Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[amy_mel]

^it's a private group off of the Hersheypark page. I'm pretty sure you have to be invited to join.

[Thom25]

The private group is mostly the Jr. Researchers that won the contest, the ride reviews on facebook can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Project2012/

[Skycoastin Steve]

Good deal, glad to hear the airtime is as good as advertised.

[eddie200330]

It poured off and on during the operating day at East Coast Bash last year, and I was still able to get on all the coasters I wanted to multiple times. It seemed like the park was kind of crowded that day as well. I'm remaining in "blue-sky thinking" mode.

 

Hershey has always seemed to be packed to the gills with people, but the ride lines never seemed so bad. I have had visits where you could hardly walk around the park because of the people yet never waited more than 15 - 30 minutes for any of the rides???? Kinda weird......

[Synshine]

It poured off and on during the operating day at East Coast Bash last year, and I was still able to get on all the coasters I wanted to multiple times. It seemed like the park was kind of crowded that day as well. I'm remaining in "blue-sky thinking" mode.

 

Hershey has always seemed to be packed to the gills with people, but the ride lines never seemed so bad. I have had visits where you could hardly walk around the park because of the people yet never waited more than 15 - 30 minutes for any of the rides???? Kinda weird......

 

 

Trouble with waits mostly shows up in the waterpark honestly (and Fahrenheit of course), where you can end up waiting the full queue for the most of those attractions on a typical summer day ( and it only gets worse if the temperature creeps up), even waiting in line to get in the wave pool is common.

[ernierocker]

Hey guys! TPR is currently at the Skyrush Media Day!!! We will have a full report up later, but I thought I would share a few teaser photos for you guys!

 

 

Ooooh! Our two favourite thing! Roller coasters and food!

 

 

Look! Live riders on Skyrush!

 

 

Check out Skyrush's lap bar restraint! Awesome!

 

 

The first drop just looks incredible!

 

 

And I will close this short preview with a photo of Skyrush in action!

 

Keep checking into to TPR's Facebook and Twitter Pages as we will be posting more photos throughout the night!

 

http://www.facebook.com/themeparkreview

 

https://twitter.com/#!/ThemeParkReview

[Gigalyte]

From this sounds of some of the reviews Intamin/HP may need to add some padding to those OTS lapbars, I'm hearing the unseasoned riders mentioning thigh pain from the ejector on this thing . I know I can't not wait to ride this coaster everything about it looks awesome imo, It may be short but it looks very sweet

[TXman308]

I've never heard of a media-day taking place at night. Can't wait to have a full review of this beast.

[ernierocker]

How about a couple of train shots to tied you over???

Who here is ready for their butts to be sitting in these seats???

They certainly do look comfy!!

[VinTheAttendant]

I probably should stop looking at these updates, otherwise my concentration for the next two days will be entirely on Skyrush, and not calculus

 

But it's just too beautiful!

[coasterfreak101]

So with the Jr. Researchers riding on Friday, is the ride still not open to the public until Saturday?

[adavis]

So with the Jr. Researchers riding on Friday, is the ride still not open to the public until Saturday?

 

That was my understanding.

[coasterfreak101]

Mine as well, just wanted to clarify. Thanks!

[adavis]

Mine as well, just wanted to clarify. Thanks!

 

No problem, and I'll be there Friday either way.

[DerekRx]

For well over the past 10 years there was always wonder if and when Hersheypark was going to put in a 200 foot tall coaster. Finally in 2012 the question has been answered and it was more than worth the wait! Built over Spring Creek and crammed into a little area of the park that hasn't seen guests in quite a while, Skyrush focuses on some of the best parts about a hyper/megacoaster; the speed and airtime, INSANE moments of airtime. Climbing quickly with the aid of a cable lift over top of Comet and sooperdooperLooper, Skyrush reaches the 200 foot mark in under 8 seconds and then drops at an 85 degree angle and sharply banking to the right reaching speeds of 75mph, but not forceful enough to cause any grey-outs. Riders towards the back of the train get their first moment of ejector air while the front of the train gets some airtime, but not as severe. An airtime hill tries to send you out of the train while crossing over Spring Creek, then a banked turn to the left, followed by another airtime hill of major negative G's over the creek, and then a banked turn to the right. A Stengel Dive banking right awaits next followed by a twist, banked right turn, another twist, and another airtime hill with enough force to launch you into orbit if not for the restraints. Then it's a left turn over Comet and into the brakes. All this 3600 feet with an over-the-head lapbar and your choice of a standard floored seat or a winged seat. Loading and unloading is all done on the same side of the station and there is no separate load and unload. This will slow down dispatch time, but Hersheypark has installed "spin bins" for each row, allowing you to drop off your goods before the gates even open and collect them as you exit the train without hindering the people next in line as they rotate once the gates open.

 

I rode a total of 20 times during the event, trying out as many seats as possible. The back is definitely more intense than the front, and I found the left side to vibrate a little more than the right. My favorite seat was probably the front right wing, followed by the back left center, and both winged and floored do offer a slightly different sensation that is worth trying both conditions out. Not really sure I prefer one way of riding over the other.

