TR - Storm Runner, a Launch Whore's Dream! (HP, DP, SFGAdv)

OR (Observation Report)

Hersheypark (8/7,8/8)
Storm Runner is simply AMAZING. I cannot believe that I waited 3 months to ride this bad boy. This is what launched coasters should be - powerful launch, amazing vertical drop, weird inversions, laterals out the butt, airtime like Magnum-crazy. It's the complete package and has knocked a couple of coasters out of my shared-#1-coaster spot (I have a #1 for each major category basically). I am seriously considering getting a season pass for Hershey next year just to catch Storm Runner, Lightning Racer and Wildcat as much as possible!

Wildcat was out of control this weekend, it was amazing.
We got 2nd seat last ride on Wildcat on the 7th and this brother and sister were having the greatest time riding in front of us, we get off the ride, and the big brute of a father smacks the boy upside the back of his head, knocks him to the ground and starts to tear him a new one about "how the f are you gonna fin wait for the fin front seat? How many fin times have I fin told you not to do that, you cost me at least five fin rides you fin ahole!" (almost verbatim). Why are some people allowed to procreate? I wish I could have just beat him right then and there ...
Hersheypark is just a wonderful park, great atmosphere, incredible rides, and just a great place to be.
Storm Runner achieves a better capacity and faster moving line with 2 trains than most coasters (ahem with 6?) move people. Simply an amazing machine.

Dorney Park (8/8)
Talon is inverted coaster perfection. Plain and simple. My Dad and I rode this thing 6 times in a row today. He doesn't think it's better than Raptor, but at the least, tied!
My Dad said that Steel Force is better than Magnum and today, I definitely agree with him. It was running out of control in the helicies.
Hydra is gonna be a compact coaster, the dig area isn't that big, and most of the footers appear to be down. It's also not going to be that tall, as the crane that's onsite isn't very big. Probably be a lot like Talon, just a floorless version.
Dorney was a lot of fun today, we had a good time. Talon is just so great ...

Six Flags Great Adventure (8/9)
GAdv really disappointed me for most of today. So much of the park is closed, the ride that is the same as The Claw at Hershey is gone, Superman and Batman didn't run until 4pm or later for no apparent reason. Superman was testing all day without opening, Batman had guys ropeling over it most of the day looking like they were doing an inspection of it (and this couldn't be done AFTER hours, WHY?). This just proved to be the type of Six Flags day that gets Six Flags the reputation it has. The "repairs" being done to Batman defeinitely looked like a scheduled thing, would it really have killed them to put on their sign out front that says "the following rides will be closed today" Batman opening at approximately 4pm? Honestly ...
That being said Nitro is still amazing, my Dad absolutely loved it. Medusa was as great as I remember, GASM still gave me a headache to end all headaches, and Rolling Thunder was bad.
The parts onsite do look like Intamin, and the excavation is HUGE. There are two parallel lines of 5-6 holes only 5' square that lead to a large area where there are 3 massive holes, probably 20' to 25' square and very deep. I think it's gonna be a rocket with inversions a-la Storm Runner, but I have nothing to support that.

You want to know why parks keep buying Rocket Coasters despite the problems with Xcelerator and TTD? The GP eat these things up like CRAZY. All through Dorney, all through SFGAdv, both days, I kept hearing after rides "that was great, but it was nothing like that new one at Hershey!" "Wow, that was fun, but I really liked that new one at Hershey". The area around Storm Runner was packed with people just watching, the valley is full of people watching, it's the talk of the town. Add to that, some of those comments about how good Storm Runner is are followed by "we really need to get to that Cedar park in Ohio and ride the bigger one!". It's all about public perception which brings in the bucks. Even if they are a maintenance (and probably insurance) nightmare, they are WORTH every single penny.

Summary:
Storm Runner is awesome, I'm developing a deep-rooted Six Flags annoyance (not hatred), Talon is amazing and I'm definitely doing this trip again next year!

I plan to hit Dorney next year, too, after my first visit last week. Thunderhawk is the best coaster in the park, in my opinion...although Talon is awesome. Looking forward to Hydra next year.

At GAdv, was either side of the Chiller open?

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we get off the ride, and the big brute of a father smacks the boy upside the back of his head, knocks him to the ground and starts to tear him a new one about "how the f are you gonna fin wait for the fin front seat? How many fin times have I fin told you not to do that, you cost me at least five fin rides you fin ahole!" (almost verbatim). Why are some people allowed to procreate?

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That's the question of the century. Unbelievable. I'm not a violent individual, but some people just require an ass-kicking.

Yea, Robin was open, but Batman only had a train in the station, no sign of operation. That's a step up from last year when there wasn't even a train, but the only sign that it might have operated this year was that it had it's New Jersey inspection sticker, another step up from last year.

The Batman side of Chiller has definitely operated this year. I rode it twice on May 1st. I haven't seen or heard of it being open lately though.

