East Coast Trip 2021 - Hersheypark

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Idlewild & Lakemont Park Hersheypark Knoebels

OK. We had some fun at some smaller new for me parks. But it's time to get back to the hardcore stuff. The big parks. And oh boy, we've got a lot to cover today.

The....creepy anthropomorphic Reeses Cup welcomes you to Hersheypark.

I know most parks will have some tram from the parking lot to the entrance. But the Hersheypark ones look pretty vintage and nice.

We still have a couple hours before the park opens. But hey! We can have some fun in here! =)

You know, I've seen those Colliders at the grocery store repeatedly. But I've never thought about getting one since....I'm on a budget. And when I splurge, I just go for regular ice cream. But I'm curious. Gonna try these next grocery run.

I know it's technically not part of the park. But it's still a lot of fun and something that I really enjoy. Plus, there's a dark ride in here!

Unfortunately, you won't get a chance to see what sort of unholy abomination of a candy bar I would've created. At least not today. Perhaps on a future visit with more money.

And of course, while we're here, we gotta do the Chocolate Tour dark ride.

I believe you're forgetting to mention the child slavery. Isn't that so, Hershey? >=)

Hop in the cars and enjoy spending the next 8 minutes learning about how chocolate is made (minus the aformentioned child slavery).

OK. What the hell is up with these anthropomorphic candy mascots? They're really creepy looking. Do they enjoy being eaten? Do they know that they're food? Would eating these be vegetarian? I'd say if they're vegan, but they're already not in reality due to 🎵the milk chocolate (Now the song is stuck in my head)🎵. So does that mean that these anthropomorphic candy bars are genetically related to cows due to 🎵Hershey's Milk Chocolate?🎵 Would they be welcome at a cow family reunion? If not, is it due to their candy status, or did they just piss off the rest of the cows? Do cows discriminate against candy people? Are the wrappers their clothes or part of their body? If so, does that mean that the Hershey's Kiss is wearing the candy equivelant of a burqa?

Speaking of 🎵It's the Milk Chocolate🎵, they upgraded the cows and replaced the song. WHAT!!? NO!!! BOO!!! I don't care about the rest of the upgrades. If anything, it's an improvement. But those singing cows KICKED ASS!! AND GOD DAMN IT!!! THEIR MILK CHOCOLATE SONG GOT STUCK IN YOUR HEAD!!! AND IT WAS FUN!!! THE NEW SONG SUCKS!!! BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL COWS WITH THE ORIGINAL SONG!!!

Is this scratching that Willy Wonka itch for you?

"So this is where I came from. I always thought chocolate bars came from the stork."

Coming soon to a grocery store near you.

If you want to see the original version of this ride with the much superior kickass milk chocolate song, it's posted right here for you.

And of course, they still give you a mini chocolate bar at the end. Creepy Anthropomorphic Hershey Bar was delicous. >=)

You know, a couple years since my Japan Trip, I've noticed that Wacky Kit-Kat flavors have begun to cross over. Granted, they don't have all the same flavors I saw in Japan (Please bring the Kyoto Grape Kit-Kat to America). But I've definately seen some wacky flavors, such as Blueberry Muffin (It was good. But I honestly prefered all the ones I tried in Japan. Just not a huge blueberry fan), Dark Chocolate, Mint, and Mocha (those three are barely even wacky). And though I didn't try it, Key-Lime Pie Kit-Kat sounds great! I love the Wacky Kit-Kat trend. Keep them coming. =)

"Hey Jason! I brought you a souviner! AH F*CK!!! IT MELTED!!!"

I know I'm on a budget and spent more than expected today on fastpass (explination later), but I WANT THAT DAMN IT!!!

So this was one of the first out-of-state parks I ever visited, back when it was 2007 and I was 15. But despite being one of the first non-CA parks I did, I hadn't returned after my initial first visit. It took me 14 years (Nearly the same time I was when I first visited) until I came back. And.....Hersheypark has added A LOT since my last visit (let alone the stuff that was there, but I just didn't bother with). I was GREATLY overdue to go back here. So this semi-feels like a new park with all the new stuff, but not really since....I still remember this place.

