TR Hershey Park, 8/26

[YoshiFan]

After Wildwood earlier in the week, I decided to go to another park before the end of the summer.

 

After stopping outside of the park for lunch, we got to the park at around 1:20 p.m. On the closed attraction list was the Kissing Tower and Sooperdooperlooper. I wasn't too upset about the Kissing Tower being closed but Sooperdooperlooper is one of my favorite coasters and I was dissapointed to see it wasn't running.

 

First stop was the Canyon River Rapids. I had never been on a rapids ride before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew you would get wet but the rafts go directly under 4 or 5 waterfalls and everyone gets soaked. I noticed they really weren't filling the rafts well as I saw a few rafts go by with only 2 people in them (there are 6 seats in each raft).

 

Next was the Merry Dip Fun Slides. Despite a long line, they were only running the green slides which was annoying since last year they weren't running the other side either. Still not as bad as Morey's who had a slide with at least 12 rows and only ran 1 slide!

 

After that I wanted to try Lightning Racers. I chose the Thunder side. I thought the lift hill with one train over another was great. I couldn't believe how twisted the track was on the ride and I liked the whole racing setup. My train barely lost but it was still a fun race. Overall I enjoyed the ride.

 

I then headed to the Whip. Whips are one of my favorite flat rides and although Hershey's is a newer model it's still great.

 

Next up was Wild Mouse. I don't know if the brakes on the top part where it zig zags are usually turned on or not but they weren't when I was there which made for an intense ride. One of the better Wild Mouse coasters I have been on.

 

After Wild Mouse, I went to Sidewinder. After first trying the boomerang at Morey's earlier in the week I wasn't sure about Sidewinder but went on it anyway. The first thing I noticed was extra padding on the restraint so your neck and head wouldn't get bashed as much. The Sidewinder was not nearly as rough as the Sea Serpent and I enjoyed the ride somewhat.

 

We then headed over to Mine Town and went to the antique and sports cars. Not much to say about them other than I am glad Hershey has the ride for people who like slow moving, tame rides and they are great family rides.

 

Next was Great Bear. I was really excited to try Great Bear because I somewhat liked the SLC at Morey's and figured a B&M invert had to be better. Not only was this my first B&M invert, but also my first B&M coaster. I sat in the front row and the view was amazing. I liked all of the inversions and the ride overall was just smooth. I'm glad I went on the SLC at Morey's first or else I probably would have hated the SLC after riding Great Bear. This is my new favorite steel coaster.

 

While in the area, I went to the Coal Cracker log flume. The boat moves through the trough very fast as usual. While on the ride I saw they were running the Sooperdooperlooper with empty trains so I was hoping they would open it later in the day.

 

Heading back to Pioneer Frontier, I decided to take a quick ride on the Trailblazer. It's a fun ride but way too short and a nice beginner coaster.

 

Back in Midway America I was a little unsure of Wildcat since I heard it was rough but went on it anyway. It was somewhat rough but there was lots of airtime and the layout was decent.

 

It was around 8:00 at this point and I still hadn't been to Comet Hollow so I headed over there with first stopping at the Fender Bender Bumper Cars and stopping to play this giant skill crane (at least 10 feet long).

 

The Comet always seems to have a long wait no matter what time it was but it wasn't that bad. After going on Great White this week I wasn't sure if the Comet would still be my favorite wooden coaster but after another ride on the Comet I decided it still is my favorite. Still a great coaster after almost 60 years.

 

While on the Comet I saw there were people in Sooperdooperlooper's station so I went right to that next. Every time I am in Hershey, the ride is a walkon with an empty station but this time, the line was out of the station and into the stairs. I found out this was due to a 1 train operation. I was glad Hershey decided to open the ride up despite it not opening until at least 6:00 p.m. or later, even if only 1 train was running. This was my first looper so it is a special coaster to me. I was afraid I wouldn't like it as much after being on more intense rides this week but the loop was great as always and the lap bar restraints make the ride even better.

 

After the Sooperdooperlooper I headed over to Chocolate World for a walk on "factory tour" dark ride. A fun ride as always and the free sample at the end is always something to look forwards to. After we did some shopping it was past 10:00 p.m. and everything was closed and it was time to head home.

 

Overall, it was a great day. I got 5 new credits and got on 8 out of the 10 coasters in the park with none of them being bad. This trip just further reminded me how Hershey is my favorite non Disney park.

[zburns999]

Nice TR, but what about Storm Runner?

[YoshiFan]

Not sure if I am ready for it yet. I just started going on more intense coasters (before this week I had not been on any coaster more intense than Loch Ness Monster or Sooperdooperlooper) and I'm not sure about the whole launch and the layout. Hopefully next year

[zburns999]

Oh, ok. It's really not that bad. My sister was terrified when we went on it for HersheyPark in the Dark last year (she was literally crying pre-launch) and now she can't get enough of it. But, yeah, take your time. It will always be there.

[CoasterJunkie]

Thanks for the mini report....I will be venturing to Hershey on the 16th and 17th. I am soooo looking forward to Storm Runner. It will be a first of its kind for me. TTD was closed when I was at CP a few years ago, so I have never been on anything like this. I am looking forward to this trip. Question is can I get in all the credits in just one day

[zburns999]

^Yep. The longest line is usually Roller Soaker, which can be about 1 hour on a hot day. Everything else is usually 15 minutes or less, except for maybe Comet. Put it this way: on my 8'th grade class trip, we had 5 hours to spend at the park, and my friends and I got on all coasters except for TrailBlazer and Roller Soaker, and rode some of them up to three times.

[YoshiFan]

Yeah the Roller Soaker seems to have a horrible line. I thought it didn't look that bad yesterday because the line wasn't out of the station but there were some mini switchbacks in the station all filled and it looked like the wait would be at least 30 - 40 minutes due to there only being 1 - 2 cars on the track at once and of course the cars only holding 4 people. I'm hoping to try to go on it maybe next year if I can get to Springtime at the park where I had heard they run it without water (and thus hopefully a short line).

[Real]

Its an intense ride but still, if you can ride everything else there, you can ride SR.

 

Great Bear is one of the more powerful inverts Ive been on. The helix before the drop has some incredibly powerful G's - especially for a B&M and it just screams through its course with a speed thats almost too fast. Its over before you know it but still great.

[YoshiFan]

Yeah that helix did feel forceful. I was kind of surprised because I had always thought it had a reputation of being one of the tamer inverts out there but I didn't think it was a tame ride (it wasn't too intense for me but I expected it to be a lot less forceful). I guess I'll have to compare it to Talon at Dorney which I'll hopefully be getting to next month.

[Real]

Talon isnt a slouch but its slightly tamer.

 

However, its a more complete ride and I found it VERY enjoyable. Hydra has the best Zero G I have ever been on and Talon is a very close 2nd. They both are as close to pure floating airtime as Ive felt on a Zero G. Hydras is almost perfect and Talons is right behind it.

 

Reguardless, they are still excellent coasters. Id love to have them near me, especially Hydra. Its just alot of fun.