Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[SteelForceless]

http://www.wgal.com/news/right-now-roller-coaster-stuck-at-hersheypark/41315818

The train is stuck on the cobra roll in the boomerang. No reports of injuries though.

 

Also, apparently Fahrenheit got stuck at the top of the lift last week.

[amy_mel]

Yes, and the Facebook universe is losing their collective minds at roller coasters doing what they are designed to do . Something wasn't right so they stopped in a safe position.

[DILinator]

^ You can probably do the whole park in a day w/o their sh*tty flash pass if you are strategic and skip the stuff in the front of the park (Skyrush, etc) til later and go right to Fahrenheit and Laff Trakk. If you get those out of the way early you can certainly get everything else in. Hershey is a great park (the best! imo) so yes its worth a 2 hour drive.

 

Or you could drive 30 mins and visit six flags America where there is practically no lines and cheaper than hp.

 

 

Hey, I admire your perseverance, even in the face of staunch opposition (and being crazy!) Props to you for that!

[Vonni]

http://www.wgal.com/news/right-now-roller-coaster-stuck-at-hersheypark/41315818

The train is stuck on the cobra roll in the boomerang. No reports of injuries though.

 

Also, apparently Fahrenheit got stuck at the top of the lift last week.

 

 

Its been a while since we've seen a Boomerang Coaster stall in the cobra roll. In fact this is the first time I have seen it, but I've heard the stories.

[A.J.]

Finally, a use for that blasted spiral staircase.

[I Like Theme Parks.]

This weekend my family took a trip to Hershey. We stayed at the Hershey Lodge for a night, and on the first day we went to Hershey Gardens (really nice attraction), and also spent some time at Chocolate World (I didn't go on the new version of the dark ride since it was too crowded). My dad and I have season passes, but the rest of the family just used tickets to get the preview night on Sunday. The park was packed, but the operations were pretty terrible despite the coasters running multiple trains. The stacking was a bit too ridiculous at times. Ironically, Fahrenheit's line moved the fastest! Today we were in the park for longer, got early entry, and the operations were faster, however the park wasn't as crowded as I expected. We stayed on the first night from 8-10, and 9-1 on the second day. Here's the combined ride list for both days:

 

Coal Cracker x 3 - Just like always, this ride was great. It's easily the most fast-paced log flume I've been on, and it slams into the turns. The interaction with Great Bear and SooperDooperLooper was great, the drop is good, and the airtime hill that makes you skip across the water is awesome. Best flume ever!

Flying Falcon - It's a very tame and kind of pointless ride, but it's cool to look at and I rode it when I was little. RIP

Lightning Racer x 5 - front on both, back on both, middle on lightning - My brother finally got on it after riding it once years ago and never riding it again. We got some awesome night rides on it, as well as a mini marathon in the morning.

The Whip - It's still easily the weakest whip ever, but it's still really fun.

Storm Runner x 3 - back row twice, front row - This coaster is amazing, especially at night! Still my favorite coaster in the park, even with Skyrush. I've praised the soft restraints before, but these are the best OTSRs ever.

Fahrenheit - back row - The drop is even better in the back. It's still kind of forceless in the middle, but the drop, norwegian loop and airtime hill at the end are excellent.

Skyrush x 2 - front, back rows - It's Skyrush!!!!!

SooperDooperLooper x 2 - front, second-to-last rows - The loop is really strong. The rest of the ride is really nice, but if they removed the brake run in the middle, it would be outstanding.

Comet - second-to-last row - Brings back great memories. It's very tame, but there's some mild floater air and decent laterals that keep it entertaining for adults.

Great Bear - I can't believe I got my brother to ride this! It's not as great in the middle, but we didn't feel like waiting.

 

So this was an excellent weekend to end the summer. The park was great like always, and it was a less fast-paced coaster-heavy trip.

[TBpony414]

^Cool! I agree with you regarding Storm Runner, Coal Cracker, and the Looper. Hershey has a great collection of rides and something for everyone!

 

We may have passed each other yesterday when you were on your way out. I had an excellent time at the park yesterday from 1pm - 7pm. We haven't been in 2 or 3 years so it was nice to go back. The place was slammed but people seemed to gather in the walkways and not so much in ride lines as everything was between 5-25 minutes. I'll take it!