 

So far most of the talk from those who have ridden it is the insane amounts of airtime and its effect on the thighs. The airtime is comparable to El Toro or the Mega-Lites, very strong negative G's. It's definitely forceful and many guests won't be able to ride it too many times in a row, but then again how many people have that opportunity to do so. Many of the media there was with their families, and after a ride or two they would sit down for a few minutes or walk around and be back ready to ride 15-20 minutes later. It could maybe use more soft padding on the underside of the restraint, but I found if you just hold on and try to work against the forces of physics and keep yourself in the train, it's not so bad. Skyrush is a sensational ride from start to finish, offering up lots of airtime, directional changes, and speed all in a very open train. Hersheypark and Intamin definitely have another hit on their hands, and after 2004's Storm Runner, 2008's Fahrenheit, and 2012's Skyrush, I'm really looking forward to what the two are working on for 2016 (Aquatrax)

 

Thanks to Hersheypark for allowing us to attend this media preview. Onto the pictures!

 

SkyRush POV Video!

Last August we Rushed the Hollow, now we're back for our reward

Time to preview Hersheypark's newest rollercoaster before it opens to the public on Saturday, May 26

Festivities start at 6pm

The Cocoa Rhythm Factory performed some sweet music for us while we waited

And since it's all about rushing the sky, here's some of our flying friends. We'll just call this Gunter: The Golden Eagle since that name seems popular right now

Making this little bird Gerta. She's all like "um, whats up with that big yellow thing there, I wanna ride too!"

Kathy, John, and Kevin welcome us to Hersheypark for their 105th season and their 12th currently operating coaster, Skyrush

and the rush is on!

This is all the queue there appears to be, 8 switchbacks and then the stairs to the station

When you reach the stairs there's a separate queue just for the front row

And here's the station for all other rows

The ride is all ready to go

Down the first drop goes the first train with people of the night

Falling at 85 degrees and 75mph

Airtime over Spring Creek

Different angle of the same cross over the creek

Banked turn at far end

Crossing over the creek again

Another banked turn

Exiting the Stengel Dive

A little bit of twisty!!!

And another major airtime hill following Comet

And over Comet's station to return to Skyrush's own

Edited May 24, 2012 by robbalvey

[DerekRx]

More pictures

Skyrush's station resembles the old railroad station

Take too many photos of Skyrush and they put you to work!

Another look at the trains

The lapbars make this ride very open, even more than the B&M hypers

A seatbelt attached to the center of the lapbar between the legs as seen on most inverted coasters

At this point the front of the train is going "Awesome!" and the back is going "OMG AHHHHH!"

The path by the Sunken Gardens is now opened and provides great views of the ride, as well as a nice shortcut past Founder's Circle!

So far very open in the new area

I'm sure this will look really pretty once more flowers bloom

If you want speed and airtime, let me introduce you to Skyrush

Nice headchopper here

The trees provide another headchopper when exiting the Stengel Dive

Notice the cable pulley at the bottom of the support

My front seat photo, taken at bottom of first drop

Here's the "Spin Bin". Add your items before the gates open to board and they'll rotate to inside the gates once the gates open for you to ride

And thus concludes the preview of Skyrush. Forget the barbecues, beaches, and family gatherings, get out to Hershey this weekend and ride it, folks!

And I'll leave you with some coaster train porn to show just how truly bare and naked these trains are!

[jray21]

Awesome pictures! The ride looks like a ton of fun. Can't wait to get back there sometime soon.

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

Looks flippin' awesome! Thanks for the pics, Derek. I can't wait to get back to Hershey to give this thing a whirl myself.

[australianalex]

Looks fantastic, how does it compare to the likes of Bizarro and Expedition Geforce?

[cal1br3tto]

I really like the idea of "spin bins" (assuming they are trouble-free). Leave it to Hersheypark to come up with something useful and efficient like that.

[DerekRx]

It's hard for me to compare them currently since I haven't been on Expedition GeForce since 2002 and Bizarro since 2009, but it's definitely an A+ coaster in my rankings. I would say I like it better than i305, which I haven't ridden yet this year but rode it last year, and as of last year I liked i305 better than Bizarro (based off of my dislike of Bizarro's sound system trains). So based off of an old Steel Coaster Poll Ballot I guess I'd say GeForce>Skyrush≥Kawasemi>i305>Bizarro maybe? I'd have to give it a few days to really sink in, and hope GeForce is running in a month to compare fresh! :knocks on wood:

[Tmcdllr]

And people were worried about trims...

[chickenbowl]

GeForce>Skyrush≥Kawasemi>i305>Bizarro maybe?

 

Sounds like Top Ten for sure to me!! Absolutely cannot wait! Great review by the way.

[Tmcdllr]

Too bad I'm on the west coast, I would love to ride this....looks beyond fantastic! Finally someone builds a good (new) airtime machine.

 

Hopefully other parks will follow this example now.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

I think Intamin Megalites/Hyperlites (whatever you want to call them) are awesome coasters. They represent what's most important in a coaster: Speed, airtime, and re-ride-ability.

 

I've been to Hershey Park once and it didn't seem that landlocked given the amount of parking they have by the stadium, but I guess if they had the option to put it on a more level plain they would have. I like the train design; it's unique, I'm pretty happy that Intamin is going back to the single bar look. It seems to be a combination of the wrap around bars for the hips and ankles from the OTSRs and a kind of B&M hyper clam shell to hold on to. I think I should take a paid vacation this summer and go to Hershey and Busch Gardens Europe.