A few days ago I was sitting here at the computer working on We Were Inverted’s newest feature, “Phoenix & the Path it Blazed for Wooden Coaster Relocation.” I had my Facebook Messenger open and was interviewing a few members of Coaster Appreciation Society (CAS) for the piece. I was feeling that itch every coaster enthusiast has – that itch to ride some rides. Now that it’s post-Labor Day, many of the parks in this region aren’t open, except for weekends. That’s been the norm even before Covid-19. Schools go back in, the weather cools off, and the parks go to a limited schedule. Still, I had the itch.
Although I’ve been seven times already this season, I decided I was going to head back to Hersheypark on Sunday. My drink and meal plans are still valid and it was calling for sunny in the mid-60’s. Going to a park on a Sunday though, between church and NFL games at an be a hard sell for a non-enthusiast. I even almost talked myself out if it too since the Ravens play on Monday next week. The itch was too strong.
A Day for Creativity
Knowing that I’d be going by myself, I decided that this trip might be the perfect time to just focus on photography. Doing that with a guest makes me feel like I’m cutting out their time to ride. I have been filming a lot with my GoPro this summer, and felt that way a couple of times stopping to do that. Since I was going to be alone this time, it would be perfect. And this time, I was going to take my SLR and zoom lenses to capture some motion shots. I’m very happy with the shots my Samsung Note 8 takes, a lot of which have been in these trip reports so far this year. I don’t always have the best luck with the stop motion shots, though.
Ready to Zoom - My Camera
Candymonium
I arrived at the park shortly after noon. I walked up to Candymonium and decided to see what I could get with my zoom lens. This coaster would offer a good preview of what I could get and how far away I could capture. No other coaster at the park has elements situated as far away from the guests as Candymonium does. A lot of Hersheypark’s offerings, especially in The Hallow, totally surround park guests, even flying directly over top of them.
While at Candymonium, I shot about 50 shots of the trains hitting the various elements that in the past, were too far away for my Note 8 or GoPro. The wave turn (above) was one of the elements I was most looking forward to capturing. I shot it from a few different angles, getting the coaster entering and leaving the hand-chopper element.
Skyrush
Next up was was Skyrush. I shot some photos of Skyrush underneath of Candymonium’s final brake run. I had some really good results, like this trip report’s main feature image. From there, I moved to spot by some of the children’s rides to grab the one above. I have various versions of this same photo with the train on each layer of the track elements photographed.
Once I was done by the kids’ rides, I walked down to The Hallow and grabbed a bunch more. That’s when the temptation was too great for me. Knowing Skyrush has free lockers, I went and put my camera equipment into the locker and jumped in line. The non-front row line was a station wait, with two trains running. I walked up and got in line.
Skyrush... The Strong Itch to Ride... Once!
While in line, I struck up a conversation with a ride op who was letting people into the station. He saw my We Were Inverted mask and told me he liked it. I told him about the site and gave him one of my business cards. He said thanks and said he’d check it out. I took right wing seat in row 3 and got in my first ride of the day.
Okay, Twice
After my ride I looked at the queue area and saw there was even less people in the line than there was for this ride. I went right back up. This time, I was able to secure the left wing seat in the back row.
While seated, the ride op on my side asked me if I was comfortable as she checked my lap bar. This is something I’ve noticed a bunch of Hersheypark ride ops do. I guess they know how much stapling sucks! I joked and said I was good, but sometimes by the end of the ride, not so much.
She laughed and said she’s only ridden the ride once for that reason. I said I know how she feels, but how this year seems to be different. I asked her if they changed the padding on the lap bars or anything that might have changed it. She said no, not to her knowledge. Maybe my thighs are just a lot fatter in my old age? I just feel like things are more comfortable on Skyrush this year. Maybe it’s just me?
Comet
While shooting Skyrush, the coaster it was literally built on top of and all around, Comet, was also the focal point of some of my photos. It’s really hard to get good angles of this ride because of Skyrush, but you can find them if you look hard enough.
The shot above was actually taken through some diamond-shaped holes on top of a privacy fence. It was located next to some of the shop along the walk back to the ride itself. It was the perfect place to see the bunny hills many people love.
Great Bear
Also while I was down in The Hallow, I had to point my camera to the sky to capture Great Bear. This is one of my most filmed coasters on my GoPro as the ride flies over your head and all around you in this section of the park. Now having my zoom lens with me, I was able to get real nice and close to some of the elements high above the park. All the while, I couldn’t help but think about how much I wanted to ride this amazing invert. I’d get my chances later.
