Long wait times?

Has anyone ever had a problem with the wait times at Hersheypark or Dorney Park? Were they long(45-60min), short(0-20min), or in the middle(20-45min)?

I was at Dorney in July a couple of years ago and lines were very short, if there were any. Most people at the park that day were at the waterpark.

Hersheypark can get busy, especially if there's a concert or game at the nearby Giant Center.

Hit them early and you shouldn't have a problem.

// cough **whentoride.com** cough

I'm going during Springtime in the Park. Has anyone been there during this time in the past?

I've been to Springtime in the Park last year. The wait times were moderate to short on the day before Easter, but empty on Easter Sunday (it was also rainy)

Why won't people respond?

^I answered. You have your answer.

I went to Hersheypark on a Saturday and it was crowded! Wildcat had an hour wait. It was wall to wall people!

Hersheypark does get crowded at peak times of the year, but it is usually pretty managable. Like everyone else always preaches (because it's true), get there early.

A good plan of attack is to get Comet, Storm Runner and Great Bear out of the way first. Sooperdooper, Lightning Racer, Wildcat, and Trailblazer are usually pretty managable anytime during the day. However, Trailblazer can get a little interesting if they run one car.

Im planning on visiting these parks in the lst week of August()on weekdays). How busy should they be then and plans of attack to avoid long lines??? Is hershey park doable in 1 day or are 2 days needed??

Hershey can be done in 1 day. Although if you plan to do more than just Hersheypark like Chocolate World, Hershey Musueum, Gardens and spending a lot of time at Zoo America (free with park admission), then a 2nd day could be needed. It still will probably be somewhat crowded in the last week of August since most schools are still on summer vacation.

"Here is another long-lost post that can be reused!!!

In the spirit of new posts, I have looked back and discovered old, long-lost posts that can be reused. But let's not just stop with Hershey and Dorney park, but with any park.

And now I beg the question to all riders and amusement park flyers:

"What was the longest wait time you have ever waited in line?

"Well, since you're the one who found this old post, why don't you start?"

Okay, the longest wait I even endure was two hours and twenty minutes to ride the KINGSTA KA at Six Flags Great Adventure on the second year it was opened. My friend and I already rode it as part of a special ERT in the morning, and we wanted to ride it one more time at night.

This broke a previous record sat in 2000 when I waited two hours to ride Son of Beast at Kings Island. The coaster was running only one train at the time, thus the longer wait time.

Okay, that's my post. Now, dear readers, what are yours?

"How about this for a post: what was the longest time your pillow had to wait before someone's head was finally resting on it?"

It 2004, when I was 9, I waited about 4 and 1/2 hours for Top Thrill Dragster. Personally, I thought it was amazing and totally worth the wait! But, I don't think I would wait that long for it again. Last year, I waited about an hour, so I'm a little mad I wasted so much time, but don't regret it!

After all, I did ride it with the original trains!

The longest I specifically remember was 2.5 hours for DL's Splash Mountain in 1989, the summer it opened.

I think I waited around that long for DL's Space Mountain when it reopened in 2005, but I don't remember exactly.

I may have waited that long for X2 once in '09, but that was partly because the ride broke down multiple times while we waited.

Probably three hours for the original X in 2003. One train operation sucks!

Probably Behemoth when it first opened. It was almost 3 hours than again... 1 of the hours was them still running test runs

I'd have to say the longest wait was the year Batman the Ride opened at Gadv. I think it was somewhere around 3 hours and it was actually my first looping coaster(I started getting into coasters when I was older). I think we started back somewhere around Congo Rapids...lol...

Sounds similar to me. My first looping coaster was sooperdooperLooper at Hersheypark in 2000, but my first ride on Great Bear in 2001 is what broke the scare out of me. Ever since that moment, I became hooked.

I'm not sure what the longest wait for a coaster was for me. I know I've waited 30 to 45 min for Great Bear and Comet on one of Hershey's busiest days. Maybe an hour for Hypersonic in 2004, but could've been a little shorter.

45 minutes for Volcano. As the official park planner for our trips, I always seem to pick magical days. ( Three parks a year.)

Tatsu for 3 1/2 hours its opening season in 2006.

Since I usually go in the middle of the week, wait times are never really a problem for me, so the longest wait would be Top Thrill Dragster/Millenium Force at 1 1/2 hours.

3 hours for Hypersonic XLC. Last ride on that piece of crap ever. Not worth it at all.

2.5 hours for Flight of Fear. I went on Bank of America Day and everything had a long line.

I don't mind waiting so much if it's worth it. Hypersonic, for example, is not.

I've never estimated (or measured) a wait time of longer than about 45 minutes. I'm rarely interested in measuring exact times unless I'm particularly concerned about the number of rides I'll be able to get.

The dumbest wait I've ever undergone was for Drop Tower at CGA. It was down, but I decided to wait for quite a long time anyway, even though there was no line and I had already ridden it two or three times that day! This makes absolutely no sense to me now.

Once, I waited alone to ride Voyage about for about 45 minutes when it was down. This was misguided, since Voyage ended up having short lines all day long! I should've spent my time riding Raven and Legend, which had longer waits.

3 hours for Volcano year it opened, highly delayed and only running 8 seats. Long time ago, longest wait I endured in 2010 was an hour for Farhenheit and shouldn't have. Ironically, I have since managed to ride Volcano by myself several times, and in 2009 was even allowed to stay on and reride some. The best time to ride a new coaster is -- a lot later.

On the subject of wait times IN GENERAL -- I'm older and and more patient but have become accustomed to shorter waits and definitely wouldn't be as into going coaster-riding if the waits were longer. It's not just less waiting or more riding, it's a certain momentum to the experience. You come off a ride happy and enthused. If you can get another ride in short order, your mood just builds. If it's into another long line, by the time you ride again the coaster has to work from scratch.

As to the OP's question back in '05, I found Hershey rather crowded on my visit on a Monday mid-August this year. Also they have deals at night resulting in a surge right after 8:00, although I got a couple quick rides on Storm Runner right before close. Some parks are nice and have the money flowing, but I'll take a less crowded but good one 19 times out of 20.

1 hour for Magnum XL 200 for running one train (I think the other 2 trains were being worked on though)