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HERSHEY PARK TRIP REPORT

Hersheypark: We visited Hershey Park over Memorial Day weekend and experienced the new Boardwalk attractions. Coasters were great, clean well staffed park, but stick to the boardwalks at the beach because the Hershey Park boardwalk was way too crowded.

From Rob Heckman
Posted May 29, 2007 at 10:30 AM
We visited Hershey Park on Sunday May 27th and had a blast on the rides, but the new waterpark needs some work. We arrived around 9:30AM and the parking lot was not crowded and we parked close to the front. The entrance area was really packed with lots of folks buying tickets and long lines, but we asked an attendant and they told us to go to the far righthand side for advanced ticket holders. BUY YOUR TICKETS ON-LINE! We got in the park in a few minutes and it was even before 10AM. They opened to the general public just after 9:45AM. Highlights of the day:

* We went straight to stormrunner. We had walk-on lines and rode three times. This ride got crowded later in the day.
* All of the wood coasters had very short walk-on lines except Comet. Trail Blazer had no line. Later in the day around 3PM the line on Comet looked to be around 10 minutes or less.
* The older water rides had typical lines around 30 minutes or less.
* The shows were good and the park was very clean with lots of staff.
* The new boardwalk was EXTREMELY CROWDED and a bit of a disappointment.

Everyone at the park must have been in the new waterpark area because it was so crowded you could barely move. The wave pool was closed (no reason given). All of the extreme slides had wait times of 1.5 hour +. The water playstructure was great except for the fact that 1000 of your closest friends were also playing on the ramps, slides and pools. Looked very dangerous for small kids.

Lots of lifeguards, but too many people. The small waterslides had a wait time of around 30 minutes. We let the kids play for a while (8 and 10 year olds) and watched them like a hawk, but it was just controlled chaos.

At one point the lifeguards tried to clear everyone off of the play area. We left when the whistles started to blow. I know that this area is new for Hershey, but the crowd level was too much for an area too small. The only good news was that this new area provides more roller coaster time for those of us who like riding big rides.

Overall Hershey did a nice job for the 100 year celebration and the park does look great. As a note, I think they may have fixed a bit of the bounce in Wild Cat because the ride seemed smoother this year. We all had a great time!


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From David Kirby
Posted May 29, 2007 at 11:09 AM
I'm glad you had a good time. I've always loved Hershey - it's such a nice park with a lot of history.

From Kelly Smith
Posted May 29, 2007 at 5:18 PM
Thanks for posting this, I'm headed to HP tomorrow. Were there changing rooms for the Boardwalk, or were people just putting clothes over their swimsuits and going in to the park?

From Rob Heckman
Posted May 29, 2007 at 7:01 PM
Yes, there are changing rooms both inside and outside of the boardwalk area. There was a large building directly across from the wave pool. Going midweek should make a big difference.

From Kelly Smith
Posted May 31, 2007 at 7:39 PM
It was still pretty crowded! There were buses everywhere -- lots of fieldtrips.

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