SlickMittens

I would put it right where Rolling Thunder was! If it could fit under the same El Toro overpass that RT did, I would have the first drop dive under El Toro, that would be epic! Then it can continue with an element or two outward before turning and doing its second dive between Kingda Ka and the Zumanjaro queue path. Do some more spinny flippy and then break run around the end of the El Toro's ground terrain section and turn back into station.

I guess all the rumors of Raptors and T-Rex's coming to the park were off base; its a Tiger! For real though, that cub is so cute...I would love to play around with a little Tiger or Lion cub like that when they're only 12 pounds...well before I look like dinner to them!

It's cool how they've really been able to keep things under wraps this year. Usually by now, the week of, we generally know what we're getting, but this year, we're really not sure beyond educated guesses. A super-sized Discovery sounds like the most likely answer, and I think that would be a great fit in the Freefall or old Old Country Area to help buff the Metropolis/Gotham area a little more. I'd love a new marquee coaster (I'm talking El Toro/Nitro/Ka level) in the next few years, but I'm not holding my breath!

Hi all! On Friday on my way out to Pittsburgh for a wedding, my wife and I went to Hersheypark! It was the first time either of us had been there since we were probably 7-8 coincidentally (now 31), so it was our first opportunity to really experience what the park has to offer! Overall, it was a beautiful but hot day. Lines were short, with the longest we waited for anything probably 15-20 minutes. That was a pleasant surprise as we expected larger crowds being a summer Friday. Everyone seemed to be in the waterpark because of the heat! Our gain! Below are my impressions for each ride we rode, roughly in the order we rode them! Comet: Loved it! For a ride built in the 40s, it was fairly smooth, had good airtime, and was just a fun ride. love the open feeling of not being stapled in like modern coasters Skyrush: HOLY CRAP! Speaking of being stapled in, it's a good thing that they really lock you down on this one because it was absolutely relentless. I read some previous trip reports saying how wild this ride is, but it doesn't really prep you for it. You shoot up the lift hill, slow down as you crest it, and then once you head down the 1st drop, it's pedal to the metal until you're done. The banked curves, the airtime hills, the headchopper on the track above you, all excellent. Bonus points for loosening the restraints up a little on the brake run. To quote a certain nerf herder, aside from the first drop, she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts! SooperDooperLooper: I find it nice that HP has some rides that serve the "smaller but not kiddie" coaster collection. It is good for younger riders to have those "gateway coasters" if you will. This definitely falls into that category. Nothing special, its one trick being the loop with only a lap bar, but its a perfectly good entry level coaster! EDIT: Forgot the Coal Cracker here. Fun flume ride, I liked the little bunny hop and the end of the drop. And my wife got wetter than I did, so that's always a good laugh. Great Bear: Fun ride! I like it more than the Batman inverts as a point of comparison. The two in-line twists were great, and I liked how it starts with a helix before the first drop. I will say in general, inverts are getting a little too forceful for me. Takes a bit of time to recover from those types of coasters! We had lunch after to reset ourselves haha. Hershey drop tower: Loved this drop tower. It was awesome because it launches you up first to get that sensation, and after it bounces around a bit, it then slowly climbs to the top and sits there for what feels like an eternity before giving you a nice freefall. Really enjoyed the combination of the two in 1 ride, I know we have Zumanjaro, but I don't think an additional tower like this would be overkill in the slightest! Monorail: Nice birds-eye view of some of the park and the zoo. Storm Runner: Amazing. Rode it in the front, loved the launch, and loved the layout beyond it. Yeah, it's short, but I would trade the height of Kingda Ka for the extra layout and elements of Storm Runner in a heartbeat. Very fun, probably my 2nd favorite after Skyrush. Laff Track: Fun spinning coaster, loved the halfpipe element shortly after the initial drop. We didn't spin too much, my wife and I are very normal sized humans, but we were with two smaller teenage girls on this ride, so I think the weight distribution led to us taking most of the trip backwards. Still fun though! Lightning Racer: I rode both sides, they didn't feel different enough to warrant any separate analysis. Overall I enjoyed it, was fairly smooth, nice banked turns, and the racing element was fun. Won 1, lost 1. Wildcat: Least favorite rollercoaster of the day. The layout seemed promising, but it was ROUGH! My back was feeling it for a little bit after that ride, got bumped around like crazy, coming out of every turn was very rough and threw my body around. This would probably be a sweet coaster to get the RMC treatment as it does have a cool, twisting layout with lots of over/underpasses which could be cool barrel roll opportunities. Fahrenheit: The lift and the first drop were the highlights...after that it was just see how many times it can flip you over in 20 seconds. Mission accomplished haha Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge: Always good to have a dark ride, even better when it's one that you can shoot stuff and keep score. This one felt low budget though. It was hard to see where you were hitting as the red laser circles seemed inconsistent, and the animatronics of the two hosts were creepy haha. Felt cheesy. Rumor has it it's getting revamped though for next year? Maybe this commentary will be for naught! We ended the day with a trip to Chocolate World for a Tour and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake, which was delicious! Then into our car again for the longest ride of the day, 3 hours and change to Pittsburgh. Hersheypark was very cool in my eyes. A nice mix of coasters, the available waterpark in the same admission, the available zoo in the same admission, and more flat rides to try than we rode on Friday. Also, a lot of shade in the front part of the park, which was great on a hot day like Friday! We'll be back again soon!