OK. First things first, time for their new (for last year) coaster. This things gonna get swarmed, so we should knock it out.

HOLY SH*T!!! I KNEW IT WAS GONNA GET SWARMED!!! BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS F*CKING BAD!!!

So Candymonium is a brand new B&M Hyper. They're fun. But I'm not exactly the biggest B&M Hyper Fan and didn't exactly have high hopes for this ride. But hey. Orion greatly exceeded my expectations. Maybe Candymonium will do the same and this'll be on par with rides like Nitro & Diamondback.

Unfortunately, nope. This was just like what I was expecting. If anything, this was even weaker than I expected.

I will give it this. It has a really fun first drop. I mean, it's a hyper coaster. They ALL have a good first drop. It's kind of required on a hyper coaster lol.

But yeah. Out of all the B&M Hypers we rode on this trip, this was BY FAR the weakest. I greatly prefered both Nitro & Diamondback to this.

Honestly, this might be a controversial opinion, but I personally found Candymonium to be the weakest full-sized B&M Hyper. Yep. Excluding Hollywood Dream (running forewards), this is my least favorite one.

Though I will give Candymonium this. It is EXTREMELY photogenic (despite being painted brown). That ending helix may not be super forceful, but it sure is gorgeous.

OK. Time for an Incrediblecoasters Rant. The operations at Hersheypark were pretty bad today. But on Candymonium, they were BEYOND ATROCIOUS!!! THIS IS YOUR BRAND NEW (Still excluding last year, despite the fact that it was one of the few new coasters to actually in 2020, just because....as far as the theme park world is concerned, 2020 didn't exist) ROLLER COASTER!!! IT IS INSANELY POPULAR!!! IT IS AN EXTREMELY CROWDED DAY!!! AND YOU'RE NOT ONLY STACKING, BUT DOUBLE-STACKING!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I KNOW I GAVE THE EXTERMINATOR RIDE OPS A LOT OF SH*T (And rightfully so), BUT YOU GUYS ARE JUST AS BAD!!! DO YOUR F*CKING JOB BETTER AND PUSH THOSE TRAINS OUT!!! IT'S A B&M HYPER!!! THIS RIDE SHOULD BE EATING PEOPLE AND THE LINE SHOULD BE FLOWING LIKE WATER!!! Yeah, not sure if you can tell, but AJ is literally giving a thumbs down (for the operations). I share your thumbs down.

Oh yeah. Hersheypark isn't just crowded today. *hyena laugh* Oh, god no! IT IS F*CKING NIGHTMARISHLY CROWDED!!! Seriously. I'm really getting similar vibes to my Parc Asterix visit crowd-wise. It's honestly starting to rival Universal Studios Japan. The crowds are THAT BAD today!!! *Sigh* If I was a PA local, I would just go home. I unironically have done this at both SFMM & KBF. Why the f*ck did we decide to visit on a Friday?

Candymonium may be the hot new ride at the park, but THIS is the coaster since my last visit that I was most looking foreward to.

So Skyrush is one of those rides that was just hyped up to death. Even the people who hate this ride hated it in a way that intrigued me. This ride according to everyone, was essentially MADE for me. So....did it live up to my incredibly high expectations?

Technically no since....I was thinking that this might just become my new favorite coaster of all time with all the reports of airtime so strong it hurts and being afraid of it literally trying to eject you. Nah. El Toro's Rolling Thunder Hill still reigns supreme of all the airtime moments, with El Toro still being my favorite coaster.

But with that said, this is an AMAZING ride!!! It's not only in my Top 10 Steel Coasters, it's in my Top 5 (It's just not #1). And the airtime on this thing is INSANE!!! It genuinely feels like it wants to eject you and does make you nearly grab your lap-bar in a few "OH SH*T!!!" moments. I honestly love that.

I know people bitch about these restraints. And....I can see why. These things dig into you. And....you FEEL the airtime. On the one hand, this ride IS BRUTAL on your thighs. That is true. But at the same time, it's also pretty free. It kind of makes the ride a little more terrifying having these restraints. Though....yeah. Not gonna lie. Clamshells are better restraints.

BAM!!! EJECTOR AIR!!!

