During the 2020 and 2021 seasons I visited Hersheypark close to 30 times. It was my home away from home. I made use of my King-Sized Season Pass every chance I could get. Here in 2022, however, I no longer have a pass and up until Sunday, July 31, I hadn’t visited the park the entire season. That finally changed as I spent a memorable day with the flight crew and friends on the Wildcat’s final day of operations. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it, but am I ever glad I did.
Sunday was jam-packed full of rides and felt like it took place in three shifts. Let me explain. At park opening, the crew consisted of Greg, Kaylee, and myself. About an hour and a half later, Aaron and Josh, the Cheapthusiast, joined us. They stayed for a few hours and left once the rain had closed numerous rides. At that time we were joined by Charles and his father, Stan, who we rode with until the park closed. So yeah, the Final Ride Counts box is going to be complicated, but I think I tallied everything correctly. Now, onto the day!
Glad to Be Back Again
It should go without saying that I have missed my regular visits to Hersheypark. I’m sure I would have visited a time or two already had my pass renewed earlier this year when I “thought” I took care of it. For some reason the process never completed and I didn’t notice it until months later when Renee and I thought about going. When I finally noticed, the renewal discount offer and the ability to pay over time was no longer an option. As I am currently looking for full-time work and gas prices being so high, I had to make the hard choice to go without one.
All that being said, Sunday turned out to be the perfect return to the park. We rode most of the park’s coasters, got in some first rides on Jolly Rancher Remix, and our last on Wildcat. Here are some highlights, but I’ll be focusing on Wildcat separately.
Skyrush
Oh how I’ve missed thee! I’ve been longing for a ride on this ejector airtime-filled coaster for months. I’ve also been looking forward to checking out how clean the ride is now. Naturally, we made our way along the scenic path alongside the river so I could gaze upon the coaster and take a few photos of the ride minus all that soot from years past.
Was it everything I’ve been missing? It sure was. Greg, Kaylee, and I jumped in the back row to kick things off, That yank over the top and airtime that followed was just what I needed. I’m glad we rode this first thing too since it did go down briefly when Josh and Aaron arrived. It then went down, along with Candymonium, for hours after the rain moved in. Thankfully, Greg and I were able to squeeze in a night ride on both Skyrush and Candymonium in the final half hour of operations.
Jolly Rancher Remix
I was excited to get my first rides on the Sidewinder retheme, Jolly Rancher Remix. Would it be my new favorite Vekoma Boomerang behind Sea Serpent at Morey’s Piers? I was finally going to get the chance to see after months of waiting.
Let me first say that Hersheypark nailed this retheme! Walking up to the ride, the entire area around the coaster was alive with the bright colors and energetic music. It felt like the place to be, and for the first time in a long time, people wanted to be there. The line was longer than any time I can remember in recent memory. And surprisingly, people weren’t just standing there watching Storm Runner launch. People were watching Jolly Rancher Remix go in and out of the tunnel. It looks like this retheme passes the visual and audible test.
When it comes to the ride, it is now truly an experience. The flashing lights, the random flavor selection, funky sound effects, scented tunnel, and mist all make this ride feel totally new. If you haven’t gotten a chance to ride this rethemed coaster, I say do it. Even if you’re not the biggest fan of Boomerangs, it might surprise you.
As for whether or not Jolly Rancher Remix surpasses Sea Serpent as my favorite Boomerang, it’s hard for me to say. I want more rides to really think about it. I have sentimental attachment to Sea Serpent from all my childhood trips to Wildwood. Add in the awesome beach setting, light package, and sea monster theming and it’s a difficult choice.
Comet
My first “big” coaster is one I was looking forward to riding with Greg for the first time. He had only ridden this classic woodie once up until Sunday. I told him that was going to change and I probably spent minutes on end telling him the stories of riding it for the first time with my Aunt Cheryl. I’m certainly I’ve told him that story a few times too, but he entertainment my memories nonetheless.
Our first ride on Comet came immediately following Skyrush, before Josh and Aaron arrived. Greg, Kaylee, and I rode toward the back and I got some decent airtime. Oddly, later in the evening I had a ton of airtime in the front row riding with Greg, Kaylee, and Josh. It was glass smooth with the track soaking wet.
3 Rides on Wildcat
Truth be told, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Wildcat. There have been days where it was tolerable and then days where I came off wishing it would be Rocky Mountain Construction’s (RMC) newest conversion. Well, with the announcement weeks ago that it would be closing on Sunday, July 31, 2022, it looks like I might be getting my wish. Still, I’m glad I got to visit on it’s final day to get in one final ride. Well, three final rides. Did they hurt? A little bit, but I’ve certainly had worse. I’ve certainly had better too.
Lots of people came out for their final rides as well. After my first ride with Greg, Kaylee, Aaron, and Josh, I thought I’d be done riding it for the day, especially after seeing the line spilling out into the walkway between Wildcat’s and Wild Mouse’s entrances. I figured it would stay that way for the rest of the day. Be sure to check out Josh’s vlog above for some umm, ehh… Wildcat love?
Hours later, after Aaron and Josh left, we spent the rest of the evening riding with Charles and his dad, Stan. Stan is 71 years old and Wildcat was his favorite roller coaster. It was awesome seeing him out riding this coaster that so many of us call rough. He loved every minute of it and I hope that I’m still getting out and riding coaster at that age and beyond.
I have no idea how long the line got for Wildcat after that third ride. I can imagine that there were people trying hard to be on the final train, but we were clear on the other side of the park at 9 p.m. It was raining again when we made our way out into the parking lot and I couldn’t tell if the coaster was still running. If you were there at close, please let me know how long it took to get everyone their last rides.
Final Ride Counts
Candymonium (1: Ch, Gr, Ka, Pa, St)
Coal Cracker (1: Gr, Pa, Ka)
Comet (2: Gr, Ka, Pa, 1: Jo)
Great Bear (2: Gr, Ka, Pa, 1: Aa, Jo)
Jolly Rancher Remix (1: Aa, Gr, Jo, Ka, Pa)
Laff Trakk (1: Aa, Gr, Jo, Ka, Pa)
Lightning Racer: Lightning (1: Gr, St, Pa)
Lightning Racer: Thunder (2: Ka, 1: Aa, Jo, Gr, Pa)
Skyrush (2: Gr, Pa, 1: Ka)
SooperDooperLooper (3: Ka, 2: Ch, St, 1: Gr, Pa)
Storm Runner (1: Aa, Jo, Ka, Pa)
Wildcat (3: Gr, Ka, Pa, 2: Ch, St, 1: Aa, Jo)
Crew: Aa – Aaron, Ch – Charles, Gr – Greg, Jo – Josh, Ka – Kaylee, Pa – Patrick, St – Stan
Hopefully Going Again Soon
A few days ago Renee asked me if I wanted to go to Hersheypark with her. I invited her to go with us on Sunday, but she was already scheduled to work. I told her I’d love to go with her another day if she has something open. She offered me one of her free ticket perks on her pass so it doesn’t go to waste. How could I pass up another chance to go to Hershey with yet another awesome friend?
Renee and I aren’t sure when we will be headed to the park yet. I’m hoping we might be lucky enough to see some early stages of Wildcat’s demolition/restructuring. If we do, I’ll be sure to share some footage of what we see with all of you. Can’t wait to see what the park does with Wildcat!
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - July 31, 2022
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Greg
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
Kaylee
Captain
New Credit(s): n/a
Aaron
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
Josh
Ensign
New Credit(s): n/a