I have to ask, why only 1 hour? Did you go on your lunch break at work? If so, A. that's awesome, and B. props to you man! Also, nice trip report Nitro! I still need to get to the park to ride JL, I guess I better get there soon before everything gets defaced haha

It's crazy to think that it's 2nd oldest...it's the 1st coaster that I distinctly remember being built and remember the buzz when it opened. (I wasn't quite 54" yet so I waited with my father while my sister and mother rode!). Now 29, it's crazy that it's the old man of the group (at least it can look up to RMT). RMT has to stay forever now so at least 1 coaster is older than I am! As for next year, I'm getting a flat package vibe. 3 or 4 solid flats would be a great addition to balance the park's offerings! I want an Air Race, those rides are super fun. I saw a mock up or concept of one that goes very high (can't find it now though sorry!) like Sky Screamer does with the swings, that would be crazy!

Maybe! I was joking around with my girlfriend about new Gotham/Mexican themed names. Clearly, Batchos or The Dark Knightcho whould be perfect :-)

While I love that there's a second Macho Nacho (that's almost the only place I eat at since it opened last year), I wonder if they're going to retheme it again in the offseason if the rumored JL ride + Movietown refurb actually comes to fruition!

I like the Superman and Green Lantern Lights...since they're "on theme" they could even stay up during the regular season to add a little more spectacle to those rides! I saw in the passholder email that Skull Mountain has a temporary retheme of "Poinsettia Peak." I know they were putting lights up outside of it from some of your recent Trip Reports, but does anyone know if they're also putting lights/decorations INSIDE the mountain? That would be very cool!

I didn't get all the way up to the attendant to ask, but the line was through the second switchbacks and spilling out a little through the entrance, so I'd imagine at least 90, right?

I was at the park today and the line was into the second set of switchbacks, which I haven't seen since it was almost brand new (as Medusa). I have to say, I was happy that t was getting that much love, but i definitely didn't wait to ride it. Fright Fest crowds man, if I didn't have to update my pass, I wouldn't go anywhere near there haha.

Yeah, I guess it's not that I dislike the theme of Bizarro per say, but I would like it more where you suggest for example. That makes sense...I'm looking at it more from a theme perspective. It's a sore spot in Frontier Adventures, when everything else is fairly in line with the theme. Medusa Mining Co. was a stretch, but it fits like a glove compared to Bizarro. They can make every superhero/villain ride they'd like in the Boardwalk or Movietown where they fit with the theme/existing rides. But I just think it's lazy to plop them everywhere. I also realize that I'm talking about a move they made 6 years ago, but hey! A man can dream. I'll stick with it for now, and change my mind often over the next 365 days!

Yeah, I guess it's not that I dislike the theme of Bizarro per say, but I would like it more where you suggest for example. That makes sense...I'm looking at it more from a theme perspective. It's a sore spot in Frontier Adventures, when everything else is fairly in line with the theme. Medusa Mining Co. was a stretch, but it fits like a glove compared to Bizarro. They can make every superhero/villain ride they'd like in the Boardwalk or Movietown where they fit with the theme/existing rides. But I just think it's lazy to plop them everywhere. I also realize that I'm talking about a move they made 6 years ago, but hey! A man can dream. I'll stick with it for now, and change my mind often over the next 365 days!

With the news that Superman is returning to SFNE, having won his "battle" with Bizarro, do you think there's any chance that we could get Medusa back in 2017? Or, at the least, anything that fits the theme of Frontier Adventures better than a dumb super villain? I think 2017, we'll see a package of 2-3 flat rides like the Texas parks got this year, and with anyluck, a Bizarro re-theme!

I agree with you Igetaround...I bet that the plan after a the record breaking Zumanjaro was to take a down year, and hopefully focus the major efforts and expenditure to 2016. I'm a glass half full guy, so I'd like to think that's the plan. And since we've only been 2016 speculating for 1 day, I'm not ready to kill my dreams haha! Intaminous_Me, in no world would I expect 2 coasters in one year (amazing as that would be), but I just drew two up to show different options in that desolate area. Personally, I'd prefer a launching coaster to a giga or something like that. I think it would be more diverse given our current collection, and it would be a great use of space.

