Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[Gigalyte]

Well here's another pic showing off the seats, nothing we haven't really seen before the pic is just much clearer then others have been.

 

pic from a Popular Mechanics article called Wild Wing Coasters coming to America

[DJeXeL]

After seeing this, I'd actually take the inside seat no problem.

[Guy T. Koepp]

^IMHO if you were to take out the steel platform beneath the two inside seats, you'd just have a staggered floorless coaster configuration. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but the cars seem a lot less wingy than I thought they would be.

[Fooz]

These seats are more tilted back than any I've seen. I wonder how this will affect the ride experience? Certainly that lift will be a thrill.

[coasterfreak101]

The seats that a lot of newer Intamins have (I305, for example) are that slanted on the bottom portion too. Same for the seats on B&M hypers, the bottom is very reclined while the back portion is still pretty straight!

[chickenbowl]

Here's another picture of the train. It gives a good idea to what it'll look like!

[imawesome1124]

I still want to know how they will enforce the queueing for the winged seats. I know they will have separate lines but I still have a feeling that the majority of the GP will ignore that, resulting in chaos.

[cal1br3tto]

I find that it depends on what angle you look at it. If you are in The Hollow, it does look a lot taller than it is, but if you're along park Bulevard, it does look shorter, but then again, you are seeing it from 30 feet above the creek.

I have this experience all the time at parks with big coasters. From various places in a park a given coaster will look "short," then tall, then "short," then tall again.

 

After seeing this, I'd actually take the inside seat no problem.

I might just go for luck of the draw for my first ride, then switch it up on my second. But who knows how I'll feel in person; I am generally an edge seat whore on 4-across rides.

 

That said, these minimalistic trains do strike a bit of fear and awe in my heart...

[DJeXeL]

Yea I'm sure it'll be fun regardless. Based on the layout, this will be a "back row" coaster. There's definitely airtime to be had.

[Skycoastin Steve]

I still want to know how they will enforce the queueing for the winged seats. I know they will have separate lines but I still have a feeling that the majority of the GP will ignore that, resulting in chaos.

Im 99.9% sure this has been covered several times before, but there will just be one queue for each row, just like any other normal coaster. You'll board normally just like any other coaster. And just like with any other coaster, there will be people who prefer the outside, and people who think it's "safer" to sit in the inside seats.

[PhantomNick]

That said, these minimalistic trains do strike a bit of fear and awe in my heart...

 

THIS. Absolutely this!! I am just loving the look of the trains, and those outer seats look about as minimal as anything I've ever seen coaster-wise. Which is a good thing!

 

And with the many new photo updates posted, I just am reminded how beautiful Skyrush looks overall. It is going to be a stunning ride to photograph for sure! I'm already counting down to our trip there in August!

[A.J.]

I still want to know how they will enforce the queueing for the winged seats. I know they will have separate lines but I still have a feeling that the majority of the GP will ignore that, resulting in chaos.

Im 99.9% sure this has been covered several times before, but there will just be one queue for each row, just like any other normal coaster. You'll board normally just like any other coaster. And just like with any other coaster, there will be people who prefer the outside, and people who think it's "safer" to sit in the inside seats.

Yeah, this has been covered enough times already...I'll prefer the inside seats because they're closer to the ride's actual center line...

 

The floor is really only there to let people get across to the other seat. The inside seats look like they're high enough off of the floor that your feet wouldn't touch (B&M Mega coasters, Mack launched coasters). So, essentially, all of the seats would feel as though they were "floorless".

[mtavenger55]

The trains look awesome! Any word if the ride began testing yet?

[coasterdude5]

I hate to gripe about petty things, but I'm really not a fan of the station, especially the bathrooms below. The ride itself looks great, and I know that the station won't affect the ride experience at all, but I wish they had made it look a little bit more detailed. I guess I was spoiled by Wild Eagle's station. For a ride as intense and grand as SkyRush, I was hoping for a slightly more complex station. And I hope someone doesn't enter the bathrooms thinking that's the line!

 

Again, I hate complaining. The station's just really been bugging me.

[coasterfreak101]

Honestly, a station like Wild Eagle's wouldn't have fit into that area of the park at all. Hershey stations are mostly generic, with some key features that help to distinguish the area they're in sometimes (Lightning Racers' queue and station are a great example of this). A station that sticks out in Comet Hollow would've ruined the feel of the area, if you ask me. They for sure needed to maintain the general charm that area has (which some people think that Great Bear ruined, but I disagree), being one of the older ones in the park, and having already put a 200-foot coaster right there doesn't leave them much wiggle room before the new ride really starts to encroach.

 

Tl;dr: Station is perfect for the area, not to big and not too detailed or gaudy. 200-footer already threatens to encroach on the Comet Hollow charm, and a station that didn't fit in wouldn't help.

[Ccron10]

The trains look awesome! Any word if the ride began testing yet?

They brought the pull-through cart back out for a spin today and it's now parked at the top of the second airtime hill.

[Tanks4me05]

^^Most TPR'ers aren't redditors as far as I know. But I do agree, HP pulls off the minimalist style very well; not overdone, but not featureless. It's a very great medium which I believe is the standard for non themed amusement parks. And yes, putting an elaborately themed station in an otherwise plain park seems very out of place, like putting an animatronic dinosaur exhibit in KI, but if it brings in money, then so be it.

 

^^^I actually think putting the restrooms under the station is an ingenious way to save space. I love how creative HP is and can still successfully make the park look pretty nice.

[Synshine]

Well they also had to to replace the Hollow's only restroom, which had been razed for the project.

[Skycoastin Steve]

They should have just handed out adult diapers at the Skyrush entrance and banked on people getting the sh*t scared out of them.

[christianscoasters]

^Now, now. This isn't Thorpe Park or Alton Towers!

[cal1br3tto]

Honestly, Lightning Racer's station has ruined nearly all other stations for me, including the other ones at Hersheypark. Somehow, its traditional design is even better most of the genuine classic stations I've seen.

[VGplay]

I hate to gripe about petty things, but I'm really not a fan of the station, especially the bathrooms below. The ride itself looks great, and I know that the station won't affect the ride experience at all, but I wish they had made it look a little bit more detailed. I guess I was spoiled by Wild Eagle's station. For a ride as intense and grand as SkyRush, I was hoping for a slightly more complex station. And I hope someone doesn't enter the bathrooms thinking that's the line!

 

Again, I hate complaining. The station's just really been bugging me.

 

Funny you say that. I was just about to post that I really like SkyRush's station, ornate while staying on the understated side of the line. You can say that about all of Hersheypark. There is no general theme, but everything just looks good and has extra touches that most parks wouldn't do. I agree with Tanks in that I consider Hershey to be the benchmark for unthemed parks.

 

And about the bathrooms, they are a good use of space but what I like really about them is that it looks like they have always been there, and they just built the loading platform on top. It adds character to what would've been an otherwise unused space. The whole Hollow renovation looks really well done. Looking forward to seeing it all in person (and of course riding the coaster) in June.

[cal1br3tto]

There is no general theme, but everything just looks good and has extra touches that most parks wouldn't do.

QFT. It's not my favorite park, but they seem to "do it right" in a number of ways that other parks don't.

 

I do find it kind of funny how Hersheypark can be described as "unthemed." I know people who, given the name, assumed it was fully chocolate-themed. I bet that wouldn't translate all that well in reality, though...

[coasterlover420]

^Well they do pump chocolate fragrance into the air

[coasterbear30]

I have to say that that is one of the ugliest trains I have ever seen for any coaster. They really could have done something else to it but it is very unesthetically pleasing. The B&M wing rider trains look ten times better.