Hersheypark Skyrush - Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Horrendous pain? Why aren't people reporting this to the park so they can shut down the ride immediately if it's so painful?

Horrendous pain sounds VERY serious, and if that is the case, the ride should not be operating.

When I went on Memorial Day to ride this ride, it was closed for over half the day due to (or rumored to be due to) a problem with the seats. I have no idea if this was truly the reason or if there was another problem (it IS an Intamin ride, so who knows). Still it makes me at least wonder about the restraints causing the shutdown.

John, yeah, it was pretty bad. I am dramatic, yes, and I have a gift for injuring myself, so it may not have been all the ride's fault. Maybe I stapled myself in too tightly, or maybe the wing seats are worse. Maybe the heat and dehydration combined with the crap restraints made it feel worse than it normally would. I can't discount these possibilities. It may honestly be that I am too big for this restraint style, as I AM on the heavier side. But yes, it was very very bad. I wish it wasn't.

I could see this being a problem. On GCI's Millennium Flyer trains, for instance, I routinely have the bar continue to ratchet down during the course. It's never gotten to a point where it's uncomfortable, but it's also a lap bar lap bar (not an over the head lap bar).

I was about to write my own little trip report, but I think I'll just chime in here.

I just got back from a fun-filled day at Hersheypark, and I thought Skyrush was without a doubt the single most intense and thrilling ride I have ever taken. (the surprising part of that sentence, incidentally, is "fun-filled day at Hersheypark") I immediately thought about El Toro and likened the extreme forces of Skyrush to it. The main difference is I could ride Skyrush comfortably. Really.

About those pesky restraints. I am a medium-large guy, comin' in at about 230 and carry the excess around my middle, of course. I was grateful that Skyrush had lap-only restraints and that it actually placed over my legs, rather than pushing into my gut. (which is why I could only manage 2 laps on the fabulous El Toro on a slow day - that lap bar, once they got me stapled in, pushed against me in such a way that the ride was a minute and a half of can't breathe. Sadly.)

So after my first heart-stopping, jaw-dropping Skyrush ride (last row, right wing) I called my friend Jeff in St Louis and he immediately asked if it hurt my legs. I said no,... thought about it for a sec, felt around for bruises, and concluded that if there was any pain at all, I had forgotten about it. Busy praying the thing would stay put and hold me in, I guess.

I got two more rides that day, once more in the back and then right before closing in the very front. With wits about me, I did notice some pain, maybe severe pressure is a better word. And sitting on the brake run I did hear a few riders mention it got their legs. But I feel maybe this is the one and only time that being on the larger side with good strong legs has actually helped me.

About that pesky station. First of all, a front row queue that extends all the way down the steps from the station to the ground is ridiculous and I wasn't falling for it. (note: the front of train/back of train difference on this ride, save for the first drop, is negligible. My advice for max thrill and time trimming is go for the back) The same-side load/unload is indeed a mess. The lazy susan bag drop is a good idea in theory, but nobody gets how it works and they stop and spin the things round and round looking for their stuff. Then they stop and put on their flip flops. Then the gates open for oncoming riders and the situation goes from bad to worse. I'm not sure in that tight space how flow-thru might be managed, exit steps would have to lead from somewhere and I have a feeling a duck under the lift is a no-no on this type of ride. Maybe a rear exit toward Comet, or something.

The day I was there dispatch was pretty decent. The incoming train sat on the run for less than a minute, so maybe with time and experience there's been some improvement.

Thanks for reading my little review. Seems I'm in the minority here, but I thought Skyrush was a blast, and wish there was something similar nearer to me.

I just ask, whatever happened to the days where they would make coasters where you ride with inches between your legs and the restraints, and when you went over the tops of hills, you would actually float out of your seat instead of just being pinned to the restraints? I swear, we're going to get to the point where OTSR's are standard and lapbars are a thing of the past.

Um. You do realize Skyrush has lapbars, right? Also, you do know that multiple people have died because of restraint failures by this very manufacturer on this style of ride, right?

RCMAC, your mentioning of where you carry your weight versus where others carry theirs and how it may affect ride comfort is definitely valid. For a heavier girl, I am very thin (relatively speaking) in my top half and my abdomen. My butt and thighs are definitely where a significant portion of my extra fluffiness resides. Therefore, I have never experienced discomfort on El Toro, but I am short and don't carry too much extra where the lapbars staple. Skyrush would logically be more uncomfortable in that area for me and probably quite a few people. But I'm definitely with you on that airtime. If I was more comfortable in my seat, I could have ridden Skyrush again and again and been thrilled to death to do so. It could be that much fun.

Trackmaster: OTSRs would NOT be appropriate for Skyrush, and lapbars are definitely the correct choice. However, if they gave you all that breathing room on that coaster in the restraints, you WOULD be ejected from the ride. The airtime is nearly frightening it is so ridiculously huge. I wish they could come up with some sort of five point harness that adjusted like a seatbelt as you rode. And with a name like "Skyrush", the soft beltlike harnesses would kinda be like skydiving harnesses. But I know that wouldn't work. It just would be cool if the innovation Intamin uses in their rides extended to some sort of revolutionary new restraint system.

However, at this time, I gotta just second Apollo Andy's comment. Some of the old restraints would be catastrophic for safety on this and similar rides.

