Springtime in Hershey 2008

[darkridedan]

A few weeks ago, Matt and I decided that we would go to Springtime in Hershey. There was always the strong possibility that Midway America would not open, but the option to ride some coasters and flats would surpass any section closure. Besides, there would be dark rides!

     The original plan called for me to meet Matt at his place and Bubba could meet us along the way. As always, at the last minute, family changed the plans and I would be leaving in the morning. This would work out since I could meet Bubba along the way and we could drive together. As the night went on, I wouldn?t fall asleep until 1:30. I only wanted to sleep in until 5:30. Then I woke up at 3:30 and I could not get back to sleep. I shut the alarm off and went back to sleep until 6:30. I got ready at 7:30 and I was out of the house by 8. (That?s impressive if you know me.) This was the time that I was supposed to meet Bubba, 20 miles west from my location. Matt had sent me a text to tell me that he was leaving. Bubba then called me to go along without him because he was being guilted into an anniversary day for his daughter?s school.  I text Matt to hold up, but he didn?t want to wait. He would enjoy the first half hour of the park, alone.

     The Schuylkill gives me odgeda. It makes me and all who travel its double lanes wonder how long it will take to actually reach our destination. There?s no stopping me. I?m doing 70!  I?m sailing through the lanes like Kramer on the Cross Bronx Expressway. It was a two ?Figures!? ride to Hershey.

     I took the route off 322 to drive through the town of Hershey. I said, ? Hello old School House! Hello you old Factory. Hello you beautiful Hershey Theatre.? It?s been three months since I?ve been here. I made the proper turn onto Park Drive and passed Zoo America and the Kissing Tower too. I beeped at the people in the Trailblazer station and just about stopped at the 3-way intersection. I took pictures of Lightning Racer and saw employees training on Musik Express. I got to the parking lot around 10:30 and walked to the beautiful park entrance free of potholes and watched kids play chicken with the shiny red trams.

     I?ve already been to Busch this year, so I have to say that Hershey is the second best European entrance of any amusement park I know. Mmmmm. Kettle Popcorn. Matt was riding Great Bear when I called and we decided to meet at Flying Falcon. I saw a large banner on the back of the Mine Town Theatre about a ?cool new attraction for ?09.? ?Details coming July 1st.? More crowds in the water section, less on the coasters! Brilliant Hershey! Thank you RT for pointing that out.

     There was Matt at the Flying Falcon. If you don?t know the Flying Falcon, it?s a scrambler with gondolas like an enterprise connected to four pods and it goes up a tall tower. GAdv used to have one. It?s at GAm with 18 other ?flat rides.? As you go up the tower, the four pods individually spin and the entire arm of four pods spin. You get to the top and into the hands of the Hersheypark mechanics. You stay up there awhile. Then the pods begin to spin very fast and you remember how much this ride scares you.

     That was fun. Matt said Great Bear broke after he rode it. He rode Storm Runner at opening and now it?s broken too. We went to Trailblazer. It drops out of the station, goes through the transfer track and up a lift hill. So far it?s like the Runaway Train. Then it does its fast helix first, getting so close to the ground that you could eat dirt?if you?re into that. Then it does its double helix and goes through a tunnel to the ending. So there?s no camel?hill or swoosh over the lake? or western fort.

It changes elevation. Eat that Cedar Point!

     The Flying Falcon is going up the tower without spinning.

     Matt got a phone call from Kevin and we went to meet him over at the Flyers.
     
     We rode the Frontier Flyers but Matt didn?t snap. According to ?the rules,? you?re not supposed to buck your tubs anyway. His membership in ACE now in jeopardy, we ride again. This time I hear some banging, or as the cool kids call it? snapping. Matt quickly runs away like he?s in trouble and into the arms of Kevin and Emily.

     We walked over to the construction of Fahrenheit 97. Sorry, I didn?t take any pictures. It was cloudy. Just throw orange spaghetti in the air and you?ll get the picture. The station is made of wood and Cedar Fair roofing. It?s shaped like a Hershey Kiss. The Cedar wood smells so good. There is room for a queue, Sue. It looks like it winds around through the ride area.

     Well, it was dark ride time. So we rode the monorail. I watched this big lady try to squeeze her butt through the turnstile. It rocked back and fourth. I think I heard it moan. It won! She had to walk around. It was a round trip around the older parts of the park. We saw Founder?s Circle and the Milton Hershey fountain, the old carousel, the balloons and the roto jet which were replaced by the new Music Box Theater and then replaced the Giant Wheel the following year, the scrambler and the kiddie rides. We passed by Comet Hollow and saw Schmeck?s Comet, the Waveswinger, tilt-a-whirl, a plethora of games and Superdooper Looper. Up through Mine Town, we passed the incomplete Coal Cracker, Great Bear, the Turnpike and the Classic Cars, the Kissing Tower, the Flying Falcon some kiddie rides and plenty of places to eat chili bowls. We rode over to the old chocolate factory and above Zoo America to see a buffalo. We came up to Pioneer Frontier and rode over the train, past Trailblazer, Storm Runner, Sidewinder, Frontier Flyers, Rodeo and some kiddie rides. Finally, we were back in Music Box Way riding past Pirate, the Claw, the Sky Ride, Resees Cup Challenge and some kiddie rides.

     Resees was closed so we went to Superdooperlooper. Matt and I sat in the second row from the front, not bad. Apparently the first portion of the ride is not located in Derry Twp. How weird is that? Good view. That loop is right infront of you and it still seems to come out of nowhere. Everybody likes to yell through the tunnel. Great ride! It?s like a mine train with a Schwarzkopf loop.

