Hercules to be replaced by B&M floorless at Dorney

The 1st drop's angle was never modified.

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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003

This is a long and random thought post.. I apologize in advance.

Removing Herc was the right move and I am certainly surprised it took this long, but I do have a few complaints about this announcement.

To go along with Steel Force Guy's post above, I too can remember when Hercules was brand new. The park entrance was right next to Thunderhawk and all that was up near Hercules was this flat ride called Top Gun or something like that, and one of those boat tag pay per shot attractions. To this day, this ride is visually stunning and can be seen from basically anywhere in the park. Seeing a floorless up there is going to be a drag and theres really nothing they can do about that, unless of course the structure is WOOD. haha yea right. Anyway...

Hercules was simply terrifying back then. People would look up and stare at that monster and you always heard how intense it was. I remember my first trip through that turn above the water and thinking I was about to die. It was a good feeling somehow and this coaster was possibly THEE biggest reason why I have been a junkie to this day. Nothing at that time could match the sheer intensity of this ride in the early 1990's. Because I was a mere child back then I do not actually remember the ride much, but that turn I will never forget. I do remember that train crash, which made the ride even more infamous soooo...

Here is my first complaint. To this day, if you ask someone about Dorney Park who has not been there in 10 years.. they will tell you about how scary Herc is. This ride was a huge deal and many people still probably think it is.

Now, from a business standpoint, I would have announced this and kept it open.. marketing Herc's final days. Next I would have watched people from the LV flock to get one last ride on this beast before its final run. I'm trying to look at this outside the coastergeek community (that I too am a part of)where Hercules being ripped down is like Major League Baseball closing up shop. Even so, I seriously think with the help of newspaper and word of mouth it could definitely make some $$$ for them this fall. Marketing this beast's last season would be an awesome idea. I swear they'd have many many more people in the parks for halloweekends than ever before. From the looks of it, this announcement has been planned for some time and the ride can still be run as well as it has this year.

I must say that building a coaster in Herc's place gets me excited, but is a floorless ride good to put here? I'm not so sure. The landscape for Hercules is extrememly unique. After all it did have a 150+ foot hill with only a 80 foot or so lift hill. I always envisioned a ride that climbed up and dove straight down that cliff, and now that thats obviously possible.. I'd do it in a heartbeat. Yea Yea.. That superman floorless uses a cliff... but Dorney doesn't have near enough space. To give Dorney credit however, this ride is going underground 5 times, which gets me pretty damn interested. I hope that underground doesn't actually mean tunnels. I assume the initial design is done because they already know to the foot how far this thing is going to be from those roads and houses. I WANT TO SEE IT!

Those are really my only complaints. I'm definitely for tearing Herc down and am glad that it remained for this long, but I realize that it has got to go. Let me tell you about my last ride.. one that I would have remembered even if it wasn't my last.

I was up to Dorney around August 20th this year with a few of my friends for a full day at Dorney (which is something I hardly ever pull off anymore). Our last ride of the day I had a brilliant idea. It was hot as hell and no one felt like waiting in line for any water rides. We went to the taco bell, each got a nice big cup of free water, walked up Herc's steps and got in line for the very last car. Once we smuggled on our beverages and survived through the first turn around before the lift hill, we took the lids off of those pepsi cups and made a toast. Then we attempted to drink our lid-less cups through "the turn" and well.. thats how I turned Herc into a water ride. We laughed through the whole trip and it easily became the best ride of the day. Yea maybe this broke a few rules or whatever but we were in the last car and only we were the ones getting soaked. I truely believe this was my best trip on the Herc and I'm glad my last ride is one I can actually remember.

My final thoughts are as follows....

#1. To any one who dare say this is the worst wooden coaster, I suggest you check out Grizzly at Paramounts Great America. Seriously.. there is NO argument.

#2. Dorney should really bring back Journey to the Center of the Earth instead of the Floorless coaster. The removal of that was a shock to me and my family.. that ride will always be my favorite ride ever. Just because it ruled every time that monster growled and dripped water out of his mouth.

