Photo TR: Chris Goes to Hersheypark. 4/5/08

Overall, this turned out to be one of the best trips to HP I've had in a long time. A lot of new changes have been spotted and it seems like the summer season could be as great as last year's. While I was up there, I met up with HPCrazy (Matt) and TAK (Tyler) from over at C-net and their friends. On to the TR.

Since I had bowling practice since I am on my school's bowling team, my dad and I left home at around 11:30AM and stopped at a Subway at around Ephrata. After that, we arrived at the park at 1:00PM and found that the cars were parked out to the first trams stop; last September, they were all the way out to the 2nd one (the one with the restrooms), but the park seemed fuller this time. I guess with Midway America not being open didn't help. You can also get a great view of Fahrenheit from the parking lot as well.

While walking to the entrance we saw the lastest logo version of trash cans. I was looking inside the park for ones with the old logo on them and all I saw was one that was below the Kissing Tower in the pit.

At Tram Circle, they also put up a new entrance sign.

At the entrance, the only ride listed to be closed was Storm Runner, but as we entered we saw it running with an empty train. Later, I heard from Matt that it rolled back 3 times.

Storm Runner.....THROUGH THE TREES!!!!!!! OMG!

First my dad and I rode Skyview which only had a 10 minute wait. At this point I didn't notice the "suprise", but we'll get to that later.

After Skyview, I went down to Comet for my first coaster of 2008. While I waited in line I spotted Matt and told him that I'll meet up with him a little later. After a 30-40 minute wait time, I got a seat in the front row and the wait was worth it! With lot of airtime on the final stretch, it got me started.

Next was a walk to the back of the park to look at Fahrenheit!

This kinda looks strange when you're expecting to see Western Chute Out and instead you see a coaster.

Howler was up, but they had a temporary fence around it and they still need to add the queue railings. The queue area was Conestoga's old queue line if you didn't know.

It's really strange seeing a low-class carnival ride in a high-class theme park like Hershey, but that's my opinion.

The ride height and information signs are already up.

Now on to Fahrenheit.

A lot of work still needs to be done. There's a wall sepearting the station/train storage building in half and the roof is held up by bent wooden boards which are glued together; Matt said they kinda resembled something that would belong in a church. There's a big crate sitting in the station and the last few track pieces still need to be added. The chain for the lifts is already in too.

They are already starting to landscape it. That lift is going to be extreme.

The Holy First Church of the Intamin.

The Ride Photo Booth.

Since it was around 2:50 at this point my a dad and i walked up to RXCC where I promised to meet Matt and his friend. Next we walked back to Fahrenheit and Howler again and got a lot of pictures.

One of the seats of Howler.

The top. BEST CAPTION EVAR.

Now I'm starting to get nerdy.

They must've have put the chain in recently. The flag has been moved too.

The norwegion loop of awesomeness.

Here's another one, but without the station.

The lift, station, over-banked curve, and transfer track all in one photo.

That is going to have some awesome airtime!

It's great in pictures, but it's awesome in real life!

Not much track work to do.

The lift and norwegion dive almost look like the same height from the ground.

The park also moved a few of it's games buildings around in this area.

Could this area be changing sometime soon?

For all those corkscrew fans out there.

You are now about to meet the man behind the camera. Are you ready?

From left to right: Me in the LR t-shirt, Matt (HPCrazy) with the camera, and Alex in the brown jacket.

Next up, we all headed to ride Great Bear.

On the way, we saw that the park already changed some of the direction signs.

Here's something I didn't see before. They made the exit to the Amptheatre look like the entrance to the old Turnpike ride.

A loop shot for Derek.

Immelmann awesomeness.

While heading to GB's entrance, we noticed that Flying Falcon E-stopped half-way up the tower.

Great Bear was even better this year. The wait time was only 15 to 20 mins. and 2 trains were running. We sat in the 2nd row and since this was my first time in a seat on an inverted coaster that wasn't the front, It was a great ride and very forceful. The second best coaster I have ever been on.

After riding GB, we all went on the Kissing Tower to get some great pics of Fahrenheit. The wait was about 5 to 10 mins. They also added some kisses to the top of the loading area.

Not much to say about this.

Too bad for Midway not being open.

