| TR: Ride or Die pt 2 (HersheyPark AllNighter, 5-21-04)
This is part 2 of my TR on 5/21 9am to 5/22 6am. Over 24 hours of nothing but coasters.
I returned from Kings Dominion at 7pm. I went home for dinner and a shower before I met my friends for the Hershey park allnighter We left for HersheyPark around 9:30pm for what we expected to be an hour and hour drive. We actually arrived at 10:30pm. The crowd was all gathered in front of the gate waiting for the park to open at 11pm. We eventually got through the gate at 11:20. As part of my group was in the bathroom we looked through the event guide and noticed that Storm Runner was now open all night. It as originally not planed to open until 2 am. When they came out of the bathroom we started running to Storm Runner. We reached the station and saw the first launch with no one on board. I was in heaven. There was no line at all. We walk right into the station and got in line for the second row with only a one train wait. The people in front of us went and then it was our turn. Anticipation was building. The train unloaded and everyone was off. We were ready to go. But wait, why are the gates not opening. Is something wrong? NOOOO! They were closing due to a light, and I mean very light sprinkle. Why!!!! Why Now!!! Why Me!!! I was so let down! We were going to wait it out but half my group wanted to go, so we did.
We ran over to Sidewinder, which was still running (along with every other ride in the park!) We had a one train wait. This is one of my favorite rides. They added new padding to the shoulder restraints for you head. They were nice but I have never banged my head on it once. Why a smooth ride. I do not care how much other people complain but it is a smooth Vekoma boomerang.
After Sidewinder we were going to ride Great Bear. On the way over half of my group got sidetracked because they wanted to see the dolphins. Come on guys, dolphins, I came here to ride. Well I was not meant to ride Great Bear, almost a 2 hour wait. No way was I waiting; I have ridden this ride many times so I was not bothered. After we reached GB I noticed it was not sprinkling anymore. Maybe just maybe Storm Runner would be open. So we back tracked to SR. We reached to entrance, which was closed to see nobody around except for a worker. We asked if it was opening soon and he said yes and that they were getting ready to start testing. Well one test run and boom, we were allowed in line, the first in line. We ran through the queue and into the station and hopped right on. Attendants told us to take everything out of our pockets, including cell phones. (I heard earlier in the season that someone’s cell phone flew off and into the launch track).
The launch was insane, very powerful and smooth. I did not fell a single bump of jerk the entire ride. The launch is not technically as powerful as Hypersonic but I enjoyed this on much more. At the end of the launch before the top hat I did notice a “dead spot.” No more acceleration or launch, no action. It was almost like we slowed down. The top hat upward is nothing special but when you crest the top it is amazing. It had tons of air time and beautiful view. The drop down is much farther than it appears from off the ride. Some major G’s are pulled at the bottom of the hill. The cobra roll is so cool, very different. It looks strange and jerky from off the ride but it was designed perfectly. It has a lot of hang time and the drop out of it is very nice with perfect banking. The hill up to the barrel rolls a quick shot of airtime before you start twisting. After the barrel roll you see the flying snake dive. All I could think was “is this inversion even possible, we are not going to make it.” It is the coolest thing ever done on a coaster. It twists and pulls you like nothing else. Sheer bliss. The curves and turns up to the brake run are very disorienting and fun. You are twisted one way and before you even realize you are twisted the other direction. Then we were on the brake run, what a great deceleration. I did not like how there were no trims or brakes before the track changer thingy. I got to thinking about the chance of a malfunction and accident. The train also whips you on the transfer track. This ride was awesome and just bumped off Volcano as my favorite ride. Poor volcano, it was only my favorite for a few hours. Hopefully you read my TR for PKD earlier that day.
After SR we went on the Claw (2x). This was a great addition to Hershey’s flat rides. And as you can tell I am getting tired of typing. Then we rode LR. It delivered as always, then Wild Mouse. Wild Mouse is much better than Ricochet because Hershey hardly even uses the trim brakes. The Whip and other flats came and then we went home. The all-nighter was fun but I will probably not do it again. It was too crowded and cost too much for what it delivered. But I defiantly got my money worth riding SR with no wait at 12:30am!!!
Last edited by gcut26; 05-24-2004 at 11:04 PM..
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