One day trip

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horsesboy

horsesboy

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Jun 16, 2013
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So call me crazy if you wish but with the news of Wildcat's closure I have decided to make a day trip up to Hershey next week in order to secure the credit on it. It's right at about 4 hours each way according to the Waze for me and I am planning on leaving early enough to be there by gate open. I prepurched a single day ticket with meal voucher while they were on sell so I will be eating in park. I also pre purchased their version of a fast pass. Would I would like is any suggestion on what the must rides should be since I think I likely am looking at about 5 to 6 hours there.
 
Lots of the coasters there are must rides to me, but a couple stand out.

Storm Runner (if open) is really an awesome experience. This one may be controversial as a "must ride", but Lightning Racer is a really good wooden coaster in my eyes. Comet is cool since it's historical and whatnot but often gets some crazy lines so it is skippable to me. Fahrenheit is cool to a lot of people, but I think it's gimmicky and meh, up to you really. Great Bear isn't a special invert, but it's a super enjoyable one, and typically doesn't have much of a line in my experience. I haven't been since Candy Town, but I expect it to be a good hyper. Laff Trak, SDL, and Sidewinder are skippable to me.

Above all, don't miss Skyrush. It is the quintessential must ride of the park.

I will say if you are going on a weekend in the summer expect huge crowds and extreme heat, as most of the pathways are not at all tuned to help with heat (pavement, low shade).

This one may be a weird recommendation, but I honestly would recommend planning your route a little bit if you're on such a time crunch. Hersheypark's layout is a bit confusing from a flow perspective, and you can easily find yourself wasting a ton of time ending up places you've already been. I know it sounds dumb, but it seriously took me a few visits for me to be able to know where the hell I'm going most of the time, when typically I'm good to go after one lap. I still get turned around and I've been going there since I was a kid every now and then.

Hope you enjoy the park, it's a really solid park with the only real shortcomings being the food and entertainment side of things in my mind.
 
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With a fast pass you should be able to do most everything if you are sticking to the dry park.

Fahrenheit is very unique, and IMO, the best overall ride in the park. Storm Runner and Skyrush are both solid. The two B&Ms are nice rides, but nothing spectacular. The boomerang has been updated and would be worth checking out as it doesn’t have the head banging issue with the vest restraints.
 
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How is Coal Cracker and Tidal Force?
 
As far as coasters go: Comet, Fahrenheit, Great Bear, Laff Trakk, Lightning Racer, Skyrush, sooper door Looper, Storm Runner, & Wildcat only for the purposes of it closing. Which is honestly all the coasters, but Hershey has a very solid lineup most rides are very unique.

Hershey's Wild Mouse is pretty standard, but if you have Fast Track and you're on that side of the park, then why not. Trailblazer is a mediocre mine train and you won't miss much. If you've ridden a boomerang, then obviously skipping Jolly Rancher Remix is not a big deal, but it does have Vekoma trains so the ride is tolerable.

I absolutely loved Coal Cracker because the boat kind of skips across the water at the bottom of the drop. Haven't been on Tidal Force.

But overall, like others have said... plan your route. The park is very spread out and walking around the water park to get to Laff Trakk and Lightning Racer is a hike. Fahrenheit has terrible capacity so keep that in mind and you will definitely have to hit all the rides in groups.
 
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The Jolly Rancher Remix was fun. I was disappointed with Great Bear compared to Alpengeist, and Candymonium compared to Apollo’s…but Skyrush and Storm Runner are must dos. Laff Track was also interesting, it’s no Cobras Curse but it’s a fun way to cool off since it’s indoors
 
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Anything a slightly larger rider should avoid?
 
I know no one cares about my opinion but here you go:
Candymonium-good not great ride front right for the outerbank and 5 second hill
Comet- try to leave your seatbelt loose for some quality airtime
Fahrenheit-super good and fast track really helps for this
Great Bear-very disappointing but fast track helps a lot
JRR-Boomerang but it smells nice
Laff Trakk-really good, definitely gets overlooked
Lightning Racer-racing/dueling is fun but no forces
Skyrush-NEXT LEVEL (ride in back for religious experience)
SDL-not great, has a loop I guess
Storm Runner-this feels weird saying but it didn’t do a whole lot for me. Still 3rd best in park tho
Trailblazer-used to be my number one when I was like 7 but now it’s boring
Wild Mouse-same old same old but gives good views of skyline
Wildcat-good forces and pretty smooth in back
HTT-very fun drop tower
Don’t miss the dark ride in chocolate world it’s free and something to do if you get there early
 
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warfelg said:
Coal Cracker is a charming old flume. Skip Tidal Force.
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I love Coal Cracker. I like how it meanders through some the Great Bear supports.

As far as Tidal Force goes, if the line is short and you wanna get DRENCHED and SOAKED then give it a go. I've not been on a chutes ride that has gotten me so wet.
 
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horsesboy said:
So call me crazy if you wish but with the news of Wildcat's closure I have decided to make a day trip up to Hershey next week in order to secure the credit on it. It's right at about 4 hours each way according to the Waze for me and I am planning on leaving early enough to be there by gate open. I prepurched a single day ticket with meal voucher while they were on sell so I will be eating in park. I also pre purchased their version of a fast pass. Would I would like is any suggestion on what the must rides should be since I think I likely am looking at about 5 to 6 hours there.
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So a few things:
Waze says 4, count on 4.5-5.

