Hershey Help

Hi, I'm going to Hershey next week (Monday and Tuesday) for the first time. I was wondering if you guys could help me get the most out of my day.

What rides are a must?

What is a good order to hit the coasters to minimize waiting?

What are the normal wait times (on a Monday or Tuesday) for the coasters?

What else should I know before going?

Thanks in advance for replies.

Hey! You're going to have a great time at Hersheypark! It's definately my favorite amusement park.. as for musts (in my opinion)...

Storm Runner, Lightning Racer (both sides), Great Bear, Comet, Superdooperlooper, The Claw, Canyon River Rapids, Tidal Force, Chaos, and the Wild Mouse are all rides that I do not miss when on a trip to Hershey.

As far as order, I woudl definately hit Storm Runner first (since it's new) and get a few rides in on that throughout the day (the waits usually aren't too bad, and if they are, they go by fast). Then after Storm Runner, work your way on back to Midway America and get that done, then through Pioneer Frontier and into Minetown, then Comet Hollow, and finish off the day in Music Box Way and anything else you want to do again. If you want and have time, check out the laser show, it's pretty good, but not as good as Cedar Point's...

Normal wait times? I'd say they wouldn't be to bad on a Monday and Tuesday.. but from what I remember.. August is a bad month... lots of people!

Other things to know: Before starting your day, go to Chocolate World right outside the park enterance. Here you can take the Free Chocolate Tour Ride where they tell you how they make chocolate, etc. in a fun little car ride where at the end, you get free chocolate! Other things in Chocolate World are the Really Big 3D Show (very good) and the new Factory Works! Experience (which I haven't done). However, both are separate admission. There is also shopping and dining at Chocolate World.

Also, if you will be in Hershey the night before, and still fear you might not have enough time to get everything done, do what Hershey calls their "preview". With this, you can get into the park for free a few hours before closing with your ticket for the next day. It's a nice little service :)

But anyways, just make sure you enjoy yourself at the Sweetest Place On Earth, Hersheypark!

*sings the Hersheypark Happy song*

I would recomend getting at the park at 10:00. You must ride: Storm Runner, Lightning Racer, Roller Soaker, Wildcat, Comet, and Great Bear. I would recomend going on a day that is cooler and not extremely warm as the lines will be substantially shorter. On a busy day the waits can be upto 1 hour, but if you are going on a not so busy day they can be about 30-10 minutes, some will even be a walkon. I would recomend eating lunch late, and getting a ride on storm runner and other rides during the prime lunch time, the lines will be substantially shorter. Also lines for their alot of their rides will be walkons or short waits early in the morning, so i would definatly hit wildcat and lightning racer and comet early in the morning, also do the same with wild mouse and anyother coaster too (exept storm runner) I would also highly recomend getting a map when you are entering the park because the layout can be confusing. Also be prepared for any bags you have to be searched upon entering the park. If you can do the preview plan where you buy your ticket the day before you visit and you can get into the park for the last 2.5 hours of that day. Also during the prime lunch hours the foodcourt can get very crowded so dont eat lunch at the prime lunch hours consider eating a little late and caching some rides in. I would highly recomend seeing there laser light show at night. This is all the information i can think of right now but enjoy your visit at hershey, its one great park!

I just got back from trip to Hershey. Check out my TR if you want to know what I found on my visit. It is in the TR section. My favorite ride there ended up being Lightning Racer. Storm Runner is good, just not what I expected. Get there early for sure so that you can get on a bunch of coasters before the park fills up. My longest wait ended up being for SR - but I wouldn't expect waiting any longer than an hour for anything. We got right on the low capacity coasters early in the morning. Enjoy the park, it's really great!

DEFINITELY WILDCAT, LIGHTNING RACER, STORM RUNNER, and GREAT BEAR!!! I went on a pretty packed day, and no matter what day u go, its gonna be packed, at least to me it is, I've been there 3 times this year, and there's always youth groups that invade the park. Nonetheless, the wait times are REALLY short, at least in my opinion. I guess I'm used to the Great Adventure 3 hour waits, or the Orlando attractions 2 hr waits, etc. But the worst wait time I've ever had here was like maybe 45 minutes, and that was Storm Runner, and it didn't even seem like it, cuz ur alwayz distracted by the roller coaster itself. Then Wildcat is a lil wait, maybe 15 minutes, Lightning Racer for me was ALWAYZ walk-on, and I alwayz end up on the losing train. Great Bear is maybe a 20-30 minute wait, and an additional 15-20 minute wait if u choose front row. All in all, u WILL have a GREAT time at Hershey. This was the first year I've ever been to Knott's Berry Farm and Hershey, and I used to go to great Adventure all the time, and I must say after goin to those 2 GREAT amusement parks, all others PALE in comparison,sorry for the long post

"Get there early for sure so that you can get on a bunch of coasters before the park fills up."

OR....

Stay late (like after 6 pm) and you will find minimal waits. On a Tuesday evening, the longest wait I had was 30 minutes for Storm Runner (running only one side of the station that night). Everything else was a walk on, including Comet (which is usually one of the longest coaster waits) and Great Bear in any seat except the front... and even the front was only a 5 minute or so wait.

"I would recomend going on a day that is cooler and not extremely warm as the lines will be substantially shorter."

Well, it's a road trip and I have the hotel already booked so no matter how the weather is I'm going.

I will be hitting all ten coasters just for the credit at least once. But I meant what non-coaster rides are a must.

What time is that laser show and where in the park does it take place? I like laser shows so I want to see it.

Thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate it! *** Edited 8/16/2004 1:34:33 PM UTC by SFNE Dude***

I never saw the laser show but I know that it is at 10:00 whether the park closes at 10 or 11 that night. The laser show is called night lights. It takes place down in Midway America close to Lightning Racer. *** Edited 8/16/2004 2:08:31 PM UTC by coasterzak***

What non coaster rides are a must?

