How accommodating are Hersheypark's Coasters

Hersheypark: I'm heading to Hersheypark and Knoebels next week and I'm wondering which coasters I might have difficulty riding.

From John Jackson
Posted July 11, 2008 at 10:30 PM
I have a question for anyone who's been to Hershey or Knoebels. Are their coasters friendly for 'big and tall' people? I'm 6'2", so height really isn't a problem, but I do have a 44 inch waist. Last week I was able to ride all of the coasters at Kennywood, but at Cedar Point I was WAY too large for Top Thrill and Millennium (no real surprise) and was just a bit too big for Wicked Twister and Raptor. (Which was quite depressing since I love all of those coasters!) I was barely able to fit on Mantis where the guy that helped me did some serious magic to get me buckled in. The rest of the coasters at CP weren't exactly roomy, but I was able to fit. Now, I'm heading to Hershey and Knoebels next week, and I'm worried that I am going to be a bit too big for some of the rides. Any info you can give would be a help! Thanks!!
(also, any advice you can give about those parks in general would also be helpful)

From Derek Potter
Posted July 12, 2008 at 4:55 AM
You could have issue with Stormrunner at Hershey. It was built by Intamin, the same company that built Dragster, Millennium Force, and Wicked Twister.

From Ian Kampert
Posted July 12, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I know the bear has big seats, but only in row 5.
Fahrenheit and Storm Runner have pretty tight seats, with Fahrenheit having a slight edge. The woodies all have dividers, with the tightest being comet. You'd be OK on Sooper Dooper if you sit alone. Also, the Claw has 2 big seats on the ends.

From Eli Katzman
Posted July 12, 2008 at 4:19 PM
At Knoebels, you should be able to ride both Twister and Pheonix. Because I haven't ridden the 'new' coaster yet (forget the name), I can't tell you anything on that. But, both coasters are amazingly fun. When you get back (if you were able to ride), can you tell me how much air time you got on Pheonix? That's a signal to sit in the back...

At hershey, you might not be able to fit in GB if you couldn't fit in Raptor. But, what was already said, row 5 has a little bit bigger seats. Stormrunner and Fahrenheit have basically the same restraint system, and the cars are about as wide as the cars on TTD. If you can fit in Lightning Racer or Wildcat, you can fit in the other. They have the same style seating-mullenium flyer trains (2 seater, every car is its own), indevidual lap bars, 1 SEAT BELT that stretches across the whole car, and a small little 6 inch divider between the 2 seats. You can probably fit in these, but I'm just saying this- Wildcat is the roughest ride there, and Lightning racer is the smoothest (in my opinion). Don't bother with Super Dooper Looper.

Have Fun!!!

From John Jackson
Posted July 12, 2008 at 8:21 PM
Thanks for the great advice! That really helps a lot; I'm reall hoping that I can get into most of the coasters. I was surprisingly able to fit in Maverick pretty easily at Cedar Point which raised my hopes for Fahrenheit, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Thank you again for the help, and if anyone else has more words of wisdom(other than the obvious which is to go on a diet, lol), please share.

From John Jackson
Posted August 8, 2008 at 11:22 PM
Many thanks to Eli and Derek for some great advice. I do appreciate it very much!!

I had a great time at Hershey, loved the park! The staff was friendly and professional, and the park was so clean! They had great coasters, and I was able to fit on everything(woo-hoo!). We visited on a Thursday, and the crowds were great! The only really long wait was for Fahrenheit which was having problems with one train. Funny thing is that the first time we rode it, we had to wait while they switched out the bad train for another one which turned into a two hour wait. The second time we decided to ride it, much later in the day, the line wasn't too bad...except for the fact that they had fixed the bad train and were putting it back on the track...another hour and a half wait. ...luck of the draw I guess...lol. That being said, it was VERY worth the wait. Comet was a nice woodie to get the day started, especially since we were able to walk on. Sooperdooperlooper also had no line and was good to add to my list. Wildcat, Lightning Racer, and Stormrunner were all great coasters! I really loved the "flying snake dive" element on Stormrunner...very cool. But I do have to say that Fahrenheit was by far my favorite. I had expected it to be like Maverick, but it was completely different!

One coaster I didn't get to experience was Roller Soaker. Okay, I knew that it was a water type ride, and I had planned to ride it and deal with damp clothes for a little while...then I actually saw it. There's no getting 'damp' on that ride. When they say 'soaker', they mean SOAKER. I would have loved to ride it, but I wasn't ready to get THAT wet, so I had to skip it. Next time I go, I will be prepared because it looks like a blast.

Knoebel's was almost like a dream, heaven on Earth I'd say. I have never fallen in love with a park like I have that one...that's including Cedar Point! It was almost like a step back in time. The rides were great! The food was terrific! The park was nostalgic and it was amazingly clean. Even the midway games were really cool. It had two wonderful wooden coasters, Twister and Phoenix. Twister was great, but I especially loved Phoenix. What a wonderfully fun woodie! I can't wait to go back and hopefully ride Flying Turns if they can get the train situation figured out, which I've read that things are looking very positive. But, I must say that the thing that impressed me the most was the people. Not just the people who worked there, who by the way were probably some of the friendliest I've ever seen in an amusement park, but the patrons were so nice. Even the groups of teenagers were polite...lol Parent's didn't just let their kids run wild but stayed involved and watchful. It was just such a friendly atmosphere! I loved how you were constantly within earshot of wonderful calliope music(Wurlitzer, band organs...whatever they're called) Another thing that I loved was the grand carousel...riding a carousel that still had rings to grab and toss in the lion's mouth was such a cool experience. Also, what surprised me was that the carousel really moved! Oh, and another thing I loved was the b-b machine-gun shooting gallery!! That reminded me of when I was young and they had one of those at our dearly departed Six Flags Astroworld. The really fun thing is that you didn't just shoot paper targets like at Astroworld, but they had metal targets for you to unload on. Another neat thing was riding the ski lift and when you were coming down the 'mountain' being able to see the park come into view. Simply beautiful! Gosh, I could go on and on...so, to make a short story long, lol, I loved both parks and plan to visit again next year, only I'm going to be dedicated to my health so that I will be in no doubt of being able to fit comfortably on the rides.

Hmmm...Dorney, Kennywood, Hersheypark, Knoebel's...come to think of it, I should just load up a Uhaul and move to Pennsylvania! ...oh wait, forgot about winter in Pennsylvania...nevermind

From Vicky Frey
Posted September 30, 2010 at 6:12 AM
I visited Knoebel's for the first time in '08 and I fell in love, too! I think everyone who visits that park recognizes what a beautiful, charming, nostalgic park it is. It's a perfect amusement park, if you ask me. Hershey is beautiful, too, but I like to save the money and hit Knoebels instead.

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