Hersheypark Skyrush - Sunday, May 27th, 2012

My only inner seat ride was the time when I got a lenient ride op and she didn't staple me in, so I had more give and therefore didn't get the "tighter than too tight" ride, whereas I was stapled both times on my outer seat rides. Could definitely have something to do with it, too.

The real issue is that these are over the head lap bars. Whereas SDL and other traditional lap bars have the arm in a somewhat vertical position so most of the positive g-force is actually directed along the length of the bar and not along closing the bar on your lap, Skyrush's lapbars are in a somewhat horizontal position (the fulcrum is behind your head) so the force is directed in large part at closing the bar on your lap. Hence, the need for return springs to pop them up (you can see them in the head assembly of the seat in front of you) and the problem with them ratcheting down so tightly.

I had to read that a few times for it to make sense, as I'm not technically inclined AT ALL, but I got it now. Makes a good deal of sense.

What's different about these versus the restraints on the old Intamin hypers like Millennium Force and the Superman: Rides of Steel? Those, once locked, don't budge one way or the other no matter how much force is applied. Why not do that on Skyrush?

Because it's Intamin? Because the seats are roomier so lapbars must be shaped different? Because

SQUIRREL! :)

It's been a while since I've been on the Superman coasters, but on MF you certainly can move the lap bar further down during the course of the ride.

While waiting in line for the back seat of Skyrush last night (a delay because train 1 has more sensitive restraints and they were having trouble getting them to read closed), we got to talking to a maintenance person from Hershey. He said that the restraints are what shipped from the company... and that Hershey was redesigning and would be installing their own, more comfortable, restraints in the future. He also gave my wife a pointer. Don't hold onto the grab handles on the restraint in front of you... hold on to the part of the restraint that is parellel to the seat. She did this and said the ride was her best... while I, holding onto the grab handles, thought my femurs were going to snap on some of the hills.

^ Where exactly are you saying we should hold?

http://media.photobucket.com/image/skyrush%20trains/lambchopzssc/SkyrushTrains-1.jpg

I think you should hold off on getting in line until they get new trains, but again, that's just my opinion. ;-)

I'm assuming SLFAKE is suggesting to hold here, as firmly pulling upwards should not only keep the bar from coming down further during the strong positive Gs, but would also keep your butt on the seat; essentially keeping space between your thighs and the lapbar.

And I think you should ride it because it is the most insane coaster I've been on in the US. I only felt uncomfortable; no pain. I perhaps was distracted by that terrifying drop in the back seat. But again, that's just my opinion. ;-p :D

Cdude, I will give you the drop. When Intamin does a great drop, there is nothin else in this world that feels like that.

Vater said:
I'm assuming SLFAKE is suggesting to hold here, as firmly pulling upwards should not only keep the bar from coming down further during the strong positive Gs, but would also keep your butt on the seat; essentially keeping space between your thighs and the lapbar.

Yes, that is the best place to hold on to to HELP with the pain, but nothing takes it away.

You know, as psyched as I get about riding new rides ASAP, I think sometimes it would be better to wait until they iron out the kinks. I'm kind of bummed that I missed I305 trimless, but I'm one that has grayed out a few times on Millennium Force, so I'm glad I waited. Skyrush may have been better appreciated by the majority of the coasting community if we didn't flock to it as soon as it opened. Just a thought.

cdude3 said:

I only felt uncomfortable; no pain.

Oh. Only uncomfortable.

Well, that's a ringing endorsement. I love feeling uncomfortable. :)

Vater said:

I'm assuming SLFAKE is suggesting to hold here,

That's right, Vater. I didn't know quite how to describe it.

Now last night, that didn't help much. My wife and neice rode it. They, as well as half the train, complained about a sudden lurch of the train on one of the turns that snapped backs and necks. My wife is still having neck problems from it, not to mention bruised thighs.

Ugh...not cool. Hope she's okay. I have just now gotten rid of the fluid in my foot from Skyrush squeezing so tight it puffed up my foot and badly bruised the back of my calf. These Intamin restraints can go take a hike.

Another big thumbs down for Skyrush.

We rode twice. The first ride was first thing in the morning, both us in the back car in the wing seats. The first ride was actually....pretty awesome. The speed and intensity and sheer insanity of the coaster is unmatched by pretty much anything else I've ridden. The feeling of speed itself is I guess pretty similar to that on I305 but the forces here are in another ball park. (For the record, I like I305 but don't love it. The speed is great but the ride is all power and speed and not much else - I've seen others here express similar thoughts.)

Skyrush, on the other hand, I think has a lot of more interesting stuff going on for it layout-wise, but the unrelenting speed and awful lapbars were worrisome for me after my first ride. I knew the coaster hadn't warmed up yet, and by early evening there was the possibility it could go from borderline "too much" to downright unpleasant. The lapbars by the end of the ride were quite tight but tolerable for me. For my riding partner they were already way too tight to be comfortable.