I know it may not look like the craziest ride ever. But.....DROOL!!! LOVE THIS RIDE SO F*CKING MUCH!!! This makes up for all the horrifying crowds at the park today.

If you want more of my thoughts on this amazing ride, go check out my updated Hersheypark Review. I just posted with this update, updated reviews of all the old coasters, and new reviews of the stuff we rode this visit, including both Skyrush, and Candymonium.

Oh yeah. Forgot to talk about the laterals. Because Skyrush isn't JUST about the crazy ejector air. There's also some WILD laterals that'll throw you around like a rag doll. Seriously. This ride does EVERYTHING in its power to throw you off.

Grr. Amazing super happy mood about how much I love Skyrush just got soured by its sh*tty operations. >=(

So one explenation for the monsterous crowds so above average is that all the school reading field trips that did their honor roll for 2020 were postponed (despite Hersheypark opening last year. Guess the schools wanted to play it safe since there was no vaccine last summer) and everyone just did it today. Ugh. We REALLY had bad luck at Hersheypark today.

Hey look! A ride I actually rode last visit! =P

Eh. It's nothing amazing. But for a coaster of its age, it still provides decent thrills.

So this ride was here last visit. But for some reason, I just didn't ride it. Why!? Why did I bother with Wild Mouse and Trailblazer, but blow off Super Dooper Looper!? WTF was I thinking!? Well, time to correct the mistake of stupid 15 year old me.

Thanks for the Single Riders Line. If we didn't have fastpass, this would've been SUPER helpful. Thumbs up.

"Hey Revolution! Look what I don't have! What's that? You got rid of them? Aww damn. There goes my bragging rights." =(

Enjoy your ride guys!

Speaking of Revolution, this ride is basically just Diet Revolution.

It has all the same elements as Revolution. Big Drop, Loop, Thread the Loop, Curved Hills. But far less of them and is a lot shorter. If you love Revolution, but thought that it was too long and only wanted a highlights reel of it, then Super Dooper Looper is the ride for you.

Not one of the best rides at the park, but a fun ride that fits in with the parks coaster collection.

Don't take pictures on our exit ramp! >=(

Despite the parks name, our lunch was not a bunch of crazy candy. Nah, just standard theme park food. Meh, at least the Doritos Walking Taco was good (even if it was overpriced).

Time for another major coaster. And hey. This is a fun one.

I know I already mentioned getting fastpass, but I can NOT emphasize how useful these were today. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! Cause I would NOT be a happy dude if they didn't sell these today.

Now I criticized this when I first rode it as one of the weaker B&M Inverts. I've ridden SO MANY more B&M Inverts since then. And....I mostly stand by everything I've said.

My Random: The Ride remark still feels true. For instance, the helix at the beginning. That is....I'm not sure if I really like this pre-first drop helix or am annoyed by it. It feels a little awkward and a bit of a cocktease before the real meat of the ride begins. But....hey. At least it gives the ride some needed flavor and makes it stand out.

OK. The helix beforehand does help the first drop by giving it some bonus speed before it rips down the first drop. I'll give the pre-first drop helix a thumbs up.

The one thing that saves this from being at the bottom of my B&M Invert list is that for 1/3 of the ride, it actually is a really fun and strong B&M Invert.

The fact that there's whip in this Heartline Spin automatically means this ranks above Silver Bullet, Talon, and similar rides.

Hello funky Great Bear support.

Sure. It's a hot day and we have fastpass. Why not give their log flume a try.

Hello East Coast Jet Stream. Cause that's what this ride essentially is.

It's not one of the best water rides ever. But hey. I had fun on it.

SPLOOSH!!!

So another new ride they got is the Triple Tower. It's basically 3 S&S Towers. The Small Kiss Double Shot, the Medium Resses Space Shot, and the Big Hershey Bar Turbo Drop. I didn't do any of them simply because....the horrifying crowds pushed all thoughts of flat rides out of my mind. Plus, it seems fun. But nothing psecial. But I do admit. I love the asthetic of the 3 of them together stacked in size order.

Ugh. Other people still need this credit. >=(

Still the worst mine train of them all.

