A great day at Hersheypark! - August 15th

JD and I pulled into the parking lot after 2 hours of driving at around 9:30. We rode a few coasters before we met up with one of his Moms and his half brother at noon. We had a most excellent time...

This list of rides is in the order I/we rode them. We went back for rerides on most rides during our visit. The wait times for each ride varied a lot.

Superduperlooper - (8/10) Walk on except for a 2-3 train wait for the front - This coaster is always a nice surprise. We rode in the front a bunch of times during the day. It was the first and last coaster of JD's visit...Just a fun and smooth ride. My favorite part is after the tunnel when it zig-zags and then drops into the helix.

Flying Falcon? (6/10) 3 cycle wait - I almost always forget about this flat and miss it. It's a really fun ride, which is hellped by the height.

Trailbalzer - (6/10) 0-3 train wait - I would have rated this ride lower, but it seemed to be running faster than I remember it. It's still lame, imho, just not as lame. JD loved it like most young kids, so I guess that's why it's still popular.

Lightning Racers - (10/10) 0-3 train wait except for the front which was 3-6 - This coaster is the bomb! It was very smooth and fast. When I rode it last year it seemed to loose a lot of speed after the second turnaround and meandered over and under the opponent, but not today. It was as fast and as powerful as the first day it opened.

It has been said here lately that Lightning wins more than Thunder. I watched closely today and notice this is not true, at least when I was on the ride. To me they seemed to be winning about even.

Wildcat - (10/10) 10-30 minute wait - I love this ride more than any wooden coaster, except for Beast of course (but Beast doesn't really count because it's in a league of it's own). This visit I noticed that Wildcat was almost as smooth as LR. It was fast, intense, and way out of control.

I just got new glasses, and these have a magnetic sunglasses atachment. I thought they would stay put, but after the first drop one side of the sunglasses detached from my glasses (which were being held on by a adjustable rope accessory) and fell into my screaming mouth. The other side came loose and I had to hold my sunglasses in my mouth the whole ride. I wanted to laugh, but I needed to keep my mouth closed to hold onto them.

Sidewinder - (7-10) 0-30 minute wait - I don't know why I like this boomerang any more than the clones at other parks. Maybe it's the setting. JD almost rode this but was freaked out every time he tried by the train screaming through the station. JD's 8 year old brother loved it and rode it twice though.

Mad Mouse - (8/10) 15 minute wait - This is the best mouse I have ever been on. You can't even feel the brakes catch before the turns. It was on of the only coasters JD's Mom rode, and it really scared her a lot (lol). I love how the back of this ride is on top of a hill and seems so much higher than it really is.

The Claw - (8/10) 20 Minute wait - It feels like the ride is sitting still and the earth is moving around you. At the end of the cycle, a ride opp was stopping the turning of the ride by hand. I like this ride a lot.

Train - (7/10) 2 train wait - If it was just a little bit larger of a traln and a little bit longer of a ride, I would love this train ride.

I went to Chocolate World with JD and his family and we rode the Tour ride and shopped a little. JD was going home with his Mom, so I said good bie to them and re-entered the park. Now I could ride a few more rides all by myself...

Storm Runner - (10/10) 45 Minutes for the front seat - WOW! I never rode this in the front before! It was already one of my favorite rides ever. This was the only ride I have ever lost my sense of direction on...Dropping out of the last inversion, I couldn't tell which way was up or down.

SR had no downtime all day, from what I could tell.

Great Bear - (7/10) 15 minute wait - This was my last ride of the day. It is a fun ride in the dark. I wish it was longer.

...

Hersheypark was a great time. If I had to find something to complain about, it would be that the Pizza I got from the large Pizza eatery near Roller Saoker was cold. That and the 6 lanes of traffic merging into 6 lanes of traffic while exiting. That's ALL I can complain about.

If you haven't been to Hersheypark within the last 10 years, GO!

EDIT- Spelling *** Edited 8/17/2005 5:48:53 AM UTC by dexter***

Nice TR. However, let me change your ending... "if you haven't been this year... GO."

Obviously, somebody at Hershey checked out my comments about the racing. :)

I'm a bit surprised to see SDL getting so much positive reaction on the TRs this year, which is a good thing. And Trailblazer well, is Trailblazer. I just figure it's a nice ride for the little ones to get their first coaster credit. You have to start somewhere.