#3. Is Dorney really doing that much better than the rest of the CF chain? We've gotten 2 B&M rides when the rest of the seasonal parks have settled for a Vekoma Corkscrew and an Intamin Impulse. Hey... I'm not complaining

#4. To anyone who thought Drachen Fire sucked.. screw you! It was definitely better than that overgrown ski lift style B&M ride.

#5. I will still miss Herc. I rode it everytime I was there. I still liked it even without cups of splashing water. But I warn you now.. if they announce the removal of Laser.. I will not stand and watch it happen! I shall NEVER SURRENDER!

Thanks for reading this crap!

My name is ryan mccann.. thats my post above... anyone know why it doesn't have my name on it?

You fanboys keep going on and on about how you and a couple of other people liked it, and how it was special to so many people. Whatever. The park knows the numbers through the turnstyles, and they know how much they spent keeping it in good enough shape to operate it. I rode it on a busy day in August and it was a walk-on, and this is while people were gathering in the area for the laser show.

The ride was crap, people knew it, they didn't ride, it's going away.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
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What time does the water show start?

*yawns

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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003

Ryan McCanical, I dont' think we have to worry about Laser going. That ride has a pretty good darn ridership. I've seen quite a few times this year that both trains were running and the line was almost spilling onto the midway (all ques filled) And if Dorney decided to get rid of it, I too would join you in the fight. Laser is one of the things that enthusiasts love about Dorney. They claim it is one of, or the best, Schwarzkopf in existence, a claim which I am proud of for my homepark.

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Enjoy the rest of your day at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.

As a former employee of the park, I am somewhat biased in this discussion. But, I had to add my two-cents.

I watched the Dinn crews construct the coaster from the foundations to the hand rails on the lift hill. I couldn't wait to ride the sucker!

I was lucky enough to be on the first ride of Hercules (first ride open to the public). And have been on it many, many times since then. I felt first-hand how the ride of this coaster deteriorated over the years. It wasn't always such a hurtful experience. Many people have complained to me how the ride was a such painful one. It certainly didn't age well. My last ride on it was on Aug. 23, 2003. I almost passed on it, but went on it anyway. It was indeed a painful experience in the last seat. There was virtually no wait to get on it that day, compared to a two hour que line for Talon. I wasn't suprised when my train arrived at the station after riding it, that the lap bars failed. Maintenance had to manually let all the riders out. Not 10 minutes later, I witnessed a loaded train stop half way up the lift, and then the ride closed for the day.

It brought back memories of the day I was on the platform, after 14 people were injured when the Hercules trains collided on the back brake. I was the one putting the cover on the wreckage, so patrons couldn't snap photos of the incident.

Hercules was a neat idea, but all in all the ride has been a headache for Dorney, and I won't shed too many tears on it's loss. I do lament the loss of another woody, but at least The Thunderhawk still remains. It truly is the better of the two coasters. As I said, I am biased, and having operated the Thunderhawk from the original station, with the manual air brakes doesn't make my views balanced.

R.I.P. Hercules!

The days when Thunderhawk had that stinky (it literally stank like mildew water)tunnel! Lol I always wondered, how bad was that crash anyway? Did the trains get smashed up and have to be replaced or was anyone really injured? If you were on the 1st ride of Herc, that means you would be in this pic. I'm referring to the 2nd to last pic. http://coasterquest.com/const11.htm

FYI, last time I was at Dorney I went on Hercules 5 times and got stuck on it twice.

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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003
*** This post was edited by DorneyDante 9/8/2003 9:13:12 AM ***

I was thinking that perhaps Dorney could do what Kennywood did with Steel Phantom... keep the best part of the ride and scrap the rest... but then that wouldn't work because the run from the station to the bottom of the lift (the best part of the ride) would make for a very short ride.

(If you think the above was "sarcasm", then you are correct)

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

You made fun of the ride while it was standing and your still making fun of the ride after its gonna fall. Give it up already, its old.

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This space will forever be dedicated to Hercules-R.I.P. 1989-2003

Hey, I never made fun of the ride when it was standing. I was one of the few who said that it wasn't as terrible as everyone said it was... It wasn't great.... but it was not as terrible as most made it out to be. I never said that it should be "torn down", however I always said that the best part of the ride was between the station and the lift. That little run could rival some other coasters (in their entirity) for speed and thrills.