OK, so here's my idea, and with it comes 2 disclaimers. 1) I am not an artist. 2) I am not a coaster designer. Great! Now that the legalese is out of the way, have a look at my poorly cropped google maps pic of the Old Country. There is so much room there that's ripe for the taking, and it would really round out the park nicely. Option 1 is the blue coaster. That can be a giga, wing rider, or rmc. Whatever you prefer, the swath of land is big for a ride like that. The red is the station, with arrows showing direction of travel. Orange is the lift and then the brakes at the end. There's a ton of room for a long, airtime filled, any kind of ride feature you want coaster. Option 2 uses the Chiller station (with an external renovation so it fits better in the area) to do a multiple launch coaster like Intaminous_Me said. It would launch out of the robin side through the observatory, then do some fun inverting jazziness to turn back into the area behind TDKC. Swing back around, do a dive loop back into the observatory/Batman station. Launch out the back of that, fling around a bit (that's the technical term), and safely and soundly arrive back into the Robin side. Now, I'm not advocating for both (right away at least ), but one of them could revitalize the area. Then the two Pink circles with F's are Flat ride areas that would still allow both coasters at some point. Obviously, if the only plan is build the blue coaster, then the whole other side where Spin Meister and Musik Express were opens up for flats as well. Opposite for only the green coaster. WIth all the talk already of them saving money this year to install something big next year, I think 1 (ONE) coaster here and a flat or two would be a great way (and admittedly greedy way) to revitalize that area and open up a big area to disperse crowds to. Thoughts on my idea? Save your thoughts on my awesome artwork. Unless you think it's awesome.

I think a lot of it for me is the perception that we as guests have vs. the perception that the park has marketed forward. To all of us, this ride is a flat. The park needs flats, great! However, since it is one of Six Flags's flagship parks, I would want to see something like a flat package vs. just one flat ride. If they had given us a package of 3 flats (including looping dragon), and dispersed them throughout the park (similar to the sky screamer/adventure alley year), that would be great. Yes, it'd still be a carnival ride, but it IS fun (lest we forget), and it's one portion of a 3 portion course to spruce up our park's rides and disperse the crowds a little bit. My issue comes then with the park's insistence on calling this our 13th coaster, and billing it as a MAJOR attraction. It's not a major attraction. It's a 10 minute diversion as we're walking from Ka to Toro. To treat it as more is to insult the parkgoers, tricking them into thinking its more. Build a few modest flats, like this, call it an updated war on lines or whatever, and then everyone's perception changes. They become nice park fillers, which our park desperately needs. So for me, yeah, I'm happy that we are getting this ride. It's a fun diversion/ flat ride, like the Sky Screamer, Deja Vu, Buccaneer, etc. It fills out the park nicely. However, it's a complementary piece, not a major attraction like the park's PR team thinks. Yes, they have a responsibility to pimp their rides (yeah, I went there), but there comes a point where the hyperbole-filled bubble bursts, and I think that is the main cause of the backlash here.

OK, so, it is what it is. I assume they'll be making the backwards batman announcement at a later date? As for the Looping Dragon, 7 stories is higher than your typical carnival ring of fire, right? I'm trying to find some sort of reason this would be better than the standard carnival version. Obviously we want big, awesome rides every year, but there's still 2 reasons this ride will be good. 1) It's a flat (I'm not calling it a coaster) which will help to disperse some of the crowd without taking up a big footprint in the park. 2) Hopefully, the path between GK and PDC will open back up and create a MUCH nicer flow on that side of the park.

RC98, yep that definitely looks like it, just themed differently. Good eye! I'd love to see one of those at GA! It could even work with the rumored Dragon theme, but sadly, I don't think we're that fortunate this year.

To be honest, I didn't see the lights on because it stays light until like 10:45 there in the summer (really throws your internal clock off, haha). It looked like there were some white bulbs on the spine and non-moving arms to complement the gold themeing, but there could have been more! A winter where we get a few unique flats like this would be a total success in my opinion. Hopefully if we are getting a flat in Golden Kingdom as per all the speculation, they open the path up between GK and Plaza de Carnival again. Man, that would make the Ka-Toro walk so much easier!

All this talk of the ring of fire -ish ride has left me a bit wanting, like most of you. I mean, it's a fun ride no doubt, and we DO need flats (we're not considering this a coaster, even if SF is, right? haha), but it's just not "big amusement park" quality. Even if it was part of a bigger flat package, that would be cool, but not as a centerpiece like it seemingly is. I was recently in Denmark on vacation, and went to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. They have this flat ride there that I was just mystified by, so I had to go on it...take a look at it here (not my video). It was so cool! We need flats like this. Stuff that captures people's attention, and offers unique ride experiences. It was so much fun! No nausea, despite what you may think from the ride motion, and the sensations from hanging upside down were so cool. Rides like this would fill out our park so nicely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LRnfDQdwXc Edit: How do you embed a youtube video so you don't have to go to the external link? Thanks!

Interesting, like you said IgetAround, could just be it's checkup now that everything has had a few weeks to settle in. Hopefully it's fixed soon, I want to be terrified by it before fright fest haha.

I was there yesterday, VERY disappointed that Zumanjaro was closed, as I got there at park opening to ride it for the 1st time without waiting forever! I think Six Flags needs to do a better job of updating ride statuses. There should be a page that just has all ride operating statuses on the website. One line of text on each individual ride page is very easy to miss! Lucky for me, I live close, have a pass, and can go whenever, but I could see how something like this would really upset people travelling from far and away lands to get a ride on a new attraction like that. I was talking to a ride attendant at another ride, and he said he wasn't 100% sure, but thinks they were working on something with the restraint system. Has anyone had any problems/discomfort/issues with the restraints in their ride experience on Zu?