Hmmmm. EVERYTHING?!?

Seriously though...

Starting at the entrance and working your way Counter Clockwise:

GIANT Wheel: Is this the only Intamin double armed wheel around anymore?

Carrousel: Historic carrousel that runs at a fairly fast speed (like the way they were designed to run)

Coal Cracker: Gotta love flume rides!

Kissing Tower: Nice over all view of the park

Flying Falcon: A Huss Condor... not many of these are around.

Whip: Modern version of an old standard

Tidal Force: shoot the chutes style ride... but a BIG one! (you WILL get soaked)

Canyon River Rapids: Wet and fast (you WILL get soaked)

Dry Gulch RR: Nice little train ride.

The Claw: Need I say more.

Sky View: Little sky ride over the creek... if you get lucky, you will be crossing very close to the tracks of Great Bear when a train roars past.

As for the rest:

Rides such as Scrambler, Tilt-a-whirl, Music Express, Rodeo (trabant), Chaos, Ferriswheel can be found at any park... if you like 'em, ride 'em... but nothing special. Traffic Jam (bumper cars) are fun, but light weight, nothing spectacular.

Pirat... gives some pops of air when the ship reaches the highest part of its swing... problem is that it only reaches this highest point on about one or two swings before it starts slowing down. Most of Hersheypark's flats are run on very short cycles.

Twin Turnpike (antique cars / sports cars): Okay... I will admit, I like car rides... if they have an interesting course. The layout of this rides course is very unintersting.

Frontier Flyers... What can I say... Any little attempt at movement (let alone snapping) will cause the operator to have a panic attack (not to mention that they may actually cycle the ride through a few times empty to "make sure there is no damage")... hardly worth the time.

^That's ridiculous. Why have flyers if they're going to be paranoid about people using them the way they were intended? If it's that much of a problem, they should weld the 'rudder' in a fixed position! Sounds like they need to take a tip from Knoebels. Grrr.

Exactly. Put chains between the rudder and the tub (like Canobie Lake), rubber a "stopper" to one side of the rudder to limit its mobility (like Lake Compounce... or on both sides like Sea Breeze)... All are over kill in my opinion, but at least it wouldn't make it a judgement call on the ride ops part.

Let people fly them to their potential I say. Or if you dont want to do that, then I woudl rather see them "neutered" as mentioned above then be sitting in one, knowing that I could easily make this ride much more interesting, but because of over cautious and paranoid rules, I can't.

Yea the Frontier Flyers suck. They would be worth a quick ride but due to the lame seatbelts. The ride op has to walk to each one and unlock it. Most of the time the ride ops take their time so it makes the wait even longer. Unless there is no line skip them. The real Flying Scooters are an hour and a half away along with killer bumper cars too.

I heard this may be the last season for the Giant Wheel so get your rides on it while you can.

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coasterpunk said:I heard this may be the last season for the Giant Wheel so get your rides on it while you can.

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The Giant Wheel appears to have a new paint job, or at least I don't recall seeing the red "starburst" designs on the ends of each arm before this year. That makes me think that the rumor about the Giant Wheel's removal after this year is false.

Also, to add to the suggestions, visit the laser show Nightlights on two consecutive nights. You will see two different shows, and they are both very good.

On the Giant Wheel, the red Star Bursts (pin wheels) that were on the "hub" of each arm were gone at least for the past two seasons... replaced instead with a GIANT food stores logo (more product placement).

Is this REALLY the last year for Giant Wheel? I have heard those rumors for the past few years. Granted, its days are numbered... but that was the talk for the past few years.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Come 3 hours before closing and you get the next day free including parking the second day with proof of your ticket

There are NO discounts given at the gate.
AAA and Giant food Stores have tickets for 29.95
($8.00 off the reg. admission price)
But those must be purchased before you get to HP

Roller soaker is a REAL SOAKER I did it first thing in the morning, and I was still a bit damp by 3pm

The kissing tower was not rotating when I was there, you may want to do research before you ride it. *** Edited 8/18/2004 3:20:04 PM UTC by john peck***

John...
I am not disputing your claim regarding the Kissing Tower..just offering more information. I have been to the park many times this season (as well as seasons past). I ride the Kissing Tower on every visit and I have never been on it when it didn't rotate. It sucks that it wasn't rotating for you, but I think that was the exception, not the rule.

Sean

If Chocolate World has a separate admission, then the chocolate really isn't free. ;)

^Chocolate World doesn't have separate admission. The Chocolate Making Tour is free and gives you a free chocolate bar. The 3D show and Factory Works! Experience are what have a fee.

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SLFAKE said:
On the Giant Wheel, the red Star Bursts (pin wheels) that were on the "hub" of each arm were gone at least for the past two seasons... replaced instead with a GIANT food stores logo (more product placement).

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The "pin wheels" are not what I was referring to. I was talking about the red zig zag pattern at the end of each blue arm, before it connects to the spokes, and I don't believe it was painted like that before this year. I don't think they would give a new paint job to a ride that is being removed. The Giant Food Store logo is still there at the hub of one wheel but the pin wheel design is on the other wheel (as of my visit last week).

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john peck said:The kissing tower was not rotating when I was there, you may want to do research before you ride it. *** Edited 8/18/2004 3:20:04 PM UTC by john peck***

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The sign in front of the Kissing Tower says that the ride will not rotate due to an upgrade by the manufacturer. I asked a ride op about this, and he told me that they need to install a new part and that it will rotate again after they do this. He said they have the part, but they will need to close the ride for several days for the installation, so instead of doing that, they are operating the ride without it rotating until they can do the work while the park is closed.