Hersheypark strategy

Anyone have a good strategy to hit all the coasters in HP in one day. This will be my first trip to the park(driving from Miami). I'll be going the first Monday in August. Also, is HP a 1 day park or a 2 day park? I was planning on spending 1 day at HP and 1 1/2 days at CP after that. I've already been to CP in 2001 but I haven't ridden Raptor, Mantis, TTD, or WT(my daughter wasn't tall enough for Raptor or Mantis in 2001).

I'd like opinions as to whether I should reverse my time at each park. I'll be staying at breakers at CP. I'm more interested in reriding coasters than riding the flat rides.

Thanks

You shouldn't have any problem hitting every ride at hershey in one day. Excluding the ERT on Stormrunner, I got somewhere around 30 total coaster rides with at least one on every coaster on the very busy Saturday on RideWorld's event. Plus we even did the chocolate world tour thing, so one day shoudn't be a problem. I do suggest just doing the rides as you come to them, as they will get the longest lines first, and when the park opens, lots of people run to Stormrunner. But the line for that moves really was and the line looks way longer than what it is, so the day I was there it rarely got over an hour long. The rides in the back never really got too long of lines all day so those could wait until you finish with the front.

Check the travel tips thread. I posted a pretty long post about general park strats (which I currently on the bottom of the 4th page).

Got it, thanks. Is there anything else that is "too good to miss out on?" What about a decent hotel to stay at after leaving the park?

All I basically did was the caosters, so I don;t know about what else, but I heard that the laser show isn't too bad so you mght want to see that. As for hotels, I really don't know a good one, but I do know that you shouldn't stay at the Knights Inn in Harissburgh (or however its spelled), unless you want to buy some drugs. Seriously, when we showed up at the hotel, the cops were there arresting some people doing drugs in someone's room when they opened up the room. Not to mention the rooms were small and dirty.

Well, stay the Comfort Inn, right outside of the park. Very nice hotel with reasonable prices.

For what it is worth, during a 3 hour visit on a Tuesday evening earlier this summer I got in the following rides:

Comet (4 rides), Great Bear (3 rides), Lightning Racer (2 rides), Roller Soaker (1 ride), Sidewinder (1 ride), sooperdooperlooper (1 ride), Storm Runner (1 ride), Trailblazer (1 ride), Wild Mouse (1 ride) and Wildcat (2 rides)

Also, the year before the debut of Roller Soaker, I got in every other major coaster during a Saturday visit... and that was AFTER the group I was with decided we should go through Chocolate world FIRST. We also left around 6pm.

So... on a weekday, you should have no real problem getting in all of the coasters at least once or twice. Of the weekdays, Mondays (with hold overs from the weekend) and Fridays (people getting an early start on the weekend) are the busiest days... but still not all that bad compared to weekends.

On a weekday the only coasters that really have any kind of wait are the Great Bear, Rollersoaker(due to poor capacity,) Storm Runner, and Comet due to being the 1st coaster in site from the entrance.

You shouldn't have any problems riding every coaster within 3-4 hours. Rerides and flats added in and you can still get it all done in about 6-8 hours.

Sounds really promising! I plan on being there from open 'till close but I really didn't want to be in 1-2 hour lines all day. Good deal.

Also, I'll check out the Comfort Inn.

Thanks

The best way to hit Hershey. Do not start with Storm Runner it doesn't usually open until half and hour after the rest of the park opens.

Try to get there at opening and go directly to the Midway America at the far back of the park. You can usually knock out Lightning Racer, The Wildcat, the Mouse, Roller Soaker with little to no wait.

Then Sidewinder (Boomerang) and Trailblazer.

That should given the park enough time to get Storm Runner up and running (hopefully with both trains) and on a Monday you're probably looking at a 30-45 minute wait regardless.

Assuming that they have 2 train operation on Great Bear and Superdooperlooper you should have a minimum wait as these two are people eaters. The Comet always seems to have a long wait (can never figure that out).

Don't forget to definitely go to the Chocolate World attraction right outside the park gates - it's a hoot. And if you like BBQ, Hershey has a great place by the Trailblazer (I believe).

Look forward to your trip report!
Best,
Jim 'jimvid' McDonnell

Thanks a lot! I'll follow that strategy. I'll be sure to post a TR after I get back.

When I went I headed for S.R. and rode that. I then went to the Midway and there were no lines. Later in the day though, I had to wait for Great Bear. I don't think there is ever a line too long for Sidewinder.