Hey Storm Runner. Sorry to break the news, but you're no longer my favorite coaster at Hersheypark.

No need to worry. You're still a great ride and my 2nd favorite coaster at the park. Skyrush is just too good (better than Candymonium though). =)

I know there are other Rocket Coasters that are more than just a launch, top hat, and filler elements. But Storm Runner just curbstomps them all. Still the best of the Rocket Coasters.

The Immelmann may look funky on this ride, but it still rides good.

Why is Storm Runner the only coaster with a Flying Snake Dive!? This inversion kicks ton of ass and the fact that NO OTHER COASTER has added this is a crying shame!

Yeah. I obviously highly recommend this ride.

Back at another coaster I wasn't a huge fan of last time, but still had fun on.

"YOU ASSHOLES ARE GOING DOWN!!!" =P

You know, for some reason, Lightning Racer just isn't that popular today. Not sure why, but for as bad as the crowds are today, it seemed like Lightning Racer had a relatively short line.

I know I've ridden MANY more GCIs since my last visit here. And the ride itself is pretty meh. But honestly, the racing and dueling is what makes this ride.

Fun ride, provided your willing to make a jackass out of yourself and act out the absurd coaster race shouting matches I write in my reviews of racing coasters. =)

OK. Time for another new credit.

Ugh. Even with fastpass, this thing STILL has a long wait. Granted, it's far better to wait 20 minutes vs 2.5 hours like everyone else. But....ugh. Still not happy about that.

Well, at least the line has a lot of wacky fun theming to distract you. And it's air conditioned too. So thanks for that Hersheypark.

Hello Riddlers Revenge. Jealous of my line? =P

"I think something's wrong with us. Pretty sure all these monsterous crowds are having a negative impact on us."

So Laff Track is a basic Maurer Sohne Spinner. A clone of Steel Dragon @ Waldameer that we rode a couple days ago. Only inside and with some cool theming. The good news. I REALLY like the theming and the music. That REALLY helps. The downside is....this really didn't spin for me. It probably spun the least out of all the clones. Maybe we just had bad luck with weight distribution. I forgot how we sat. But still an overall fun ride thanks to the theming.

So I remember when I first rode this, I REALLY liked it as it was the strongest Wild Mouse I had ridden and seemed so much more agressive than Goofy's Sky School (then Mulholland Madness). But with all the crazy Wild Mice I rode in Europe, plus Lagoon's mouse...yeah. Suddenly, this seems pretty meh and average.

Still a fun ride. Just don't expect it to be particuarly brutal unless you've only been on particuarly crappy Mice.

Man. This trip has not been kind to old Wild Mice coasters I rode a while ago lol.

"How was your ride guys?"

How have we forgotten about this ride!?

*Sigh* We didn't forget about it. Fahrenheit has been down all day and never opened up. This is incredibly frustrating because this ride opened 1 year after my first visit, and it has been teasing me to come back to Hersheypark for the past 13 years. Then when I finally get back, "HA HA!!! F*CK YOU KEVIN!!! I'M CLOSED!!!". *Sigh* At least it was only Fahrenheit closed and not Skyrush (we were so close to missing that with the cable snapping). =(

"You won this round Fahrenheit. BUT I WILL BE BACK!!! I WILL RIDE YOU!!! THIS ISN'T OVER YET!!!"

Yeah. With how bad the crowds are today, there's NO WAY we're stopping by the water park today.

Though it does look like a fun water park. I do want to eventually check it out one of these days. Their water coaster does look pretty good.

Ugh. Other people still need this credit.

Well, in some good news. This ride got SO MUCH BETTER!!! It was initially one of the roughest Boomerangs. But now....it's actually a smooth and fun ride.

I know it's just a Boomerang, but I'm gonna have to ride this again when I come back since...they rethemed this ride to Jolly Ranchers. Yeah. WTF?

OK. Time for another dark ride. And....this sure as f*ck is a strange one.

So the whole point of this is....to shoot the evil candy people (as opposed to the good Hersheys candy people).

It's a fun ride and all. But yeah. I suck at it.

"We follow the same rules as the TSA. Now step aside for your grope-down....I mean pat-down".