If you want a snack while traveling, and you go up 83, stop at Shrewsbury. It’s the first exit into PA. Instead of going left to all the shopping, go right. The gas station is always well stocked.

As far as I’m HP itself:
Comet is a must do but lines get extremely long.
SooperDooperLooper is a must do as well.
LaffTrak is a good credit for rarity.
StormRunner is a good one.
LR is usually close to walk on due to it being a capacity monster.

Fahrenheit is all about the wait for me. It’s not worth long waits. Ditto for Great Bear, Candymonium, and the towers.

Coal Cracker, Turnpike, and Kissing Tower are classics that are must rides.

It’s a shame you don’t have more time. Skip all the shows due to them taking up time but Hershey usually has some really good ones. Be on the lookout for the roaming bands though and pause to listen to them. Also a shame that ZooAmerica is out due to time because it’s a nice break to the day usually.

Kettle Corn at Hershey is always a must for me. I dunno if the Smokehouse by Trailblazer is open or not but it puts Trappers to shame big time. If not, Hershey has leaned heavy on outside vendors doing food and it’s a shame as there isn’t much unique anymore. I heard the Pepsi drink stop is good though. Took the place of BBLZ which was amazing so that’s a shame. The Funnel Cakes are good. 1906 Grill has good food, but due to its easy location is get packed all day so I never really ate there.

I bet Chocolate World will be packed, but swing through later in the day. It is kinda worth it. No need for the 4D show. The tour is nice if you can do it. The food court is good and you can get any can’t you could imagine from Hershey there. Even stuff you’ve likely never seen.
 
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Howl-O-Scream Fanatic said:
On the flip side, if you are still planning on using your legs, skip Skyrush unless you want to not be able to feel your lower extremities.
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I still hate that this always has to come up. I mean, I don't have any issues and I know many others that don't either but, above all, I hate that everyone feels the need to make sure everyone getting on the ride for the first time is specifically looking for how bad their legs hurt as opposed to actually enjoying the ride. I wonder how many people would not have the opinion that the restraints are painful had they not heard the echo chamber prior.... unfortunately we'll never know.
 
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CoasterTalkBob said:
I still hate that this always has to come up. I mean, I don't have any issues and I know many others that don't either but, above all, I hate that everyone feels the need to make sure everyone getting on the ride for the first time is specifically looking for how bad their legs hurt as opposed to actually enjoying the ride. I wonder how many people would not have the opinion that the restraints are painful had they not heard the echo chamber prior.... unfortunately we'll never know.
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I had remained out of the SR conversations until after I had ridden it for the first time in 2017. Up until that point, the only thing I heard was from a fellow ride op who loved it. Once I was on it, I hated every second after the first drop due to the thigh crush. Every airtime moment was ruined by the pain of the harness diggin into me and every positive-G moment made the harness push down more. I don't know of any other coasters that temporarily release the harnesses on the break run to relieve riders of the pressure. Needless to say, I didn't ride it again that day. I think it would be a great ride, just needs better restraints. For me, its a one ride per day ride. My major point is that I would guess the general opinion of the GP is that SR does hurt and its reputation is not just bad because of some thoosies on the internet.

Back to the OP at hand, I have only been to HP a few times, between 2017 and 2018. My most surprising rides ( ie the ones I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much) were Super Dooper Looper, Wildcat (it was smoother back then), and Storm Runner. I am a bit sad about Wildcat, but seeing recent POV's of how rough it's gotten, I say it's time for an overhaul. I just wish they were doing a retrack or if RMC has to be involved, a topper track.
 
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The harness issue on Skyrush is annoying for maybe 5-10 minutes afterward. I wouldnt let it be a reason to avoid the ride. Honestly the headache I get from the jack hammering on Comet is worse.
 
Fahrenheit could be an issue due to wait except for having fastpass. I bit the bullet and waited an hour on my first visit as it was that time most of the day, could have waited until near close but I ended up using that to get a second round on LRacer and then marathoned Storm Runner until close. So amazing as it got dark.

Great Bear is, maybe even more than most inverts, subjective to me. I love the late day rides but not the early ones, but don't know if that would change if I skipped the early round. I don't think Skyrush restraints are bad as much as not up to the extreme ejector forces involved. I hold onto the bar directly to each side of my body to pull down against the force. Just make sure nothing in your pocket comes between the bar and leg. Still more accommodating than El Toro.

Overlook is air conditioned and I finally found the entrance near the drop towers, didn't try the food but laid down on a bench in there for a while. Smokehouse is ala carte with entrees the price of a whole meal and ribs by themselves left me feeling kind of miserable.
 
There's two tricks.

1) Pull the restraint down until it's about to contact your thigh, and then buckle the seatbelt and pull that until it's actually touching your thigh. The restraint won't slam down on you on the first drop.
2) Tuck your legs under the seat going over the air time hills especially if you're on a wing seat, it'll be a weird experience at first but it will save your thighs the experience of attempted amputation.
 
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