8/17 Hershey; Rapids Close - Fahrenheit

[CHILLERLC1]

(Homie don't do pictures gang. Read on though)

 

A coworker told me that he and his gf were going to Hershey this past Tuesday, the 19th. I told them to ride the Canyon River Rapids, which were about to close. Then I remembered that they were going to close that past Sunday the 17th. I had just received a ticket from my uncle and realized there was little time left to get my last ride on the Rapids. I went Sunday after church and arrived at the park by 1. The parking lot was crowded past the last tram point near the GIANT Center.

 

The first attraction I visited was the Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge. This was a new atttraction for me and I guess it wasn't a Sally Ride. The cars were coupled in two's and traveled up and down rollercoaster style track and hills. It took me awhile to figure out the targets weren't the typical Sally ones but yellow ones. Therefore as a first timer I got a terrible score. Next I walked to the Rodeo flat ride. I heard that ride was going to exit as well. It galloped like a bronco but was tame. It was not as wild as the former El Sombrero at SFGADV. The ride was a classic though with its lighting.

 

After taking a couple pics of Canyon River Rapids I had to decide between that and Fahrenheit. The line at the rapids was already long so I waited for Fahrenheit first. My wait was about 2 hours 15 minutes long, with just two trains running! We all knew capacity was going to be bad. They didn't have the third train running. Obviously there would have been horrendous stacking with 3 but with train just carrying 12 people, come on. The ride had downtime at least twice during my wait, needing to be reset and the brakes run a few times before relaunching trains.

 

The nice thing about this ride is the comfort of the trains. The restraints didn't feel as heavy and I didn't have to crouch to get in like on Kingda Ka. A welcoming sight was a new lip of padding added to thin ends of the padded OTSR's that we're used to seeing on KA, Stormy and Maverick. I guess Intamin heard enough complaining about the pain on Maverick from the likes of myself and other enthusiasts and guests. The vertical lift was pretty cool but I felt in no time we were about to be thrown over the edge. On the original Ultra Twister they had to be off the vertical lift in no time. I had a back row seat so as the train went over the beyond vertical first drop I either felt extreme airtime or hangtime. I lifted off my seat and my shoulders had rest on the tops of the restraints. The fun was ready to begin. The twist into the top of the Norwegian loop has a little bit of a trick to it. The straight track up goes to a slight right and then begins the twist left. It's like that short bit of airtime awkward pop hill on Stormrunner before it does its rolls. In the valleys I was experiencing extreme jitters, a little more extreme than what I felt on first year B&Ms. The cobra roll felt fast enough. With the way it's shaped I'd hate it like Hydra's if it had B&M track but it's okay with me as an Intamin.

 

I couldn't find any feelings about the corkscrews. I don't think they were extreme. The tight turnaround after the screws under the lift was fun as was that following little pop hill. What was questionable was the transition after the pop hill into the long turnaround into the brake run. My head touched the restraint in the transition but I don't think it was a true headbang. It definitely wasn't a Maverick style blow to the neck.

 

Into the brakes I came to realize that what I felt while in the Intamin brake run would be really telling about the past ride. I didn't feel the "wooZe" of a train coming to a smooth stop after an tremendous journey, like on Kingda Ka and Stormrunner. The feeling just wasn't there, that same feeling I felt on the flat brake runs even on SFNE's SROS and TTD. It just wasn't there. It was the first Intamin slanted brake run to not deliver for me. With all those blue supports next to the slanted run I was reminded of Australia's Superman: Escape coaster. I really want that one. I think I'll still take the Fahrenheit-Stormrunner combo over Maverick. I got my Intamin corkscrews. I can survive now without going back to the Point.

 

Next up I weighed what I wanted to do next. I wanted to get Wildcat with its new trains in before I would wait over a hour for the Rapids. I was never into Wildcat but willing to give it a chance with the new trains. I don't like the turnaround after the first drop but I found that I do like the midcourse area of the layout. The ride shook too much rode rough still. The brakes on the final brake run sounded like elephants when the train would pass. I prefer any of the Roar! coasters over this layout still. I guess with Lightning Racer, the premier coaster with Comet in the lineup as well a coaster has to get blipped on, be the whipping boy. That would be Wildcat. I didn't sense any major improvement for the ride.