 

The Carousel - I love the TLC given to these beautiful and lifelike horses as well as the working band organ. Wish more parks would take pride in their carousel like this!

 

Comet - Oldie but a goodie. People still seem confused with how to fill in the station which baffles me. A few rows weren't filled on most trains due to people not realizing the train has more rows than you can see at the immediate station entrance. I call it The El Toro Effect. At least it wasn't crowded the way SR or GB's queues often are!

 

Skyrush - Slow dispatches but loading all rows. We sat in Row 2 and it was extremely smooth with a bit less thrashing around than in the back. By "less thrashing" I mean I was able to keep my hands up the whole time and not feel like I was being yanked around like a possessed rag doll. The restraints let up on the brake run which brought relief among the train, although I'm not one who suffers from the Thighcrush issue.

 

Sooperdooperlooper - Soooo smooth and the new trains are awesome.

 

Coal Cracker - One of the lift attendants was giving everyone high 5's and sincerely wished us a wonderful day. A lot of ride ops at the park were like this, in fact. That kind of friendliness is what consistently elevates HP from other parks. I forgot the skip at the end which is awesome except it brought in a tsunami of water into our boat completely drenching me. Thankfully it was hot so my shoes and socks kind of sorta not really dried out as the day continued. I follow Lieutenant Dan's rule of keep your feet dry and change your socks often so this put a slight damper on part of my day.

 

Great Bear - My favorite invert because it's powerful yet relaxing. I can reride it and not get dizzy or bashed around the way I inevitably do on others like Alpengeist or Batman, no matter how much I try to keep my head in a certain position during the snappy maneuvers. The boring end doesn't bother me as I'd rather have the ride end sooner (like SR) than continue on and have me say "I LOVE the first part but the second half..."

 

Flying Falcon 3x - My favorite flat ride growing up and is still a great one despite the much tamed down and shortened ride cycle. I'll absolutely miss it. There were a lot of people also taking pics of themselves in their favorite colored birds which was nice to see.

 

Trailblazer - Evidently the ride op from hell works here as she was big, loud, and NASTY to people for no reason whatsoever. I quite literally jumped when she barked loudly in unintelligible English at 2 young kids in the front row who were cheering happily when their train came back into the station. Neither of us could figure out what they did that may have warranted that reaction. Other than this we had nothing but fantastic encounters with all the employees.

 

Storm Runner 2x - It remains one of my favorite rides ever and easily my fav ride at the park. The wait for the front is worth it! While waiting both times I couldn't figure out why the station seemed different... then it hit me - Sidewinder was closed next door and not making a racket for once. Ha!

 

Food - They have so many different choices for food and I was thrilled to accidentally find a special people/allergy friendly/blah blah blah food place by Sidewinder. The chicken tenders from there were excellent!

 

Seal and Sea Lion show - Enjoyed it a lot and was very informative. They used a slightly different format with facts presented followed by more of a Q&A session while the other trainer worked with the animals doing different behaviors. Mango the harbor seal showed us her new behavior which was getting plastic bottles from the pool and bringing them to the deck to dump in the recycling bin. She needed a little encouragement but did a wonderful job. I work with animals and the gal working with her interacted so wonderfully! It was awesome to see. I spoke with one of the trainers at the end and was pleased to learn what happened with the 2 sea lions (Eb and Duke) and 2 dolphins (Wee-Tee and Clovis) from the old show. Duke passed away last year, I forget where Eb is and Wee-Tee and Clovis are at Atlantis Resort.

 

Lightning Racer 2x - Once on each side, Thunder seemed to win all day.

 

Laff Trakk - This was our first time on it. I had heard it was short and mediocre so I kept low expectations. We had an exit pass which enabled us to skip the outside queue and go right into the mirror room saving quite a bit of time. We really liked it! Creative and extremely smooth. We spun 2 or 3 times.

 

I still have 2 tickets to the park which I'll try to use this fall sometime. With their Halloween stuff do they open the entire park? I haven't been to their Christmas Candylane event in over a decade but last I was there only Comet and a few other rides were open. I mainly want to know if I'll be able to ride Storm Runner and Great Bear at some point in Oct/Nov/Dec or if I'll have to wait until next year.

