Roller Soaker For Sale

I took the full force of the blast on Super Saturator at Carowinds and I can say it had quite a punch. It was definitely a soaker, not a mist or spritz by any means.

I will also vouch that when the main geysers were working (75-90% of the times I was there the big important ones were working) you got absolutely soaked on that ride. If you rode in the front there were 3 or 4 successive smacks in the face from massive fountains in the 2nd half of the course.

In its first few seasons there were a ton of water guns that were pretty effective but they quickly replaced them with hand-pump versions that could barely reach the low parts of the ride. I remember a few particularly nasty situations on cooler days when people in line would be stuck at the mercy of someone w/ one of the big guns. Constant blasts of cold water + confined space led to some angry red necks.

Hubby was blasting the crap out of riders at Hershey this year from the ground. He had the timing down perfect and the riders had no idea it was coming, lol.

RollrCoastrCrazy said:

Constant blasts of cold water + confined space led to some angry red necks.

Shoot, wasn't even time for their weekly Saturday-night-whether-they-needed-it-or-not bath.

Never rode Roller Soaker, and I guess I'm ok with the missed credit. I've never participated in Hershey's water park activities but I could see the ride was lame, and the wait was deadly. Oh well.
I did see a funny thing happen once on a walk through the water park. A young couple was walking thru with a stroller that not only held a toddler, but also was completely loaded with all their gear for the day. They parked the thing and stepped quite a few feet away to check out the little store, or something. What the hapless couple didn't realize is they had parked directly beneath the track. I felt like I was watching one of those slow motion disasters it's too late to do anything about when I looked overhead to see the next car approaching was full of teenage boys. You guessed it, the boys let that stroller have it. The "parents of the year" we're BESIDE themselves as they raced back to the stroller. The bad news? All their stuff was soaked. The good news? The kid just laughed and laughed and splashed in his water-filled seat. I dunno, he just might be the only completely satisfied Roller Soaker victim in history!

I also never got the RS credit, and for pretty much the same reasons everybody else is posting. Now I kinda wish I had, just so I could use small children for target practice...

I actually kind of enjoyed Roller Soaker as a concept. The capacity was horrible (although apparently that's not a valid complaint for new rides) but the idea was a lot of fun and the execution wasn't bad either. Not much thrill, but still a lot of fun fighting people in line and or getting sprayed by them. If the wait were 15 minutes or less and it were hot out, I'd probably ride it regularly.

I've ridden Roller Soaker on a couple of our visits.

The one coaster credit at the park I don't have because of the wait/payoff ratio is Sidewinder.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have more laps on Roller Soaker than Fahrenheit.

I think I waited in line 3 times, and rode it twice. The third time was a 45-minute wait, only to have it breakdown. It was definitely one of those rides where you ask "is that all there is?" at the end.

The problem with capacity was waiting for them to fill up the reservoirs every lap. I don't know if there would be a way to alter the design or layout to have vehicles ready to go, instead of having to sit there and wait 5 minutes before being cleared to ride.

Another PITA issue for some of us folks is that there was no place to put oneself together after the ride. Trying to put dry socks on wet feet while standing up on a small landing is not the easiest chore.

Capacity issues worldwide could be solved with separate load/unload stations. Hehehe...

Lord Gonchar said:

I've ridden Roller Soaker on a couple of our visits.

The one coaster credit at the park I don't have because of the wait/payoff ratio is Sidewinder.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have more laps on Roller Soaker than Fahrenheit.

I actualy love Sidewinder, I'm so glad it's staying at least for another season or two it seems.

I actualy did ride RS once, it was right after a storm I think, or it was raining, so there wasn't much of a line. But I still remember how slow the line moved, and remember the cars sitting forever before dispatching. Lame ride, will not miss it at all. But I just think about what will go next for the poor planned waterpark.

I think Tidal Force is probably soon if not out along with Roller Soaker next season.

I wonder how practical it would be to relocate Midway America to the golf course? If in fact they will expand into that land soon. Everything but the woodies is pretty portable up there.

Isn't the golf course, or at least a large part of it, in a flood zone? With the environmental regulations that strangle the Keystone State, I wouldn't hold my breath for an expansion that way.

The rides in Midway America are pretty portable except for Wildcat and Lightning Racer. Two of the biggest ones that would be "in the way" are the Wild Mouse and Ferriswheel. If I were calling the shots and would want to expand the board walk (or even if I would have a CUSTOMIZED Hersheypark on RCT3), one of the things I would do is to move Balloon Flight and Starship America from Founder's Circle and put the Ferris Wheel in Giant Wheel's old location... 1) out of homage to GIANT Wheel, and 2) Carousel's and Ferris Wheels belong together. Not sure where I would put it, but I would find a place for Wild Mouse too.

After that, the only other major rides in that area are MerryDerryFun Slides (VERY portable), Music Express (Very Portrable) and the Whip (not as portable, but pour a new cement floor, and it could be.

The three that I worry about are Wildcat, Lightning Racer and Side Winder.

