Nick's Roadtrip Adventures

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Nick's Roadtrip Adventures

So enjoy my pictures from anything coaster related to national parks and monuments to food to cool museums, but watch out for the number of pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hersheypark, August 2-3, 2012

 

This was my first visit to Hershey and I was really surprised at how the park had a really wonderful feel despite sub-par operations and the really random layout. I was also really pleased with the way they handled park entrance, with the ticket sales being at the gate not at a separate place so you didn't have to wait in line for security, then to get your ticket and then again to have your ticket scanned to enter the park. This is one of those little things that really pleases me and I wish that more parks would use this system. As for the food, I didn't have any at the park.

 

The Coasters

 

Comet 1 ride row 12

I really didn't have any positive or negative feelings about this ride it just was there but had a little airtime

Fahrenheit

I actually really like this ride in the back row, nice airtime on the first drop and one airtime hill and the Norwegian loop was cool. My big issue with it was the rattle through the cobra roll was just unacceptable on a non-Vekoma steel coaster that is on four years old, not that it was painful just that it was annoying and not very pleasant.

Great Bear 3 rides row 1, row 5, and row 8

I thought that the first half was really fun if not very intense but the second have was kind of boring. Overall not that great as B & M inverts go but still a solid ride with a nice zero-g roll and one of the better first drops on an invert.

Lightning Racer 11 rides row 1 at night on both, row 12 at night on both, row 9 on Thunder, row 3 on Lightning, row 12 on both, and row 1 on both

While it wasn't amazingly intense, tall or fast and yet it is still just a really fun ride. This is one of those coasters that just an amazing ride that had an x-factor that made it great. Thunder was better

Roller Soaker one ride facing backwards

Nothing amazing but I really liked the interactive element of it but it wasn't quite as good (IMO) as the one at Carowinds.

Sidewinder 1 ride row 7

Really better than normal boomerangs but not as good as the one at Wiener Prater, basically the same as Carolina Cobra.

Skyrush 13 rides row 1 right wing and left wing at night, row 1 middle left and right wing, row 8 left wing at night, row 8 middle left at night, row 8 left wing (5x), row 4 middle right, row 7 right wing

Amazing in every way shape and form. The back left seat was epic and tried to take my shirt off on my first ride. The pacing was epic and it lived up to all the hype (unlike a few coasters in a my upcoming TRs). The back left was definitely the place to ride and was also awesome as a single rider since you could get it more often than the center or right wing seats. My it's tied for my #1 ride with Coaster @ Playland PNE and also unintentionally ended up being my 125th credit.

Sooperdooperlooper 2 rides row 1 at dusk and row 12

Classic Schwarzkopf through and through although I'd say that the its layout doesn't quite meet Revolution. The trains are awesome and comfy and track nicely. Not an outstanding ride but definitely worth a few rerides.

Stormrunner 7 rides row 1 at night, row 2, row 7, row 8 at night, row 8, row 1 and row 5 at night

My second favorite ride at the park and definitely in my top 10. Everything about the ride was perfect for a launched coaster, a great launch, a tophat with nice airtime and some cool elements to finish off. The cobra loop was really cool and bizarre while the airtime hill into the hearline roll into the flying snake dive was quite possibly my favorite element of all time just because of the awesome mix of later, negative and positive forces that were simply amazing. Overall just a really great ride that was amazingly rerideable.

Trail Blazer 1 ride at night row 5

Not the most interesting mine-train in the world and nothing really interesting but I rode at night and without any knowledge of the layout so I spent most of the ride braced for awkward transitions and painful lats that never came. But it was a credit so I won't complain.

Wild Mouse 1 ride by myself

This was one of the better wild mouses/mice that I've ridden with some great lats (even with only one person in the car) and a great dropping feeling (not quite airtime) on the dips. I did end up waiting for about a half hour since it broke down while I was waiting.

Wildcat 3 rides, row 7, row 1 and row 12

I thought this was a bit rough especially in the one turn that was absolutely brutal. There was some airtime but nothing amazing, not an amazing coaster but not horrible. I love the chaser lights at night.

 

Flats

 

The Claw

I love this type of ride but this was one of the worse ones out there. Not nearly as good as maXair or even the small traveling one I've ridden.

Sunoco Classic Cars

Classic cars are always fun so I had a go on these, not bad but not the best either.

Sunoco Speedway

Really similar to the classic cars.

