws at the park. Skyrush felt like a 150 foot drop didn't feel or look 200 feet tall. The crew was dispatching trains every 15 minutes or more minutes at skyrush. Trains on other rides were running one train on major attractions. The employees were slow didn't care about moving in a timely manner and the fact the some employees were giving very rude stares at us as we entered lines. One at great bear where the employee turned his full body around and stared us down. Sorry Hershey but with the slow loading's and the rude employees we skipped the next day and went to Dorney. Really, 15 MINUTE dispatches? They may have been slow but that seems excessive. Also, why would the employees be staring you down? That just seems really strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molemaster43 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 ^Honestly, I don't even care if the employees stare me down. As long as the ride is fun, I could care less. And I agree with what was said above. 15 minutes? No way in the world was it 15 minutes. More like 3 minutes, not even! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simaticable Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 ^Honestly, I don't even care if the employees stare me down. As long as the ride is fun, I could care less. And I agree with what was said above. 15 minutes? No way in the world was it 15 minutes. More like 3 minutes, not even! I would care though since I paid to enter the park to have a fun time. I don't care how fun the coaster is, I would tell guest relations if they were rude to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom25 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Skyrush is running two trains today. One with the old restraint, and the other with the new restraint which is a thicker and softer lap bar. I would suspect the other train will get converted asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molemaster43 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 ^That is awesome. I want to ride again to see if the new restraint is any better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voxelmatic Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Skyrush is running two trains today. One with the old restraint, and the other with the new restraint which is a thicker and softer lap bar. I would suspect the other train will get converted asap. Great to know! I'm glad it will be ready for next week when I make my trip! Yay for comfy airtime ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Skyrush is running two trains today. One with the old restraint, and the other with the new restraint which is a thicker and softer lap bar. I would suspect the other train will get converted asap. I wonder how they did it? I understand that miracles can happen in a maintenance bay. Someone needs to go to the park, ride it, and give us a review ASAP (I'm looking at you, Chris Cron unless Thom already did). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Dammit, missed it before the modifications. #pissedatmyself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXman308 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 So with only one train with the new restraints it's just luck whether you get them or not? If the GP gets word of this I could see people waiting it out for the better train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I have to say didnt look or feel 200 ft. The ride was pretty meh to me actually put it below meanstreak because of the pain level on the ejector hills. Just left bruises and was not fun. I Skyrush felt like a 150 foot drop didn't feel or look 200 feet tall. I realise it is 200 ft but just didnt feel like it. The drop levels out unlike most of the other coasters very quickly. Did you really have to mention that three times in two days? Because it appears you are just trying to rile people up by mentioning it over and over. I understand it is your opinion, but there is no need to keep posting it. I kind of suspect you are trying to rile people up since you mentioned Mean Streak. One response to his trolling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Wow. That didn't take them long to change the restraints. I hope it improves the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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