Hersheypark 4/14/18

With it being a Saturday with great weather, rain on Sunday and discounted Springtime in the Park admission, I thought the park was going to be extremely crowded and wasn't even considering going until I saw the wait times a few hours after opening and that they weren't that bad and decided to go to the park at the last minute. I think because there was a season pass night on Friday and the park usually not open for a 3rd weekend of Springtime in the Park also made it less crowded. Pass holders close to the park probably went on Friday night and others may not have known the park was open this weekend. I was considering going to Great Adventure since I didn't expect it to be as crowded there and it looks like I got the crowd levels wrong at both parks as Great Adventure reportedly had very long lines for not only rides but up to 90 minute waits for food with some places running out of both food and drinks.

Most coasters were 20 - 30 minute waits, with some like Lightning Racer almost a walk on and the usual longer waits like Laff Trakk at an hour.

Coal Cracker was open. That was a nice surprise with the warm weather.

Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge's single rider line is now a Fast Track line.

The Hershey drop tower was not running in combo mode and was running in Space Shot mode which I had never seen before.

The Whip is now operational after my last trip 2 weeks ago when the ride cars were missing.

Sidewinder and Trailblazer were closed, when riding Storm Runner I saw a mechanic working at the side of Trailblazer's lift hill. I happened to be right near Storm Runner when it reopened after a breakdown and only had to wait a few minutes. That's 2 visits in a row with the ride closed. I don't mind that much since I only ride the coaster if it is a few train wait or less but I am sure there were lots of disappointed kids with the 36" height requirement.

Almost all rides were running at full capacity, 4 trains at Lightning Racer, 2 trains at Storm Runner.

I'm looking forward to returning in a few weeks, probably on a Sunday when they are open until 8:00 to take advantage of low crowds the last few hours they are open.

I heard it was packed there Saturday. We were there Friday for the passholder night. Weather was perfect.

Crowd was minimal with multiple laps on Sky Rush and the Great Bear. The other rides that were open had lines longer than we care to wait in.

Sooperdooperlooper and Comet were the other 2 coasters open. I'd say they were running a 20-30 minute wait. Reeses Extreme Cup Challenge was about the same so we skipped those. Triple Towers had short waits we rode the smaller 2, because the tallest one was just testing. I agree I like them running both programs on the tallest one too, and not just the space shot.

We had contemplated SF Great Adventure as well, but figured that would be packed. We ended up going to SFA On Saturday. We are still asking why we did that to ourselves!?! ;-)

The walkways, food lines and overall the park felt crowded but the ride lines were reasonable. Lightning Racer was only a 2 - 3 train wait, Wildcat was around 10 minutes, Comet was 10 minutes later in the day.

I'm usually somewhat not too quick to get annoyed with Six Flags with how cheap the season passes are but this year hasn't been a great start for them with all the issues so far this year with all the membership / season passes and hearing about poor food and ride operations at Great Adventure (and witnessing some of it myself 2 weeks ago).