Whip

I love these rides and really wish there more of them still operating. A great family ride and just fun.

 

Now for the pictures

Looking back toward the entrance

The famous Mr. Hershey's statue

Skyrush really dominates the park's skyline

New hotness, through the trees

Funky Skyrush support going through Comet's cables

See Ma, the ride floats in midair

More new hotness through the trees

These people are currently experiencing extreme airtime

Prepare for airtime galore

Classic flat action going on, sadly I didn't ride

Didn't ride this either so there won't be any overview pics

Let's give Stormrunner some love

Epicly elevate barrel roll for the win

Flying through the flying snake dive

Such interesting supports, not to mention shaping going on here

They need a sign here that says, "thigh crushing pull-up, BRACE!"

Shhhh, try not to disturb the sleeping Intamin Cable

The speed here is so high that hairtime is impossible

Epic airtime going on right here, right now

One brave soul on this train trying to raise his hand

More airtime

I love the fountains here, not to mention the sort of/reverse/not really stengel dive

More fountain action

Crazy, twisty airtime hill

Oh noes its a trim

I love the great pics you can get of this ride, and of course the AIRTIME

This ride is just a mess of track

Airtime + headchopper = incredible head chopper

I got a bit artsy while waiting around for a hairtime shot

More overbanked goodness

More proof that there is so much speed on this ride that there isn't any hairtime

Almost hairtime was thwarted by a death grip on a ponytail

Skyrush's interestingly supported pull-up

See, Skyrush is too fast to catch on camera

Nooooooo, an empty new hotness train

Sooperdooperlooper doing its sooperdooperlooping thing

Great Bear's only slightly great and definitely not bearlike first drop

Artsy immelman goodness

Some of B & M's funkier support creations

See, Intamin stole the lift hill truss from Schwarzkopf

Close call with the original lift truss

Bridges

To quote Robb, zero-geeeeeeeeeeee

Pre-drop helices are awesome

Blur, darn

I really like this shot for no good reason

No more empty trains on Sooperdooperlooper

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

See, Comet can outrun my camera skills

Fahrenheit is so photogenic it shouldn't be legal

Artsy Norwegian loop awesomeness

More cool Norwegian loop

The entrance to the cobra roll seems to have killed the kid in the second to last row

Intamin corkscrew through the trees

Did I mention that Fahrenheit is really photogenic?

Corkscrew anyone?

Three inversions, one pic, infinite awesome

Sadly the hairtime in this pic is hidden by the support

Oh corkscrew it, I'll put my hands up.

What a mess of sexy Intamin awesome

Plunging out of the Norwegian loop

Fahrenheit likes screwing with people

Is the dude in the last row picking his nose?

Random overbanked turn of awesome

Have I got any takers on the corkscrew #2, anyone?

Beyond vertical awesome

Just in case you forgot where you were

Those people will probably still be waiting on the brake run when I get back to Hershey

Trailblazer's helix of, well not death, maybe slight boredome?

Couldn't be bothered to wait for a train to TAKE THE TUNNEL (okay trench)

This ride's name makes me think of Toy Story, so what.

Yay for boomerang's with new Vekoma trains

Stormrunner's backside.

Some top hat goodness

Flying barrel snake roll dive airtime kajigger.

I'll pass on the waterpark

Waterslides

I spy a credit

Dude, it's like a seagull, dude

Who wants some wood?

And Lighting takes the lead

Thunder wins!

Music Express, through the water game?

Lighting Racer's very classy, Americana style station

To win or not to win, that is the question

Please stop the jokes, I mean STOP the jokes.

That's a lot of catwalks

I thought Christmas was in December?

GCI goodness

Sadly for such a beautiful rides there were very few good opportunities for pictures of Wildcat and Lightning Racer.

These people are currently being damaged, severely

Mmmmm, outward banked track

Wildcat being wild

Lightning Racer is full of win

Wildcat on the otherhand lacks a bit in the win department

This is how crowded the hollow was when I left the park, partially due to kids having just arrived for a track meet

On the way out of the park

See Ma, this ride floats too.

One last parting shot of Stormrunner running from the storm

[Evanator]

Awesome TR, really enjoyed all the different angles of the rides in the park. Some day I'll make it out to Hersey....

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Thanks, on a side note I think I was there the same day as the New Hotness tour since I saw quite a few TPR shirts throughout the day.

 

Expect a ECB 2012 report to be up soonish.