Welcome to Theme Park Insider! Join the community or log in
Theme Park Insider
Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Lightning Racer reviews

Theme Park Insider readers offer their ratings and reviews for Lightning Racer, a roller coaster at Hersheypark. (The minimum height to ride is 48 inches.)

Photo of Lightning Racer

See all photos | Submit Photo

The first wooden racing/dueling coaster in the United States. This ride is nothing but awesome to behold. Named Thunder and Lightning, these two trains first race, then seem to 'attack' each other by circling back and forth, over and under, and all around ... a (seemingly) very long ride from its 90' initial plunge to the end of the ride where you will find your train to be the 'winner' or not. A MUST for roller coaster enthusiasts. Designed by Great Coasters, International and installed in 2000, the ride features a total of 6800' of track (3400 each side) and speeds up to 50mph.

[Update this description]

Readers' rating:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
20 votes, so far

A great racing coaster. Long , fast with plenty of thrills. A close race on every ride. I realy liked the cars on this one and the way it tracked. A super great ride with Air time. - Joe Schwartz

Lightning Racer is smooth and exciting. Races are usually pretty fair, and I had trouble guessing which side would win. I prefer the Lightning side but have friends who prefer Thunder; ride both and draw your own conclusions. It is a beautiful ride that usually has short waits. A must-ride on any visit to Hersheypark. - Jamie Bennish

It wasnt there the dueling elements werent as exciting as i expected and it was rough. I really didnt scream on it at all. It was mediocre at best. - Dakota S

best wooden coaster i've ever been on, smooth and doesnt stop once it starts, fast the whole time. fastest line in the park too - Victoria Jurkowski

This ride was a lot of fun. It was the first racing coaster I'd been on and it was great. Definitely a must-ride at Hersheypark. - Derrick O. Foreman

After visiting Kings Dominion, I figured I had just gotten to old for wooden coasters. Fortunately I was wrong! This is an awesome coaster and loads of fun. Smooth as a woodie could be. I ended up 1-3 on the day in the race. - Scott Sanders

More attraction and restaurant ratings: