Park Review
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Hershey, Pennsylvania July 5, 2001 Some buddies of mine and fellow POSSE members (you have to read the refreshinglook.com message boards to understand), Tim & Dan, decided to spend the 4th (and 5th) at HersheyPark. Since they were coming all the way from Ohio, I figured I'd meet them there. Plus as many of you might know, I've never been there. It was a pretty uneventful drive up. I managed not to hit any rush hour traffic around DC, B-more, and Harrisburg. I actually got there a little before the 10am opening so I went down to a gas station and bought some cinnamon rolls to munch on. As I headed into the HP parking lot, I saw something that made me sick to my stomach. That night, in the Hershey Arena, there was a concert by none other than the Backstreet Boys. Oh BROTHER! Visions of little screaming white 12-year-old old girls invaded my consciousness. However, I resolved to have a good time anyway. We chose to meet right at the main gates at opening, and right as I walked up, there they were. Since they had spent the previous day there, they were my tour guides (Ohio kids guiding me around a park that wouldn�t be so much of a stretch for me to call home � Yes, Greg, I am ashamed). Anyway, after paying the 26 bucks to get in (I had a coupon/Coke cans) we were off. They suggested that we head all the way to the back of the park to the �Midway America� section. They used that technique the day before and were able to get in several rides on Lightning Racer with minimal waits. I had heard that HP stays crowded (not to mention the BSB concert) so any way to avoid crowds was something I wanted to do. And with that, after a brief opening delay, I found myself in the second row of �Lightning� (aka the red side) of:
Lightning Racer (GCI racing & dueling wooden twisters) We ran back around and found ourselves in the rear of �Thunder� (aka the green side). This ride I enjoyed more. There was a good ejection on the first twisting drop and pops here and there. The bar still hurt me, but it was a fun ride. The layouts of the two coasters were not noticeably different. Some of the crossovers may have happened at different times (or were mirrored) but I think they are pretty much the same ride. With that in mind, I came to the conclusion that the only reason I liked this ride better than the first one was because of where I sat. So, I had to try Lightning in the back for fairness. I did, and I liked it more back there too. For completeness, we rode Thunder in near the front, too, and it performed just like Lightning. Lightning Racer is a very enjoyable coaster. It's high on my �just for fun� list. It's not the "-est" coaster, but I could easily ride this thing all day ('specially once I learned the secret, but I'm getting ahead of myself). We moved over to the other woodie in the area and GCI's first creation:
Wildcat (GCI wooden twister)
The Wild Mouse (Mack wild mouse) Well, it was time to leave Midway Ameica and head on to the rest of the park. Since I was the newbie, they let me decide the way to go. Not being truly enthusiast minded, I figured we'd just hit whatever we passed. Since I had never been there, I wanted to take in the whole park. I guess I should interject this now. The theming in this park (and surrounding area) is hit or miss. The MA area, the main gate area, and the Pioneer Frontier are excellent - beyond excellent (this is more of the theming I like, Nate, not that fantasy crap =]). But some of it had no apparent underlying theme (Comet hollow) or that theme was randomly ignored (a dolphin show in Mine Town?). Overall, it reminded me a little of Six Flags Great America and Paramount�s Kings Island, so that was cool. They had tons of flowers and trees were everywhere (except in MA, but what state fairground have trees anyway?). It was a visually pleasing park. Well, the next coaster we came upon was:
Sidewinder (Vekoma boomerang)
Trailblazer (Arrow Mine Train) We moved down (literally downhill) into Comet Hollow, and encountered the Comet. The queue line for Comet was full. I was willing to wait, but Tim suggested trying something else and coming back as "the line can�t get any longer". That logic sounded good so we moved over to:
SooperDooperLooper[registered trademark] (Schwarzkopf
steel single-looping terrain coaster).
Great Bear (B&M Steel Inverted: 4-inversions)
Coal Cracker (Arrow Log Flume)
Comet (Herbert Schmeck double out 'n back woodie) With that, I looked down at my watch and noticed it was only a little after 1pm. In less than four hours we had challenged all the park's coaster tracks (including two each on Thunder & Lightning). We toyed with the idea of driving an extra hour or so up to Knoebels, but the thought of me needing to drive four hours home didn�t sit well, so that will have to be another day. Anyway, we lunched at a full service restaurant right outside the main gates (but still a Hershey property) called Pippin's. I had the pierogie stir fry (a cross between polish and chinese?) and it was really good. The cost averaged out to a little over ten bucks per person, but I was alright with that. We then took the Chocolate World tour - a bad idea so soon after a potato laden lunch. The ride gave a good history of the factory in a gentle Epcot "Spaceship Earth" kind of way. But I was ready for a nap and this almost put me over the top. We re-entered the park and took the monorail ride, another relaxing historical narrative. By now my body was screaming for sleep. I decided that the next thing we did had to be fast so we went back to the fastest ride in the park - GB. This time the line for the front was shorter so we went for it. It was here that I decided that it was slightly better than Raptor. You could actually feel some forces (not Fire Dragon-like by any means) and there are tons of footchoppers on the straightaways. Also, on the straightaway into the I-man, there are caution markings all on the ground - a neat addition. That woke me up a little. We went over and rode the Condor, then headed into the Zoo America portion of the park. It was cool that they had it there, but we breezed through rather quickly ,as there was nothing particular to hold our interest. Also, the abundance of little kids was somewhat annoying. The only thing we did note is the Raven. We joked that we saw the Raven, but couldn't find the station (okay, it was funny to us). We were making jokes like that the whole time (because that's what the POSSE does). We kept fake asking (the GP, not the ops) "Do you get wet?" (on the log flume), "Does this go upside down?" (Sooperdooperlooper), "Does this go underwater?" (Lightning Racer). Whatever. We decided to take a quick spin on the train, then head back to Midway America for some more GCI goodness. Tim remarked that the previous day they did something similar and ended up getting rained out of a LR ride because it started to pour just as they got to the station. I looked up and noticed that the skies had gotten darker. It had been overcast all day, but I could now see darker patches above. Just as we got on the train, the winds started howling and the drops began to fall. After our ride we sprinted to the nearest arcade to wait it out. It was raining really hard and I knew it wouldn't last long. Plus I could see how fast it was moving, so I could tell our delay would be brief. A few minutes later the deluge stopped, and we were in the Wildcat's front row. Wildcat was running much better after the rain. It was still intense, but not painful, and there were brief hints of airtime. We then took a couple of spins on LR (one each side) and headed back to Comet Hollow. In Comet Hollow, we took a back seat ride on Comet and a front seater on Great Bear. All the lines we were seeing kept getting shorter and shorter, likely because of the Backstreet Boys concert next door. We headed, once again, to Midway America for more GCIness before the Laser Light show started. HP states that all MA rides may shut the lines down up to an hour before so as to set proper mood. We grabbed a quick second row ride on Wildcat (which had all the air of the front row and all the pain of the back row) and, after grabbing some quick snacks (I had popcorn chicken, bland at best), we wanted to end the night on the now tracer light adorned Lighting Racer. We experienced the long lines on LR at this time (still only about a four-train wait), mostly because everyone was in the back to see the laser show. We hit Thunder first, near the back, got off and hit Lightning in about the same place. As we were about to board, I noted that they must have closed the line as the station had cleared out. When we got back, there were, like, two groups waiting for the front seat. We asked the op if we could stay on and the guy just nodded and, with his hand, told us to stay put. So we got a re-ride to end the evening (I've been good at getting ending re-rides). There were five of us on the whole train and Lightning was hauling gluteus. I think it actually went faster near empty than full! After that, we posted up and watched the laser show. It was cool, I guess, but admittedly, I was bored by it. All that I was thinking of was the 2hr drive home. Finally the show ended, I bought a tee-shirt and bid adieu to my fellow POSSE members. I got in my car @ 11:20pm and, after fighting the �somewhat unorganized" exodus from the park, having credit card problems at the gas station, and an uneventful ride home, I was in my bed @ 1:50am, fully satisfied with my day at "The Sweetest Place on Earth" (TM) I think this is my longest trip report to date. If I were you all, I'd, like, ban me from writing them or something! =]
later days,
Okay, maybe you know, maybe you don�t, but HersheyPark has quickly jumped up to being one of my favorite parks. I definitely think it is the best "all-around-family-park" in the Mid-Atlantic region (yes, I actually went to BGW, but that's another trip report) and perhaps the best of all the parks I've been to (for that "all around" feel). After my first trip back in July, I knew I'd return again. Little did I know that I'd be back the very next month (August), this time with my parents in tow. They shared my feelings that it was an awesome park (Mom thought Wildcat was best, Dad was partial to Sidewinder). Anyway, HersheyPark decided to "do their part to help" after the atrocity of 9-11 and cancelled their �private function� on 9-29 in lieu of a special day (from 10am to 8pm) to raise charity money. They dropped the admission to just $12.95, waived the parking fee, and donated the full proceeds to the United Way (what class!). With such an opportunity, I just couldn't say no. I talked a fellow enthusiast from Richmond, VA into coming with me (Tim aka vacoasterfreak from Coasterbuzz). It was his first time at HP, and he's a bit of a history nut like Adam S.
The Day: Overcast aka mostly cloudly, chilly, high in
the high 50s low 60s We get to the park and, before we enter, we ran into some RRC folks. I don�t post to RRC so I didn�t really know them, but the Boulder Dash t-shirts jumped out at me. Sorry to say, they didn�t seem like my kind of folks (no offense meant) so Tim and I took off solo (or duo as it were =]). It was only about 10:15 when we got into the park (they gave everybody commemorative buttons) so we headed back to the Midway America area. On the way, we passed by the boomerang. The line was still closed, with an older gentleman guarding the entrance. I went over to ask them when they were going to open, but before I got there, he turned his back on us and got on the phone (how rude!). After about two minutes of conversation, he finally faced us, and we asked when would they open. He smiled gently and said, "How about now?" and let us in! Here I was thinking he was avoiding us, and really he was telling the folks on the platform to get ready. (I felt like an anus...). Away, we hopped right up and caught a ride on:
SIDEWINDER (Vekoma Boomerang) As we exited, we took a slight detour away from Midway America and went down a hill further into Pioneer Frontier. As we approached our next coaster, we could smell them grilling some beef in the smokehouse, and boy did it smell good (at this point, neither of us had eaten). Keeping our stomach in check we went and rode:
TRAILBLAZER (Arrow mine train) We now righted ourselves and pointed back in the direction of Midway America. We passed by the "big-honkin'-boat" ride which, understandably, had no riders braving it. Tim took a look at the drop (tallest this side of Perilous Plunge) and wanted to ride, but the temperature was prohibitive. Instead, we sojourned over to Mike Boodley's creation:
WILDCAT (GCI Twister) We strolled around Midway America, where our noses were assaulted with the smell of popcorn chicken and fried veggies. I was really starting to feel hunger pangs at this point. Being a history buff, Tim was impressed that HP had a whip. We got in line to ride, but Tim was a bit underwhelmed by the seeming lack of speed, so we opted out. It was near 11am, and I had arranged to meet CoasterBryan from URC. Since we were a little early, Tim convinced me (as if it was that hard) to go ahead and ride:
LIGHTNING RACER (racing/dueling GCI Twister) We waited around for another ten-fifteen minutes for CBryan, but didn�t run into him. So we took another spin, this time in the front of Lightning. We then went over to the mouse, but decided to wait until later, as we didn�t believe the line could get any longer. With that, we each purchased a snack (fries for him, fried veggies for me) and proceed to take the long hike over to Comet Hollow. We took the back path behind the rapids ride to try and figure out exactly where the new coaster would go (honestly, I cant tell). Strangely enough, back there they have benches where you could sit and watch the rapids riders. Even as chilly as it was, there were morons riding the thing. Oh it must be great to be young and insane! =] I here reiterate that Tim is a history fan. He's also tracked HP for many years, and had developed a somewhat �Mecca�-like affinity for:
COMET (Herb Schmeck "T"-shaped double out and back) Continuing into Comet Hollow and bypassing the Comet, we were again assaulted by smells of culinary delights. This time it was funnel cakes. Even though I had just finished an ample portion of veggies, the cakes were calling me, yet I passed so we could get in line for:
SUPERDOOPERLOOPER (Schwarzkopf single looper) Continuing through MineTown we were attacked by Ursa Major, aka:
THE GREAT BEAR (B&M 4-inversion Inverted) We went back towards Midway America for the neglected mouse. We started discussing flat rides and he mentioned an old ride @ PKD called the 'Apple Turnover'. My cousin had told me about that ride, but could never explain it well enough to me for me to be able to understand what it was. Well, right about then, we stumbled upon the self-same ride at HersheyPark.
