Hersheypark 6/16/08 (Day 3)

I'll continue with the random thoughts partially out of laziness and partially because by the time I type these, it's late and I'm tired.

We spent much of the day at Hersheypark and drove to our hotel in New Jersey in the evening.

- No, I'm not "Hersheypark Happy" after crawling out of bed and dragging my ass onto a tram. Thanks for asking.

- The Reese's Extreme Cup interactive shooter is lame. If this is your only exposure to the interactive dark ride concept, get to a park that has one that consists of more than flat targets glued to the wall.

- Never did bother getting another lap on Fahrenheit. No so much because I didn't want to, but who in their right mind wastes 45 minutes to ride Fahrenheit when every other ride in the park is at walk-on status?

- Speaking of Fahrenheit, everyone seems to be in awe at the vertical lift and more than vertical drop. In fact, I'd say that's much of the interest in the ride. I'm just wondering why everyone forgot about the other coaster in the park that does a vertical up and vertical down...at 70 miles per hour!

- The park got rid of a lot of grass and added a lot of cement to add those water attractions. Fans of charm everywhere are weeping.

- Speaking of fans of charm, Hersheypark really is much more corporate than many enthusiast will admit. Aside from essentially being a product placement opportunity/commercial, there's an awful lot of corporate sponsorship of rides, lots of chains (Cold Stone, Subway, Nathan's etc.) in the park, plenty of advertising (Chevys everywhere), a $50 gate, $10 parking, $14 for large lockers and $3 bottled water. But there are some nice trees, so I guess it's a wash.

- Roller Soaker is still cool. It's cooler when more people are interacting and even cooler still when the actual running capacity is better than 240pph. When did people give up on this one?

- Great Bear is better than I remember it. Solid. My ride today also marked the first time I've ever ridden a coaster barefoot.

- I'm never wearing flip flops to the park again. My feet are destroyed.

- Why do people act like they've never seen a Hershey bar before when they hit the park? Like suddenly chocolate is the hardest thing in the world to get and this place has it available. My theory is that in the park they pawn the stuff that they're not legally allowed to sell off elsewhere...the irregulars, if you will. :)

- Tidal Force WILL get you wet. Coal Cracker probably won't.

- The seagull sound piped in to the Boardwalk makes me want to kill.

- The kissing tower was down all day. :(

- I need to find a way to stop the top of my head from getting sunburned...and no, I'm not changing the way I spike my hair.

- I still think odd numbered groups on rides are much less common than even ones.

- Sidewinder remains the only credit at Hershey that I don't have...and I dig Boomerangs.

- The drive to New Jersey was pretty easy and quick.

- Turned on the news here at the hotel and saw that Morey's had a big fire but were open. We'll be there on Thursday.

- Also saw that you can get Buy One, Get One Six Flags tickets at Wawa.

Off to SFGAdv tomorrow. Will we need a Flash Pass? Will Dark Knight be the disappointment many consider it to be? Will I finally get the Kingda Ka credit? Will we find a hair weave in the kiddie pool like our very first visit to the park in 2002? Will the park's locker poclicy affect us?

Gonchar out.

Gonch, I think you remain one of my favorites so far on this site. :) You crack me up.

You so corny! Roller Soaker cool? Really? Ehehehehe....actually, the first time I rode it, I rode backwards and wigged out. Didn't like backwards (weird, considering I love going backwards on Sidewinder--ah ha, one credit I have that you do not), but I got ABSOLUTELY DRENCHED. They need to invent a new word for soaked just for that ride. Second time I rode it, it barely got me wet.

Hey, I'm glad that everyone is heading towards Fahrenheit so I can get on Storm Runner again....and again....and again.

To prevent sunburn on your head, maybe use a face sunblock in stick form (Coppertone has a very tacky one) as hair gel. You can spike your hair and still spread sunscreen on your scalp. I accidentally got my sunblock in my hair and the sh** stayed plastered in one position for the rest of the afternoon. Kind of gross if you're a girl, but...hey, it might work!

I can DEFINITELY see why the sound of the Hershey seagulls would make you vaguely homicidal.

Best shoes ever to wear to an amusement park? Crocs. If they get wet, they just dry right out. They're light. They have airholes. They stay on your feet during suspended and floorless rides. They are the most comfortable shoes I have ever had the pleasure of wearing. They may be ugly, but who cares when you're covering miles and miles of terrain. Flip flops are brutal. Don't do it. Get the Crocs (or the knockoffs, although the Crocs are also anti-microbial).

Yeah, and if you ever visit Chocolate World, you will see that your theory about illegitimate bastard sons of good candy is totally on. Some of the crap that they give you after you exit the Chocolate World ride is absolutely disgusting. I feel like a lab rat sometimes. They even stoop so low as to give you sugar-free experiments. How wrong is that?

We are off to Great Adventure today, as well. Hoping for a good day. I will be interested in reading TR.

- Great Bear is awesome.

- Have you tried the spray sun block? I suppose you could spike and then spray.

I got burned really bad on top of my head during my Caribbean trip last month. I learned to do the following.

Rub sun block into your finger tips, rub into scalp, enjoy. For you I guess you need an extra step. Spike.

Crocs are great shoes for parks, but not as good as a good pair of Jesus sandles[url] which I now where every where every day.

The sound at the water park is just too loud in general.

Enjoy Great Adventure, should be an awesome day for it. Take a back seat El Torro ride for me.

Take a ride on the back of El Toro for me as well. You're up to two. Ehehehehe...

Sometimes they don't let you wear the Jesus sandals on rides though. Don't know why.

Really? These things that I have don't come off my feet without some serious effort. They have support all the way around the ankle and foot.