Am I the only person getting Wreck-It-Ralph vibes from this character? He honestly looks like one of King Candy's minions.

"Thanks for saving all the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups". No problem. You are one of the best Hershey products after all. =)

For those who need to cool down, but don't want to wait in all the horrible lines at the water park, here's a fountain for you.

Sure. Why not get a reride on Great Bear?

But for while I really like the first half, the second half that feels like it was designed by the Auto-Complete function in RCT3 really hampers the ranking of this ride.

Great Bear goodness.

I still like the ride and give it a thumbs up. But yeah. There's plenty of better B&M Inverts out there.

"Hi Alex! Guess where I am today!?"

Though I didn't ride it, the shoot the chutes here is really impressive-looking. I mean....just look at the size of that splash!

Another quick way to cool off on a hot day.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot about this ride.

Hello random bird living in Wildcat's line.

If you really want to ride Wildcat on your next Hersheypark visit, bad news. Since my visit (Sorry the updates are so damn late), they decided that they're closing Wildcat and giving it the RMC treatment.

I'm sure some enthusiasts are mourning the loss of this historic coaster (It actually technically is as the first ever GCI).

I may not mourn the loss of this ride, I will admit that I didn't hate this ride. In fact, I kind of liked it.

It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't too rough. And it had some decent forces, and even a few moments of airtime. Fun ride overall.

But with that said, Wildcat's Revenge looks SO GOOD!!! SO WORTH THE TRADE-OFF (As usual with the RMC conversions)!!!

I can't wait to ride this when I get back to Hersheypark. =)

The mob has sadly not forgotten about Storm Runner (Reride BTW).

The launch is good, but this top hat has a nice pop of ejector air.

I've already expressed my thoughts on Storm Runner, and I can't think of a witty or clever caption. So just enjoy this photo of Storm Runner's Immelmann.

Yeah. I may be a big credit whore. But with crowds like THIS, I am NOT doing Cocoa Cruiser. Both because it almost certainly has a HORRENDOUS wait and isn't on fastpass, and with such horrifying crowds, there's probably some stick up their ass parent who would scowl at us for credit whoring. I'll just have to snag that credit next time (which hopefully WON'T be on a day like today).

Yeah. We gotta get more rides on this.

The trend of this being a highlights tour of the best coasters in America continues to come true, even at the very end.

I may have been pissed about Farenheight being closed visit. But considering how the lifthill broke about a week after we visited and the ride closed for the rest of the year, I would SO RATHER miss Fahrenheit and get to ride Skyrush than vice versa. Once again, I can NOT emphasize how much good luck we had regarding rides on this trip.

You know, let's get another ride on Candymonium. See if it got better after warming up.

I'M SORRY!!! BUT I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE FACT THAT YOU'RE DOUBLE STACKING!!! ESPECIALLY ON A B&M HYPER!!! SO F*CKING UNACCEPTABLE!!!

I know I've been harsh on this ride. But it does have some good floater air. And I do still like the ride and had fun on it. I do want to emphasize that.

The little bit of laterals at the end however? Yeah. No force there.

Yeah. Candymonium is fun and all. But....Skyrush unquestionably kicks its ass by a LONG SHOT!!!

I will give the ending some credit. There actually is a minor pop of ejector air here. Happy to report that.

Candymonium looking great with the fountain in the background.

So we were initally gonna eat here since....new resteraunt for this year. And it honestly looks really good. But....with the extremely heavy crowds and more spending than expected (Fastpass is NOT cheap here), we just didn't have the time and money to eat here. Next time though.

Tell me. Where am I again?

So long Hersheypark. I had fun here, despite the sh*tty operations and the NIGHTMARISH crowds (I can not emphasize how much fastpass saved our ass today. Worth every single penny). Hope to be back here soon for Wildcat's Revenge and to get on Fahrenheight.

Hello random abandoned mall. This place must be doing great financily. =)

This place is both cheaper than Chocolatier, and quicker (still a full-service restraunt. It's not fast food or fast casual). Big thumbs up.

NO!!! ONLY ONE DAY OF THE TRIP LEFT!!! I NEED A DRINK!!! =(

Knoebels

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