And after one of those failures (Perilous Plunge at Knott's) they did try out a 5 point system for a season or two. Loading times were horrible.

Andy, you are a wealth of knowledge! :) I knew about Perilous Plunge, but I was not aware anyone had ever tried a five point harness. I was already figuring it would have never worked, but I think my point is valid about some innovation from Intamin's safety team (do they even have one? *snicker*). Most of my favorite coasters are Intamin rides, but Jeff mentioned about the major suckage of their typical restraint systems (except Millie and ttd), and I gotta agree with him on that one.

LOL, I waited about a half-hour for a lap on Plunge with those horrid restraints, with a line of about 25 people...

Also want to point out that B&M and Schwarzkopf have combined to eject *zero* riders from trains - even with inversions on many of the Antons. OTSRs aren't an answer to any restraint problem...

Rollergator, I agree that OTSRS should be a last resort. I love the Premier launch coasters with the inversions and no OTSR. Also, on heavy airtime rides, OTSRs are a big no-no. I just picture the days where Storm Runner is running at full tilt and going over that first hill (ow), and then I think about Toro or Skyrush with OTSRs and it makes my blood run cold. However, there has definitely got to be a better way to do the restraints on Skyrush. There has to be!!! Other than being too short, Skyrush is nearly perfect with the imaginary improved restraints.

I rode Skyrush for the second time today. Instead of a wing seat, my wife and I rode in the middle seats with the floor. Still pinned you against the restraints on the air hills, but the lateral motion on two of the curves (the ones that I thought were going to throw me out before) was not bad. Not sure if it was because I was bracing my foot against the floor, or if there is just something different about the way a body reacts in the middle seats.

As for the restraints... I didn't seem to mind them this time. Maybe I just knew what to expect and I could have been better prepared for it. Not as "horrible" as I thought it was after my first ride last week... still not a favorite though, and still not one I would want to ride over and over.

Definitely think there is something to the middle versus wing seats being less painful. I actually enjoyed the first ride of two today, and I was sitting in one of the middle seats.

Skyrush is just another Intamin coaster that you have to develop your own defensive riding technique. My wife experienced the pain that everyone has been talking about in the left rear outer seat. I rode in the right rear outer seat. I love to put my hands up on a coaster ride, but with skyrush you can only do that in the parts of the ride where you are experiencing the positive g's. My new technique is when you are about to hit negative g's is to grab on to each side bar on the over the should lap bar. That way you aren't pulled out of your seat to the point of painfulness. You do have to hold on tight.

It doesn't bother me to have to learn how to ride Intamin coasters defensively because I love the intensity. When I rode Intimidator 305 on opening day everyone was complaining about the restraint and intensity. I loved the ride because I had already learned the technique of those restraints from riding Storm Runner so many times. I'd rather have to learn techniques then have a forceless ride.

Coasterfantom2, good call...I DID discover that if you hold that bar you were talking
About, it does work against the bar crushing more. Also something simple: the restraints tighten with the forces SO easily. How about they just make the restraints so they can't tighten more once the train is in motion. Easy enough to fix, right?

No no no, I wasn't suggesting using OTSR's. I was just saying that it looks like eventually all coasters are going to have them with the direction that we're going. I was just saying that I miss the days when hypers would just have normal trains with normal lap bars didn't didn't fall down on you, and actually let you have real air time.

Trackmaster said:No no no, I wasn't suggesting using OTSR's. I was just saying that it looks like eventually all coasters are going to have them with the direction that we're going.

Perhaps a small group of them... I would argue the opposite; that we are going more and more with lap bars. The new Gerstlauer Eurofigters (Iron Shark, Dare Devil Dive), The new Premier looper (Superman at Six Flags Vallejo). The Vekoma Boomerang at Weiner Prater (sure it's only one, but it's a nice start!) Also, all US Premier loopers (except Speed) changed to lap bars a few years ago.

And finally... Skyrush. Not to mention the cool/retro new orange trains for sooperdooperLooper (as a side note - check out the cool new sdL entrance! Very nice!)

If the restraints hurt you on Skyrush (or any ride!) - by all means let the park know (in a very polite way, of course.) Fill out a form at Guest Relations. Make a call. Send a email or heck, even a snail mail.

Talking about it online is nice, but if you spend your time telling the people that can actually do something about it know, then you can say you were part of the solution.

Only problem with "cool new sdl entrance", when they painted the station they either used cheap paint, or tried to paint it with latex over original oil based paint, or something. The new paint is pealing off (granted, "guests" help it by picking at it), but it comes off in long sheets that look and bend like latex. In the station by the gate to the front seat of the train it was so bad that they even put up two panels to cover the one area of the wall that had been completely stripped of new paint.

For what it's worth, I rode Skyrush again yesterday. I visited the park with my family and my niece and nephews really wanted to ride it. It still sucked to me. I rode in the center seats instead of the wing this time and we were somewhere in the middle of the train.

My experience helped me to be more defensive this time which lightened the impact, but it still hurt me. And my concentration on attempting to be defensive prevented me from having any enjoyment.

Still just my opinion, but I think they need to do something about the restraining system. Then this coaster has the potential to be fantastic.

^ How did your niece and nephews like the ride? Painful for them?