Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[A.J.]

Plus, there's the issue of every other coaster (and major ride for that matter) at Hersheypark having bag drops. I don't think that guests would be happy if all of a sudden Skyrush didn't have a bag drop anymore due to the separate entry/exit.

[Josh Linn]

I don't think there's any way they have it closed that long and DON'T redesign the station. It's easily the worst thing about the entire ride, and they know what kind of problem it poses for capacity. Get some smart people on it and fix it!

 

It's honestly a little ridiculous that the station design even made it past the drawing board.

[coasterfreak101]

Plus, there's the issue of every other coaster (and major ride for that matter) at Hersheypark having bag drops. I don't think that guests would be happy if all of a sudden Skyrush didn't have a bag drop anymore due to the separate entry/exit.

 

Free lockers for the length of the line, just like what Universal does down in Orlando.

[UrbanLegend]

If they do just slow the lift down it won't be the end of the world...it really doesn't effect forces that much. Gravity is still doing most of the work. But hopefully they can rework something to keep most things the same as they are now!

 

Personally it would be a pretty big letdown if they slowed down the lift. Part of the appeal of the ride is how it tears up the lift, and you really don't have any time to react before the first drop.

[coasterfreak101]

^Rank the following letdowns you could be forced to suffer:

 

a) The layout is changed or trims are added, i.e. I305.

b) The lift is slowed down a few miles per hour.

 

One seems very minimal and I think everyone would get over it.

[Mrlittle]

When it gets new trains, a new station and a new lift hill speed. Can we count it as a new coaster?

 

I loved Skyrush like it was so I hope it does not get any major changes. I could see them slowing down the lift hill and try to add in an exit. However, I do not think any of those changes are major enough to change the ride experience.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/hershey_entertainments_new_ceo.html

 

William F. Simpson Jr. refused to reveal his favorite Hersheypark ride or Hershey candy. “I can’t play favorites,” he said. But, as the newly appointed chief executive officer of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co., Simpson can share some revelations. He steps into the position Jan. 1, replacing Ted Kleisner, who is retiring at the end of the year.

 

For starters, Simpson said in the near future visitors to Hersheypark can expect updates to the park’s water rides.

 

Early next year, two of the resort’s restaurants — The Hershey Grill at the Hershey Lodge and the Circular Dining Room at The Hotel Hershey — will be renovated and reopen under new concepts.

 

He is also anticipating a sold-out crowd to fill Hersheypark Stadium Jan. 20 for the 2013 Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic hockey game with the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

 

“Obviously, the most important thing is to remain a premiere hospitality destination,” Simpson said. To do that, he said, the company will remain focused on its core hotels, restaurants, spas and entertainment adding updates and growing those existing businesses to keep things fresh for visitors.

 

Simpson is currently the company’s president & chief operating officer and will remain president. Kleisner will remain a member of the company’s board of directors.

 

Simpson started with Hershey Entertainment in 1996 when he came on board as general manager of the Hershey Lodge and oversaw the facility’s expansion in 1998.

 

In April 2002, he became vice president of the entertainment group overseeing the operation of Hersheypark Entertainment Complex. In April 2010, he was promoted to COO, followed by the role of president in November 2010.

 

He was appointed to the company’s board of directors in 2011.

 

Given the economic times, and the fact discretionary spending is down, Simpson said Hershey Entertainment, and its amusement park, are weathering the times. “The great news is while the industry in general was down double digits, we were down single digits. Yes, I think every business in America had some kind of set back,” he said.

 

This summer, roughly 2.5 million visitors entered Hersheypark’s gates, many to ride the latest thrill ride, the Skyrush roller coaster.

 

That number is on par with previous years, Simpson said, although he admits they expected a bit more of a boost from the launch of Skyrush. Three weeks of high heat in July didn’t bode well for business but visitors flooded the park in August, he said.

 

What’s next for Hersheypark? Simpson said guests are constantly being surveyed, and two things visitors say they want are more roller coasters and water rides. The Boardwalk has been a big success and, after launching Skyrush this year, the park will probably turn its attention to the water rides, he said.

 

As for the resorts, 7 percent of the park’s visitors stay at HERCO’s properties which top off at 1,000 rooms. The average length of stay is two days with most visitors coming from New Jersey/ New York and the Baltimore/Washington areas. “We are more of a get-away than a vacation destination,” he said.

 

Next year, guests will notice changes to two of the property’s restaurants. The Circular Dining Room will close in January for remodeling and reopen as the more casual “The Circular,” serving items such as steaks and grilled fish.

 

Milton S. Hershey built this prestigious, upscale restaurant in his signature hotel in the midst of the Great Depression. The decision to revamp the historic restaurant came about after working with consultants and looking at what similar hotels around the country are doing with their restaurants, Simpson said.

 

The trend is to get away from formality. The Circular Dining Room sees a steady business for breakfasts and brunch but dinner has remained soft as guests no longer want to invest 2½ hours on a meal, Simpson added.

 

In addition, the Hershey Grill at the Lodge will be revamped into a diner/bistro and will add breakfast. It will feature an open kitchen, stainless steel and a higher energy atmosphere.

 

“Our guests’ interests and demands change every day. The market is constantly moving and we have to keep up with it. What is great today is passe in two years. We can’t get ahead of it. We just try and stay on top of it,” Simpson said.

 

As for the Outdoor Classic, Simpson said they are gearing up for the outdoor hockey event after the holiday. He’s not sure what to expect as far as the pace of ticket sales but is expecting a sold out crowd to fill Hersheypark Stadium.

