Day 11: Hersheypark

Today we went on the relatively short jaunt to Hershey Pennsylvania and Hersheypark. I'd actually never heard of Hersheypark before, but it is a cool park with a good amount of coasters, most of the steel ones having been built in the last ten years.

First off we rode on Skyrush, a hypercoaster with a very unique prototype train style. Four seats wide, with two on top of the track in the normal positions, and two set further down and back a bit so it is similar to a wing coaster's train. Pretty cool, sitting in the middle gives a different ride experience to sitting in the wing seats. The ride has an elevator lift that slings you up and over the 218 foot tall lift hill into an 85 degree drop where you reach up to 76 mph, into a high-speed turn before going up to an air-time hill, drops you again into a twist and turn that leads to another air-time hill that wings just under the first hill and gives a cool headchopper effect. Another high-speed turn takes you to another air-time hill, followed by some twists and an overbanked turn above the creek which leads to the final three air-time humps and then the brake run and the station. Awesome coaster, must-ride... twice! Try both sets options, the ride experience differs noticeably on the wing seats, with the greater lateral movement.

Next we walked over to Storm Runner, a launched coaster of a similar vein to Maverick at Cedar Point. You start off on an accelerator track like that of Kingda Ka, and are launched from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds, shot up the 150 foot tall top hat hill for some sweet air-time, then down into the cobra loop, a tall, wide loop-like element that is shaped like the hood of a cobra, then up again into a high barrel roll that runs into a diving loop. Some last twists and turns and a final hill takes you to the brake run and station. The ride is short and sweet, lasting only 36 seconds, but is a blast. Highly recommended.

We then made our way to Fahrenheit, a very cool and twisted coaster. You are brought up a 121 foot tall vertical lift hill and then dropped into a 97 degree, beyond vertical drop. Then you are shot up into a Norwegian loop, where you are twisted at the top upsidedown, down a dive-loop to level out, then back up into an Immelman inversion. The element has the appearance of an upside down vertical loop. After a drop back down you are thrown through a cobra roll, followed by two corkscrews in a row. A banked turn shoots you through the lift hill and into an air-time hump for some nice negative g's, then a final wide turn near the ground brings you around to the brakes and station. Really fun, twisty coaster, a must-ride!

Next up was Great Bear, an inverted coaster. You go up the lift hill, then drop into a helix to the right that bobs you down and back up before the main drop. You are then shot up a tall loop, followed by an Immelman inversion, that drops you down then up again into a zero-g roll. You are then turned around the creek and into a corkscrew. A few more wide turns bring you back to the station. You get a fair amount of speed on this ride, and I don't know of any other inverted coasters that have a helix before the main drop. Recommended.

Next we went on the long, winding walk to Wildcat, a very twisted and rough wooden coaster. Fun enough ride, lots of drops and heavily banked turns, but somewhat hard on the body. If getting beat up by a roller coaster is your thing, this coaster is for you.

Then we went over to Lightning Racer, and relatively new wooden racing coaster, and both trains were actually running (unlike Cedar Point and King's Dominion) and I think that added a lot to the ride experience. The trains load at opposite sides of the station, then peel away at opposite angles and go through a pre-lift shallow drop and bob before the lift hill. The lifts are staggered, so that you are not right beside each other on the hill, but still drop at the same time, down a curving hill and through some humps for air, and some banked turns where the dueling train enters at the opposite side as your train for some good crossing views. A good, twisty coaster, longest dueling one I have ridden, and lots of fun. Highly recommended!

The weather was less than awesome, and dad wanted to get a good ways into New York state for the drive to Canada's Wonderland tomorrow, so we didn't stay for a very long time, but we did give Skyrush one more time and set out on the road.

Hersheypark is a fun place, if you have never heard of it before, are near the area and like cool coasters, it is worth the day trip.

Tomorrow we return to Canada and go to the last park of the trip, Wonderland! Have not been there for a good six years, so have never ridden on Behemoth or Leviathan, and I am looking forward to them!

Record holders:
Fahrenheit, 7th steepest drop (multi-tie)
Storm Runner, 8th tallest inversion