Trailblazer
Making a circle around the park to shoot as many of the coasters as I could, I had to stop at Trailblazer. This Arrow Mine Train is a ride I have so many memories of from my childhood. I wanted to make sure I got some nice shots of it as well. Being located in a heavily themed section of the park, it sure didn’t hurt the quality of the photos! I have always loved seeing this ride swoop under the Dry Gulch Railroad bridge and into those iconic helixes.
Sidewinder
Yes, even the park’s Vekoma Boomerang was going to get some photos taken yesterday. Like Trailblazer, I do have some fond memories of this ride from my days in middle school. When this ride, Sea Serpent at Wildwood, N.J., and Tidal Wave at Ocean City, Md. opened, I thought these rides were insane. The drop, fly through of the station, then the whole thing backwards… I never thought it would get any wilder when it came to coasters. Yeah, I was a kid and it was the early-90’s. Don’t judge.
Fahrenheit
Ahh, Fahrenheit. I could make a temperature joke about my photo count on my camera card rising like a thermometer, but I’ve probably done that joke in one of my other Hersheypark blogs. Why? Well, this coaster has had my cameras pointed at it a bunch this year. Between my GoPro, my Note 8, and now my Rebel T3i, Fahrenheit has posed graciously for so much footage for We Were Inverted. The twisted track and that orange and blue color scheme have always been eye-catching to me. Add in the fresh paint job for 2020 and it doesn’t get much prettier than this coaster.
Lightning Racer
I had this awesome plan to ride the Ferris Wheel while at the park yesterday. I’ve wanted to do it in the past and get some top-down photos of Lightning Racer, but no one has ever wanted to ride it, or it was down.
Yesterday, I waited in line for about 15-20 minutes and was turned away when I approached the turnstiles. The park doesn’t let single riders on the Ferris Wheel. Doh! I walked down in shame and then saw the sign in big print that said as much as the entrance of the queue line. I’m usually pretty observant of signs, but did manage to miss this one.
Luckily, I was able to take a few good pics from the raised queue line of the Ferris Wheel while I waited, as well as some of the Ferris Wheel itself. The shot of Lightning Racer above, however, came while I was stopped to eat lunch at Dispatch Pizza by Wild Mouse and The Boardwalk.
And Storm Runner from the Monorail
While chowing on some of those amazing cinnamon mini-doughnuts from the food cart by Wild Mouse, I had one last idea for some photos. Since I struck out on the Ferris Wheel, I could ride the Monorail to see what angles could get. I rode the train earlier this season and took some shots from it with the same idea in mind. Why not the Monorail?
Most of what I got from the Monorail consisted of shots of Storm Runner, and not all of them were on the clearest. Between the movement of the monorail and having to zoom and focus, I did get some blurry shots. Even worse, since it’s down for the 2020 season, no trains were on the track for Storm Runner, which I knew having been there so many times this year. I still knew I could get some great track shots nonetheless. I really can’t wait for Storm Runner to reopen.
Done with Photo Fun
Once I was done on the Monorail, it was time to take all my camera equipment back to the car. I was done shooting for the day and I wanted to get some rides in. With park having somewhat of crowd, I didn’t know how many rides I’d end up with, but anything would have been fine.
Ready to Zoom - On the Coasters
Candymonium (3)
Walking back into the park I saw Candymonium had a 20 minute wait listed above the entrance. It said 60 minutes when I walked in earlier in the day, but in past visits, 60 minute waits had people spilling out into the area in front of the queue building. That was not the case. As I approached, I wondered if the 20 minute wait would be wrong. It was.
I got two rides within 15 minutes, and then a third after those. I rode second, third, and fourth rows since they were assigning seats. I didn’t care. I just wanted to ride. I will say, however, these were some of the best rides I’ve had on Candymonium all season. The trim brakes, while still hitting, didn’t feel as strong this day. It didn’t hinder the airtime like in my past rides. Seriously, I floated more yesterday on this ride than I recall doing up to this point on Candymonium.
Skyrush (2+2=4)
Before the Ride
As I left Candymonium, I wanted to see how long the line was for Comet. When I walked down the hill and saw it was a little long, I decided to try again later. Back to Skyrush since I was in the area.