[boldikus]

^ yes the entire park is open for HPITD. We went on a Friday two Octobers ago and crowds were nonexistent thanks to the fact that the event is geared toward kids and families - no haunts or trails, just a little trick-or-treat trail for young kids. Coasters all walk ons. Make sure you check the calendar, looks like its only the last three weekends of October.

 

Hung out with a great friend this weekend and we discussed Hershey and I found out he's never been there. We're planning a trip up mid-October. CANT. WAIT.

[TBpony414]

Excellent, thanks!! We'll mark it on the calendar and get there the end of October.

[Vigil]

Hey everyone! I am headed to Hersheypark tomorrow for the first time in just over four years, and I was wondering was to expect in terms of crowds and if anyone had a recommended plan of attack, ride/seat suggestions (or more like avoidances), or places to eat. Thanks!

[coasterbill]

Hersheypark in the dark just got infinitely better according to the little nugget on the lower right.

 

 

I may actually check it out this year. Is the event any good?

[YoshiFan]

It's good if you don't mind that there are no Halloween attractions. The park is decorated and some light displays at night but that is it. It is a good value with cheaper admission and just The Boardwalk closed and best of all crowds are usually low except on Saturday nights. I went to the park on a Sunday in October a few years ago and everything except Fahrehnheit was 5 minutes or less. It's nice Coal Cracker will be open, I see they also added Wild Mouse for Christmas Candylane although without any of the Intamin coasters or Great Bear open, I would still rather go to Great Adventure.

[coasterbill]

I didn't catch that they added the mouse. I agree that I wouldn't travel out of my way to go there yet but it's nice to see the event improving and obviously it's been a big hit for them for a long time. We visited last year since we were in the area and we really enjoyed it. Great Adventure is much better though, both ride-wise and light-wise.

[Jcoaster]

It's good if you don't mind that there are no Halloween attractions. The park is decorated and some light displays at night but that is it. It is a good value with cheaper admission and just The Boardwalk closed and best of all crowds are usually low except on Saturday nights. I went to the park on a Sunday in October a few years ago and everything except Fahrehnheit was 5 minutes or less. It's nice Coal Cracker will be open, I see they also added Wild Mouse for Christmas Candylane although without any of the Intamin coasters or Great Bear open, I would still rather go to Great Adventure.

 

Too bad they don't open Great Bear for the Holiday event. It's totally possible.

 

Also, I find it strange that Lightening Racer isn't open for it either if Wildcat is.

[3Mutts]

It's good if you don't mind that there are no Halloween attractions. The park is decorated and some light displays at night but that is it. It is a good value with cheaper admission and just The Boardwalk closed and best of all crowds are usually low except on Saturday nights. I went to the park on a Sunday in October a few years ago and everything except Fahrehnheit was 5 minutes or less. It's nice Coal Cracker will be open, I see they also added Wild Mouse for Christmas Candylane although without any of the Intamin coasters or Great Bear open, I would still rather go to Great Adventure.

 

Too bad they don't open Great Bear for the Holiday event. It's totally possible.

 

Also, I find it strange that Lightening Racer isn't open for it either if Wildcat is.

 

I wish they would just run one side of Lightning Racer instead of Wild Cat.

[Philrad71]

I think it's probably LR's location more than anything else... way over in the Boardwalk/water park section and too far away from most all other dry rides.

[boldikus]

Hersheypark in the dark just got infinitely better according to the little nugget on the lower right.

 

I may actually check it out this year. Is the event any good?

 

As you know we went for HPITD in 2014 on the last Friday and it was mostly empty. A buddy and I are going up one of the last Sundays this year, he's never been and I need Skyrush and Stormrunner action. I hear Sundays are quiet too. Cool to see the flume open, it wasn't two years ago. Let me know if you guys are thinking of going!

[mike541x]

I hear Sundays are quiet too.

 

I went on the first Sunday of HPITD two years ago and every ride was a walk on the entire time I was there. Sunday is definitely a good day to visit.

