HersheyPark Trip Report

The main reason for visiting HersheyPark on Friday, May 25^th was to ride the new SkyRush coaster (read my SkyRush review and I also want to thank all the readers for commenting their own Skyrush reviews), but we also took the opportunity to ride a few other favorite attractions. The park was very crowded Friday afternoon due to a large number of middle and high school band and choir groups. After picking up our tickets we headed toward the area I consider the “back” of the park and immediately got in line for Wildcat.

Here goes my credibility: A lot of enthusiasts disagree with me on this one but I rank Wildcat higher than Lightning Racer. Don’t get me wrong, Lightning Racer is a good ride – it’s fun, unique, and an interesting layout. I just find the ride mostly force-less. There is little to no airtime to speak of. Also, I only ride Wildcat in the front. I’m not saying Thunder and Lightning are bad rides – I’d rank them over a lot of other rides – but I would also rank Wildcat higher than Lightning Racer.

SO, if you’re still reading this, besides Skyrush, the other coaster that was brand new to me was Fahrenheit. It uses the Intamin over the shoulder restraints that I hate but fortunately didn’t notice or have a problem with on this ride. Fahrenheit started off great with some nice airtime but then shakiness and weird vibrations were felt in the cobra roll. From then on it was non-stop positive G-forces until the surprise airtime hill. As we hit the brake run I actually felt quite dizzy. I’m not a big fan of feeling dizzy so overall, it was just a “ehhhh” ride for me. I’d rank other similar rides, such as Maverick and Rip Ride Rocket ahead of this one. And only 12-person trains and no dual loading station- what’s up with that? Longest line in the park.

Another new ride for me was the indoor shooter, Reese’s Cup Challenge. I had heard a lot of bad things about this ride so my expectations were pretty low. I didn’t think the ride was nearly as bad as other reviewers made it out to be. In fact, I kind of liked it (did I just ruin my credibility even more???) SPOILER ALERT: I was expecting a flat ride but the track is very roller coaster-esque. It was fun shooting at targets while going up or down hills.

Tip: If you’re into coaster photography there are some great vantage points for pictures along Ridge Road behind the park and from the hill where the Hershey Gardens and Hotel Hershey reside.