To "Fast Pass" or not to "Fast Pass"

Hey, y'all. . .

just looking for your 2cents

We're going on a trip to Penn in June to hit up: Kennywood, Hershypark, Knoebel's, and Dorney.

my Partner tends not to go on "big" rides, so hypercoasters, or anything with no enclosed cars (suspended with hanging feet, flying, 4th dimention, etc) are out for him. Tho we both love amusement parks.

we're expecting to have a blast at Kennywood (looks like he'll ride everything but Phantom's Revenge), and looking at Dorney's "fast pass". . of the 10 rides listed, he will ride all but 1 of the ones that I want to go on too. So no problem at these parks, as we'll either buy them for both of us, or enjoy standing in line together.

but what does one do at Hershey Park?

he will only go on 4 of the 9 coasters on their "Fast Track" program.

so, in your opinion:

-- is it worth it to buy us both fast track, even tho he won't go on more than 1/2 of the coasters?

-- is it worth it for me to buy a Fast Track for ME at Hershey Park? Since I'll end up having to stand in line with him for the ones that he'll want to ride?

-- or, since we'll be there on a Thursday (6/12. .which I THINK is before the East Coast schools are out), it won't be that crowded so just blow off fast track and just wait in line (he can wait with me on things he won't ride, and then just step thru).

what would Y'all Do?

First of all, don't buy it at Dorney. Every ride will be a walk on.

This might save you 5 minutes on the flume and the mouse but every other ride's line will be inside the stations beyond the merge points. Fastlane is useless at Dorney because there are no lines for anything ever.

For Hershey in your case I would skip it. Hershey's system gives you a specific window of time where you can ride everything which is going to be really annoying if you have to stand in so many stand-by lines. You can usually ride after your window of time, but it sounds like for the amount of scheduling you'll need to do it's not worth the effort unless lines are huge.

If you head to the back of the park first and work your way up you'll be able to get on everything without a problem anyway. That's just my opinion though, there are definitely arguments for getting it anyway... one of which is that you can probably use his reservations for the rides he didn't ride so you'll get 2 rides on them without any wait.

Just my opinion. I would not buy the front of line pass at Hershey. It might be a semi busy day but you should be able to ride 4 coasters easy. Plus there front of the line system gives you a set time to go the ride. So you might get stuck with a ride being later on the day. They really need to rework the system.

First of all, don't buy it at Dorney. Every ride will be a walk on.

 

This might save you 5 minutes on the flume and the mouse but every other ride's line will be inside the stations beyond the merge points. Fastlane is useless at Dorney because there are no lines for anything ever.

 

For Hershey in your case I would skip it. Hershey's system gives you a specific window of time where you can ride everything which is going to be really annoying if you have to stand in so many stand-by lines. You can usually ride after your window of time, but it sounds like for the amount of scheduling you'll need to do it's not worth the effort unless lines are huge.

 

If you head to the back of the park first and work your way up you'll be able to get on everything without a problem anyway. That's just my opinion though, there are definitely arguments for getting it anyway... one of which is that you can probably use his reservations for the rides he didn't ride so you'll get 2 rides on them without any wait.

Noted on Dorney, thanks.

yeah, we're going to drive up in the morning, and drive back to Philly that night (instead of staying in Allentown, we decided on an extra day in Philly). And since most of the Dorney stuff is what he'll ride, we can just stand in lines together

very good info for Hershey too. . . we'll have to see how crowded it is on the day we show up, I suppose and make the call there.

as i really do want to ride everything (assuming my weight/size won't be a restriction). . so if crowded, I might need to Fast Pass for me, just so I don't miss something.

Just my opinion. I would not buy the front of line pass at Hershey. It might be a semi busy day but you should be able to ride 4 coasters easy. Plus there front of the line system gives you a set time to go the ride. So you might get stuck with a ride being later on the day. They really need to rework the system.

noted, although I want to ride everything. HE will only go on 4 of the 9.

so if it's really busy, he's not going to want to stand in a 2 hour line with me (tho really, what ELSE would we do? we're there for the day)

I'm one of those people who always errs on the side of getting a virtual queue device over not getting one. Unless you get to a park and the parking lot is absolutely EMPTY, my feeling is that it always pays, even if lines are only 20-30 minutes, and the system you are using can get you RIGHT on a ride with a 5 minutes or less wait.

IMO, if the fast pass only saves you 15 minutes per ride, well, those pockets of 15 minutes add up, and if it means you can get in one or two MORE rides during the day or not have to stress over riding stuff or rush around the park, it's worth every penny.

So use your best judgement when you get to a park. You can usually tell even before going in how busy it's going to be and you can decide then if you want to buy the pass or not.

^^

Thanks Robb!

I'm only really worried about Hershey, as although that isn't the park I'm most excited about (that would be Knoebel's -- but we're spending almost 2 full days there), we only really will have one day + possibly evening before at the park.

Heh, I know Knoebel's doesn't offer "Fast Pass". . unfortunately, we hit it on a Saturday, and they don't even offer wristbands. So expecting to buy a LOT of tickets

^ If you're worried, then just get the fast pass, there. done! No need to worry anymore! The BEST case scenario is when you buy a fast pass option and you don't really need it. Yes, you might have been out that money, but what a GREAT problem to have, right?

As for Knoebel's, you know we actually prefer to go on non-wristband days. While the park is sometimes more crowded, often times the rides aren't, because people are paying with tickets. And also, the park is known for running rides at higher capacity on ticket days than wristband days. The more tickets they pump through the turnstiles, the more money they make! So there is that incentive. Saturdays are usually not bad at all at Knoebels and provided you have a full day, you should get a lot of riding in.

I personally haven't bought a Fast Pass in a while, and I'm not sure how well Hershey's works, but I will say that my personal experiences at Hershey have been that long lines make the day much less enjoyable, and that long lines at Hershey are almost unavoidable. I definitely think it's smart to go and feel things out, but if there was one park I would recommend a Fast Pass for it would probably be Hershey.

Also on the topic of Knoebels, I went once on the first Saturday in August (not a wristband day). The overflow parking lot was basically full by the time we got there, and it might have been the busiest day of their year, but the line for Phoenix still never took more than 25 minutes. I haven't worried about lines at Knoebels since.

Have fun, this should be a great trip!

^ I want to echo this even though I usually hate to agree with Flyers fans . The ride operators at Knoebels are great all around, and operations on Phoenix and Twister are probably the best of any major coaster in America. This is mostly due to the fact that neither coaster has air gates, seatbelts or individual lap bars. They can easily unload, load and dispatch a train in 30 seconds. Last time we were there Phoenix block stopped on top of the lift because the other train didn't even reach the brake run yet.

Most rides at Knoebels move the lines really quickly because of their great operations combined with their lack of unnecessary safety devices.