From what I gather, Batman:Chilla is once again having issues with the launch...:( Shame it isn't the Robin side, which I find infinitely less interesting...

gator, world's biggest TopHat fan...

Brett, if you do a Dorney, Hershey, SFGADv trip next year, let me know and I'll join you. I've been wanting to hit Hersheypark for a long time, esp. with Storm Runner.

That stinks about Batman: The Chiller. We're going to be hitting SFGrAdv for a couple of hours on Sunday before heading to Clementon and I was hopeing for the off chance that the Batman side might be running. Then again, I was of the assumption that it hadn't been running at all this year so at least there might be the slimest of chances.

Sorry we (great adv) weren't on out best behavior when you visited there Brett. I'm sure the next time you swing by we will have our act together. :)

Glad you had fun at hershey though. mayhaps our rocket (if that is what we are getting) will trounce Storm Runner, although I doubt it :)

--A, who need to stop pretending that GA belongs to me.

I got to ride the batman side of chiller on 2 or 3 trips earlier in the year. But it has not opened in months. I was at hershey yesturday for the 2nd time this year but i only got on Storm Runner once cause i did not get in the park untill 3:30 it had an hour and a half line and it broke down and 7:00 and did not reopen.

'tuan - Thanks for the promise! ;) Actually, the reason I was so disappointed with GAdv this time around was because last year's visit was so spectacular! Last year I went around the same time of the year and everything was open, lines were short (probably because it was cloudy and poured at about 5pm and shut the park down) and I really enjoy GAdv's coaster collection - in fact, I rate the park among my favorite 5!

Tekno: will do, probably around the same time of year, although maybe a little later - try and cut down some of the lines?

Betwen having to stare at that wonderful top hat not being used and all the accolades in this page, I'm especially disappointed that my 2 GAdv visits have yet to yield a Batman: Chiller ride. Oh well, guarentees I'll be back next year to try the new rocket!

Storm Runner all the way!!!

You did my June trip in reverse! That sucks about Gadv, everything except Viper and Batman: The Chiller were open on time the day I went. I did notice that "Batman:the Ride" was listed as closed, possibly from the day before because it was open at or before ten on that day.

Is there honestly something WRONG with Batman on the Chiller? Or do they just not feel like putting a little effort into running it. I really enjoyed the park, but wish they'd run this side too to cut the line. I have to agree that it looked better than Robin, which was a kick butt ride. Does anyone know (kind of a pointless ?) the real deal on this thing. I thought "wow" both sides open in the first few weeks of the year, and now its not.... *** Edited 8/11/2004 2:06:59 AM UTC by Willh51***

This is the first year in quite a while that Batman side of Chiller has run at all. Last year some of the LIM's were missing from the top of Batman's spike. I rode Batman side a few times this spring, (and loved it) but I'm not surprised that it's still not consistent.

I made my first trip to HP a couple of weeks ago and have to chime in that Storm Runner is really amazing. Much better than TTD, IMO.

I have ridden Storm Runner a few times this season, and I don't know if I'd say that its better than TTD.

I like the speed of TTD, and that is what makes me like that more. I have only ridden TTD 4 times, and I have yet to ride it this season. That may make a difference.

SR has the elements after the tophat that make it such an enjoyable ride. Its up there near the top of the list even though I don't have a real top 10 list. Its nice having a coaster of that caliber 10 minutes from home.

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Willh51 said:

Is there honestly something WRONG with Batman on the Chiller? Or do they just not feel like putting a little effort into running it. I really enjoyed the park, but wish they'd run this side too to cut the line. I have to agree that it looked better than Robin, which was a kick butt ride. Does anyone know (kind of a pointless ?) the real deal on this thing. I thought "wow" both sides open in the first few weeks of the year, and now its not.... *** Edited 8/11/2004 2:06:59 AM UTC by Willh51***

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i have seen workers working on the track of the batman side between the tophat and zero-G roll. *** Edited 8/11/2004 8:31:58 AM UTC by medusa3232***

I have to say that I find it hard to believe that SR 'could' be better than TTD. I had my first launch on dragster yesterday and was blown away. What an amazing machine.

Edit:Typo

*** Edited 8/11/2004 8:48:19 AM UTC by Word***

TTD is an experience, it's not really a ride. It's pure uncontained speed, but for all it's speed and acceleration, it's not powerful. That's what Storm Runner has. Storm Runner picks you up, kicks your ass out the door, then beats the crap out of you (in a good way!) by powering through all those elements, whipping you from side to side, explosive ejector air, etc. etc.

Storm Runner and TTD are really separate categories - TTD is more like a drop ride, SR is a complete roller coaster, and the complete package. That being said, if SR and TTD stood side by side and I had one ride, I would choose SR 8/10 times!

I can't form a comparison because I haven't yet ridden Dragster, but I can easily see how anyone might prefer Storm Runner. I love Hypersonic's launch; it's actually more powerful than Storm Runner's. But--and I mentioned this in my TR--you don't ride Storm Runner for its launch alone. The whole coaster is just fantastic, from beginning to end.