It's a shame Gonch that you don't love Hersheypark. I forgot you lived in Allentown for a few years, so you are biased. :)

I agree with you on Fahrenheit. I'd rather go over and take 15 - 20 laps on Storm Runner to the time I'd wait in line for that.

I really don't see where the comparisons between Fahrenheit and Maverick come from. Is it because they have the same trains? Over vertical drop? Or Manufacturer? Other then that they don't have much in common. I like Fahrenheit, but it's not in the same league as Maverick. Also gotta add in Maverick's 31 million price tag as opposed to Fahrenheit's 12 million. Should get much more of a coaster for 19 million more.

Oh yeah, Put those Airwalks back on! Your feet are grossing me out! ;)

Yes, the beyond vertical drops, the same manufacturer, and same trains did kind of get the comparisons going. Is Maverick really that much better of a ride than Fahrenheit? I mean, yes I know it has two launches, which I LOVE, but it's got fewer inversions by what, half? Plus, isn't the hill a lot shorter? I mean, it sounds kind of lame, actually. It LOOKS like a lot of fun from the videos I've seen, but come on now. Really that much better? And isn't some of Maverick's higher price tag due to the fact that they had to remodel some of the track at the last minute?

Roller Soaker freaks me out, I feel like the seat is going to give out and I'm going to fall, dunno why, I'm probably just weird like that...

On Hershey Park Happiness: I always become Hershey Park Happy when I go. But I also get sufficient sleep the night before, and I have 32 years of history going to the park. It's the magic of my childhood.

On Reese's Extreme Cup Blah: This seems geared toward the very little ones. I always go on Chocolate World because it's a requirement for me. My husband doesn't understand yet. He's from Denton TX and the first park he ever went to was Six Flags Over Texas.

On Farenheit: I've heard it's short duration.

On Storm Racer: Very disappointing for me. I thought that being a 5 year old steel intamin would mean that riding it in the backmost row would be hot-knife-through-butter smooth fast fun. Imagine my dismay when I got beat all around in my restraints. The transitions on SR are horrible. The twists and inversions should never have been included. Just up and down and curvy fun, this one should have been.

On Roller Soaker: I don't like it, myself. When I rode it, I felt like I was just hanging out there ready to slip out onto the concrete meadow below. Also, the capacity is incredibly horrible.

On Great Bear: YES - front row. But how about Super Duper Luper, Comet, or Lightning Racer?

On the Chocolate at Hershey Park: It's the novelty. Hershey Chocolate tastes better at Hershey Park.

On Tidal Force - YES

On Coal Cracker: A great ride, but it's not Coal Cracker Rapids or anything. It's a maybe-you'll-get-wet ride. By the way, I got wet on Coal Cracker last time - I was the fourth person back among 4 people. JAZZ HANDS!

On Kissing Tower : It was DOWN?! They might as well have been standing there at the entrance of KT handing out discount passes to return to the park another day. KT is the centerpiece of the park.

On Sunburned Scalp: Cancer of any kind sucks. Swallow yer pride and get an spf hat. Yes, I am a Mom.

On Sidewinder: Don't feel too much loss. Even though it is fun, I step off of the train physically swaying from the beating it's just issued me.

On Great Adventure: Hope you rode El Toro.

You say that this park is corporate. Look at Busch Gardens, Universal, and Disney. They are all corporate parks. Disney advertises with there attractions, characters, and merchandise. They are advertising themselves at the park. Go buy the Little Mermaid movie because you just saw the show. Go buy Snow White because you just went on the Dark Ride. Go rent the Haunted Mansion movie because you did the ride, and so on. Hershey is advertising themselves at this park.

All these parks have advertising in them, but Six Flags becomes such a big deal because they don't own much, and when they have Cold Stone, and so on, it's so bad now.

---

Spinout said:
Hershey is advertising themselves at this park.

---

So Hershey owns Chevy and that's why there's cars with advertisments on the various midways?

Hershey owns Blue Cross and that's why it's the Capital Blue Cross Monorail?

Hershey owns Amtrak and thus has Tiny Tracks presented by Amtrak?

Hershey is part of Sunoco and thus we get Sunoco Speedway and Sunoco Classic cars.

Hershey has a stake in Subway, Nathan's and Cold Stone?

Dude, it goes well beyond shoving the different candy brands down your throat at every turn.

But you have to admit that they are smart in the sponsors they set up. My favorite is the Bumper Cars sponsored by Geico. GENIUS!

I got cleared for normal activities as long as I don't do anything that can affect the pectoral muscles so... I am debating Hershey, Dorney or Great Adventure for Sunday. Hershey has the slight lead. But Voodoo and El Toro are calling me also. Decisions, Decisions.... *** Edited 6/24/2008 4:20:46 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***

The company that runs Hersheypark is not related to the chocolate company though, right? Obviously there are a great many deals between the two, but I thought they were separate business entities.

Seperate businesses from the same original company not sure which is the original still and which was sold.

So then technically the chocolate counts too. :)

And that's some serious beating-you-over-the-head advertising.

I don't count the Hershey Foods stuff since the whole freaking town bashes you over the head with it.

*fun factoid of the day* The Hershey Bears minor league hockey team was originally called the Hershey B'ars....

Yeah, Hershey Foods and Hersheypark are two totally independent companies. All the chocolatey-related items are commercial tie-ins. It's all a big sponsorship.

People just take it for granted that the "Hershey" in Hersheypark refers to the chocolate, but it actually just refers to the guy who started them both.

The chocolate world attraction that is outside the park's gates is a division of Hershey Foods, however.

Its interesting though how a park like Hersheypark advertises and it feels OK. When I was at Kings Island a few years ago I couldn't take it after a day. Every line was advertising the same Paramount crap, sat down to eat and there it was again, f-ing TV commercials and the same Paramount crap.