Hersheypark Skyrush - Sunday, May 27th, 2012

I have a friend on CoasterBuzz who pointed out to me recently that I might be beginning to show traits of a CoasterBuzz bully. I just want to say that everyone has the capacity to change the way they interact with others around here, and everyone deserves a chance to learn how to fit in. CoasterBuzz has improved my life in ways that I find hard to explain without sounding mushy. It's worth it to try to behave around here, take in all you can, and interact in a respectable way. Peace.

Face it, Travis. You're one of us.

I rode Skyrush twice over the weekend. Once in the back left outer seat, and once in the front right inner. I really like the ride. My only complaint is that it's a short just like the rest of the Intamin steel coasters at Hershey.

I agree with everyone that the loading/unloading in the station does really suck. The right could have great capacity if they could alter that so people unload on the opposite side of the station.

I love the new trains, and I didn't have a problem with my thighs being hurt at all. I agree Carrie J that the restraints on I-305 would have been adequate. I was thinking that's what the OTS Lapbar was going to be just like minus the vest. With the grab bars it's almost similar to B&M's restraints on their hypercoasters, but not as well designed.

The ride itself is silky smooth, and the air is really forceful. It's a great ride. It knocked Storm Runner out of my #1 spot at the park.

I do wonder if the side seats have any effect on the coaster experience as well. I can't imagine it makes too much of a difference, but I noticed some pretty severe vibration from this coaster as well as the pain from the restraints. I would really like to get back there very soon and re-ride Skyrush to form a more complete opinion. I am actually kind of upset that I DIDN'T like this ride better because it has all the makings of a super thrilling, super intense coaster. I would also like to sit in the very front and the very back (although I think the very back would fling me out onto the main walkway, the airtime is so huge). I DO think this is a must ride if one is in the area, and I really hope Hershey and Intamin can work together to fix the restraint issue. This could bump all the coasters down a notch at Hershey if they can fix some issues.

Wow, I exactly thought the exact opposite about the restraints- Intamin finally got them right! I hate the lapbar part on the Maverick style trains so it was a great surprise when I sat down and discovered the new style lapbars are similar to a B&M hyper. I guess it just depends on body type. They're never going to please everyone.

I can't comment on the operations since I only rode it once during the sneak preview Friday night but watching the ride from a distance on Saturday I could tell dispatches were horribly slow (I wish every park's operations were as quick as Knoebels).

I thought the ride combined the best of both worlds - the comfortableness of a B&M with the extreme ejector airtime of Intamin. In fact, sitting in theback row and getting whipped over the top of the hill made me think Skyrush may have the best first drop of all time.

Whew... I'm more than willing in most cases to sit back and wait patiently for the majority opinion to roll in before reacting to those who dispute my experience with a comment or two about body type. Seriously?

Anyway... I took a peek over at the recent posts on the Hersheypark Facebook page and it appears I'm not alone. There are several comments speaking to the discomfort of the seats and/or restraint system. They range from the same problem as I had with the lap bar hurting the thighs to the forces being so strong that their bodies were whipped too much and created pain.

I wasn't really kidding about the idea of using the I305 restraint system for this ride. The forces are that great. The extra support around the body would do wonders to keep it in place around the fast twists and turns.

I think this coaster (not the station) has the potential for greatness. But it needs to be tweaked first.

Seems like the "easy" solution would be for a wider and fluffier lapbar. Sure, you'll go into it pretty hard, but like CI's Cyclone, with enough soft padding, hopefully it wouldn't "bite" quite so hard...

The Toro comparison seems extremely valid...and I would probably love SkyRush even as is (I'm one of those *masochists*, LOL).... ;)

^ Me too gator! LOL

I view sore legs as a vivid reminder that I'm actually riding a white-knuckle thrill ride with "bite" as you call it. Comfort is great, if I'm on a B&M or sitting home on the couch. Sometimes I want a ride that feels like I'm actually riding on a Bull trying to throw me off.