Cue our second ride, about 5PM. The queue was about half-full. This is purely anecdotal evidence but I'm already starting to wonder the popularity of this ride when, for most of the day, it didn't really seem to be packing people into the entrance, and that's even with the horrible dispatch times caused by the station design. I think we were on within 30 mins. Again, completely anecdotal. It was a very, very busy day but then again it looked like a solid third of the parks patrons were in the water park.

This 2nd ride did indeed feel faster and quite a bit more physical in the high speed curves (I'm hesitant to say a little more rougher. By any standard the ride tracks very smoothly). Every moment of airtime from the first drop on was, frankly, just not enjoyable. You feel the top part of your body uplifting toward the heavens, but the limited contact between your legs and the lapbar proves painful, but even worse, I also just found it...unsettling. I know there was 0% chance of my being ejected from the ride, but it was powerful enough that my instinct was just to brace myself and hold on for dear life. By the end of the ride I was just ready for it to be over.

So, to fix the ride, we need new lapbars. Feel free to get your rotten tomatoes ready to throw, but I'd also like to see it slowed down around 3 notches - I'm not even sure B&M style clamshells could make it fully comfortable without a decrease in speed. I'm sure some people are reading my description of the airtime and thinking "That sounds awesome!!!!!11" but for me, I'll pass on any future rides until they start making modifications.

I guess my bigger point to make about this ride is....are we having fun? Is this what we want out of coasters now? Like I said, I'm not the biggest fan of I305 but during my (insane) night rides on it last year people were still clapping and hooting and cheering like crazy on it. I'm not sure Skyrush will ever get that kind of reaction, but I'll be happy to be completely wrong if it turns out the once-a-year park visitors love it. I'm just not sure they do. The most typical reaction I heard over the day was "Ow." For the new for 2012 coasters I've been on this year, I'll take Verbolten over Skyrush any day, but then again at this point, I'd take Hershey's Trailblazer over Skyrush, too.

Other notes:

• Most big coasters have the 2 middle rows blocked off for the HP fast pass equivalent. If the rows aren't filled, most attendants do try to fill the rows, but by the time the people standing in line figure out what's going on, dispatch has been delayed dramatically. We did see several Fahrenheit trains dispatch with 1, 2, or even 3 rows completely empty, when the line was a good 45 minutes long. This is very silly.
• Operations otherwise were...fine. Not awful, but I've been spoiled by the speedy and friendly folks at BGW.
• I got my first ride on Fahrenheit. It's quite fun, but also weirdly inconsequential. It feels like a minor coaster in a park filled with other coasters that are much more major events.
• Storm Runner is still awesome, and a was a walk on for most of the morning.
• Wildcat is still rough enough for a one-and-done for me, but it's not completely awful. Lightning Racer is still full of awesomesauce - I could ride the damn thing all day. So much fun.
• The rest of the ride collection is still full of pleasures. Looper with the new trains is good as ever, Comet is still Comet, Great Bear is still IMO the most underrated B&M out there, and the log flume is still old school giggle inducing goodness.
• This is one more bullet to emphasize how underrated Great Bear is, in case you missed it the first time. The crazy helix thing off the lift! That awesome dive over Looper toward the creek! Wee!

Overall, a great day at HP but the operations have a LOT of room for improvement. Along with that big yellow coaster over by Comet.

Matt, yes, yes, more yes, and some yes. I feel the same way exactly on mostly everything you have said. Fahrenheit DOES feel a bit inconsequential...like it is fun ENOUGH, but it just ends up being kinda meh at the end. I love Lightning Racer...Skyrush I could see being slowed down just a TAD. Just the littlest bit possible. And Great Bear? Well, I agree with that swooped helix being kickass, and I'm a fan of the barrel rolls, but I really think the lame ending ruins what would otherwise be a great B&M invert. I'm still a fan of it for the above reasons, but I'd rather ride Talon or especially Montu any day of the week.

I agree with Bunky about Great Bear. It is awesome at first, with one of the best first halfs of any inverted I have ever rode, but the second part of the ride, in which it meander to the station and nothing exciting happens, kind of knocks it down on my coaster ratings.

I might be getting to Hersheypark at the end of the season. Would putting a towel between my legs and the supports help with the pain?

Why is it that Intimin can't get stuff right? Why does everyone hire them to build rides?

I think football pads would probably be your best bet. Anything softish is just going to get crushed into your thigh without really helping to distribute the load.

And re: why not use the Storm Runner trains
I'm not sure if this is "the" reason, but the twist into and out of the over banked hill thing are incredibly sharp. I could see a definite head smack happening there if there were anything remotely near shoulder height.