Tips to Hershey Park!?

I'm planning a trip to Hershey Park probley sometime in July, and I would like any good suggestions on what to ride first where to eat, ect. Any kind of advice would be great! Thank you!

------------------
Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

My suggestion as to what to ride first is go out to the Midway America section first. This makes things easier when it comes to cutting down on wait times for certain rides.

When you get to the park, head straight to the back (Midway America) and hit Lightning Racer, Wildcat, Wild Mouse, and Roller Soaker. Sit towards the front on LR - you'll get more air. Same with Wildcat. These coasters usually do not have lines until later in the day, so you'll get plently of rides. There's a Pizza place to eat there also.

From there, you can head to Pioneer Frontier and ride Sidewinder, an extremely smooth and enjoyable boomerang, and Trailblazer. Hit Frontier Flyers also - it has horrible capacity, so the lines can be long. There's also Forman's Texas Grill there where they have wings and ribs - which are excellent.

You may want to hit the water rides in the early afternoon, as their lines become very long.

From there, go to Comet Hollow, and hit Great Bear where the lines vary, depending on crowds, but since it has high capacity it shouldn't be a problem. I hardly ever have to wait more than a train for the Looper, so you can hit that awhile. The Comet has long lines throughout the day - but they do become smaller later in the day. It's well worth it though, the air on the 3rd hill is awesome. A back seat, while having a longer line, is the best place to sit.

Don't forget to ride all the coasters again at night - they become completely different rides. Whatever you do, have fun!

Edit: Spelling.

------------------
"If we actually knew how safe roller coasters were, we'd lose a lot of their thrill" - Daniel Keller
*** This post was edited by 3r1c 5/24/2003 10:08:17 PM ***

Thank you guys for your input, what our the best days to go to the park? Also is there any discounts I can get anywhere? Thank you again! I really appeciate it

------------------
Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

You could get coupons at Giant stores in/around Hershey for up to $10 off regular admission.

The best days to go... well, do not go to Hershey on a weekend. It's packed. I find Wednesday to be the best, but any weekday isn't to bad. Make sure you don't go on a concert day, you can barely get through the park, it's that packed.

------------------
"If we actually knew how safe roller coasters were, we'd lose a lot of their thrill" - Daniel Keller

Not to mention the fact that on concert nights it can be hard to move around the town of Hershey to get to and from the park.

Since everyone else is answering about the coasters I will fill in some other areas. My favorite place to eat at Hersheypark is the BarBQ pit across from the Trailblazer. You can sit outdoors or in the little theater/restaurant behind it and enjoy the show. I also like the pizza shop next to Tidal Force where you can sit on the patio and watch the giant waves from Tidal Force. The best food can be found just outside the park entrance at Chocolate World where they have both a nice full service restaurant and an excellent food court as well.

Also don't miss the ice cream parlor beneath the Ferris Wheel in Midway America. The sundaes are delicious as are the ones at the ice cream shop in Chocolate World itself...huge sundaes...my favorite.

Don't miss Hersheypark's nice variety of shows. There are ongoing musical shows including one in the new Music Box Theatre and they are usually very good. They also have guest performers most evenings in the Amphitheatre. They are usually not-so-famous but excellent performers and groups on weeknights and somewhat well known singers on Sunday evenings. I also enjoy NightLights, the nightly laser show. It is a fun way to end the night at Hersheypark.

Does Hersheypark still offer the evening preview if you buy tickets for the following day?

If they do, that's a great thing to take advantage of. It gives you a few extra hours in the park when everyone else is winding down. In years passed, I managed to ride every coaster in the park in that time, making the next day much more enjoyable and relaxed.

Be prepared for some serious hikes to get to some parts of the park. The terrain gets pretty hilly.

The monorail ride out into downtown Hershey and the aroma of chocolate are worth the price of admission alone. :)

------------------
--Maddie--

Thank you Gardener14 for those details! How are the prices, more of the way of food prices?

