Hershey Park

Well I was on RCDB again and I looked at some pictures of Hershey Park and the park looks pretty impressive!  How come there isn't much talk about Hershey Park.  And if you've been ther what do you think about it?  The Great Bear looks to have a seriously unique layout!

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There isn't a problem that can't be solved.

Suicide is NOT a solution!

Send me an AOL instant message, my sn is unXplanible

Yeah, Great Bear is really intense for such a short invert. Really intense! We went there for the first time in October, and I was impressed. The park is clean and everyone is friendly. We were there during the Halloween celebration, so not all the coasters were running. Wildcat and LR were closed.
Oh well, I told my wife that just gives us an excuse to visit next year!

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Did I mention, that I like coasters...

It's a nice park.  Clean, decent employees, and a pretty good selection of rides.  Lightning Racer is one of the best wooden coasters around and Great Bear isn't a bad invert at all.  I think the Hershey's biggest problem is that it lacks a large steel coaster.  A nice big B&M sitdown mult-inversion is just what the park needs to round out its coaster selection.  However, the park gears itself towards families and likes to add attractions that are "fun for the whole family", as per next year's addition of the "Rollersoaker". [However, let me say that as an employee I can vouch for the fact that the park did need an additional water ride.  On hot days, the lines were extremely long.  Heck, on a Saturday, it wasn't unusual for the waterslides to have a 30 minutes wait.] 
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Rollercoaster -PA
http://gandc.20m.com/index.html

I was really impressed when I went to Hershey in August. 

Great Bear in the front seat is excellent at night because the track is black so you can't always see it and anticipate the next turn.  Soaring over the black river is very cool too.

Lightning Racer has become my favorite wooden coaster, not because it is the most thrilling but it is the most fun.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so fun, but the dueling is part of it, the excellent trains are part of it, and having excellent capacity means you can get lots and lots of rerides, even on busy days.  The back seat on either side is definitely gives the best rides.

The park has a lot of charm.  It has the picturesque river area, the little German village in the front, and small zoo attached,  and a pretty complete selection of rides (other than a hyper, of course).  The smell of chocolate wafting over the park doesn't hurt either.

I hated Hersheypark. lightning racer was cool and so was Sidewinder, but everything else sucked. I hated Great Bear. And Sooperdooperlooper is the longest and weirdest name I've ever heard. The park was ok, near Tidal Force and Lightning Racer, but before that it sucks. On a rating from 1-10 I'd give it a 6.5
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The Jokes on You!! Ha Ha Ha

Wow- first day at Coasterbuzz and you're already full of venom - just what we need more of around here.
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WARNING: May be habit forming

Hershey is a fine park. It is clean and well run.  We spent several days there in June for the ACE convention and had a great time.  The two GCI woodies are great coasters though Wildcat is about ready for a little retracking.  Comet is a well maintained classic woodie.  Great Bear is a fine B&M with a truly unique layout.  SooperDooperLooper is somewhat dated, but is still of interest to remind us what was once amazing.  The wild mouse is one of the best mice around.  Beware if you ride Tidal Force, it is the wetest wet ride that I have ever ridden.  Kind of an open air submarine.

So you didn't like a coaster because of its name.  right.....
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"If somebody throws a rock and knocks a man off his donkey, do we say that he's stoned off his ass?

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Jokercoaster said:
"I hated Hersheypark. lightning racer was cool and so was Sidewinder, but everything else sucked. I hated Great Bear. And Sooperdooperlooper is the longest and weirdest name I've ever heard. The park was ok, near Tidal Force and Lightning Racer, but before that it sucks. On a rating from 1-10 I'd give it a 6.5
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The Jokes on You!! Ha Ha Ha"

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Hum, I'm confused. First you say the park sucks, then you turn around and say its "OK". Which is it?
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Did I mention, that I like coasters...

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion.  I happen to disagree, because I had a GREAT time at Hershey.  The only coaster they had there that I genuinely didn't like is their Boomerang (Sidewinder).

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--Greg
"Beat the rush, sign up for your post-Mean Streak MRI now..."
My page  My other page  And my coaster page

I had a fantastic time at Hershey. Sooperdooperlooper is classic Anton fun, Great Bear is fun, Wild Mouse is always good, Trailblazer could use an extra lift hill.

