Hersheypark

This post is in memory of the Bayern Kurve. RIP 2020

Hersheypark is the largest amusement park in Pennsylvania and was one of the parks I got to go to this year, although I had visited before. The building with the faux smokestacks on the right is separate from the park and is definitely not the Hershey factory, but we'll come back to that at the end of the post.                                         

Given that this is a park named after a world-famous candy company, a lot of people think that Hersheypark will be filled with chocolate-themed attractions, but the reality is that it is a pretty typical amusement park with roller coasters not related to chocolate (e.g. "Fahrenheit" and "Skyrush"); however, the new Chcolatetown expansion has made the chocolate theme your first impression of the park. The old main entrance, seen below, anchored the former "Tudor Square" area, which was among the remnants of a 1970s retheme that gated the park and gave it a Pennsylvania "cultural exposition" theme with areas based off of coal mining, the PA Dutch, and European heritage.                                                                                 

Being the highest attended non-chain park in the country, Hersheypark needed a larger entrance, so this year they added a large addition that also included a new, 210-foot tall roller coaster. I like the new entrance, but it clearly lacks the tree growth that the old one had.

...but they did throw a couple bricks from the old entrance in!

Here's the new "hypercoaster," which extends out into a former golf course adjoining the park. And yes, "Candymonium" is one of the most puzzling names ever.

The other attraction in Chocolatetown is the park's 1919 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. carousel, which was relocated from a different area in the park.

This is actually the second time the carousel has been relocated, as in the early 70s it became the center of "Carousel Circle," an area surrounded by family rides. Moving the carousel to the very front of the park looks good, but this isolates it from the park's other family attractions. The statue of Milton Hershey in the foreground honors the man who founded the park in 1906 as well as the surrounding town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Although Hershey retains only a few vintage rides, the setting of the park shows its age and reminds you that it was originally established by Milton Hershey to give his employees someplace to enjoy themselves in his company town.

Hershey has 14 roller coasters, and seen below is sooperdooperLooper (actual spelling) and Great Bear, an inverted coaster that has some wacky supports to clear Spring Creek.

This elk statue has been in the park since 1913. In the background, you can see "ZooAmerica," the old Hershey Zoo from 1910 that is now integrated with the theme park.

Storm Runner is a launched coaster, but given that it's built by Intamin, the coaster manufacturer most famous for their rides' downtime, it remained closed this year. In front of it, you can see the beam of the park's 1969 Monorail that uses parts from the trains of Six Flags Magic Mountain's old monorail. It operates as a roundtrip. Since I visited on one of the first days Hersheypark was open this year, they had not yet gotten it running.

Lightning Racer is a racing wooden coaster with two tracks. It's really a wonderful piece of coaster design, with the tracks crossing over and under each other at multiple points during the ride. There are even "dueling" moments where the trains run towards each other head-on.

Lightning Racer is part of the "Midway America" themed area of the park, which is home to attractions that pay tribute to turn-of-the-1900s amusement parks. Seen below is "Laff Trakk," an indoor, spinning roller coaster decorated with painted, blacklight flats to create a disorienting experience.

However, a visit to Hershey isn't complete without riding the Chocolate World Omnimover ride.

This ride is free, outside the gates of the theme park, and is part of a complex that includes several gift shops and other upcharge attractions. And you even get a piece of chocolate at the end. :-)

The tour ride is constantly refreshed to remain up-to-date (take these singing, animatronic cows), but there are some scenes that have stayed virtually the same for decades.

The fake chocolate factory you ride through was built in 1973 when demand for tours at the actual Hershey factory became so great that they were interfering with operations.

As you can see, Hershey has spared no expense with these scenes. ;-)

                                       

That does it for this visit to Hersheypark. I look forward to returning!