------------------
Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

Skip the Comet in the morning, as the lines are really long. The lines never really wind down, but, they do lesson as people move into different sections of the park. Food prices are about average for a major themepark. Does anyone know if "The Claw" has opened yet? I heard it wasn't open last weekend.
------------------
If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.

Im going later in the summer but we're going on the day of the Pearl Jam concert.....and as I've heard this may be bad. Theres no going back on this though and I think in the end itll be worth it because of the concert but what kind of lines and crowds are we talking.....

Like how long would Lightning Racer/Wildcat/Chocolate World Tour's lines be?????

Info would be appreciated...and anyone that knows any way to avoid the crowds and still a get a ride or 2 on basically the most popular coasters....please tell all.

------------------
"Love can sweep you off your feet and carry you along in a way you've never known before. But the ride always ends, and you end up feeling lonely and bitter. Wait. It's not love I'm describing. I'm thinking of a monorail" -Jack Handey

KpExpress said:
Thank you Gardener14 for those details! How are the prices, more of the way of food prices?

Food prices are a little high but not nearly as exorbitant as at Six Flags parks. Be aware that many food stands in Hersheypark present only Combo Meals on their menus, implying that you must by a sandwich, fries, and a drink for example, but a la carte pricing is usually available also, even if they don't list them on the menu. Hersheypark will give you large cups of complementary ice water at any restaurant. They even promote that in the park map and guide.

Since the "Claw" is the newest addition to Hershey Park, where is the attraction located, and would that be a wise idea to hit up that ride first?

------------------
Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

The Claw is located in the former place of the Cyclops (Huss Enterprise). It's in the Music Box Theater/Railroad area, which shouldn't be hard to spot.

------------------
"If we knew how safe roller coasters were, we'd lose their thrill" - Daniel Keller

The Claw opened last weekend. You might want to hit it early depending on how crowded the park is as the line for this can reach up to more than an hour.

3r1c said:
The Claw is located in the former place of the Cyclops (Huss Enterprise). It's in the Music Box Theater/Railroad area, which shouldn't be hard to spot.
------------------
"If we knew how safe roller coasters were, we'd lose their thrill" - Daniel Keller
Did the Claw replace the Cyclops?
------------------
Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

Yup, and the Conestoga is being replaced by some sort of Wild West show.

It's a shame, really. The Conestoga was my favorite flat in the park.

------------------
"If we knew how safe roller coasters were, we'd lose their thrill" - Daniel Keller

*** This post was edited by 3r1c 5/27/2003 4:55:17 PM ***

I made the drastic mistake of not checking the concert schedule before showing up to Hershey one day in 2000. N*Sync was playing.

Joy.

Never in my life have I seen so many teenie bopper girls in one place. The glass-half-full side to this, however, was that once the concert started (around 7-ish, I believe), the lines were greatly reduced. That made for a nice evening. And on our way out after closing, we could hear the glorious sounds of N*Sync as we walked to our car!

I beg of you to note the sarcasm...

------------------
-Mike
'I want my two dollars!'
*** This post was edited by Vater 5/27/2003 4:44:13 PM ***

I avoid this park at all costs on Fridays and Saturdays. The lines are horrendous. However, I was pleasantly surprised last year when we visited in August... it was on Sunday, Aug 17. My wife's cousin and her husband were in town and we went to the park that afternoon (arriving around 4pm) and stayed to closing. Longest line in the place was Roller Soaker so we passed on that. Other major rides were very short lines... Wildcat was actually a near walk on. I never would have suspected the park cleared out that much on a sunday evening.

------------------
Kind of hard to take a post as objective if a park or coaster name is part of the "user name"

So do you get in free to the park with a concert ticket? Or is it the other way around?

Seems like a pretty good deal with a big band like Pearl Jam... usually free shows at parks are washed up classic rock acts with only one original member or something.

------------------
Come on, fhqwgads!