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I highly recommend reading that full Twitter thread—tons of good, well-relayed information there.

The special effects tunnel on the coaster with multiple different, randomized, flavor-themed sequences is especially fantastic. Also, scent machines? Insanely clever. This is a top tier renovation by Hershey!
 
I think a cohesive theme is the only thing HP needs to make me really enjoy the park. Combined with the disorienting layout, the random themes of rides and areas of the park really gave me a jumbled experience where unless I was in a total ride-junky mood, the park experience was nothing fantastic.
 
The entrance for Sidewinder will be relocated across from Storm Runner's to make room for Mix'd.

I also am concerned because this was one of the few spots in the park with any intentional landscaping and that's getting removed for a Nebulaz.
 
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I think a cohesive theme is the only thing HP needs to make me really enjoy the park. Combined with the disorienting layout, the random themes of rides and areas of the park really gave me a jumbled experience where unless I was in a total ride-junky mood, the park experience was nothing fantastic.
It’s really never been a theme park. It’s always been pure amusement park. The pioneer area was really the only exception.
 
My only issue is two VERY similar names for the rides. Remember when The House on Haunted Hill and The Haunting of Hill House were both coming out in the theaters within a week of each other? Maybe a slightly different name on one of them?
 
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It’s really never been a theme park. It’s always been pure amusement park. The pioneer area was really the only exception.
I know that, but I personally enjoy even a loose attempt at theming. I like the direction they are going with at least attempting for things to make sense, it is an upgrade in my book.
 
It’s really never been a theme park. It’s always been pure amusement park. The pioneer area was really the only exception.
HP is more of a food park first that happens to have a big amusement park built in between it. The closest analogy I can think of is Oktoberfest in Munich where it's a huge beer and food fest with lots of rides intermixed.
 
I highly recommend reading that full Twitter thread—tons of good, well-relayed information there.

The special effects tunnel on the coaster with multiple different, randomized, flavor-themed sequences is especially fantastic. Also, scent machines? Insanely clever. This is a top tier renovation by Hershey!
My last run in with scent machines wasn't so great.
 
HP is more of a food park first that happens to have a big amusement park built in between it. The closest analogy I can think of is Oktoberfest in Munich where it's a huge beer and food fest with lots of rides intermixed.

Not sure that I agree with this assessment. Hershey didn't really strike me as much of a "food park" at all; in fact, it seemed like their food venues and selections were fairly limited. Honestly, I'd consider Hershey one of the most textbook "big amusement parks" I can think of.

Super excited about these additions though!
 
It's clever, but I'm not sure i need to smell artificial candy scents on a coaster or even when passing by. It could prove kinda unpleasant.
 
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Isn't Chocolate World managed by a completely different arm of the company?

It's officially owned by the Hershey Company proper whereas the amusement park is owned by Hershey Entertainment & Resorts but the property that Chocolate World on is actually owned by the Hershey Company. The Hershey Company proper and Hershey Entertainment & Resorts are both connected in with the Milton Hershey School in this whole web of legalese that you have to throw up onto a cork board to understand properly, it's wild.

However despite being owned by a different company they both tend to have similar levels of maintenance care taken, as someone who's worked for both companies. Smell machine isn't all that important when most of the work goes into making sure the projectors, animatronics, and effects like the "chocolate" pouring works consistently.
 
Hershey has a great ride lineup. Re-rideable coasters, flats and a decent amount of total family rides (train, monorail, skytower, cars, dark ride, etc)

Their live entertaiment venues and shows are very limited. However, 2 of the best theme park shows that I have ever seen were at Hershey. "Livewire" by Davenport in 2014, and the perfectly flawless "Dance Dance Dance Heartbeat" by Chip Abbot through RWS in 2017.

However, Hershey's "theming" has become nothing more than shameless advertising and promotion of their low-quality candy. They only dregree of theming" to this is that they are made to look lake a candy wrapper (which typically ends up being trash). Its super tacky. Six Flags putting advertisement wraps on coaster trains is pretty awful, this takes it to another level or ugly.

The park used to have a lot of themed and barely themed sections
Tudor Square - themed
Rhineland -small themed section
Der Dietschplatz - very small themed section
Carrousel Circle - unthemed
Comet Hollow - unthemed
Minetown - themed
Kissing Tower Plaza -unthemed
Pioneer Frontier - unthemed
Music Box Way - unthemed
Midway America - originally well themed, pre-Laff Trak

Several years ago they combined many of these sections into more generic sections, and went the direction of this candy wrapper theming.

For the argument that a candy company should themed to candy, Chocolate Town is an excellent example of how bad their theming has become. Its a bunch of generic brick buildings. Nothing remotely Willy Wonka-ish. I know Willy Wonka is not Hershey, but using that as an example of what proper chocolate theming would be.

This Jolly Rancher theming, right in the middle of Pioneer Frontier (one of the few cohesively themed parts of the park) is a mess.

They also lack severely in the landscaping dept unless things have changed since my last visit. They wheel out planters each year instead of actually planting anything in the ground.

Although i feel the theming of the boomerang is not that great, i do think re-theming old coasters and adding new features as a new attraction is a genius idea. I have thought for years that Kings Island should be re-theming Adventure express to a wintery, barvarian mountain railroad.

IMO Hershey rates about a 9 and an amusement park, and about a 2 as an actual theme park/beauty.
 
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