If I was in charge at Hershey..

[CoasterEricHP]

As I sit here scared that Hersheypark is going to be doing very little for a second year in a row I came up with a plan that could make Hersheypark a Universal/Disney/Cedar Point caliber resort area. Here's what I'd do.

 

1. They are revitalizing downtown Hershey.. which is an amazing town if you have ever been down there you'd know. They have a huge theater, the Hershey kiss shaped street lights, big old big buildings, tree lined streets.. My idea would be to add Downtown Disney'esque shopping and restaurants in the downtown area.

 

2. A pair of new resorts. The Hershey Lodge and the Hotel Hershey are nice, but they cater to business travelers and convention guests, and honeymooners (Hotel Hershey) mainly. They arent really too family oriented. They should get a value/moderate type resort (using Disney lingo) and a Castaway Bay type water park/resort... families would probably flock to that even in the winter where they could turn a weekend into Christmas Candylane, Hershey Bears, Castaway Bay waterpark weekend vacation with the kids. These resorts could go across Hersheypark Drive.

 

3. Waterpark. I remember seeing something for a "Cocoa Beach" waterpark up there with three really cool themed areas. I guess someone drew that up randomly but a waterpark on the scale of a Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon would bring in tons of cash... as it does for any park with a water park.

 

4. Monorail. Either extend the current one or make a new one that ties all these together. It'd be a Disneyland Resort type deal where it goes from Downtown Disney, to the park, and this one could also tie in the new resorts and if the waterpark is built close.. that too. It wouldnt even really have to be longer than the existing monorail if you think about it.

 

5. An "Ikon" coaster. (sorry Thorpe.. ). Something along the lines of a huge marketable coaster like a Millenium Force or something that will turn heads. The Hulk at IOA is a prime example of the huge impact a coaster can make for a park..

 

So that's my plan.. it'd cost a decent amount, and might take a few years to get it up and running! Aside from the problems of it being really cold in the winter and the park having really nothing going on from Jan-April it could possibly work.

 

What do you think?

 

Eric

[YoshiFan]

I like all those ideas especially the indoor waterpark idea. During the winter, there is nothing fun to do (you can only go to the mall so many times and even that gets boring since most malls got rid of their arcades). If Hershey built an indoor waterpark, I would definetly go there at least once or twice during the winter.

[Red Benny]

You know, I was thinking the same thing when I was there in July. That park is great already, but has so much potential to be something more. It's probably one of the nicest parks other than a Disney or Universal park that I've been to. My only gripe is how spread out it is. It'd take you a good half hour to walk from Great Bear to Lightening Racer. If they were to do any upgrades, stretching the monorail throughout the park would be a good change.

[peteb]

I agree. Hershey is a really interesting place; there is so much history inside and outside the park, it would be nice to have the town and park better linked together. I bet most people never venture into the downtown area, the most they get is a glimpse from the top of Great Bear or the Kissing Tower. Years ago the monorail had a stop for the factory tour visitor center downtown; the stop is still there but unused. It would be cool to bring that back. The park is pretty spread out, but the quirky layout has a lot of history behind it and makes the place really unique; it's always an adventure to find things. There used to be another sky ride (similar to the Skyview) which ran between founders circle(you can still see the loading station) and the Minetown Restaurant/Arcade. I'm not sure when it was removed, looks like it used to run where part of Great Bear now stands.

A new resort would be nice; the Hershey lodge is too land locked and the Hotel Hershey is nice but expensive. One of the resort bus drivers a year ago was talking about a rumored resort, water park and connecting monorail idea that was being tossed around with the old Hershey Technical school (abandoned building on the hill down from the Hotel Hershey) grounds a possible site. Interestingly enough this summer I noticed demolition crews working inside the old buildings, removing materials, possibly remediation work. Does anyone have any information on what's happening to this site?

[CoasterEricHP]

Interesting.. I always knew there was another skyride that connected down past the Carousel but I always just assumed it connected with the current one for some weird reason. I wonder why they took that one out for the newer, roundtrip, sort of pointless one . It was taken out way before the Great Bear though.. I dont think I ever remember it.

 

I'll have to drive up that way towards the old tech. school and see if anything is going on next time I'm in the area.. hopefully Sat night or Sunday. There's really nothing going on at the park marking wise. There are strange marks throughout the entire park that seem to be way too spread out for anything really.. except a pipe Even if they were going to be building a waterpark or something off site, you think there would be some type of land clearing or some construction going on already.

