I usually try to stay positive for my trip reports here on We Were Inverted, especially in a year like 2020, where everything has been turned on its end and every amusement park has had to adjust. With that being said, I feel like I still have to be honest and share when I don’t have a desirable experience. This would be one of those times.
In 2020, my visits to Hersheypark for Christmas Candylane have not lived up to expectations. Thankfully, Sam and I both have both had numerous visits to the park prior and have more than gotten our money’s worth in 2020 overall. However, for those who have attended these holiday events with us and bought normal tickets, I think I’d be a little disappointed overall.
A Quick Recap of Our Last Christmas Candylane Visit
Two weeks ago, I wrote the blog, “Hersheypark – Too Cold for Coasters.” On that day, Sam and I were joined by our friend, Chelsey, her boyfriend, Wade, and their two children. Of the park’s coasters, only Laff Trakk and Cocoa Cruiser operated. Wild Mouse, Wildcat, Sidewinder, and Candymonium were all closed because it was too cold. While I knew going in that many parks will not operate coasters below a certain temperature, Wildcat ran in much colder weather during my 2019 visit and a few other parks out there seem to be running theirs in similar and even colder temps.
Thankfully, Chelsey’s and Wade’s kids were young, so Sam and I spent the day riding flat rides with all of them. It stunk not getting in a ride or two on Candymonium, but we figured we’d be back at least once before the end of the season. Well, yesterday was that day and even though it was 12-15 degrees warmer than two weeks ago, the coaster offerings were once again severely slashed.
Candymonium - More Like Can'tymonium
Since it was in the high 40’s yesterday and Hersheypark opened at 2 p.m., I told Sam and Greg that we should head straight to Candymonium and ride it over and over, knowing it’ll be the first to close for cold weather. As we walked into the park, we could already see that the ride was not running. Seriously?
We walked up to the two employees giving visitors the bad news and I asked if it was closed for the wind or the cold. They said it was due to the wind, although hardly any was blowing. They said they hope to have it up later tonight. That’s when I said, “Well, I know it closes for the cold, so I don’t have high hopes once the sun goes down.”
We turned around and made our way into the park. I had a funny feeling already that we wouldn’t be riding Candymonium and I turned out to be right on the money. In all honesty, I planned on going on a bit of Candymonium tangent during this blog, but I think I’m going to save that for a stand alone blog entry. Now that I’ve either ridden it or seen it go down countless times for various reasons, I want to expand my feelings on the park’s newest addition. For now, we’ll get into the rest of this lackluster day.
Editor’s Note: Hersheypark reached out to me after this blog was publish to inform me that Candymonium was closed for “wind for guest comfort.”
Cocoa Cruiser - Completing Coaster Credits for Greg
Since we were headed back toward some of the other coasters, mainly Wildcat, we asked Greg if he had ever been on Reese’s Cupfusion. He said no, so that’s where we were off to next. Well, that was the plan, but not what happened. It too was closed – hopefully not for the wind. It would remain closed all day too. At least this was open two weeks ago for the kids.
This is when we decided to head to Cocoa Cruiser. This kiddie coaster is the only one that Greg had yet to ride at Hersheypark. Being a bigger guy, however, he was unable to fit into the restraints when he attended the park with his mom a week and a half ago. This time, however, he fit. We made our two laps around the yellow track and things felt a little more uplifting. Well, for a short while.
Editor’s Note: Hersheypark reached out to me after this blog was publish to inform me that Reese’s Cup Fusion was “closed given the restriction on all indoor experiences set by Pennsylvania Department of Health.”
Wildcat - All 9 Lives Lived?
As we made our way back to Wildcat, we noticed that we never saw any trains leave the station. I knew in the back of my mind, Wildcat was also down. It was down two weeks ago for Sam and I, but during Greg’s visit, it ran while it was raining and there was far less visitors in the park. We hoped we’d see this open later in the day, but as with Candymonium, hopes only go so far.
