A few weeks ago Sam asked me if I would be interested in going to Hersheypark on Monday, August 16. She was taking her mom, Carol, to the park to celebrate her birthday. Sam has wanted her mom to see all the changes at the park, especially since some of Sam’s earliest amusement park memories come from going to Hershey with her mom. During one of those times, Sam even rode the now defunct, Roller Soaker. Naturally, I said yes to be involved in such a special day.
Fast forward to the day of the trip and we are treated to the longest line of cars to get into the park that we have ever seen. Yes, on a Monday. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was also National Roller Coaster Day? Both Sam and I couldn’t fathom anyone other than coaster nerds even knowing that National Roller Coaster Day is even a thing. Truth be told, we kind of forgot about it ourselves.
In the Park & "Ready" to Ride
Once we passed the parking gates we found the pass holder lot to be full and ended up parking back at the end end of the stadium. We knew this was going to be a busy day. That was fine though since it would give us some downtime between rides for Sam’s mom. She wasn’t backing away from the coasters, but we knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the frantic pace Sam and I can get into at a park.
When it came to the queue lines for the coasters, however, we didn’t know which one to ride first. As usual, Candymonium had a line out of the queue building and out over the bridge first thing in the morning. It said there was a 200 minute wait on the clock over the entrance. Skyrush was closed, so we weren’t starting with a hyper. We went down to The Hallow to see if we’d luck out there.
A few minutes later, we saw Comet had its bullpen area full, which is typical when the park opens. We looked over to SooperDooperLooper and that line spilled out into the midway and stretched all the way back to Comet. We never saw that before. Great Bear was the same, going out into the arcade area. Out of The Hallow we went.
After passing the Hershey Triple Tower that Sam, nor Carol wanted to ride, we saw that Trailblazer’s line looked to be over 30 minutes easily. Then we came to the coaster we would ride, and our first ride of the day – Storm Runner.
Storm Runner
I have to give it to Sam’s mom. She had no qualms about riding Storm Runner, even after seeing the launch. We waited about 20-25 minutes in line and boarded the middle of the train. Our car was dispatched out onto the launch and that’s when it happened. Carol said, “We’re going up that?” as she looked at the top hat at the end of the launch. Sam and I barely had time to laugh before we were launched.
Once our train came back to the station, I was curious to hear what Sam’s mom thought of the ride. She said she liked it. From there, we took note of our ride photo code and decided which ride to go to next.
Sidewinder was skipped due to Ms. Carol having ridden Tidal Wave at Trimper’s Rides years ago and not being too fond of the experience. Then there was Fahrenheit and Laff Trakk, both which had super long lines, as we predicted. We kept walking.
Lightning Racer - Thunder
Ultimately our second and final coaster of the day would be Lightning Racer on the Thunder side. The station was quite full and the ride platform had more energy than I’ve seen in a long time. The ride ops were encouraging people to cheer for their side and boy did they ever. I even joked with Sam that usually it’s only that loud when Greg is with us. If you’re reading this Greg, I’d say sorry, but I know you’d reply, “You know it,” to my claim anyhow.
For the first time in a long time, our train won the race. Well, for the first time where one train wasn’t winning every race no matter what. We’ve had a few visits this year when Lightning or Thunder was just blowing the other train away on every ride. This ride appeared to be timed correctly.
Coal Cracker
After Storm Runner and Lightning Racer our next most thrilling ride was Coal Cracker. Carol was looking to get wet since it was a hot day outside. I think she really wanted to ride Tidal Force when we were still on that side of the park, but none of us had brought a change of clothes. I honestly don’t even know if I’ve ever been on Tidal Force, now that I’m thinking about it. I’m going to have to take some clothes with me and do it one of these days. Sam can bring her water shoes that I bought her as a gag gift for her birthday back in June.
As for our ride on Coal Cracker, we didn’t get wet. I think my elbow had a small splash of water hit it and that’s all. Sam nor her mom got much of anything either. I have no idea how I came off the ride so wet last time. It had never happened to me before and didn’t happen this time either. So strange.
Final Ride Counts
Coal Cracker (1)
Howler (1)
Lightning Racer: Thunder (1)
Scrambler (1: Sam, Carol)
Storm Runner (1)
Glad to be Invited
You know, some enthusiasts might be reading this blog wondering how we only rode two roller coasters on National Roller Coaster Day. If that’s the case, I think you missed out on the whole reason for this trip to begin with – for Sam to treat her mom to a day and to make some modern day memories together for the first time at a park in a long, long time.
I am glad that Sam invited me along for their special day. She could have just taken her without me and I would have sat home and did much of nothing. Instead, I got to go to one of my favorite parks, with one of my best friends, and see her share some all new memories with her mom. Sure, we didn’t ride every ride, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be a day Carol will always look back on fondly. That’s what yesterday was about. I’m happy for the both of them. They deserved it and I hope they’ll get to do it again some day.
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - August 16, 2021
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CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
