Hersheypark, 11/26/17

[Yoshi]

My last visit to Hersheypark during Christmas Candylane was in 2007. Although it was fun being at a park in December, seeing all the coasters shut down for the season was tough and I didn't feel like going back that time of year with no coasters running. Since that has changed, I decided to give the event another try.

 

I kept looking at the temperature displayed in the car on the drive to the park knowing if it dropped another few degrees, the trip wouldn't be so good with the coasters and Triple Towers shut down. It did warm up to almost 50 when I arrived at the park. Thanks to some bad traffic on I-81 and not taking the usual exit, I didn't stop for lunch before getting to the park. Outside the park entrance at the ticket booths near the tram stop, meal vouchers are sold. For $10 plus tax you get an entree and a 21 oz fountain soda. That is very reasonable for pricing at a park and the entree alone is most cases is more than $10. I might get that voucher a few times a season rather than spend time going somewhere else on the way to the park.

 

sooperdooperlooper was the first ride of the day. It was a little strange walking around in that area of the park without many people around and Comet, Skyrush and Great Bear not running so it was kind of quiet. Only 1 train was running with no train on the transfer track so it looks like it will be 1 train for the rest of the season and I guess explains why the wait was an hour for much of the day Saturday. It felt like the coaster was running a little slower than normal and the brakes before the last turn towards the final brakes outside the station slowed the train almost to a complete stop and it moved slow to the next set of brakes. After 4 rides I went to get lunch and then to the Triple Towers. I could see Skyrush's trains taken apart with some of the train pieces in the station and others in the queue.

 

All 3 towers were running with no wait. I rode the Hershey Tower twice and the other 2 towers once. The Kisses Tower has more air time than I expected (I had ridden it earlier this season once but didn't remember much).

 

Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge doesn't seem as fun anymore after riding Justice League especially when you get a laser gun that doesn't work well.

 

Wild Mouse had 5 cars running without much of a line.

 

Laff Trakk had a 45 minute line. This was the emptiest I have seen the park in all of 2016 and 2017 and this coaster still had a long line. I feel like if there were only 200 people in the park one day, somehow, all 200 would end up in that line.

 

Wildcat had 1 train running with the 2nd train covered up. It was running like normal, not too bad in the front row, rough in the other rows. The station was somewhat covered with tarps that had clear plastic windows, to help keep the station warm. I got 2 rides and then back to Wild Mouse and Music Express. This was my time trying the Music Express at Hershey and there were no seatbelts like at Dorney. The cycle was longer than Dorney's Music Express as well.

 

Whip wasn't as rough compared to earlier in the season, maybe the wheels got replaced? After 2 rides I went back to Wild Mouse and Wildcat again. This time Wildcat had a line out of the station.

 

After another ride at Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge with another laser gun not working, I went back for 4 more sooperdooperlooper rides and then to the Hershey and Reese's Towers.

 

Frontier Flyers had been closed the entire time I was at the park and had opened. I got 2 rides and went to Pirat, Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge again finally with a working laser gun, Fender Bender and Starship America on the way out of the park.

 

During my final sooperdooperlooper ride I looked up the temperature and it was 41, by the time I left the park it was 35 and the Triple Towers, Frontier Flyers and all the outdoor coasters except Cocoa Cruiser were closed. I had heard the lowest temperature the park will run the coasters is 38 degrees and that seemed to be accurate.

 

I didn't expect the park to remain so empty the entire time I was there and I ended up getting 31 rides in 5 1/2 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Master]

Sounds like a good trip. I was there on Friday, it wasn't busy early in the day but by dusk the park was getting crowded and cold. The line for the monorail at night extended all the way down to the ground with only one train operating. Had a nice dinner at Hersheypark Place with their pumpkin chili.  

[Yoshi]

That must have been a really long wait with how much time it takes for each monorail cycle. I didn't notice if only 1 monorail train was running on Sunday or not and I would like to see them try to run 2 trains on the monorail and sooperdooperlooper on crowded days. I understand on a slow day this time of year that 1 train is enough especially because they want the trains going out full if the weather is cold (at least for the coasters) but on a crowded day, it doesn't seem like enough.

[The Master]

It would be a very long and slow wait. The steam train is at least running two trains. Even the Kissing Tower had a full queue and the line sticking out past the fountain, the worst line I ever saw for the tower.