     We went to eat at the Gourmet Grille in Mine Town. I wanted the chicken panini, but they were out so I got a meatball parm. Yeah cheese! After a long lunch, I was going to ride Great Bear.

     I smiled at it like it was really in my own park. I thought about giving it a bat theme and giving it a castle to fly in and out of. Yeah I need a girlfriend.

 Great Bear just broke.

     We went over to the Kissing Tower. I got an offer for a kiss, but I said no. The windows were spotless. Oh well, no camera . My bed might want to take pictures of itself. We could see Storm Runner, Fahrenheit 97 and not a single soul in Midway America. I took some pictures on my cell and sent them to people.

?You?re welcome.?

     Great Bear is back up and running. We rode in the back and it was beautiful. Smooth, original and fast: It was great!

     We walked over to Storm Runner. It just opened back up and the line was long for a Hersheypark ride. It?s ok. It gives me time to take in Hersheypark people. They are so happy, so good-looking. No angry looking, toothless fools. We waited for the third row. It was wild, but I know the front is better.   

     Matt broke Storm Runner and we went to Sidewinder. It would be my first boomerang in three years. There?s no line here. I actually put my head in all the right places!

     I think we went to Reeses next? It was a long day. I don?t know. The dark ride fan lost. I hate these things!

     At this point, we met up with a few of Kevin?s friends.

    Back to Sidewinder? It sucked the second time. Storm Runner? It just reopened. It?s almost a full queue again. It?s a long, long, long, wait for the front row. But the wait was almost worth it. It was more powerful than row 3. 
     
     Bubba, his daughter Hannah and his friend Mike met up with us. They had been in line with us at Storm Runner and they had already stopped by Chocolate World. So we went to eat at the Mixed Grille in Pioneer Frontier. See how healthy everybody eats when I pick the joints?

     We rode the Flyers again.

     Reeses Again. Lowest score again. Teenager Paradise.

     Comet gets a long line when Midway America is closed, but it moves fast. We rode in the back (even though the front is better) la la la. I got to ride a woodie.

     Back on Superdooperlooper for a night ride. Now they?re sure to love me on Fribble Fest! (It?s best in the front row.)

     Matt kidnapped Hannah to ride with him on Superdooperlooper. Bubba, Mike and I went for two rides on Great Bear. The first ride was in the back and it was awesome! The second was in the front and it, eh?Alpengeist.

     Ok I had enough. There is another dark ride here and I was not going to miss it. We had 15 minutes to get to Chocolate World and we made it with a few to spare. We went for the Great American Chocolate Tour. I still don?t know how chocolate is made but I got to ride a REAL dark ride.               

     Bubba, Hannah and Mike left at 9:15, I stopped at Mc Donalds for coffee and left around 9:30 and Matt, Kevin and Emily went to the Cocoa Diner and left around 11pm. It was a fun day. It should have been warmer, but it would be colder tomorrow at the coaster park. Hey, it's the Schuylkill. WHY IS EVERYBODY STOPPING?!!

Thank you for reading.

[AV Matt]

The ride ops were watching me closely on the flyers. I felt "exposed".

It was a great day despite still not getting to ride my Wildcat in almost four years now. Had a blast on Sooper Dooper Looper. Hannah was really digging it. I enjoyed being Uncle Matt for the evening. I tried really hard to convince her to ride Great Bear, but she wouldn't leaver her Anton.  Good girl.

[Bubba Z]

^ That's awesome ! I think Storm Runner scared her, this after banging her head and calling it a Vekoma.  I'll have all summer to convince her it will be fun.

Dan, another great Trip report.  What did happen on the Schuylkill ? I got off and went 476 to 276 to 611 to get home. That wasn't much better either.

Sorry I got there late but I had a great time as well! Good thing for over priced Dunkin Coffee for the ride home. Oh , and if anybody can find that Storm Runner shirt... pick one up I'll pay you later.  XL!

[darkridedan]

Kevin was more than happy to meet another member of the Jersey clan and I'm glad you came. There aren't any other Dunkin Donuts until you get to NJ. The Schuylkill was a case of not getting in the correct lane until the last minute but if I didn't come through here with my hand on my head, pressed against the window, I would have felt empty inside. I still got home at midnight.




V I tried posting from my phone

[PcMan]

Remind me to get on a coaster before Matt does 

here are some great pics of Fahrenheit from www.brandonscoasters.com/springinhershey1.htm







remember to register if going

www.aceonline.org/fliers/HersheyPark2008.pdf

[Robert T Ackerman]

MMMM. SooperDooperLooper.

Nice report Dan... makes me jealous that I was working from 12-10 that day instead of going with you guys. I'll get out there in the summer once the free tickets come around at the job (and the new coaster opens). Maybe this time I'll spend overnight out there and spend 2 full days there like I've wanted to since I started going there.

[WadeJ]

Great report Dan.

Let me get this straight...  Hannah rode Storm Runner???  Bubs, you went from wondering how she would handle a looper to going on SR? Lol.

[Bubba Z]

I thought it would be a good inversion coaster for her to try out before going on an invert.  It didn't work since she hit her head on the OTSR. That's why she loves the Looper so much, pain free.  Well, that and the tunnel of course.

[AV Matt]

LOL She loved that tunnel!

The best part was watching her trying to keep her arms up in the loop. At first she would flop around like a rag doll when the G's hit, but eventually she made it all the way through and then the turn would catch her off guard and toss her to the side. It was so funny to watch.