 

[m.hagen_]

I can confirm the wait times. I went last year and was getting walk-ons on everything, some of them even front row. Now, I'm a single rider, which helos, but that's still pretty impressive

[seasonic]

It's good if you don't mind that there are no Halloween attractions. The park is decorated and some light displays at night but that is it. It is a good value with cheaper admission and just The Boardwalk closed and best of all crowds are usually low except on Saturday nights. I went to the park on a Sunday in October a few years ago and everything except Fahrehnheit was 5 minutes or less. It's nice Coal Cracker will be open, I see they also added Wild Mouse for Christmas Candylane although without any of the Intamin coasters or Great Bear open, I would still rather go to Great Adventure.

 

Too bad they don't open Great Bear for the Holiday event. It's totally possible.

 

Also, I find it strange that Lightening Racer isn't open for it either if Wildcat is.

 

Fahrenheit has a manufacturer set temperature limit at which point the attraction is allowed to run. The park is required to follow that. I believe the same is for Great Bear. As for Storm Runner and Skyrush, I believe those aren't open for the fact that it would be very uncomfortable for guests. Lightning Racer isn't run because of concerns of stopping mid run. Wildcat there isn't that concern because of the dynamics of the ride.

[coasterbill]

Fahrenheit has a manufacturer set temperature limit at which point the attraction is allowed to run. The park is required to follow that. I believe the same is for Great Bear. As for Storm Runner and Skyrush, I believe those aren't open for the fact that it would be very uncomfortable for guests.

 

 

And while I do agree that Skyrush would be very uncomfortable for guests, that doesn't stop them from running it in the Spring, Summer and Fall.

 

Anyway please feel free to keep talking about Hershey's cute little Christmas event all winter and how running fast rides in the winter is uncomfortable to riders but please understand that we won't be able to hear you over the deafening B&M roar at Great Adventure.

[boldikus]

^

[Jcoaster]

It's good if you don't mind that there are no Halloween attractions. The park is decorated and some light displays at night but that is it. It is a good value with cheaper admission and just The Boardwalk closed and best of all crowds are usually low except on Saturday nights. I went to the park on a Sunday in October a few years ago and everything except Fahrehnheit was 5 minutes or less. It's nice Coal Cracker will be open, I see they also added Wild Mouse for Christmas Candylane although without any of the Intamin coasters or Great Bear open, I would still rather go to Great Adventure.

 

Too bad they don't open Great Bear for the Holiday event. It's totally possible.

 

Also, I find it strange that Lightening Racer isn't open for it either if Wildcat is.

 

Fahrenheit has a manufacturer set temperature limit at which point the attraction is allowed to run. The park is required to follow that. I believe the same is for Great Bear. As for Storm Runner and Skyrush, I believe those aren't open for the fact that it would be very uncomfortable for guests. Lightning Racer isn't run because of concerns of stopping mid run. Wildcat there isn't that concern because of the dynamics of the ride.

 

Yes Intamin temp limit blah blah blah. Great Bear can certainly run if Great Adventure is running B&M's in January and I can't see how much a difference in "dynamic" LR is than Wildcat. I think as mentioned before it has more to do with location.

[coasterbill]

Yeah I think Lightning Racer has to do with location. It's way in the back and probably wouldn't get much ridership. Storm Runner, Sidewinder and Trailblazer are closed because they need to reduce staffing and it's easy to cut off (it's a shame because Trailblazer would probably be very popular since it's a family event) but Farenheit, Skyrush, Comet and Great Bear should really operate. Skyrush hauls, if it were 30 degrees with 75 MPH winds I don't think it would valley. Great Bear hauls too and Batman at Great Adventure runs at ludicrous speeds when they put those cold weather wheels on it. Farenheit has some slow zones but that's what water dummies are for. Take it down to 1 or 2 trains and open the ride.

 

Plus if it was cold and I had a ton of layers between me and the lap bar of death I might actually like Skyrush.

[boldikus]

Totally off-topic but what locations inside the park serve beer/booze? Planning a visit in October for HPITD. Don't waste your time telling me to go to Troegs because I'm going with a big beer geek and already pretty sure we're gonna leave in the middle of the day to go take a tour and come back to the park at night. But inside the park... I'm gonna need some tips on where to get the suds. The map on their website absolutely sucks and the dining page doesnt mention anything about adult beverages.

 

Thanks for the info.