Bottom line is as stated... IF it was such a maintenance nightmare, and IF it was such a money eater when it came to maintenance, and it was not all that popular (wich by the lack of line seemed to be the case), it is undertandable why it is being removed for something that in all likelyhood will be more popular.

As has already been mentioned (and I think I may have even said it too), the only "dissapointment" that I have over this is not that Hercules is being removed and replaced, but more that a wooden coaster is being replaced by a steel coaster. Had Hercules' next door neighbor Thunderhawk been the one slated for removal, I would be one of the ones lamenting its loss. But of all of the coasters at Dorney... if one had to be sacraficed in the name of "progress" (and saving money), I think they made the best choice. I could think of two other's there that I enjoyed less than Hercules, but their footprints are too small to be worth it and one of those two is actually pretty new.

Hercules was a coaster who's days were numbered. As far as I am concerned, the idea of the Mega Wood coasters are an idea who's days are numbered. Companies like GCI and the late CCI have proved that, if designed right, a coaster need not be 100+ feet tall to be good and thrilling.

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

Let me guaruntee all of you that every employee of that amusement park is as dissapointed as the general public that they are dismantling Hercules.*** This post was edited by dplasergirl 9/8/2003 10:33:35 PM ***

I agree with most about Hercules. It was time for it to go and a new one to take its place but on the other hand, DORNEY PISSED OFF a lot of people by not announcing it sooner. I didn't even get to ride it, although I blame myself for not doing it sooner. As we have heard, the new coaster will be more thrilling and will attract more business for Dorney.

I did not have a problem with Hercules. I loved the steep drop to the water. My little one liked it too. We, as a family, hated...yes, hated...both Thunderhawk and Laser. They need to get rid of these two. I'm not one to jump up to save Hercules. I will love the new coaster, but they picked the wrong coaster to remove.

i am somewhat pissed that they're getting rid of Hercules. that was a great ride. it was actually my first roller coaster i ever went on. but i'm glad that they're finally making another good roller coaster. i was starting to get sick of doing nothing but riding steel force and talon. i hope the new ride is awesome.

I just have to say that this used to be one of the best wooden, or for that matter any type, roller coaster period. For those of you who didn't ride it in '89, it was just spectacular, no trim brakes no head rests. The thill of that hill unbraked was just phenomenal. I don't know if they put the brakes in for safety reasons, or comfort or what but it changed the ride drastically. you gathered so much momentum going down the hill that the rest of the ride had enough speed to make it exciting. You almost always got air time still on the hill going under the station. For me, this ride has beeen slowly dying for a while. The brakes and changes made to make the ride more comfortable, took out the most thrilling part, its power and speed. So you were left with a slow ride, and all you were left with was the painful jolts. When it first opened, you would easily wait an hour maybe two to ride it. It is sad to see a great one go. Perhaps, though, it was designed in a way that it destroyed itself. If the brakes were added as a safety issue because the structure couldn't handle it, then it was doomed in the beginning. But for those of you who didn't get a chance to ride it at its birth, you did miss a great ride.

Im just upset that i cant really remember the Herc at all. it was probably my first woodie *sniff sob sniff*

I have to add that of all of Dorney's coasters, the Laser is the most discomforting. I wouldn't mind seeing that go instead of the Hercules. On my second or third consecutive run on the Laser, I momentarily blacked out after the second loop and my neck ached like nothing else. Sure the Hercules is rough; it has that good old wooden jostle to it. Perhaps it was removed simply becuase it could render so much land to the park. I doubt it was demolished only because it was uncomfortable. With all that park land, Dorney could build a more popular and trendy ride to attract more visitors. Thus, the park chose do eliminate an element of it's own identity. The Hercules attributed to the uniqueness of Dorney and it had more character that any other ride in the park. Furthermore, the park has covered up any evidence that the ride has ever existed. In the park's history listed on its official website, they claim that the Hercules was never demolished, but that it was renamed the Thunderhawk. It's been a long time since I've been to Dorney and I was baffled when I tried to find out what happened to the Hercules. Historic attractions just can't stand up to public appeal and it's a damn shame.