I was fortunate enough to ride Skyrush, Hersheypark’s Intamin hypercoaster, on opening day and got my first ride of the 2024 season with its brand-new upgraded seats and restraints. I’m sure many people are wondering if the ride feels more comfortable now or if it’s a better experience.
SkyRush Reimagined
Skyrush underwent some other major changes and upgrades to create a more reimagined ride experience, including a new reimagined station platform with brand-new lighting, custom audio, and even a new paint job. My first time in the new station was incredible, it’s such a hyped ride in the park, and now the station is on par with that hype. It looks so much better than the old white lame paint the station used to have, so kudos to Hershey for doing an amazing job there.
Being a very well-liked poster by nearly all coaster enthusiasts and lovers, Skyrush delivers a very intense rider experience that I believe you cannot get on any other coaster. Standing at 200 feet tall and going at 75 mph, Skyrush packs a punch the whole way through, but in the past was a very uncomfortable thigh-crushing pain from the old ride restraints. This pain led many Hersheypark frequenters to coin the nickname “Thighcrush” for the coaster.
The first thing I noticed with these new restraints is there’s a shape cut around the thigh part on the restraints that will literally shape into your thighs so they are able to breathe unlike before. As soon as we left the station and headed straight up that fast lift, I knew the first drop would really be the key factor to telling how painful or comfortable these new restraints would be.
Of course, we still got that amazing sensation coming down the first drop, and believe it or not, there was absolutely no thigh-crushing pain at all! I was completely shocked! We went over the next few airtime hills, into the banking turns, and we still got incredible air time and laterals, but get this, again absolutely no thigh-crushing pain.
Once we hit the ride’s final brake run, once again, there was no noticeable pain to me at all and I was completely shocked yet again and in complete awe. In the past, it was so painful sitting on the brake run with tight thigh-crushing restraints, but these brand new seats and restraints were so noticeably much more comfortable than the old ones.
I loved them so much more, and that is me being the one who could never ride Skyrush with the former seats and restraints multiple times in a row because of how painful they got. Now I can marathon this ride, it’s amazing!
I am excited to say that Skyrush is better than ever, it delivers that same incredible and intense thrilling ride experience, just without the thigh-crushing pain as before. Thank you, Hersheypark for listening to us and answering yet again in a great way, better than we could ever imagine! I highly recommend coming out to Hersheypark to now ride first class on Skyrush!
Learn more about HersheyPark here.
Have you ridden SkyRush at HersheyPark with the new improvements? Let us know your thoughts below!
About the Author:
Jordan Smith is a retail manager from Southcentral Pennsylvania, but loves to do nothing more than visit amusement parks in his free time. Being so close to each, Jordan loves visiting his nearby home parks, Hersheypark, Six Flags America, Dorney Park, and Six Flags Great Adventure, but also loves making the drive to his favorite park, Dollywood. No trip is complete without riding a coaster, so he and his friends always plan trips with stops at parks around the country.
Thanks Jordan! Hope to get my family to check out Hershey soon and it is exciting to hear the improvement.
Super Excited to ride with these improvements! Sky Rush is my favorite coaster of all time, and that was even with the thigh crushing experience. Truly painful, but worth it! Cannot wait to get on this coaster again!
Agreed. I rode it open day too. Now the only improvement needed is a shorter wait.