Turning around and looking at Wild Mouse, I said we should just ride that instead. Sam suggested Laff Trakk, so that’s where we went. Get ready for it…
Editor’s Note: Hersheypark reached out to me after this blog was publish to inform me that Wildcat was “closed due to ice on the track.”
Laff Trakk - Turning For the Worst
Closed!
This was becoming the story of the day. That’s now two indoor attractions closed and the third of five coasters operating for the event that were closed. Oh, what a day. Looks like the Wild Mouse was going to be next on the agenda after all.
Editor’s Note: Hersheypark reached out to me after this blog was publish to inform me that Laff Trakk, like Reese’s Cup Fusion was “closed given the restriction on all indoor experiences set by Pennsylvania Department of Health.”
Wild Mouse - Just Like "Tom & Jerry," the Mouse Wins
What can I say about this? It’s a Wild Mouse. Nothing too memorable, but I have always enjoyed this ride, but with the day we were having, it felt like a participation trophy at the time. We got in our ride and made our way over to the Ferris Wheel. I wanted to grab some photos of Lightning Racer from up above, especially with the snow. This is when I snapped the blog’s featured photo. I also grabbed some other Lightning Racer shots along with some aerial photos of Wildcat, Wild Mouse, and Fahrenheit.
Sidewinder - Thank God for those New Trains Tonight
Greg had mentioned during our drive to the park that he wanted to get in a ride on Sidewinder. Thankfully this Vekoma Boomerang was open. Does it sound as weird reading it as it does for me to write it?
As you’ve probably read in countless other Hersheypark trip reports from We Were Inverted, I, along with other crew members, are happy that the park installed the new trains on Sidewinder. It makes for a much more pleasant ride. If they still had the old trains, this visit would have been even worse. I would have had to pick between actually riding a coaster and getting a headache, or skipping one of the few that were open.
Flat Rides - Not Like We Can Ride Coasters
After heading out of the park to visit Chocolate World and then sitting down to enjoy some hot chocolate and Yuengling’s Hershey’s Chocolate Porter, the three of us came to the conclusion that we should just hit up the flat rides and head out for a bite to eat. We wanted to try the Cocoa Diner, which is located down the street from the park. I just wanted to make sure Greg didn’t feel like he lost out leaving early since he paid for a ticket. He liked the flat rides idea, so that’s what we did.
While going from ride to ride, we hoped for a miracle with either Candymonium or Wildcat would open, but we should have known better. Neither were going to open, even though they had park employees on Candymonium’s ride platform until we left the park around 8 p.m. Strange… I seriously doubt the park would open the ride with an hour left of operations.
The flat rides that we ended up riding before we left included:
- Dry Gulch Railroad
- Ferris Wheel (Greg & Patrick)
- Frontier Flyers
- Hershey Triple Tower – Hershey (Greg & Patrick)
- Hershey Triple Tower – Reese’s (Greg & Patrick)
- Howler
- Pirate (Greg & Patrick)
- Wave Swinger
Future Christmas Candylane Visits Uncertain
There is not much time left to visit Hersheypark for Christmas Candylane, but I had planned on maybe visiting one of the few days the park is open in January. I thought it would be nice to start 2021 off with a visit to one of my favorite parks. Truth be told, however, the way things have been with Christmas Candylane here, I think I’m good.
I know the park advertised Candymonium for this year’s event, “weather permitting,” and a lot of us were so happy to see it. After seeing how temperamental the ride has been all 2020 for every little weather condition, I think next year they’d be wise to leave it off the ride list. The “weather permitting” warning does cover the park, but it still sucks going numerous times only to find it closed.
Perhaps the park might consider running Great Bear next year instead? Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) and Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) seem to be doing okay running their Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverts in the cold weather. Only Hersheypark knows if the ride could operate. Plus, riding Great Bear next to the light show along the river would be so memorable. Just my two cents after two lackluster trips to Christmas Candylane in 2020.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Captain
New Credit(s): n/a
Greg
Commander
New Credit(s): Cocoa Cruiser