 

Overall, Simpson said he will continue to guide Hershey Entertainment in what it does best.

 

“We need a compelling reason to make people come here. If we remind people of who we are and what we stand for, that’s a good reason. We are easy to get to and they know what to expect from us. There’s great loyalty to the Hershey brand,” he said.

[Meteornotes]

The smartest thing they could do with their water rides is move them to the old golf course and open a separate water park.

 

dt

[Tanks4me05]

^HP is definitely looking into trying to expand into the golf course, as was said during the New Hotness behind the scenes tour. The main problem is that they have to reroute Park Boulevard (the road that goes behind Skyrush, Comet and SDL) or make a pedestrian bridge around the existing road. It's definitely possible, but it won't exactly be cheap. My solution would be to widen the path between the chocolate shop and Skyrush a bit, move the Creekside Catering to the golf course, and use that newly freed up space to make a pedestrian bridge over Park Avenue with helical ramps which would be covered with giant Hershey's Kiss shaped roofs. Since the ramp wouldn't take up all of Creekside Catering's current land plot, we could also use the remaining area to put in either a couple of shops or a small flat ride or two.

[Philrad71]

Doubt they would move the entire water park to another area of the park grounds because of the recently added lazy river and wave pool. Hershey spent a lot of money on removing the rapids ride to add those permanently based attractions.

 

Looks like there could be water park expansion room towards Wildcat, but they would have to relocate the Merry Merry Dip Fun slides and the pavilion. Perhaps the slides could go over to Comet Hollow and the pavilion over in the old golf course area?

I didn't know they relocated Storm Runner over the top of the ferris wheel!

[Voxelmatic]

^Speaking of google maps, the map updated to have Skyrush, Stormrunner, and all those other fancy things.

[A.J.]

Poor Lightning Racer...

[UrbanLegend]

^Speaking of google maps, the map updated to have Skyrush, Stormrunner, and all those other fancy things.

 

Thank God. Now I no longer have to look at a map that doesn't even have Storm Runner on it. Quite a lengthy oversight, that was.

[alilstronger]

I am excited for them to add to the water rides. I am huge water park enthusiast and I think their water park is pretty mediocre. Every time I go I do not spend much time there because its always so crowded - even during the week. But this is my experience and perhaps I went on bad days.

[Philrad71]

^It's always been ridiculously crowded when we've been there too, but when you have attractions with horrible capacity like Roller Soaker, Tornado, Wave Rider, & a Toilet Bowl slide, it doesn't take much for lines to get absolutely out of control.

 

They definitely need some good people eater water attractions to space out the crowds. I thought that the Lazy River and wave pool would do that, but they have lines to get into them and sometimes those are crazy long! I think that we waited about 1/2 hour just to get into the Lazy River last year..and we didn't even go near Roller Soaker or the bowl slides because the queues were so packed.

 

The more I think about it, as popular as water parks are in the summer, I don't think that Hershey would be able to put enough water attractions in that area to be able to handle the crowds they already get.

 

Perhaps it would be a good idea to have another water park over by the old golf course...Boardwalk East & Boardwalk West maybe?

[amy_mel]

The water park is always ridiculously crowded. We don't even bother with it, even with our season passes. It's crazy to have to wait in line for a wave pool! If they did expand the water park over toward Wildcat they might as well seriously consider relocating the whole back part of Midway America. Lightning Racer already doesn't get long lines, if they cut it off by expanding the water park it may never get riders.

[A.J.]

Unless Hersheypark has some crazy 15-year plan that we don't know about, expanding The Boardwalk backward could be a serious problem for Lightning Racer, which is a shame as it's such a great pair of coasters.

 

They could relocate it to somewhere else in the park - isn't it built on a pretty flat surface?

 

While it certainly never seems to use the huge overflow anymore, the queue was full all the way down to the bottom of the ramp the last time I went to Hersheypark, and stayed that way for a good portion of the afternoon.

[coasterfreak101]

^We'll see all those kiddie rides relocated before they touch Lightning Racer. You're being real silly if you think they're getting rid of them any time soon.

[alilstronger]

I feel like all of the rides and stands in the back of the park could easily be relocated with in the park. I would hate to see the Music Express and Whip taken out but would love to see them expand the water park more. They could take them 3 small kiddie rides (in the back) as well the 3 small kiddie rides by Flying Falcon and put them together creating a "new" kiddie area somewhere in the park. I feel like this would be better for families with small kids that will no long her to travel to complete opposite ends of the park for tiny groups of these kinds of rides.

[scbt]

I think the most likely candidate for getting taken out would be Tidal Force, it essentially splits the boardwalk in half and I have never seen it with more than a 5-10 min. wait. Also, wouldnt be surprised to see Roller Soaker go because of its hideous capacity.

[coasterfreak101]

^Roller Soaker has been up for sale, so that's definitely pretty likely to happen sooner than later. That'll give them some solid room for some new slides (Boardwalk: The Threequel?) before they have to start getting rid of dry rides to expand.

[jray21]

Just saw this on the Hershey Park website. Really smart idea!

 

Hershey Park Advent Calendar

[CP2000]

I heard SDL will be removed. It should

[sspaz1000]

Just saw this on the Hershey Park website. Really smart idea!

 

Hershey Park Advent Calendar

 

 

That's a really cute idea. I've actually got a ticket for Candy Cane Lane, i need to see if I can squeeze in a visit.

[UrbanLegend]

I heard SDL will be removed. It should