Shaq is coming back for Halloween.
NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal again is lending his name to a Halloween attraction. In 2022 and 2023, Shaq provided the theme for the Shaqtoberfest carnival that Long Beach's The Queen Mary held in its parking lot while the ship was undergoing renovations. This year, Shaq is taking the show to the east coast.
Hersheypark today announced a Halloween partnership with Shaquille O’Neal. For Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights this year, the park will transform its Laff Trakk indoor roller coaster into Shaq-A-Licious Laff Trakk.
Of course, this being Hersheypark, everything has to have a candy theme, and this attraction will be no exception. The name references the Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies that The Hershey Company introduced last year.
"We’re taking the flavor and the fun of my Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies and blowing it up into a larger-than-life adventure," O’Neal said. "From the second you step inside, this ride brings non-stop energy and laughs."
The holiday overlay on the 2015 Maurer Rides spinning coaster will include a voice-over by O'Neal, as well as "glowing visuals, amped-up audio and immersive graphic displays that capture the candy’s playful spirit," according to the park's press release.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Shaquille O’Neal on a one-of-a-kind ride experience you can only find at Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights," Hersheypark Vice President Vikki Hultquist said. "Get ready for a bigger, bolder, XL ride through a Shaq-ified world of giant glowing gummies, bass-pumping beats and over-the-top fruit-flavored mayhem at Shaq-A-Licious Laff Trakk."
The park also promises new, yet-to-be-announced food and beverage items with the Shaq-A-Licious theme.
Hersheypark Halloween and the Dark Nights haunt experience start Friday, September 12, running eight weekend through November 2 this year.
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Well, I am tired of Shaq, Peyton and other clowns that are in everything...
Yikes....
I guess their marketing team needs some help..
What's next the Macarena...
"slow-moving" and "Shaq"
Checks out. /s
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So they're going to put a unique overlay onto an already low-capacity coaster that's one of the few in the entire park that's not impacted by inclement weather. While I like the idea, I see guests getting more frustrated than anything else. In my experience, Laff Trakk is an extremely slow loader, and things tend to go even slower during their Halloween events when guests are wearing coats and other layers that make it harder to get on and off the coaster. Throw in the fact that this coaster is indoors and has a fully covered (and partially indoor) queue, guests naturally gravitate to this ride when it's cold and/or rainy/drizzly. Adding Shaq to the mix, and it's going to increase demand even more and will frustrate guests who are being drawn to the "new" attraction and get stuck in a slow-moving line that takes an hour or more to get onto the coaster.