Of the three... Sidewinder is the only portable one... but it is almost (or is actually) 30 years old and where would you put it? Would hate to lose any more coasters or thrill rides at the expense of their waterpark experiment. Shame they can't move that ill planned monstrosity to the old gold course location. Hey, if they would move it there, when it floods, just one more water attraction! (up charge of course)

I'd be ok with the Whip leaving....

Good idea about Ferris Wheel going to Carrousel Circle...but I wouldn't want to see those rides leave either, at least Starship...don't care either way about Balloon Flite. But I think that location calls for a more spectacular wheel than the current one. I sorely miss the Giant Wheel...I wish a similar ride could be built new...but wouldn't count on it. At least a larger wheel like the 36 gondola wheels at Cedar Point, Great Adventure and other parks would be nice to have up there.

I also wouldn't care if the Whip or Slides would go. Never cared for the "new" Whip. Too bad they can't get an old Mangels Whip like the one they use to have. I wonder about the one that was at Bushkill Park in Easton....if it's at all salvageable at this point, would sure be sweet to see Hershey buy it and restore it.

Yeah, Hershey's whip leaves alot to be desired. Very pale compared to Knoebels... extremely pale compared to that wicked thing they have at Playland in Rye (I am not kidding... the "car" in front of me was airborn!). Not only that, Hershey's whip has the shortest ride cycle EVER. Not sure what ever became of the old Coal Shaker (Cuddle up), some say it is in storage, some say it was sold, some say it was scrapped... but in my perfect version of Hersheypark (at least in the RCT3 version in my mind), it would replace the whip with the old Coal Shaker... or maybe have both if an old school whip could be found.

As for music express... eh, could care less about that. My neices (5,7,8 and 13) would miss it terribly though. They can ride that thing over and over and over again.

Yes, a larger ferris wheel would be nice, but I will take what they have. A bigger wheel in Founders circle would certainly be ideal.

I loved the Coal Shaker. It was so uncannily loud.

If I could find an original Cuddle Up I'd go and spend the entire day on it. Counts as one of my favorite flats of all time. (Hello, Knoebel's? Can't you find one somewhere for me?) I rode the Tea Cups (2 table Crazy Daisy) at Adventureland last week. It was fun enough, but not quite the same...
The Music Express at Hershey is awful, and is a result of a trend among parks and outdoor showmen to purchase those that require only 1 trailer transport, so the result is lots of flash with a crappy, scaled down ride underneath. The decent ones these days are the Mack rides and the models currently offered by Bertazzon that go by the name Rock & Roll.
That Whip at Hershey is awful, too, and my heart sank the first time I saw it. Talk about loud, and it felt like riding in a shopping cart with square wheels on concrete, no less. The only redeeming thing was the photo of their original Whip on the back wall!
So, have I missed something? What's this talk of removing Midway America for water park expansion, anyway? Serious? As much as I might complain about Hershey's choices there, I was pleased this last spring to see the area had grown up quite a bit and seemed less of a converted cornfield. And their Wild Mouse is the best. I hope the speculation is just boys making noise.

Rode it first thing in the morning, was soaked the whole day.

I always thought Roller Soaker should have been named the "Hershey Squirt"!

Good news, SLFake, working in flood plains requires one to work with the State and the Feds (DEP, and Corps of Engineers)! I don't see flood plain issues being a major reason why the park couldn't extend beyond Park Road. Not to say there wouldn't be many others, but building in a flood plain wouldn't be the biggest one.

The main concerns with construction in flood plains is constriction of the flow, which would cause water levels to rise elsewhere, usually upstream, and the deposit of debris into the channel. If I put a big ass building in a flood plain, I'm effectively narrowing the space water has to flow. If I have to pass the same volume of water through that space, the only way to make that up would be for the water to be deeper, which would also make it spread further on the opposite side of the stream and also higher upstream. Both no-nos since you could be damaging someone else's property.

But the thing is, things like coaster supports occupy a much smaller space than a building. So placing a series of columns isn't going to affect 100-year flood levels much at all. I'd also argue that the culvert under Park Road probably does more to restrict flow than any construction downstream would. Design foundations to withstand flood waters and protect against washout, and put sensitive electronic and mechanical equipment above flood level, and they should be OK to go. It's no different than what they already had to do with Great Bear and Skyrush.

There already is construction on that side of the road (clubhouse, etc.). Plus they used up a good sized chunk of the land to extend the access drive behind Giant Center. Which brings me to my next comment--- seriously Google, you're still showing the Giant Water Slides on your maps? I'm also not sure I even see Storm Runner. That puts them what, 9 years out of date?

If the Coal Shaker is still around, they should place it in the unused queue for Lightning Racer. It's got nice architecture, and it's next to a 6 lane highway. Who's going to notice noise?

The thing I'll miss the most about the ride is the Hershey candy pictures above each train that looked like they were taking a leak into your bucket.

RCMAC said:

I hope the speculation is just boys making noise.

For now, only making noise. Absolutely NOTHING hinted at by Hershey. The only concern is if they want to expand the water park, something has got to go... it's shoe horned in between everything else.