I really like their collection of woodies though. Lightning Racer is the highlight of the park, Wildcat is rough but fun, and Comet is a neat little ride.

We didn't have time for flats or water rides, and we only got multiple rides on LR (2) and GB (2).

Also, I thought the Chocolate tour was entertaining, but I was really dissapointed with the town of Hershey. It seemed deserted. Was I looking in the right place?
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GO CU! Big 12 Champs!

I was just at Hersheypark yesterday for the Christmas Candylane thing they have going on. It was my first trip to the park and most of it was blocked off and only kiddie rides were open. Still from what I saw, I can't wait to return this summer. I was pleased as punch to see we could get there in an hour. I wasn't so sure about moving from Florida but in our first week up here we found a place to live that's less than 7 miles from Dorney and now we found out we're an hour from Hershey. Keep getting better!

Hershey seems like a pretty underrated place.

Hersheypark is one of my favorite parks.  I have been to about 30 different ones, and it ranks as my third favorite.  My top three are:

#1. PKI  #2. BGW  #3. Hersheypark

Hershey has in spades what I look for.  Fun re-ridable rides, wonderful landscaping, attention to detail, good theming, clean grounds and facilities and a rich history.

Hershey is home to a steel coaster that easily ranks as one of the best I have ridden.  Superdooperlooper.  Most will disagree with me and usually prefer the much newer, faster and scarier coasters of today.  But it operates just the same as it did when it opened, is wonderfully maintained and has the best drop loop combo ever built on a steel coaster IMO.

Lightning Racer is a don't miss as well.  Having just ridden it this past summer for the first times during the ACE Coaster Con, I was blown away.  I spent four days at Hersheypark and about 90% of my time there was spent on either the Lightning Racer (Lightning side is the best IMO) or Superdooperlooper.

I really can't say enough good about the park.  I love it and have wonderful memories of my times there.  I think that in order to really understand and love Hershey you have to know it's full and rich history.  It is a story you could only find in America.  Those who judge the park only by the rides it contains are really missing the point.  Take the blinders off and enjoy all of it.

I have been to the park several times over the years, starting back in 1983 I think.  It sure has grown a lot since then, but the park is extremely well managed and has yet to make a poor decision as far as I can tell.

I highly recommend the park.  Even if you get tired of the park itself, the town of Hershey has so many things to do and see that it allows you an escape for a while.  Very few parks offer such a wider array of attractions nearby.

Here is a bit of trivia for you about the Superdooperlooper...  When it was built, the park GM was torn between two names for the coaster.  His wife and daughter chose Superdooperlooper over the rival name "Merry Dairy Dip."  As a tribute to the long shelved name, Hershey added slides in their Midway USA portion of the park and dubbed them the "Merry Dairy Dips" as a tongue in cheek salute to the coaster name that might have been.

Shaggy

*** This post was edited by Shaggy on 12/2/2001. ***

Everyone seems to make good points about Hershey. Its is quite an underrated park. Just the fact of how well every thing in the park is so well maintained makes it worth the visit. The fine landscaping, and overabundance of trees(except Midway America because its the parks newest section,) doesn't hurt either. The Sooperdooperlooper is a classic Schwarzkopf that rides just like the first day it opened(No OTSR alteration here.) The Comet is the same way. Lightning Racer is my favorite woodie at any park that I have been to(See if that changes after my spring coaster trip to MA, KI, CP, SFWOA, KW, and HW. I already know I like it more than CP's wood.) The Wildcat holds true to its name. It's truly a wild and sometimes rough ride. Front seat is the best on that one. I have heard rumors of Millenium Flyer trains being installed on this one, and I hope that its true. The Great Bear is often knocked, but I think its one of B&M's Inverted masterpieces. The helix off the chain lift is something that you don't see very often. It's not huge like Raptor, but it bites just as hard. I think its much better than the Talon, or Batman TR. The Wild Mouse is the best that I have been on. Even the Trailblazer is a good coaster with a nice helix, and its a good coaster to get your son to ride for the first time. Thats what turned him into a coaster fan like me. ;) The Sidewinder is the standard boomerang. Nothing fancy there. They have a good selecton of flat rides, but none that are too intense by todays standard. I am proud to call it my home park. If they added an S&S tower, and a decent (pref. Intamin or B&M,) Hyper or Looper it would be the best park in the Country. They also have great shows(Won awards over the big boys like CP in this category.) Add in Chocolate World, and Zoo America and it is possibly the best family park out side of Disney. Its a park that should not be overlooked. Check it out for yourself, and you'll see.

