Springtime in the Park Extended

This year, the event at Hersheypark will be held two weekends, April 2-4, and April 10-11.

http://www.hersheyinthespring.com/hersheypark/index.php

Going the second weekend in addition to the Ben Folds concert in Hershey. Hoping for a warm forecast so the crowds will show up and they open Midway America.

It looks like Hersheypark also expanded the sections of the park they'll have open (matching what they've de facto done in recent years, I believe). A few weeks ago, Midway America wasn't listed as an open section for Springtime in the Park.

This is good news for Lightning Racer fanboys (myself included...GO LIGHTNING!)

We decided against this since at the time Lightning Racer and Wildcat were not on the list.

Now back to rearranging this trip again.

It is looking like KD, SFA, Hershey on Saturday night & Sunday.

I'm hoping to go on Easter Sunday since I hear crowds are low then, I have tried to go on Easter for the past 3 years and every year had to cancel because the weather was horrible, I hope this year is different and it is nice out.

I'm really glad to see Midway America is open, they opened it up last time I went to Springtime In the Park in 2006 but it was too crowded even with it open, Storm Runner had a full queue and was overflowing, I heard it was over 2 hours.

I wonder if the extra weekend is due to lower numbers of private events. I know that last year my wife's company held their event on the Sat. of Springtime in the Park whereas previously they had purchased the park for themselves on the Sat. before or after. This year, no event at all.

I feel the crowds may be lower each day of the event since it is spread over two weekends and if the weather is iffy the first weekend many may wait and gamble of the second one. Just a theory.

I was always curious about Springtime in the Park being just three days (one weekend). It seems like a whole lot of marketing for a few operating hours. I can't say about the private events, but what two public weekends for Springtime does is better manage the risk of bad weather, as you noted, MrZero.

I've also seen Hershey Entertainment and Resorts' advertising get smarter and more sophisticated over time. The Chocolate-Covered February events seemed to be significantly better attended on the Saturday I visited last month compared to a Saturday in 2008 when I last made it for the winter festivities. The expanded Springtime schedule could be in response to Hersheypark's assessment that they can get the crowds for the extra public operating days. Who knows where the crowds will be each day if so?? I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

Easter and Passover fall rather early this year. So while there are plenty of people who have a long weekend, the weather can still be iffy at the beginning of April. The second weekend can allow them some makeup time if the weather isn't cooperative. Plus, people who have other plans Easter weekend could visit the park on the following weekend.

We still have to get our passes processed, so I am sure we'll be there one of those weekends. Maybe both.

In the past, they opened Midway America only if a good sized crowd showed up early in the day (before the staff was sent home or elsewhere in the park). I wouldn't be surprised if they continue that practice if they don't see a large crowd showing up on any of the Springtime dates. But here's hoping they don't do that and the fact that they are now advertising that section to be open should make it harder for them to justify closing it.

We will be there Saturday night and most of Sunday. We made other plans due to the lack of Lightning Racer. When they added that to the ride list we changed our plans once again. If they don't have them open some poor schmuck at guest relations will get an ear load from me.

Temps are expected to be in the upper 70s or higher by the weekend over most of eastern PA. Weather won't be an excuse for any ride not being open.

I'll be there tomorrow for my first ride of the year! The forecast is perfect. I wonder how busy the place will be on Easter.

Its pretty crowded today. Longest wait ever to get my season pass processed. Don't know if we're going to stay and ride. I don't remeber fahrenheit on the list of coasters, and its operating.

Midway America is open & packed. Lightning Racer is the only coaster we could walk on, so that's the only one we are riding. Other estimated waits. Storm runner 30 - 40 min, Fahrenheit 40 mins, Wildcat 20 min, Wildmouse 30 min. We didn't go into comet hollow or minetown, so don't know what the waits were like for the comet, great bear, trailblazer, or sooper dooper looper.

The park was packed this weekend. Talked to one manager that told us they were not expecting the huge crowds. Said Good Friday was like a Saturday in July.

We were there Saturday Night and all day Sunday. Again the park was packed, but we never had much of a wait for anything. Fahrenheit was 20 minute wait Saturday night and 15 minutes on Sunday. Storm Runner was a 1 train wait on Sunday.

Dave I drove by on Sunday and judging by the parking lot it was a good day to visit. Much lighter then Saturday.

I went over after church yesterday and got my pass processed. It was so empty I decided to go in and marathon my favorite coasters for a couple of hours. I don't get to see Storm Runner that light on crowds very often so I took advantage. I left at 12:30 and it looked like the parking lot was filling up.

I was there open to close yesterday and it never got too busy. Great Bear was running one train so it had a long queue, but the rest of the coasters were walk-ons to 15 minutes. The weather was perfect. I so wish the flume could have been open.

My first coaster of the year was Fahrenheit and I must say, I really liked it this time. In the past I was not a fan, but I was in the right mood today, because I waited three times for it and really enjoyed each lap. Storm Runner was the star attraction for the day though. I just couldn't get enough of it. Wildcat still sucked. I so miss those pre-Millennium Flyer days.

I'm heading back with another friend on Saturday before the Ben Folds concert.

When I stopped by Wildcat the line was heading halfway down the ramp leading to the platform with only one train running as well. It only took me a couple of seconds to decide to bail as that wasn't how I wanted to spend my limited time in the park.

My longest wait was for Great Bear. I counted 10 team members on the platform for the one train operation. But then I realized that a few of them were being trained. :)