PTR: Hersheypark closing day, Nov 1

[coasterer]

A couple friends and I managed to make it out to Hersheypark to finish off the season. None of us had been there before, and we were all pretty excited. Especially storm runner. I've been waiting to ride this thing for years.

 

We pulled up to the park around four, and got in with no problem. Crowds were really light today, especially compared to what I've read. The longest we waited was 15 minutes for storm runner the first time, but everything cleared out at around 7. The light displays were great. I actually really enjoyed the idea of lighting up the rides instead of having a fright fest event, which never completely did it for me.

 

So the problem with having Hersheypark in the dark as your first visit to the park is that it gets awfully dark awfully fast. Which means that I really didn't have too much time to get pictures before it got dark.

 

So the entire park was fantastic. It was a really nice setting with a really nice atmosphere, and made for a really enjoyable trip. The only problem would be the layout of the park I think. Some of the stuff was hard to find and out of the way to walk to, but at the same time the organic layout of the park definitely added to the overall atmosphere.

 

Storm Runner was absolutely fantastic. The first ride blew me away. The whole thing is just a huge kick in the butt the entire way through. It's like a roller coaster on steroids. The launch was great, nice and intense, and the air over the top hat was GREAT! If you sat towards the front, you got huuuuuge air at the start of it, being pushed over the hill. And if you sat toward the back, you got huge ejector air coming down the power drop. But really, wherever you sat on the train, it was an airtime feast.

 

From there on you just plunge through the slightly off immelmann and then rip up into the double barrel roll, where you're just thrown out of your seat and whipped around completely out of control. The snake dive thingy just kind of tears you down out of the roll, bringing you extremely close to one of the supports, which I loved. And then you just charge up the final hill, and hit the brakes still not knowing what hit you. The whole thing was just a buttload of power. It was intense and awesome from start to finish, never really letting up. I loved how organic the layout was, and it just tore up the valley, ripping through with no real logic or pattern, completely out of control the whole way. It was fantastic, it really was. And the more we rode it the more I fell in love with it. It really had everything I was looking for in a coaster.

 

The rest of the park was great too. Great Bear had a beautiful location, and the first half was great. But all the flat sections start to take away from the ride after a while.

 

Sooperdooperlooper was nice and fun. It was cool going through the loop with just the old fashioned lap bar.

 

Comet was nice and fun too. Just good old traditional riding. Nothing too intense, just kind of coasting around.

 

Trail blazer was pretty uneventful, but at least it didn't hurt.

 

Wildcat was kind of nifty. Nothing earth shattering, but a good ride.

 

All of these were walk ons, by the way. After the first fifteen minute wait for SR, we walked on everything else, with maybe a train's wait or two. One train operations were kind of slowing some things down a little bit, especially on Storm Runner, but for the most part things were fine.

 

I liked Lightning Racer a lot, but it wasn't quite as intense or airtime-filled as I was hoping. It was cool racing, but it wasn't really necessary. I feel like without the racing, the rides individually would be a little lacking, but really they were both a lot of fun.

 

And Farenheit was interesting. It was better than I was expecting the first time around, given the lackluster reviews I've been reading, but it wasn't great. It really wasn't too painful at all, really. I felt it shake, but it wasn't painful at all. It really wasn't as intense as I was expecting, which was a little too bad. There was some food air on the first drop and coming out of the Norwegian loop, but it just kind of floated around the inversions. It was a nice ride, but it wasn't anything worth writing home about.

 

I preferred spending the rest of the night on Storm Runner, and racked up a total of 11 rides on it, loving every single second of it.

 

Overall we got 24 rides in, and had a great time. Storm Runner is somewhere in my top 3 steel now. I can't decide if it deserves my number one spot, but it definitely is tempting to put it there... It really had everything I look for in a coaster.

 

Ok, so for the pictures I was able to take, given the amount of darkness:

And of course no night would be complete without a ride on the pirate ship. Thanks for reading

And this is what Farenheit might look like during a meteor shower

This is what Farenheit might look like from the view of a somewhat shaky and incompetent photographer

Goin up

Too bad it wasn't light out, I was looking forward to getting some good Farenheit pictures

A little bit of Lightning Racer

And this is what Farenheit might look like if you were a dog.

It was kinda neat riding the lift straight up at night

Finally made it to Farenheit a little later on. It was pretty darn dark at this point.

Good old mine trains

There was a lot of great lighting around the park that really doesn't show up too well in pictures, but it was great

A little grainy, but still one of my favorite shots of the day

Great Bear at night

This is my favorite time of day to ride coasters

Sooperdooperlooper. Pretty awesome

On its way back. I love its location

I love the way immelmanns ride. One of my favorite elements

The first half was nice and intense. The second half not quite so much

The first little turn around thing before the first drop was more intense than I was expecting.

Some Comet Hollow love

I'm all about the B&M inverts

Some Great Bear love.

Farenheit... kind of looks like a... yeah.

This ride was pure fun too. This ride was all about providing a great time

Pretty busy loadin station, especially with only one side running.

SR looks great with the leaves changing

Secret lovers

The greatest of all the top hats

This part of the ride... was fantastic

Definitely better than TTD.

First half of the awesomeness

Power drop. And what a drop it was

Overlooking the most confusing series of paths in the world. I'm just sayin'

Perfection at its finest.

That's a fine lookin' immelmann

[hobbit]

why do you think that Stormrunner tophat is better than TTD?

[Cavs Fan]

^Tru Dat

 

Really though? I did find airtime at the top of it and everything after it is great but tophat isn't anything too good. I think if there were lap bars that morphed into OTSRs after the tophat it would be good. I think Stormrunner was a little disappointing, but not as much as Diamondback.

[eddie200330]

why do you think that Stormrunner tophat is better than TTD?

 

IMO, SR carries more speed and force over the top hat, whereas TTD just kinda meanders over at a slower rate of speed. Plus what follows on SR just totally blows TTD away.......

[coasterer]

^ exactly my thoughts. I mean, the airtime on Storm Runner's top hat is FAR more intense than the airtime on TTD. This is probably due to both the speed coming over the top, and the radius of curvature of the track at the top. But except for the fact that you're a couple hundred feet closer to the ground, Storm Runner's top hat is MUCH more intense and exciting than TTD's top hat. The pull over the top is amazing.

[Speeddeamon128]

Nice TR. I was there that day as well & had a good day. I was a little disappointed that only one train was running for both sides of Lightning Racers but apart from that I had a great time. The Comet was my last ride of the year.