Hershey 7/17 and 7/18

[RC98]

Since I last visited Hersheypark 3 years ago, I had always wanted to go back. On this trip I was with the rest of my family so this trip was focused on more than just the coasters.

 

Upon arriving at the park the first day, I checked the park’s app which said Fahrenheit was still only a 15 minute wait, so I went to it first and waited slightly under the posted wait time for the last row. With a great first drop and strong forces throughout, I enjoyed this coaster a lot.

 

Next was Storm Runner, which wasn’t loading the back two cars on each train when I first arrived in the station. I waited about 15 mins for the front row, I might actually prefer this to Ka since it has a more complete layout, including that awesome last inversion.

 

Next was Sidewinder, which was a one train wait for a random row near the back. With the new style restraints this ride was actually really good.

 

Next I did a bunch of rides with my 10 year old sister—Frontier Flyers, Trailblazer, and the Howler. I came close to snapping the flyers, and the Howler is fun if you can handle a lot of spinning.

 

After was another ride that I had been looking forward to, the Flying Falcon. They used to have this ride in Wildwood (as the Condor) and it was my favorite ride before I started going on coasters. Even after going on much more intense rides this one is still really fun, and it was my sister’s favorite. With the signs of a new ride going in this area I hope that the Falcon stays.

 

Next was lunch at an indoor food court type place across from Great Bear’s entrance. I ordered chicken quesadillas and out of the four I got two of them barely had any filling in them. The ones our park makes at Macho Nacho are way better.

 

Next was Great Bear, waiting about 40 mins for the front row. This ride was a lot better than I remembered it, the first half is surprisingly intense and the way it interacts with its setting is unique.

 

After was the Kissing Tower with my whole family, where I took a few pics which are at the end of this post, only waiting for the cycle in progress to end. Next was the Coal Cracker log flume, which despite having a posted wait of 30 mins on the app was actually only 15 mins max. My sister sat in the front on this ride which impressed me considering the size of the drop. For some reason we barely got wet.

 

After this we went into the waterpark, where all the crowds seemed to be. We got in line for the slide tower and ended up waiting an hour to go down a single slide. They really seem to need more slides to better control the crowds. The lazy river line wrapping around switchbacks so we just went into the wave pool instead. Hopefully they add more slides and attractions for older kids to the waterpark so lines can be shorter.

 

After this I left the park for the day.

 

Final ride count

Fahrenheit, Storm Runner, Sidewinder, Great Bear, Trailblazer, Frontier Flyers, Howler, Coal Cracker, Kissing Tower, Flying Falcon 1x each

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yoshi]

Nice report

 

The Boardwalk should have been built away from the rest of the park an not in the center or as a separate gate park like Hurricane Harbor. Even with the expansions and the loss of the really good Canyon River Rapids, the it can't handle the crowds. Even on a slower day, it seems like the slides always have at least a 30 minute wait.

 

I noticed the same thing about almost staying dry when riding Coal Cracker on both my trips this year. My trips in 2010 and 2013 were in October when it was closed and I thought in past trips before that you got at least cooled off.

[The Master]

Only time to do the Boardwalk is either first thing in the morning or near it's closing time. Middle of the day forget it. Overall it is too small of a waterpark, but it at least has the best and cleanest change houses I have seen in a water park. Much cleaner than either HH or WWK in recent years. I really wish they put a new slide tower where Roller Soaker used to be.

[Mrpq]

Waterpark was JAM PACKED this sat when I was at the park

[RC98]

Yeah the waterpark needs some improvement to better handle crowds...although for what it's worth the waits for the slides were a lot shorter at the same time the next day.

 

Second part is finally here:

 

Since I hadn’t ridden Skyrush yet I went to it first and got to ride it twice, with about a 5 min wait each time, once in a back row middle seat and once in the second to last row left wing seat. Since for some reason this ride doesn’t hurt me at all it’s one of my favorite coasters, its intensity is unmatched by anything else I’ve ridden.

 

Next I rode Comet which was about a 20 minute wait for a middle row, the ride was pretty fun although a bit rougher than I remember. Next was Sooperdooperlooper, which was about a 10 minute wait for a row near the back. The loop on this ride is really forceful and the rest of the ride, although nothing special, was pretty fun. It also felt a lot different going upside down with only a lapbar as the restraint.

 

Next up was the Claw, which seems to have really restrictive restraints. The ride only had a two cycle wait but every time multiple people had to be kicked off. After was a trip on the monorail, which was a walk on and a nice relaxing ride. I found it interesting that the monorail passed something that looked like a second station while off park grounds.

 

After I rode Storm Runner, waiting about 20 mins for the back row, I prefer this row on this coaster for the ejector air pop coming down the top hat. On another note the station for this ride is really disorganized, the queues for each row aren’t long enough for the amount of people who pile themselves in there.

 

After this I went to the Midway America area of the park, where everything except Laff Track was a walk on. I rode Wild Mouse first, which was pretty fun since they run it without any of the brakes and continuous loading to keep the lines short. Next was Wildcat in the front row which I actually liked, in the front row it was aggressive but not really rough and the layout itself is good with all the sweeping turns and hills. I can see this ride being a good RMC conversion one day.

 

Next was Lightning Racer, which is IMO the best of the wooden coasters here by far. It puzzles me why these coaster(s) aren’t more popular. I rode both sides in the back row and both were glass smooth, fun rides with pops of air and fun dueling. I also won both times! Other than Skyrush and Storm Runner this might be my favorite ride in the park.

 

After I rode a bunch of flat rides before leaving the park, most of which ran cycles that seemed kinda short, although that seems par for the course for larger parks. One that specifically felt short to me was the Music Express since it doesn’t go backwards like the ones at boardwalks.

 

Final ride count:

Skyrush, Lightning Racer 2x

Comet, Sooperdooperlooper, Storm Runner, Claw, Monorail, Wild Mouse, Wildcat, Music Express, Whip, Howler, Scrambler, Tilt a Whirl 1x

[The Master]

People are too lazy to walk all the way to Midway America.