looks like Canyon River Rapids @ Hershey will be gone

^^

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They should continue to get COASTERS, or even more flat rides.

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FLATS! To me Hershey is sorely lacking in non kiddie flats.

RE: The temporary feel of Midway America. As someone else stated (and even I may have mentioned), Wildcat and Lightning Racer were there first... to be anchors to Midway America. However, in their rush to get a water park, the Midway America concept seems to have been abandoned.

RE Removal of Rapids: Local radio this morning mentioned this and said (paraphrasing)... "Hershey will removeal their POPULAR rapids ride for two more rides they think will be even more popular..." River Rapids = Popular for guests... Lazy River and Wave Pool (costing less to operate) = More Popular for HERCO.

*** Edited 7/2/2008 1:31:49 PM UTC by SLFAKE***

bunky666, there are lots of other options for getting wet that aren't ride related to a ride like east coast waterworks, or the play area under roller soaker.

Last year it was 90 degrees and my fiance and I would just stroll through, dip our feet in the kiddie pools or goof off under roller soaker to cool off. We both loved it.

Like they said in the article, they are replacing a ride that does 700pph to two that can do 4000 at any one time.

I have a feeling if they were replacing this with a new coaster no one here would care even though everyone will say otherwise.

MAYBE I wouldn't complain about it if a coaster went up. Still, I would think to argue about putting the coaster somehow AROUND the rapids ride. :)

I think we have a couple of things confused here. The boardwalk is NOT a waterpark. It's a water attraction. Big difference. It's actually in fact, just another themed area of the park. It serves up a way better option to people. Now they don't have to choose between 2 separately paid admissions. The best of both worlds so to speak.

As far as Midway America goes; They can easily rework that area if they want too. There's plenty of directions to expand especially around WC. The boardwalk project has just filled an empty hole and brilliantly at that.

The demise of CRR shouldn't be that big of a deal. While it could be argued that it's the best of its kind, the ride basically offers nothing more than to get wet. Now we'll have a bunch of other things to get that job done.

I have a question for those that live in the area, are there any big water parks nearby?

I rembember Hershey when the Trailblazer was the end of the park, along with the Cyclops, Pirate and Cinema 2000. Granted, the CCR was a decent ride, times are a changing. With gas the way it is, we should be happy Hershey is doing any sort of major improvement.

An article linked to in an above post states that Canyon River Rapids will close on August 17.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/07/hersheypark_to_close_ride_open.html

^^ Dorney's maybe an hour away from Hershey. The Poconos, 2 hours away, boast Camel Beach and a new and smallish Sno Cove, IIRC.

^Thanks Paul. I have to believe that Hershey sees the "spike" in attendence related to the Boardwalk and there really aren't any options CLOSE to the park.

As much as I like CCR, seems like the right decision to me.

Losing a great rapids ride for another ho-hum wave pool and lazy river? This is progress that will make people leave Hersheypark happy? Hopefully they will at least make it a crazy river with rapids instead of the lazy version - the crazy innertube rapids ride at The Beach across from PKI comes to mind, I think Action Park NJ used to have an agressive one with big drops as well but I'm not sure if the new Mountain whatever park it is now still has it? Has anyone been to either of those waterparks lately to confirm they are still operating?

I don't see the Boardwalk as a poor attempt at creating a waterpark. I see it as another themed area with rides that can be chosen among many rides, attractions, and shows in the park. Now I can chose to ride a carousel or a coaster, see a show, or ride a waterslide. The expansion of the Boardwalk next year will just make the water-themed area all the more accessible by increasing capacity.

As for those who forsee the demise of Midway America due to it's isolation created by the Boardwalk; I don't see that as necesarily so. Hersheypark has so much under-utilized land in in that area. The huge country fair tent, the kiddie rides, and the poor excuse for a Whip take up a ton of room. There could be some quality attractions in that area that would bring more attention to that corner of the park along with Music Express, the Ferris Wheel, and the three coasters. They just need to rework the area because what is there now could be so much better.

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gardener14 said:
As for those who forsee the demise of Midway America due to it's isolation created by the Boardwalk; I don't see that as necesarily so. Hersheypark has so much under-utilized land in in that area. The huge country fair tent, the kiddie rides, and the poor excuse for a Whip take up a ton of room. There could be some quality attractions in that area that would bring more attention to that corner of the park along with Music Express, the Ferris Wheel, and the three coasters. They just need to rework the area because what is there now could be so much better.

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Agreed. Check it out on Google Earth to see for yourself. If we're making suggestions, how about placing a flat ride beneath that beautiful structure that houses the never used queue for Lighting Racer? The Wildcat queue could also be compacted if needed to free up more room.

Along with the beautiful early 20th century styling of the coaster stations and ice cream parlor is a lot of stuff that detracts from the theme. The construction trailer restroom, the carnival trailer refreshment stands, the portable Fun Slides. Remove/replace those with more permanent structures that fit the theme, add a few more flats, and the area could be one of the most popular in the entire park.

Having more direct access from the park entrance wouldn't hurt either. I think just the sheer distance and time it takes to get back to that part of the park discourages a lot of people. Boardwalk gave many more people a reason to venture further back than they normally would have.

Just another reason I hate the Boardwalk. What is the next ride to go for more stupid Boardwalk expansions.

I am really angry at this decision. Everyone I told about this back when it was a rumor was not happy about it and felt Hershey was making a mistake. The Boardwalk should have been built away from the ride park like WWK is at Dorney or made a seperate gate. They tried to put too much in a small area and now it is at the expense of other attractions. The only positive thing about this is that it might help make coaster lines a little shorter but I don't think it will that much since last year I went on a slower day with the Boardwalk open and lines were still long, though that is also due to bad operations like only 1 train on each side of LR.

It's funny how years ago I would say Hershey was my favorite park without hesitation, now I'm not so sure.

I will miss CRR, as I love rapids rides such as these I am glad I got a chance to ride it this past weekend. I like waterslides as well, but lazy rivers and shoulder to shoulder "wave pools" do nothing for me. How will it make coaster lines shorter? If it does then it's not doing what it is intended to do and Hershey will have failed. Shorter coaster lines = same amount of attendance just shifted to another area. If anything, it'll be packed in the wave pool because of the boost of attendance as well as lines for coasters, as they are different types of attractions. I agree it seems a bit crowded back in that area. They did a great job with boardwalk with the atmosphere and attractions, but I just wish they wouldn't have put it in a place where replacement is pretty much the ONLY option to expand. I wonder if they will scrap the small puddle they call a wave pool now and put something better there. Maybe they could put a drop ride there... ok with a some misting fans or small water jets or something at the bottom so it blends in a bit more. :)

*** Edited 7/7/2008 7:40:52 PM UTC by P18*** *** Edited 7/7/2008 7:43:02 PM UTC by P18***

CRR is seriously one of my favorite raft rides, Ill be sad to see it go, but to address the point about lazy rivers, and wave pools, they are absolutely necessary for a water park. Why is that? Its the only thing in a crowded park that you can get wet in without a long wait, if a wait at all. I could do without the standard wave pool most of the time because of the lack of quality waves, and tubes, if a wave pool has good waves (Typhoon Lagoon, or even the Big Kahuna at Noah's Ark) or has no tubes (Water Country USA) Ill be in them for quite some time.

As for the rivers, I love them, and if they are "adventure rivers" (waterfalls, waves, etc) I will float in them for multiple times, they are by far the best place to be when its over 90 degrees in either an amusement park or a water park. They are also massive people eaters, you mentioned a packed pool, just think of how many people are there not riding rides, and I can tell you rivers also pack them in too, they are the only people eaters at a water park (all the slides have at most 20 people on one at the same time, and that only if you have a huge family raft chute, the average twin tube slide has half that at best.

RIP CRR, say 'hey' to Thunder River your creator up in ride heaven for us. Don't let them tease you up there about being replaced by a wave pool / lazy river complex - hold your raft up high buddy