97 Degrees and Rain Falling Fast ... Hershey 6/28

I went to Hershey Saturday for my first trip since hurting my shoulder. I placed the arm in a sling and made sure to keep it where it could not get hurt worse.

I'll keep it brief with a show and ride rundown.

Shows:

Wild Country - Good popular country music song and dance show.

Lightning Strike - Good show using some not well known music to the general public. Blue Man Group's Rock Concert Movement and I Feel Love along with a highlight version of the Drum Solo from Blast!

Never 2nd Fiddle - Good country show with a band playing songs that feature the fiddle.

Rides:

Frontier Flyers - No snapping but a fun ride. I really think they can be snapped under the perfect conditions as I can get it almost to the proper motions.

Wildcat - Two laps and it seems to be smoother this season than last. Will they please figure out why it sounds like a dying sea lion at the brake run? General public don't like that sound.

Lightning Racer (Thunder) - I only rode Thunder and it's still got a spot that noticably slows the train. Thunder did win a few runs but lost on my lap. Never got back to ride Lightning.

Storm Runner - Still the same ride fun with a little roughness due to harnesses.

Great Bear - One of the most underrated inverts. Not quite Alphengeist/Raptor/Talon level but definitely in the Batman level to me.

Fahrenheit - I know this has been critiqued to death already but I have to say it. I don't think the enthusiasts are going to like it but the General Public eats it up. My first ride was very underwhelming. But then when I rerode I think I understand what the plan was. The plan seemed to be "let's not make something too crazy but something that will be fun." By the way I think this is a back row ride all the way. I rode in rows 1,2,3 one time each and row 6 twice. Assigning of seats can make it ugly in the station at times but I understand the reason for it.

Food:
Food was ok. Hamburger and iced tea for 8 dollars and then hot dog and g2 for 6.

Park Apperance and staffing:
Very clean and staff was on top of their game.

Overall:
Overall it was a fun day at the park. One bad rainstorm around 2pm but other than that a great day at the park.

LOL... we always thought the sound at the end of Wildcat was a turkey call! I guess growing up in the woods of NEPA you have a different perspective.

I agree about Fahrenheit, it is definately not an "enthusiast" ride. It was fun, full of forces, and the lift/drop is something that intrigues most bystanders. Nice placement in the park too allowing it to become a spectator attraction.

And now the record for Fahrenheit being 97 degrees will be shattered by Steel Hawg. *sigh* Hershey had the record for what? A second? I wanna ride Steel Hawg now! Heh...

I'm glad to see that you didn't get rained out and also that you found the time to do the shows and some flat rides. I typically go for the twilight admission or whatever it's called there, so I rush rush rush to do the coasters. I'd like to have a full day at Hersheypark some day.

I make sure to spend time doing different things each visit to Hershey. I have a season pass so it's never a rush around the park visit. I actually normally do more riding of flats than I did Saturday but the 1-2 hour line for Fahrenheit and the rain for 30 minutes and 30 minutes to get Great Bear running after it stopped changed that plan.

I think that with me, coasters are okay to ride by myself, but flat rides really almost require omeone to ride WITH. However, since I typically travel to parks by myself, I sort of feel like a dumbass with everyone watching me while I spin. :)

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bunky666 said:
And now the record for Fahrenheit being 97 degrees will be shattered by Steel Hawg. *sigh*

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And Cedar Point will be mightily peeved at having to change the spiel for Maverick twice in one season.

Jim: Bwahahahahaha! Must get irritating, huh? Same with Top Thrill being overcome by Kingda Ka. And Magnum being overtaken by just about every other hypercoaster out there within a few years. Hehehe....

Records are made to be broken.

Why doesn't SOME savvy park owner recognize that the defining moment on Mavy, Fahrenheit, etc. is the *extreme* pop of airtime and build a ride with six or eight of those? :)

Fahreheit was fun, not really fond of vertical lifts...

Larson skooters are quite snappable, and I'm convinced that the real *issue* with snapping is more one of maintenance and strain on the gears. It is NOT a safety issue...IMO.

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bunky666 said:
And Magnum being overtaken by just about every other hypercoaster out there within a few years.

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Magnum undeservedly gets no love in this area.

It's still tied for the 28th tallest coaster in the world. Crazy, huh?

In this age of bigger, faster, more where you can go 128 miles per hour and 456 feet up on a coaster, that little 20 year old ride in Sandusky is still among the 30 tallest coasters on Earth.

Sometimes I think we forget how special a 200+ foot coaster still really is.

It actually held the title of tallest coaster (assuming we ignore Moonsault Scramble - which we are) for 5 years.

It's still one of the top 40 fastest and longest in the world, and has a drop height in the top 30 of all coasters in existence.

I dunno. Just something that comes up once in a while that I find interesting - there's still only 37 coasters on this planet that take you 200 feet or more into the air.

There's only 37 or so? That's amazing! I figured with the rate that B&M is churning out hypercoasters and the way Intamin likes to push the limits with height, there would definitely be a greater number than that. Still, take the major players out there in amusement parks, and you have Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and whatever is out in the rest of the world. You know Disney's not going to do a hypercoaster, and many of the other parks are smaller, independently owned, and not into the business of making necessarily the "tallest" coasters. Never thought of that.

Of course, Magnum is tied with Steel Force. ;)

I like Magnum better than Steel Force. Magnum's tunnels are longer and seem better placed, and the bunny hops feel more powerful. (I don't know whether they really are, or if it's just the psychological effect of not having the trim brake right in your face before them.)

Haven't been on Magnum yet. It looks like you get a longer ride with prettier scenery (than just a stupid parking lot in Steel Force's case), but I've heard that Steel Force is a much smoother ride.