Here the construction of the new building that's going to house "The Hershey Story". The Hershey Museum is supposed to close in September and get moved over to here. It will open back up in late 2008.

The park was very full, but the crowds became light later on.

And here's the new addition to the Hersheypark skyline.

The Comet, Great Bear, and SDL all running in one photo.

Wildcat and Fahrenheit: Two great coasters.

Coal Cracker's drop is still in pieces. They kind of look painted.

Next was a ride on SDL. This is a new credit for me since the ride was closed back in September. The wait was about 15 mins for the front and it turned out to be a good ride. It wasn't great or bad, but to me it's like Trailblazer with a loop. 8/10

After 2 rides on SDL, my dad went on the Monorail while Matt, his friend and me went on RXCC. There was a 15 to 20 wait and I had a score of 35,000 points. My highest ever was 85,550, but that was because the ride hit a block section.

We next rerode Comet and it had a shorter wait. 20 mins. I rode again in the front seat.

To waste time and look for my friend Tyler, we walked around the park taking more pics.

Helix goodness.

"Look! I can touch the ground!" lol

The Aquatheater show just started.

This is my last picture then my camera died. I had another set of batteries, but I must've forgotten to put them in. The rest of the TR will not have pics.

After trying to call Tyler, we met up with my dad in Founder's Circle and said goodbye to Matt and his friend Alex. Next was a ride on the Vekoma...

There was hardly a wait at all! This ride was a walk-on, unless you wanted to the front or back seat. When I was back in September, the boomerang didn't really hurt. But for some reason, this time it did a little. On my second ride, I literally almost had a headache. The ride was still great though.

Next was a short walk over to Storm Runner. My first ride was for the front seat and I only had to wait 20 to 25 mins and the line was to the base of the stairs outside. Nothing is better than the front row seat on that thing! I rode it again and this time the line was in the station with only a 5 to 10 minute wait. While in the station, I met up with Tyler and here i got his phone number wrong. He told me he was just talking to a group of ACErs and I actually got to ride with one of them. They are actually very great people and filled with more info than I knew.

After a 3rd ride on SR, my dad and I went down to ride Trailblazer. This ride was less than a 5 minute wait and seemed wilder than last year. I rode it again a second time and then headed over to GB again for some night rides.

All 3 rides were walk-ons for anything execpt for the 1st row which had about a 5 to 10 minute wait from what I could see.

Next was a trip back over to Fahrenheit to pick up a coaster t-shirt and the last few rides.

First was SR which had a 10 minute wait. On my second ride, I saw Tyler and his friends going up the entrance and decided to get a ride in with them. When we got in the station, we waited for the front seat. There were 3 to 4 people in front of us when all of a sudden a voice comes over the loudspeaker saying, "unfortunately for technical reasons, we are going to have to close. If you leave the line, you will not be able to get back to where you were in line". So after this happened we decided to ride Sidewinder again.

These last two rides had to be the wildest one I have ever been on. Tyler rode once and then left. I stayed around until they will close it down which was only one ride later. On that last ride, there were only 4 or 5 people on that train which made it lighter than usual. That ride was very intense and very painful. It still was great.

After this, my dad and I left the park, stopped at Wendy's for a quick bite to eat and went home.

And here's the suprise....

Looks like the Boardwalk will be growing next year!

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Comments are welcome.

Nice TR. I know its been posted on many sites, but when is Fahrenheit set to open?

May 24. By the way it looks, don't expect a soft opening for it. Howler might open on opening day.

Farenheit looks awesome, so looking forward to getting back to Hershey - I can smell that chocolate.

Great trip report man! I was there from 6:30-9 and I saw you there a few times. I was wearing a blue sweatshirt, dark grey sweat pants, and I was by myself. I saw you while I was waiting for front row on Great Bear right at 8 and while I was waiting for Storm Runner when it broke down. I waited it out and I was the first train out a little past 9 in the front. It still is my favorite steel coaster.

In my opinion Fahrenheit looks like it will be amazing! It really is one of those coasters that looks SO much better in person.

Sounds kind of crowded at least earlier on in the day especially if SDL was 15 minutes. Were they running multiple trains on everything?

^I am guessing it was very crowded early on in the day. I arrived around 6:30 and everyone I saw was leaving the park.

Storm Runner -2 trains, but went to one around 9pm.

