We settled on a PA coaster trip for the long weekend, as it was the most economical of our choices. Our hotel stay in Allentown was free, so our total expense was two tanks of gas, one hotel night and Hersheypark tickets. Not counting food, I don't think we spent more than $250. That's a plus because I'm po.
We arrived in Hershey on Friday around dinner time, and met Carrie M. at our hotel. We went to dinner, and she used some season pass coupons to get us $31 tickets, a far cry from the $52 gate. Do people really pay that much? That seems really high. In any case, you can get in the night before for 2.5 hours on your ticket, which is incredibly awesome. Being a holiday weekend, we were nervous about what we may encounter. Friday night, hoards of band geeks were leaving as we got there, and the only thing we had to wait for beyond a few cycles was Fahrenheit.
Fahrenheit is a pretty solid ride overall. As others have said, the first few inversions are a little slow feeling, but beyond that, it's a lot of fun. The short trains really offer a lot of flexibility. It's very quick in the turns. The first drop is better than Maverick's since it's longer, but it obviously lacks the same kind of speed. It's a nice addition overall.
I finally got a "good" ride on Wildcat, which is to say that it was tracking well and mostly smooth, except for some jackhammering near the end. But it's really not that interesting of a ride, unfortunately.
We also got spins on Lightning Racer, which is still running extremely well, the Wild Mouse with almost no brakes, Great Bear, one of the most underrated of the B&M inverters and Comet, which appears to have an adult, single-sex crew this year and is better for it. We finished on the Arrow flume, which is a total classic of a ride. It makes me miss White Water Landing.
Saturday we returned to the park, after a night at the Quality Inn which was just OK. I dunno, it didn't feel clean enough. The park was surprisingly not all that busy, and we had no problem rounding out the coasters we didn't already ride, save for Storm Runner which was closed. That sucks, because Diana has yet to be on an Intamin hydraulic launch. The new water park was an absolute zoo. I've never seen a line like that for a lazy river. Zoomerica was wholly unremarkable.
Service and operations are a mixed bag. Some crews are better than others. Food service is hit or miss too. We tried scoring ice cream under Great Bear's zero-G roll, and the kid was filling in circles on his cup lid, not even bothering to look up. I should have asked if I was bothering him. On the other hand, the kids at the potato chip joint were eager to help.
Overall, it was fun to visit Hersheypark, and it's still one of the nicer parks I've been to. They have a nice mix of rides.
We left Hershey in the afternoon, and made the hour drive to Allentown. The hotel that we're plugging on the CoasterBuzz Club page for 20% off is really solid, and it's literally across the street from Dorney. We went to a Carrabba's down the street for dinner, and got a second wind and decided to go into the park.
I told Diana it was like "little Cedar Point," and that was exactly the impression she got. The park has really filled in a bit since my last visit, which was in 2001. Talon looks fantastic. The water park crowd had spilled out, so we decided to snag a few rides and get out, as the fatigue started to set in again. We got laps on Steel Force, Hydra and Talon.
Hydra is awful. I doubted all of the haters, but there's something fundamentally wrong with it. I don't think it's poor train maintenance, because you don't see any of the shimmying around of the cars that you see on Hulk, for example. It's so rough. Something ain't right.
Talon, on the other hand, is just as awesome as I remember it. I remember now why I thought it was one of the best B&M inverters, right up there with Fire, Raptor and Montu. We got up to Talon's station just as a line of serious thunderstorms, with ample lightning, was rolling in. They closed the ride as soon as we got back. What a fantastic setting that was, at dusk with the storms. The forces that thing pulls are outstanding.
On Sunday, we slept in and missed another "complimentary continental breakfast," and got to the park at around 11. I was shocked at how non-crowded it was. We endeavored to hit the rest of the coasters, and even snagged a credit on Woodstock's Express.
It's funny to think about how Superman-Steel Venom-Voodoo-Possessed has now had four names in two locations. The ride looks pretty good there, with the new paint and all. I will say that I like how Six Flags originally put the electrical room under the ride, as it made the ride feel more open. It's a little sad to see Laser missing.
We did everything we wanted by 1:30, and decided to make a run for Knoebels. I originally let the idea go feeling we wouldn't have enough time, and I couldn't justify full wrist band purchases, but found a way to make the park "on the way" and had no problem spending ten bucks on a couple of rides know in enthusiast circles as being legendary.
Being an open picnic grove kind of place, I shouldn't have been surprised at how crowded it was, but yikes. Fortunately, with most people riding via tickets or spending time in the water stuff, there was almost no wait for either coaster.
So I finally understand what all the noise is about when it comes to Phoenix. What a fantastic ride. Great crew as well, really taking pride in moving people through there. See, this is a ride that was worth preserving, because it has something going for it other than age. Total air time machine, start to finish. Loved it.
Twister was a solid ride as well, particularly if you're a lateral fan. It's one of those things where when you consider the constraints of a piece of land, you get something interesting like this.
Overall, there are a lot of things I would have liked to have done at the park, if we had more time. Didn't get the flyers, which is some kind of sin, I know. In order for us to get home in time to see at least half of the tragic Cavs game, we couldn't hang out much. Food pricing looked reasonable, and we enjoyed some ice cream, which was delicious. At least now we have a better idea of what's there, and can plan appropriately. No idea where we'll stay, as there aren't a lot of hotel options near by, and I'm no camper.
In the end, we spent time in three different parks inside of a 36 hour window, which really brought back my inner-coaster geek. I can't remember the last time I took a multi-park trip that wasn't Orlando. Good times.
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