CYCLOPS (HUSS Enterprise) Tim was bittersweet about the ride. Happy he rode it here, mad that PKD no longer has theirs (what happened to it?) We quickly hit another flat ride:
CONESTOGA (HUSS ? Rainbow) Just before entering MA, Tim once again perused the big boat ride. The sun had come out, though it was still chilly. He was almost convinced on riding, until these two fourteen-ish kids came off the ride, soaked to the core, shivering and stammering, "That was the stupidest thing we've ever done.� Tim was crestfallen. Continuing on, we skipped Wildcat (Tim couldn�t take another ride...wuss =P) and instead rode the remaining coaster:
WILD MOUSE (Mack wild mouse) Again we were attacked by the perfume of popcorn chicken as we went for another spin, this time in the back of Lightning. Since Tim wasn�t down for Wildcat again, we exited the Midway America area. Once again, Tim starts lamenting about the drop on the boat ride. At this point, I was a little tired of hearing about it so I said, "Screw it, let's do it!" Now, I know I'm not in my right mind, but I don�t expect it to be too bad. You see, I had on my somewhat water-resistant windbreaker and my waterproof windbreaker (swish-swish) pants. Tim, on the other hand, had all cotton shirts and cargo/khaki shorts. He just decided to take off all but one shirt so he'd have something dry to put back on. With that, we walked right on (as if there would be a line =]) and sat in the front seat of:
TIDAL FORCE (Intamin Shoot-the-Chutes) The lift hill is excruciatingly slow. When we get to the top, I noticed there was no water in the trough; instead, the boat ran on rails (can I count this as a coaster? hehehe). We went down the drop, but I really didn�t notice it because I was concentrating on the impending deluge. We hit the water and make a big splash, but the water doesn't come into the boat � well, not immediately, anyway. After about a two second delay, copious amounts of water come crashing over us. It seemed like the water kept coming and coming. There was a fair-sized crowd leaning over the railing, pointing and laughing at the "mentally deranged" riders (aka US!) We start screaming stuff like, "Turn Back", "Save Yourselves", and "That was REALLY STUPID". Then we got off and felt the wind - YIKES! Tim changed into his dry shirts, I rang out my socks, then suddenly I wanted an ice cream (as if I wasn�t cold enough). I joked about going on the rapids ride since we were already wet, but Tim was like, �Enough is enough!� We passed by Sidewinder again, and this time there was a bit of a line. Tim still wanted to ride, this time in the back seat (correction - front seat of the last car, more leg room =]). So we waited about twenty minutes to do so. I think I got a little tunnel vision in the loop going backwards. Still, I enjoyed it (boomers aren�t so bad after all). We went back towards Minetown and thought about the FLYING FALCON (HUSS Condor) and KISSING TOWER (Intamin GyroTower), but neither seemed worth the wait, so instead we snagged front row ride on �looper and a second row ride on Great Bear. Since we were now nearly dry, Ihad to get him on another water ride. This time it was:
COAL CRACKER (Arrow �hydroflume� log flume) It was now time to introduce Tim to �The Great Propaganda Machine" (TM Chris K.), the chocolate world tour. We went out of the park and took the little dark-ride-like tour. He found it interesting; I was a little bored, as it was my third time this year. But hey, you get a free little Hershey Bar so I can�t complain. We got back in the park and took the monorail tour. Again, a little uninspiring for me, but all part of the full HP experience. After that we took another quick ride on the Cyclops and headed back to comet hollow. It was nearing 7pm and we chose to hang out in Comet Hollow/Minetown because most of the rides in Midway America were closed due to a �Patriotic Laser Light Show.� We then rode Comet in the middle of the last car, and there was a hint of brutality there, especially at the bottom of the first drop. We moved over to �looper, which we were able to quickly walk on twice. We then joined the line for Great Bear, hoping to get a final front seat ride. When we got to the GB station, and they had already closed off the front seat queue (BOO!). Instead, we hopped in the back row and had a ride with a pocket or two of intensity (what?!?). I spied that they had yet to close off the line, so we ran back around to the entrance. The girl was just about to put the rope across the front, but she went ahead and waived us in. We were able to get in one final ride, in the back row, on the last train of the night. Once again, I had great fun on this trip. I really adore this park, as it seems to excel in all the right places. The food is decent (especially at Pippin's), the park is clean, the staff helpful/pleasant/efficient, and the rides offer a little something for everyone. Sure, they don�t have an ultra intense Montu/Kumba/S:ROS, but the coasters they do have are enough to even satisfy a �die-hard� enthusiast. The fact that they had this particular day just for charity only places the park higher in my regards. To sum up, I was truely "HersheyPark Happy" with my day at "The Sweetest Place on Earth" (TM).
lata,
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