Associated parks:
None
The four of us, Me, Joe, Jeremy, and 'T' planned on meeting at Great Bear at 2pm if we didn't see each other by then. Well, sure enough, with awesome brain power the POSSE contains we(Joe and I) drove into the parking lot of Hershey and found Jeremy and T right away. All four of us hoped aboard the tram and were takenaway to 'The Sweetest Place on Earth.'
My last visit to Hersheypark was just about 2 years ago when Lightning Racer debut and on that day there were just about 5-10 rows of cars in the parking lot. On this day, we had parked much closer to the stadium then the park itself, just so you have an idea of what crowds looked like on this day.
After walking down the long pathway towards the park itself, we finally had arrived. Our goal = Ten Coasters in 9 hours. Unlike Jeremy's scale, mines a little different. I rate 0 to 5. First ride of the day...
Comet - 3.5 - Wait time: 1 hour(darn line back jumpers)
My ride on the Comet during the last trip was not so great but not so terrible. We had sat in the back and there really was alot to talk about. This time Joe and I opted for the front seat and Jeremy and 'T' opted for 1.3. A much different ride in the front then back. Lots of nice gliding airtime and some strong laterals as well.
After a ride on the Comet, we scoped out a nice place to eat over by Great Bear so we made our way over in that direction. Along the way we stopped at...
SooperDooperLooper - 4 - Wait time: 15 mins
My very first looping coaster and still one of my all time favs. Lap bars only through a nice strong positive-G loop. All around a nice ride and you gotta love that kickin 70's name. :)
After our ride, we headed towards Great Bear to scope out the line but it was looking pretty long so we ate first over at the Minetown Resturant.(SP?) Great food. Me, Joe and Jeremy opted for some of their delicious pizza while 'T' did just fine with a drink.(haven already eaten food before arriving at the park) Once finished, we left our humble A/C to brave the heat once more.
Great Bear - 4 - Wait time: 1 hour
I don't care what anyone says and I know i'm not alone on this one but Great Bear is a good ride. It might not be as big or bad as for say Montu or Alpie but its still a keeper in my book. Very smooth and I absolutely love the Zero-G Roll on this ride. And the helix at the top of the lift is very unique. After the ride was done, 'T' had explained that she thought the ride was, "Boring." Jeremy then shot back with a, "All that screaming didn't sound like a boring ride." After some more mudslinging and many more confused looks on Joe's face regarding what he thought of the ride, we finally arrived at our next coaster...
Trail Blazer - 1 - Wait time: 10 mins
Umm... Arrow mine train... umm... ya... best described - Ho Hum
Sidewinder - 2 - Wait time: 20 mins
Here's where the enthusiast met GP. After riding this Boomerang, 'T' explained to us that she thought, "That was really great." ... ??? ... Yup you read correctly. Trust me, our confused look is much more confused then yours right now. We layed that one to rest immediately and made our way over to our next coaster...
Lightning Racer(Thunder Side)- 5 - Wait time: 5 mins
Much like Comet, LR left a bad taste in my mouth in 2000. The ride still hadn't broken in yet and wasn't much. It surprised me greatly to find LR ten times better then in 2000. With a four person group, we just had to race each other. Me and Joe on Thunder and Jeremy and 'T' on Lightning. Seat of choice: back seat. Oh has the ride improved. Airtime on every hill, smooth sweeping turns and just enough shake to it to make the ride feel like a woodie should. I think Joe's remark just after getting off the ride sums it all up, "Ya, that was really good. Lets do it again." Our reward for a darn good ride, another GCI twister woodie...
Wildcat - 3.5 - Wait time: 20 mins
The .5 is for the potental the ride has. All of us chose front seat b/c in years past, we've heard about the ride's roughness. The layout is great but the ride is just a little to rough to enjoy the ride itself. Perhaps if some major retracking had been done and it smoothed out then it would jump up on my list but until that happens it will just be an okay ride.
By now my watch read 5:45 and we figured we better try and get in the most difficult credit of the day. So after depositing our belongings in a locker, we arrived at the absolutely insane...
Roller Soaker - A very wet 4 - Wait time: 1 hour 25 mins
I pictured this ride to be absolute craziness. I envisioned water flying everywhere and you have no where to hide. Well, RS was more then that. Long before getting on the ride, heck, standing in line to get in line, you are already soaking wet. There is a brief period of time where you are safe from all the jets of water but all that quickly goes away once you starting walking up the ramp to get into the station which just happens to be located underneath the final turn into the brakes. There is no running from it or ducking for cover. You will get soaked, there is no question about it! The ride itself is craziness. Just when you clear your eyes to see whats next, you get hit with another jet or cannon and can't see again. So much fun but not my cup of tea. I only do the dry coasters. Next up....
LR(Lightning Side) - 5 - Wait time: 5 mins
Just as great as the other side. So I will spare the details and just say, Jeremy won again and we came off happy as larks.
Wild Mouse - 3 - Wait time: 30 mins??
Hey its a mouse. Not much to say here. Nice laterals and some good positive Gs.
We managed to complete our goal of all the coasters with some time to spare. The rest of the night was spent re-riding Lightning Racer which to me is the most beautiful coaster to look at night. All those chaser lights... simply awesome.
Hershey once again left a good taste in my mouth so of course a re-visit will have to be made this year. It was great spending the week with you Jeremy and your new 'friend.' :)
Congrads to you if you made it all the way down to the bottom. If there's some typos up there, somewhere, I apologize ahead of time. Please be gentle, thats all I ask.
Coasterman Mike - ... 19, 20, ... 1, 2, 3,....
-----------------
Kennywood, Celebrating 75 Years of Racing Sperm ;)
-----------------
-Sean Newman
84 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC # 100 in July. Waiting for the 305 foot drop tower in 2003. Thank you PKD.
You must be logged in to post