Upon entering, I saw the ride op from earlier in the day. He said he checked out the site while on break, liking what he saw. I thanked him and told him to shoot me an email. I want to invite him to CAS. He seems like a cool, down to earth person. I think he’d fit right in.
Two More Rides
I walked into the Skyrush station for the third time of the day and got myself a second row, right wing seat. In past years, I would have been hard-pressed to ride this ride twice, let alone three times.
“Why not make it four?” I thought to myself once the ride was finished.
With both these rides also being station waits again, I walked right back into the station. I rode somewhere in the middle for my final Skyrush ride of the day. I don’t remember the row, just that I decided not to do a wing seat on this ride.
After the Ride
After we returned to the station, I went and got myself a soda and decided to head up to Great Bear and see what kind of ride it had. Before then, however, I saw the ride op who checked out the site down at the Skyrush’s entrance. I went up to him to ask him if he thought the park would eventually re-open the walk way that runs by the lake under Skyrush. He said he’s pretty sure there are plans to reopen it once the construction of Chocolatetown is complete. That made me happy because I know there are some great photo opportunities to be had there. Right now the walkway is gated underneath of Comet’s structure.
Great Bear (2)
Great Bear had no wait whatsoever once I walked up the hill. I entered the queue and was admitted right into the station. I took a seat in the second row and was on my way. With Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverts being one of my favorites, I never pass up the chance to ride Great Bear.
With no line, I decided to do what I just did with Skyrush twice and Candymonium earlier. I went right back up for a re-ride. The second time I took the back row and enjoyed a bit more of a whippy ride.
Comet (1)
Before the Ride
I thought about walking back down the hill into The Hallow and doing another Skyrush ride. The more I thought about it though, the more I really wanted to ride at least one woodie before leaving, so I made my way to Comet. Its the coaster that got me into this hobby. I have to ride it for that reason alone.
The line was about a 15 minute wait. When I got to the bottom of the ramp, the line op saw my mask and asked me if I was a coaster enthusiast. I said yes and told him about my site, gave him a card, and struck up a chat. He told me that he was headed to Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) for the first time soon and was looking forward to El Toro and Kingda Ka. I told him he’ll have a great time, but don’t skip out on Nitro, especially if he likes Candymonium. He thanked me of the advice and I was up to the station and into line for the back seat.
Having two ride ops ask me about my mask and site made me happy. That’s why I had the masks printed in the first place. I wish I would have had some of my pins with me though. I had left them out in the car by accident.
The Ride
Oddly, my ride on Comet didn’t give me too much airtime – even in the back seat. The ride was also super smooth. I wasn’t bounced around much at all, especially for a back seat ride on a woodie. It caught me a little off guard. I’ve ridden Comet a few times this year, and while on the smoother side compared to even the other woodies in the park, there is still your typical wooden roughness. Not yesterday.
Ready to Depart
When I exited the station I saw it was 6:30 p.m. The park closed at 7 p.m., so I totally had time to get in a ride or two, if I wanted. Once again, I thought about Skyrush, but then decided to start heading out to the car to beat some of the traffic. I also had a meal option left for the day, so I wanted to get something before they closed the food shops. I hit the Dispatch Pizza at the front of the park on the way out. Yeah, pizza again, but this location offers personal pizzas that come in a box instead of the slices. I wasn’t even hungry, to be honest, but I figured I could just take it to go and eat it later. It would be fine in the car for my hour and a half car ride home.
As walked past Candymonium, I won’t lie… I thought about if the pizza box would fit in the free lockers. If so, I could hurry up and get a ride in before leaving. I didn’t want to look like an idiot trying to shove the box in the locker, though. I kept on walking.
Reviewing My Photos
Once out in my car, I took a few minutes to look through the photos I took. I also sent some texts to Sam and Greg about my day. They were happy for me and we talked about how excited we are for our upcoming plans to Knoebels. Both of them want to visit Hershey as well during their Halloween and/or Christmas events. Sam even went and got herself a King-Sized Plus pass for 2021 that also lets her go to the park for the remainder of the 2020 season too. It’s her first ever season pass to any park. It looks like her immersion into this hobby during the summer went well, huh? Speaking of which, you’ll get to read a lengthy interview I conducted with her throughout the Summer of Sam.
Although I flew solo yesterday, I wouldn’t have minded a wingman to ride with from time to time. If you’re going to Hersheypark any of these upcoming weekends, maybe I can run back out for another visit. Hit me up to let me know…
You can be my wingman anytime! (Top Gun, 1986)
Patrick
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