Great Bear - 2 trains

Sooperdooperlooper- 2 trains

Comet- I didn't get to, but I would assume had 2 trains.

Trailblazer- I didn't get to either, but I would assume had 2 trains.

Sidewinder- 1 train.

While I was there everything was 10-15 minutes or less even for front rows. The only exception was Storm Runner, which was about 25 minutes for front row.

Great trip report man! I was there from 6:30-9 and I saw you there a few times. I was wearing a blue sweatshirt, dark grey sweat pants, and I was by myself. I saw you while I was waiting for front row on Great Bear right at 8 and while I was waiting for Storm Runner when it broke down. I waited it out and I was the first train out a little past 9 in the front. It still is my favorite steel coaster.

 

In my opinion Fahrenheit looks like it will be amazing! It really is one of those coasters that looks SO much better in person.

As a matter of fact I do remember seeing you there, but not at SR. The last ride I got on that thing was awesome! Usually the ride says "now great ready, here we go", but that time it said NOTHING! We sat on the launch track for about 30 seconds and then it just launched unexpectedly! That was the greatest ride I had all day.

Trailblazer was running 1 train and had a short wait. Comet was also running 2 trains all day.

Did you leave the line? I did and went over to SW for the last few rides of the night.

yeah Storm runner did roll back when i got there to work i saw it roll back i always wanted to go on and it roll back that be fun or thats what i think

Nice photos! I really like the shots you got of Great Bear. Is the spinning on the first hill on the Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge new for this season? I didn't remember it spinning last September when I rode it. It was initially closed when I got there around noon, but while sitting on the bench near the que about 2 minutes passed and the ride opened up.

Great pics, Fahrenheit just looks amazing. I love the pics of Great Bear, it is one of my favorite inverts.

1: Fahrenheit looks freaking amazing!

2: Great Bear is underrated.

3: When did they put a Wisdom Tornado in there? Sure it is mostly associated with carnivals, but if done right, Wisdom Tornadoes can actually look kinda nice, and IMO Howler isn't that bad looking.

4: What the heck are they doing to Coal Cracker?

Great overview photos of Fahrenheit.

The ride looks just awesome.

Hope it will open on may 24 or earlier.

^I am guessing it was very crowded early on in the day. I arrived around 6:30 and everyone I saw was leaving the park.

 

Storm Runner -2 trains, but went to one around 9pm.

Great Bear - 2 trains

Sooperdooperlooper- 2 trains

Comet- I didn't get to, but I would assume had 2 trains.

Trailblazer- I didn't get to either, but I would assume had 2 trains.

Sidewinder- 1 train.

 

While I was there everything was 10-15 minutes or less even for front rows. The only exception was Storm Runner, which was about 25 minutes for front row.

Do you really need to state that Sidewinder was running one train?

Nice trip report.

1: Fahrenheit looks freaking amazing!

2: Great Bear is underrated.

3: When did they put a Wisdom Tornado in there? Sure it is mostly associated with carnivals, but if done right, Wisdom Tornadoes can actually look kinda nice, and IMO Howler isn't that bad looking.

4: What the heck are they doing to Coal Cracker?

1. I absolutely agree and I may possible hope to go back up in October to ride that thing.

2. Great Bear is the 2nd best coaster I've ever been on.

3. They've been planning on adding Howler ever since they announced Fahrenheit. At first I was thinking that it wouldn't look right, but since they customized the themeing to it, it fits in very well with the park.

4. Coal Cracker is currently in rehab. According to screamscape it will reopen later in the season.

When I went I think I saw almost all the boats were sitting in the station. That looked kinda strange.

As a matter of fact I do remember seeing you there, but not at SR. The last ride I got on that thing was awesome! Usually the ride says "now great ready, here we go", but that time it said NOTHING! We sat on the launch track for about 30 seconds and then it just launched unexpectedly! That was the greatest ride I had all day.

 

Trailblazer was running 1 train and had a short wait. Comet was also running 2 trains all day.

 

Did you leave the line? I did and went over to SW for the last few rides of the night.

That is sort of weird that it didn't say "now get ready, here we go". Was that the last ride before it broke down?

Yes I waited it out and I was the first train out in the front. We got on it around 9:05. I give Hershey props for getting the ride running after the park was closed. They could have just told us tough luck.