I am truely suprised to see anyone not like HersheyPark. Although since the poster did not say specifically what they didnt like, *I, personally* am going to simply disregard it! :) (kinda like in figure skating, throwing away the high and low scores, mine will likely be the excessively high score).

Like Shaggy, HP is in my top three parks:
1. SFGAm; 2. HersheyPark; 3. DisneyLand (CA)

There was *very* little that I could find to complain about. The service was great, the food was good, the rides were fun and diverse, and the smells (chocolate, fried veggies, funnel cakes, etc...) were fantastic. The *only* thing I *might* say a bit of a drawback is that none of the coasters are ultra intense. But even on that note, there are a few intense moments like the helix on Great Bear, the loop on 'looper, and the bottom of the 1st two hills on Wildcat (which some might call rough ;)).

Lightning Racer is my second favorite woodie (2nd only to The Legend). For my thoughts on the ride, see the comments of our hard-shelled candy friend (Skittleb). And personally, I noticed no difference b/w the two sides.

Oh, and I even liked the boomerang!!!
ciao,
moi
--who *does* note that Trailblazer is lame even for a mine train :)

Hershey Park is probably the park I want to go to more than any other out there. I love wooden coasters("4" here) and I was blown away and extremely impressed by the performance of Gwazi this summer that I'll need to check out the Lightning Racers and Wildcat. The atmosphere, landscaping, and theming that seems to almost drip off every single photo I've seen of the park makes it even more interesting to see. Since I love water rides as well, i think the Roller Soaker will fit right in and I'm really excited about going next summer.

Thanks everyone for intensifying my desire to go and I don't see anything there not to love. Noting 2Hostyl and Shaggy seem to enjoy themed and thrill mixed experiences as well, I think this will be a park too superb to pass up. Unless someone persuades me that Talon is better than the whole of Hershey Park, looks like Dorney is scratched off PN/MD/NJ trip.

Everyone has made such great posts, I don't know if there is anything left to say.  I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Hershey to say the least.  It is a beautiful park, nicely landscaped and kept up almost to the standards of BGW, they have a great collection of well maintained rides (Lightning Racer being the best), and their operations seemed to be somewhere in between a Six Flags park and CP, so not too bad there.  The chocolate tour is worth doing once (and maybe twice for the free candy) and the smells throughout the park are excellent.  The only thing I didn't like about Hershey was the way the front gate was set up.  They have one gate to purchase tickets and enter the park, not two like most parks.  Also, parking is a bit confusing.  As for the town of Hershey, it is kind of an industrial city in the middle of nowhere.  There is nothing special about it, but it appeared to be well kept (better than Sandusky and certainly better than Schenectady - where I lived).

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

Two things a) Lord Gonchar, you're also very close to Knoebels! The park is situated between Dorney and Hersheypark. You have to ride the Phoneix. b) Koaster King, don't rule out Dorney. It too is a well run park, and has a variety of things to do. However, the wood coasters might not be up to your liking.

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SFA 2002-What are they building?

I know Intamin Fan. The park was tons better than I had even hoped for although you're definitely right about Hercules. I said that because I had been to Dorney before and we have a limited time and we do want to spend money as wisely as possible, so I'm sure I'll opt for Hershey and Knoebel's over Dorney since I've already been. It wouldn't be a good idea to replace Knoebel's with Dorney would it? I really don't think so.

Our planned parks are Hershey, Knoebel's, SFGAdv, and SFA although it would be possible to just wait and go to SFA when I go to PKD and BGW. So, then I could either add Dorney in or I might, just for a new experience, add DelGrosso's and Lakemont in instead or the new star attractions I missed this year at Kennywood. Dorney is a nice park, but besides Talon, Steel Force, and Laser, the park doesn't hold my interest well. I'm not into flat rides and their water ride selection isn't too maginificant. The water park is grand and I had a great time there last year, but something new I would feel a lot better about doing.

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Fishy said:
Wow- first day at Coasterbuzz and you're already full of venom - just what we need more of around here.
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WARNING: May be habit forming

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Not really, just when I went there in 2000. I didn't see much in this park, and most of the coasters were dissapointing.

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The Jokes on You!! Ha Ha Ha