 

You're right though, there is the existing monorail station that is unused sitting there already. Was that ever used after the park moved away from using ride tickets? Also, I bet aside from the Trolley Tour, 99% of people never go away from the parking lot/Chocolate World/Hersheypark area. I'd be interesting to see how many people would leave the park for awhile for dinner or whatever else they could do with Downtown Hershey.

 

Eric

[peteb]

I think the downtown monorail station was closed when Hershey ended the factory tours and opened Chocolate World.(late 70's ?) There may have even been a station in the zoo as well, which was not in operation when Chocolate World openedl; I believe the zoo was wiped out in a flood and rebuilt years later into Zoo America. I seem to remember also that both skyrides were in operation simultaneously; the round tripper and the one way to Minetown. That's another cool thing about Hersheypark; if you look around hard enough you can find little bits of the past here and there, like the building that used to house the cuddle up, and the bridges and paths that criss cross the water of comet hollow near the aqua theater that were part of the roadway for the old trackless gas powered cars (replaced by the twin turnpike). And I'm sure there's more.

[YoshiFan]

Interesting.. I always knew there was another skyride that connected down past the Carousel but I always just assumed it connected with the current one for some weird reason. I wonder why they took that one out for the newer, roundtrip, sort of pointless one . It was taken out way before the Great Bear though.. I dont think I ever remember it.

 

I think they actually had both skyrides running at one time before the other one closed. I kind of remember thinking what other park besides Hershey had both kinds of sky rides? I think it was removed around 1992.

[peteb]

A major coaster may not be a bad idea for Hersheypark; they've done it before. The SooperDooperLooper was one of the first if not the first looping coaster on the east coast when it was opened. That was a pretty major ride for it's day. That expansion in the 70's is what put Hersheypark on the map.

[YoshiFan]

Yeah it was the first looping coaster on the east coast and I think the 2nd modern looping coaster ever (after Revolution at SFMM). What's interesting is when you go through the queue, you can see how big the queue is and back when it was the new ride, it must have gotten filled all the time. Now it seems like the line is never out of the station unless it's a 1 train operation (which I guess is understandable).

[Meteornotes]

The park used to have two skyrides. The large one was removed in the early '90's.

 

The monorail used to stop at the factory for tours, but this was discontinued when the opened Chocolate World. That station used to be occasionally used, like during the antique car show.

 

If you want to know more about the park, ask away. I worked there from 1979-84, and know quite a bit about the older history of the place...

 

dt

[peteb]

I have a relative who rode SooperDooperLooper when it opened in 1977 and the wait averaged 2+ hours! And at the same time you could ride the Trailblazer as many times as you wanted without getting off; apparently nobody could find it is was so far tucked into a dead end corner of the park. Does anyone know when and why the cuddle up was removed? That was a pretty unique ride and a much larger version than some others, like the one at Knoebels.

[CoasterEricHP]

Wow.. I had no idea you worked there back then! That must have been a crazy time to be working there with the SooperDooperLooper opening up and what not. That's really cool! I'll have to think of some Hershey questions i have somewhere in my brain and I'll get back to you.

 

Speaking of old Hersheypark, has anyone ever come across a layout or old pictures of the original Wildcat/Joyride wooden coaster at Hersheypark? I've always wondered how that was set up.. and its a Schmeck so they need to rebuild it

 

Not sure if anyone saw this link on Screamscape a few weeks ago.. I know you'll appreciate it Meteor..

 

http://www.buzzneon.com/coasters/hersheypark_1978/

 

Eric

[YoshiFan]

Cool pictures

 

I have a relative who rode SooperDooperLooper when it opened in 1977 and the wait averaged 2+ hours!

 

Wow, I wonder how they handled all those people since at the end of the queue now, it says 40 minute wait when queue is full. I guess they either set up a temporary queue outside of the main one (like they sometimes do with Comet) or else the line must have stretched all through Comet Hollow.

[Meteornotes]

I rode the SDL the first day it was open. I remember waiting about an hour for each ride. And yeah, the Trailblazer used to get almost no riders, especially in the evening. It was actually a really fun ride to run.

 

The Cuddle Up left in the late '80's/early '90's. Not sure of the year, as there was a long period of time that I didn't visit the park, as I was living in CA and didn't have a lot of money for travel. That was a great ride, but was incredibly LOUD to operate! You had to wear these massive sound suppression headphones to avoid losing some of your hearing...

 

dt