What better amusement park to spend Easter Sunday than the “Sweetest Place on Earth?” That’s exactly what Sam and I did three days ago with our first visit to Hersheypark for the 2021 season. How many rides did we get on? Was everything open? How about SooperDooperLooper and Skyrush? Find out all those things and more in this newly formatted trip report.
In case you’re wondering, I have been giving some thought to the way I post trip reports. Some of them get quite lengthy between all my thoughts and the large photos. What I’m trying out here is a more concise overview of the day that will be accompanied by a ride count box and photo gallery. Please let me know what you think of the new format.
A Day of Photos - Ride & Camera Phone
Other than this being our first visit to Hershey since our 2020 Christmas Candylane visits, one of the most notable aspects of this trip was the sheer volume of photos taken – both by the park’s on-ride systems as well as my brand new phone. We came away with lots of content between the two, which you can see throughout the slideshow and gallery.
Hersheypark Season Photo Pass
Our first ride of the day had us on Skyrush, a ride that Sam has fallen completely in love with. She’s even considering moving it into her Number 1 spot, which would dethrone Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s (BGW) Alpengeist. Yes, she loves it that much. That is also why when we got off the ride she wanted to buy a photo keychain with a digital copy.
The cost of those two together was $20. Knowing that she’d probably do the same package for Storm Runner if/when it re-opens, that’s $40 total. For just $15 more, she could get the season-long photo plan where she gets unlimited digital photos and any of the magnets, keychains, or prints are just $5 each. That’s what she did.
As you can see in the slideshow above, we already put this plan to use. I told Sam she should get the photo from every single ride. This is why you see four different ride photos from Skyrush. I told you she fell in love, didn’t I?
New Phone, Who Dis?
Two days before our trip I picked up my new phone, a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. I was immediately in blown away by the quality of the photos and video it produces. The zoom ability alone is leaps and bounds beyond my older phone. For video, it can do 4K at 60 frames per second and even 8K, although only at 24 frames per second. I’m going to mess with the video more at a later date. I did shoot several small clips during our visit, but I wasn’t paying attention to all the settings and filmed some in 1080p.
I fully encourage you to take a look at the photo gallery included in this blog. Those aren’t the only ones I shot, however. I wanted to limit the gallery to my favorites from the day. Check out the site’s Instagram (@WeWereInverted_IG) for some of the others.
A Sooper Day of Coasters
SooperDooperLooper
As much as Sam wanted to marathon Skyrush, we had some other coasters on our agenda too, namely SooperDooperLooper. Since Looper was down for all of 2020, it was great seeing it back up and running. It had one of the longest lines of the day too. I’m sure we weren’t the only ones waiting to get back on this legendary ride.
Candymonium
Since it was too cold and/or windy during most of our 2020 Hersheypark In The Dark and Christmas Candylane visits to run Candymonium, it was one of our must rides of the day. Upon arrival, however, it looked like everyone entering the park was going straight to the Bolliger & Mabillard hyper coaster. The line backed out of the indoor bullpen area and out past the ride sign. From there, it kept snaking its way all the way out to the bridge.
Needless to say, we skipped Candymonium until later. We kept our fingers crossed that it wouldn’t get windy on us, as it had during numerous visits last year. If we missed out on it again, we would have been so mad. We just weren’t going to wait in a line that looked like it was easily two hours long. Luck was ultimately on our side. We rode the sixth row later in the day, getting all that amazing floater airtime. Sadly, those trim brakes are still quite noticeable.
Skyrush
Let’s save the best for last. Last year Skyrush rose up my rankings and currently sits as my fourth favorite steel coaster and sixth overall. It just keeps getting better and better. This year, it looks like Sam is feeling the same way. It was the ride she was most looking forward to and the one she wanted to ride first. Not only did we do that, but we rode it three more times on the day. All four of our ride photos can be found in the slideshow.
The Rest
Since it was opening weekend the lines for Comet, Fahrenheit, and especially Laff Trakk were quite long. We decided we could save those for another visit. We didn’t make our way over to Sidewinder or Trailblazer either.
Lightning Racer was also down for the first time ever in any of my visits to Hersheypark. I’ve never seen a single side closed, let alone both. When I mentioned as much in an Instagram post, Hersheypark was quick to reply.
“Given shipping delays for necessary parts, we expect it to open later during Springtime in the Park weekends,” @Hersheypark.
It’ll be great to have that awesome woodie up and running again soon, and of course, hopefully Storm Runner is right behind it. I’ve been longing for a ride on that Intamin accelerator for some time now. It’s also the only coaster Sam needs to complete all the credits at Hershey.
Final Ride Counts
Candymonium (1)
Great Bear (1)
Skyrush (4)
SooperDooperLooper (1)
Wild Mouse (1)
Wildcat (1)
Headed Back on Sunday
This Easter visit was one that was planned last minute. Sam and I, however, originally decided to visit the park on Sunday, April 11 and are still planning to do so, as will Renee. Renee won a King-Sized Season Pass from the Coaster Appreciation Society (CAS) during its second anniversary celebration. I also asked Amber and Jason to join us again. They were the couple who attended Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) with Renee and I back in November 2020 for Holiday at the Park. It’ll be nice to hang out with them again.
Also planning to attend is Chance, the Cheapthusiast. We met up for the first time a few weeks ago at Six Flags America (SFA). He also spent a day riding coasters with Chris D. and Carrie at BGW over the weekend. It’s been great meeting other enthusiasts, which Sam and I also did the day after this visit. Find out more about our meet up with Kaylee, at SFGAdv, in that upcoming trip report. Coming soon.
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - April 4, 2021
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your 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
Sam
Captain
New Credit(s): n/a