 

After Wildcat it was 5pm. I wanted to get home to catch most of my Sunday night baseball with the Phillies so Canyon River Rapids would be my last ride. I waited a hour and a half to get on. I took plenty of pictures for the ride's final day. What a big mistake to get rid of one of the more modern smaller boat Intamin river rapids! This is better than the concrete jungle rides at SFNE, the Great Escape, Geauga Lake. Like I noticed with the Intamin at Kennywood, the troughs that go through a snaking layout are close together and there is an apparent difference in height through the run. I was eluding rushes of water pretty well but the waterfalls walls of water in the lower section of the ride near Rollersoaker provided plopping heavy sheets of falling water over our ring boat. Wow, I was drenched! This ride gets the job done. There's no way I want to arrive at the park with an extra bag, extra weight of a swimsuit and towel to go on a lazy river. I've never been in a wave pool, which is the second attraction they want to put in place of the rapids in its reservoir pool. Big Mistake! I guess that's why there's mom or lockers. They're departing from me and going for the familie$.

 

I finally found where I could get the Navy Blue Hershey's hoodie: Chocolate World. I felt it was a coat of arms I finally earned from the place but I would have rather earned it at a more innocent time for the park, by 2001 when Lightning Racer first arrived. I never liked the idea of The Boardwalk. I wonder what was Hershey's first idea was that was rejected by the Township board before they came to that. I'm starting to distance myself from the park. Feeling inspired by Knoebel's has pushed that. I know my homepark, come to understand Dorney, and just when I felt I was getting to know Hershey I was being pushed away. Maybe I'll now classify Hershey as a non local park to me like SFA. Who knows? Win me back Hershey.

 

I never had such a constricted visit at Hershey before but 1-6pm on a crowded August Sunday would do that. I never walked by Sidewinder or Stormrunner's station even. My coworker who went Tuesday said his experience was much better. The midweek crowd seems to be better. He agrees Stormrunner is the best coaster at the park but wonders what it would be if it was more closer to the Kingda Ka range. Great Bear delivered (as usual). He wasn't able to ride Comet or Wild Mouse(outdoor Dark Knight mirror.) He agreed Wildcat wasn't so great.

[YoshiFan]

It's bad enough they were running 2 trains on Friday, but 2 on a Sunday as well?! Was the single rider line open? 2 hours and 15 minutes is crazy and I thought 75 minutes that I waited on Friday was bad.

 

I got my final rapids rides in and waited 15 and 30 minutes, I would have been very upset to see a 90 minute line but I guess that just shows how popular the ride is.

 

They really need to either add some high capacity coasters or make sure all trains are running when needed because the crowds are getting larger and they can't handle it.

[CHILLERLC1]

After a hour wait, out from under the lift and turnaround in the queue I finally see the single riders sign next to the stairs and elevator access. I had to ask the lemonade guy to ask the security guard if it was open because I didn't want to waste another minute after my already hour wait. The guard shook their head "No." In line 2:15 out by 4:20 I think? The two shutdowns affected the ride, needing a reset, empty train tests.

 

I was playing Chicken with strollers by the restrooms in front of Fahrenheit to get moving. Yes, those paths of people are thick there.

 

Some uphill dirt is going to have to come out of Canyon River Rapids I think for the wave pool and lazy river.

[ElToroGirl84]

Why do they have a single rider line at all if it's never opened? Also why would they close it in the first place, that just sounds bizarre to me because I've seen multiple reports from the last 2 weeks coming back with the same verdict that it's closed?

 

I plan on going this coming monday and I'm hoping the forcasts for rain keep people away so I can get a few rides on it without having to wait an hour or more but I'm not getting my hopes up.