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I almost begged off going to Hershey, having been whipped from two days of doing parks. I figured one of my main problems was not eatting enough and not staying hydrated enough, so I did both at Hershey and it turned out to be a wonderful day.
I arrived in Hershey, after a few mix ups, around noon. The park wasn't all that busy. I think the longest I waited for anything was Lightning Racer at 20 minutes (I cut that wait in half on my second ride and that was even front row)
Parking was a little confusing, and the huge auto show wasn't helping matters. It was cool to see hot rods going down Hersheypark Road during the day while going from ride to ride.
Anyways, I will start with the rides and give my impressions of the park afterwards.
Overall, the park was really clean and well themed. I could have done without the steep hills, but the park does a good job of marking them on the maps and also with park signage. It seemed like everything in the park was really packed together with a ton of things to do at every turn.
The employees were very friendly, something that seemed univeral on my trip out east. Ride operations were really good with the exception of the Lightning Racer crew that was only running one train to a side. Storm Runner crew was really cranking the trains out, though.
The food was VERY good, and reasonably priced. There is no shortage of other activities, although I didnt do any of them. There looked to be a zoo that was part of the park and there was a chocolate world and a museum of some sort. I also think there is some kind of tour of the factory, too. Anyone remember Willi Wonka? ;)
Definately, a park I will be returning to.
Certain victory.
I also had a great time at Dorney on Saturday for CbuzzCon. ERT was a blast!!
I wish I was able to stick to my original plan and hit Kennywood on Monday but with all the rain in the area I just went home. I figured Kennywood is close enough to me that I can go just about anytime this summer.
Now I get to start planning my big coaster trip for next summer. My plan is to start at PKD then go to BGW, then PCAR then over to Dollywood then SFKK and hopefully finish off at Holiday World.
Nice TR. I disagree about Wildcat not being a great coaster. A lot of people think the way you do, but it's one of my favorite rides.
I also disagree a little about GB. Uninspired it may be, but that predrop helix is freekin' scary if you don't remember it's there.
Hersheyparks Wild Mouse is like Dorneys? Every time I ride Hershey's, the brakes don't slow you down at all which makes for a very powerful ride.
Everything else I do agree with you about. Blissful is SR's double roll into a half loop.
It's interesting the comment you made about the mouse. I was completely thrown off-guard at DP when they were running the mouse like they were at HP. That wasn't the case in 2001 when it was heavily braked and not very exciting. Out of the flats, The Claw is probably the most intense, followed by the Chaos.
Certain victory.
I suppose it's more impressive to those of us who remember that part of the park without it. When you realize that everything else you see was already there and they fit this inverted coaster within it all, I guess I can just appreciate the engineering of it a bit more.
Lightning Racer really is where it's at. I've sampled some of what are supposed to be good wooden coasters, and have yet to find one that even compares ... well other than it's cousin across the midway, gotta disagree with you there. Wildcat wasn't as good as it could be on Sunday, but trust me, when it's kickin' it makes Lightning Racer look tame!
And of course, Storm Runner is one of my top 5ers, so gotta agree with you there! It's the one coaster that has it all - launch, loops, hills, steep drops, wild banking, airtime (ejector and floater), hangtime, and ends so quick that you're left wanting more! Can't beat it (well unless your in Agawam, Sandusky or Jackson and you're over 200' in the air! ;) )
ZooAmerica is very nice, I did it for the first time this trip, will definitely be going back. And you skipped the chocolate tour?!? Aww come on man! ;)
Hersheypark's one of my favorites, if not THE favorite park I've ever been to. As you said, there's something to do around every corner and the coaster collection gives great bang for the buck! Great TR.
Actually, nice TR. i woulda been at all 3 parks the same days as you, had I not had to cancel :(.
I'd be able to make it up those hills if I didn't take so many trips to the gravy buffet. *** Edited 5/27/2005 1:48:49 PM UTC by Kick The Sky***
Certain victory.
My buddy and I saw you on SR when we were walking by. Also, we were right behind you on the Mad Mouse at Dorney but didn't really say hi.
My only thing with Sooperdooperlooper was that the name to me sounded like tons of loops but am I missing something or is there only 1 loop, talk about an oxymoron.
Definitely missed out on the Chocolate Tour, that was pretty cool, I was disappointed though as I would have thought they might have had some kind of candy that I couldn't get here in DSM but alas it was all the same.
Lightning Racer kicked serious arse as did Storm Runner. I think the red side won everytime someone was riding (at least it was 3-4 times in a row when my buddy and I rode).
Skol Vikings
Let's shoot us some deer Joe Joe!!!!
I'm sure it was Sooper back in 1977 when it first opened. Believe it or not, people waited for 2 hours to get on that back then too.
If you're lucky, sometimes when you do the Chocolate World Tour Ride, you might get a sample of some new variety they're just trying out. That happened to us when they were adding new miniatures and new varieties of kisses. (I think we got one kiss each--- sigh, I remember the days when you'd get a FULL SIZE candy bar.) Nothing like having a built in market survey.
Talon has 4 inversions.Great bear has 4 inversions, with that said the forces are better on talon but the great bears is still a great ride as is talon. *** Edited 6/1/2005 1:10:14 AM UTC by nickpa610***
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