Perhaps softer padding might work, but for God's sake, no OTSR please! I'll take the feeling of freedom over another ride boxing me in any day.

But that's just me... ;)

LOL! Love it. Guys, it's a lifestyle...there's not a thing wrong with that! LOL!

Hypersuckit XLC soured me on thigh pain forever. It just can't tolerate it. I think I'm still bruised from that ride, a decade later.

John Knotts said:

Comfort is great, if I'm on a B&M or sitting home on the couch. Sometimes I want a ride that feels like I'm actually riding on a Bull trying to throw me off.

I'd like to think that the two aren't mutually exclusive.

If you can believe it Dodonpa was worse. I can describe the experience in one hash tag......#WeeeeeeeewoooooowwOUCHwhatinbloodyhellweeeeeeetheend!

Lord Gonchar said:

John Knotts said:

Comfort is great, if I'm on a B&M or sitting home on the couch. Sometimes I want a ride that feels like I'm actually riding on a Bull trying to throw me off.

I'd like to think that the two aren't mutually exclusive.

Not always no. But in this case I *loved* the extreme airtime, and although I agree with Carrie that there was some pain after my second ride, for me it wasn't enough to warrant any changes to the ride whatsoever. I loved all of it. Of course with an intense ride like this, it's going to be different for others, so for the sake of the park and it's riders, some softer lap padding might be in order. However, this isn't a coaster many people are going to want to marathon on regardless of the restraints. lol

I love extreme airtime too, but it doesn't have to hurt.

If a ride hurts you, it's bad design somewhere.

The "bad" design is in padding of the lap bar restraints, combined with the forces. Once again, I didn't find it bad, but I'm not discounting Carrie's experience either. For me, this is the ride I've always wanted, but never thought we'd get in America.

Skyrush is by far my new favorite steel coaster.

There are some badly designed restraints in the Coasterbuzz top 25. The most famous being Magnum XL-200 at #21.

John Knotts said:

The "bad" design is in padding of the lap bar restraints, combined with the forces.

Exactly.

I'm not saying the ride itself is bad or wrong in any way (it seems like you keep trying to take my comments that way), but the ride can remain exactly what it is and still not have to hurt.

The fact that it causes physical pain means something is wrong.

I don't care how good a ride is, it's not an excuse for the experience being painful.

Actually, to be honest, I never even thought of softer padding. I honestly don't know if it would do any good because this ride is SO forceful. The more I think about it, the more I am amazed at the crazy airtime. It was sick!!! I haven't experienced the AT bliss that is Bizarro, but these little innocuous looking hills punctuating Skyrush feel nearly unsafe (not that I mind...hehehehe). Maybe a seatbelt under the harness would even stop the butt from rising quite so far, but I don't know. In any case, I DO think the pain and cramping in my thighs is directly at the spot those restraints were at, which saddens me. If they get it together, Skyrush could easily unseat Toro for me.

I agree bunky, there may not be a restraint that will please everyone because the forces are so strong. Lap bars will hurt the legs, shoulder restraints/straps may yield complaints about shoulder pains. Even with softer padding, multiple rides may still make some people say no more. Has Intamin finally built a coaster that is just too extreme for some riders? Are we looking at another I-305 fiasco where the ride is modified after it's opening year?

I'm not sure what the answer is. All I can say for a fact is that is wasn't a problem for me. I should say I'm someone who loves Magnum, X2, The Boss and The Voyage. It rarely gets too intense for me.

John Knotts said:

Has Intamin finally built a coaster that is just too extreme for some riders?

Not even close. They've just demonstrated, yet again, that they know next to nothing about comfortably restraining riders.

It rarely gets too intense for me.

But I don't think the problem is even remotely that Skyrush is too intense of a ride. It's that the restraints are too full of suck.

There's a difference betweena ride being intense (a good thing) and a ride causing unnecessary pain for whatever reason (a bad thing).