Father and Daughter trip-Part 1-HP- first time ever

The plan for this trip was to go from Miami, Fla. to Hersheypark and then Cedar Point. 3000 miles and 5 days. My daughter(10) was the only one traveling with me so it was to be a challenge to do all that driving.

We woke up on Saturday morning and took off from Miami at 7am. I decided we would stay by Washington D.C. and drive the last 2 hours the next morning to Hersheypark. We finally got in about 12am to the Marriott Crystal City. Not bad for $65 through priceline. We didn't have enough time to see the sights but the area looked beautiful. I guess since all those politicians live there they make sure it looks that way.

The next morning we drove the final 2 hours and arrived at the park at 10am. Great bear was the first coaster we hit. Overall it is short but a very good coaster. I've ridden much better inverts since i live close to IOA and BGT but it was still a fun ride.

Next up we got to Storm Runner. It didn't look all that impressive but our opinion quickly changed after riding it. Awesome launch but what makes it stand out is all that it does after it comes back down. Overall in my Top 5. More on SR later.

It was kind of cool but we went on Roller Soaker anyway. Of course we ended up getting soaked even though there was no one spraying us with water. Pretty fun. I'm sure it's a lot more fun on a sunny day with everybody manning the spray guns and a lot og people riding it.

The mine ride was boring and Lighting Racers were a big disappointment for me. I expected a ride with some laterals like Gwazi but I found both sides to be a bust. Wildcat was a different story and I thought it was a very good coaster with a cool layout. Comet was fun and a lot better than I expected.

Wild mouse was nothing to write home about but Sidewinder was pretty fun. A lot better than the only other Boomerand I've been on at Wild Adventures, GA.

We ate at the Chargrilled burger place by the wild mouse area. Not bad and decently priced.

The last ride we went on for the night was SR. We ended up waiting 2 hours because it broke down for about 30 minutes and we decided to wait for the front seat after they fixed it. The ride at night was possibly the single best coaster ride I've ever had. We were totally disoriented after the launch and the inversions were awesome. The front seat is definitely worth the wait. That launch is awesome! Much better than TTD at CP(TR coming).

I found the park to be very good but much smaller than I expected. The staff seemed very quiet but pleasant when approached. The park map completely sucks, though, and the signs in the park never really tell you where a particular ride is, just a particular section of the park.

I'd put the park at the level of say, PKI. A couple of steps above Wild Adventures but a couple of steps below CP.

It was well worth the drive and the variety of coasters were impressive.

Two thumbs up!!!

I myself really enjoy Storm Runner. It really rounds out the parks collection, and add some need intensity to their lineup. Being my home park I frequently visit, but if the line is longer than 20- 30 minutes I'll skip it.

I went yesterday(Thursday,) and it was just way too crowded. We(My son and I) took 3 rides on Lightning Racer, (The only coaster without a long wait.) and a ride on the Chaos. We then called it a day because it was way too hot out, and the crowds didn't make in anymore enjoyable.

I think its interesting that you think that Storm Runner's launch to be more intense then TTD. I haven't ridden TTD this season yet, but what I remember from last season it seemed more intense.

I agree with you about Millennium Force. That is the ride, but there are a few that I think are pretty close. I classify coasters differently in my personal ranking. I rank them by type, so I don't compare TTD to Millennium Force. The closest Hyper/Giga that I have ridden to MF is Nitro.

I have visited all the Florida parks last fall, and Montu is my favorite Invert with Alpie & Raptor in a close tie for 2nd. They do have a good collection of B&M's in Florida. Have you ridden Mummy at Universal yet?

*** Edited 7/31/2004 5:09:23 AM UTC by Coasterfantom2***

I found the launch on SR to really take the wind out of me. TTD's launch is intense but it didn't get me like SR's launch. I even bought the on-ride picture from SR because my daughter looked like Arnold in Total Recall when his eyes were bugging out of his head. I was yelling in the same pic. It's a classic pic and it's the only on-ride pic I've ever bought. Regardless, SR is hands down the better coaster, IMO.

I haven't ridden Mummy yet but I will in a couple of months as I'll be in orlando for a week.

What I love about MF is that the track seems so thin on the way up and it has no mid-course brake. I feel like I'm on a thin belt on the way up. MF at night is just an amazing ride. I was lucky enough to get 12 rides on a Friday in September 3 years ago.

Raptor seems a lot more compact than Montu and for me it is more intense. I love Montu and wasn't ready to give Raptor such a high praise but it really impressed me. Fuuny thing is I didn't think Mf would be that goo before I rode it in 2001 and it too blew me away.

Go figure!

I don't see any problems with Hershey's map. What was your issue with it?

First, the signs should give an indication of where particular rides are, not just the sections they are in. The map seemed like it was backwards at times and the coaster entrances were not easy to get to because the pathways did not match the map. I spoke to someone in line at TTD and she had a lot of problems with finding the rides from the map like I did.

I just think they should make the signs inside the park point to individual rides. That's what people want to find anyway, not the sections of the park. As an aside, CP, HP and probably a ton of other parks should have sings at the entrance posting the wait times for the major coasters. That way you don't have to walk 3 miles to find a 2 hour line. IOA does it and it helps quite a bit.