Pennsylvania Trip part 1 of 3, 4 SFA homebodies tackle Hershey
Arriving in Hershey around 11:15, me & Matt another enthusiast started our east-side of Pennsylvania themepark tour. First stop is Super Dooper Looper. The line is actually down the stairs, but it’s moving at an incredible rate. We get in one ride before we have to go meet Alan, who’s coming from KennyKon. While waiting for Alan by the gate, we notice an enormous camp group passing us by. How many are here today, I ask one kid. He says 693! I’m thinking the park is just going to be slammed. We all go over to Midway America to meet up with Paul at Lightning Racer. There’s practically no line for this ride, and it’s like a two-train wait on either side. I’m not sure why, but they have two rows closed off on all 4 trains. Oh well, it doesn’t really affect the time getting on all. The coaster still kicks butt! It maintains a constant high rate of speed, and it’s very smooth for a wood coaster. Great job GCI. Next we head to the Wild Mouse. This Mack Wild Mouse is run full out. There’s very little braking and any braking is light. Get’s my two thumbs up. Then we head to Wildcat. The line is somewhat long, but worth the wait. Matt and I ride in the front seat, which was only a two-train wait! Wildcat seemed a lot smoother in the front seat, and it also kicks butt! It’s from the station though that we notice the Wild Mouse isn’t moving. The ride is soon shut down for a while. Deciding we needed to do a flat ride, I get us on The Conestoga (Huss western-themed Rainbow). Paul doesn’t do flat rides, so he goes off on his own. Next it was on to the Sidewinder, a Vekoma Boomerang. Thankfully, none of us experienced any headbanging. Continuing on, the three of us go and ride Trailblazer, an Arrow Mine Train. The line is really short for once. It’s a slow ride, but it’s a great start-up coaster. Heading up a steep hill, we go and ride the Flying Falcon (Huss Condor). Matt’s never ridden one and he likes it. This is kind of like a scrambler, but with cars that are free to swing out. Oh, and there’s that little thing about the 100ft. tower it travels up also. We go and ride Great Bear next and pick up Paul again. It’s about this point that we wonder where everyone has gone. The crowds have considerably thinned. We wait less than 20 minutes to ride. and I still like it. It’s pretty hot, so we ride the Coal Cracker Flume, which runs through Great Bear. It provides a much needed cooling off. Next it’s off to Super Dooper Looper again, which is a one-train wait. Got to love the coasters without OTSR’s, even if it’s a fairly tame coaster. There’s about 5 people waiting to ride in the station, but Hershey doesn’t allow re-rides. We do however go back around and ride again. Our next coaster is the Comet. Matt and I ride in the front seat, and I get the best ride ever on this classic wooden coaster. The second half, which is the sideways out-and-back leg, finally delivers some speed. Alan suggests we ride the Giant Wheel next. Paul won’t ride in our cabin because of Alan. He chooses wisely. As soon as we go into the vertical part of this two-armed ferris wheel, Alan starts spinning our cabin at rapid speed. It’s like riding the teacups, except the ride cycle is way too long. My jaw starts to hurt from the G forces. Luckily none of us hurled. We need something sedate to ride, and fast. So we ride the monorail. Hitting an amazing top-speed of 10 miles an hour, it allows everyone to settle down. We lose Paul after the ride, but Alan, Matt, and I go to Chocolate World to get something to eat. But, first we have to ride the propaganda machine known as the Chocolate World Tour. This is an Epcot-style ride-through that shows the chocolate making process, complete with smells. I would’ve have bought the “ride” picture if it weren’t for the $9.95 price. We did get our free chocolate bar though. I start contemplating riding Tidal Force while eating dinner. Heading back over to Midway America, it turns out I won’t be able to ride Tidal Force after all, since there’s no water running, and it because it stays down for the rest of night. We go and ride LR a couple more times. Then we go and ride the reopened Wild Mouse two more times. The last thing we ride in this section is The Whip, a modern recreation of the classic ride. We try to ride Wildcat again, but it appears to have broken down. They won’t let anyone in line, and one of the trains is stuck with people half way out of the station. The night ends with a another ride on Sidewinder, then a couple more rides on Great Bear and the Comet.
Overall, we had a great time because the lines were short. The family atmosphere was also a nice change of pace. The ride ops are very efficient, and the employees are nice. My only minor complaint was that the Great Bear station is in bad need of fans. Next stop, Knoebels.
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Batwing-Bow Down
Glad you had a good time! Sorry about all the breakdowns -- Monday was a very odd day for Hersheypark. We almost never have that many things go wrong in one day.
Some general replies:
1)There’s about 5 people waiting to ride in the station, but Hershey doesn’t allow re-rides.
Yes we do. However, most ride-ops will only let you re-ride if there's nobody waiting in line for your row.
2)The Great Bear station DEFINITELY needs fans. It gets waaay too humid up there at night.
3)They chain off rows of the Lightning Racer to make sure the open rows get filled. In essence, the only reason they chain off rows is to make the line longer. Yes, you heard me correctly. It is the single-most idiotic thing I have ever seen Hersheypark do.
4)"propaganda machine"
Haha, that was hilarious, but oh-so true.
5)Wildcat broke down because, get this, a lap bar FELL OFF the car. It just fell off. A guest pushed it up to try and unlock it and it unlocked, but then it fell back into the seat and detached. Maintenance had to do a lot of checking. =P.
6)Tidal Force was down because it hydroplaned and smashed into the railing. Yes, there were people in it. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. It was boat number 2 (the same boat that had hydroplaned a day earlier). Maintenance is currently trying to figure out if anything is wrong with it.
Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for the info. I hope telling me what happened won't get you in trouble. I don't remember anyone being in line for my row at SDL, but it's not like it's a big walk back to the station. No big deal. Wow, that's pretty scary about what happened on Monday. I visited the park many times before, and I know it's not the norm.
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Batwing-Bow Down
Believe me, even I think the ride cycle at Giant Wheel is too long and I run the thing. It all depends on how long it takes the attendents to unload and load the other side, and sometimes that can take forever.
