I haven’t hung out with Sam in what seems like forever. I will spare you the details of why, but on Monday, June 11, we both had a day off and she asked me if I wanted to go out for lunch. I said sure, so she told me to pick a place. Neither of us had plans that day so we were free to do something afterward too.
After tossing around a bunch of ideas in my head, I decided to go to a restaurant up in York, Pa. called Arooga’s Bar & Grill. We’ve been to the one in Hershey, Pa. several times and always had great food and service. I also picked this spot because of a retro arcade and some shops in York we also like. I thought it would make for a nice relaxing day.
I picked up Sam around noon and we began our drive. To get to York, much like Hershey, we take Interstate 83. After being on the road for a few miles I joked, “We’re not headed to Hersheypark, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Sam laughed and replied, “But we could.”
I looked at her and said, “We could.”
Sam looked back and said, “We definitely could.”
We both laughed and I told her my plans to go to Arooga’s and arcade in York. I then said we could go to Hershey instead and then just go to the Arooga’s in Hershey afterward. Sam said, “Hell yeah,” and that’s what we ended up doing.
The funny thing is, Sam was at Hersheypark the day before by herself and I was there the Monday before with Karah, albeit for a shortened day. That didn’t matter to either of us though.
Picking Up Where I Left Off Last Week
When Karah and I visited Hersheypark last week we ended up having to leave the park around 2:30 p.m. I was bummed, but the things going on for her back home needed her attention. I knew I’d get back to the park again soon, but I never imagined it would be the very next week. And almost like it was meant to be, we parked the car at 2:30 p.m. I was getting to make up for those lost hours this week instead.
The weather this visit was much more pleasant than the week prior. While it was sunny, it wasn’t hot. There was a light breeze all day and some cloud cover. Neither were the case last week when Karah and I were sweating quite a bit.
As for rides, we managed nine total and this time I managed to get on Comet to experience the new trains. I’ll go into my feelings on that, along with some more feelings about Skyrush’s changes down below.
Skyrush
As we’ve done many times before, Sam and I made our way straight to Skyrush. Getting my first ride with the new restraints last week I had this to say in a nutshell:
“Are the restraints more comfortable? Yes. Are they drastically more comfortable? No. I think they feel slightly better due to their shape… As for the airtime, the ride still had it in spades. I did feel a little more snug in my seat than I used to, but for those saying it zapped the airtime away, c’mon! I think that’s being a bit dramatic.”
After her rides on Sunday, Sam told me she felt the same. After our three rides on Monday, nothing changed for either of us. We both feel that the restraints are indeed an improvement, but not something that changes the rides in any major way. Opinions will surely differ, but for us, the ride’s biggest improvements came with the station theming. Sam does prefer the old logo, however. I like the new one, myself. Sure, it’s minimal, but as someone who does graphic design work, I am a huge advocate for the adage, “less is more.”
Comet
Once Sam and I decided to go to Hersheypark for the day, I told her I wanted to make sure we got in a ride on Comet. I missed out on riding it last week with Karah and Sam didn’t get to ride it on Sunday either. We were both curious to see how the new trains changed the ride experience. Thankfully the line was pretty short following our first ride on Skyrush, so we made our way over.
When it comes to the look of these new trains, Hersheypark hit it out of the park. They look amazing! They’ve been doing a great job with the visual and audio improvements to the park/rides ever since the opening of Chocolatetown and Candymonium. I do wish, however, that they would have spruced up the station – even slightly. I love the neon lights on the ceiling at Skyrush. With Comet being an older coaster, just imagine how neat it would look to have some space themed neon lights on the ceiling and support columns. Moons, stars, planets, and the obvious, comets would look amazing in the station. Imagine them at night. And the way the park has been implementing sound effects in their stations now, some cosmic sounds playing every so often would be the icing on the cake.
Now, as for the ride experience inside these new trains, I much prefer buzz bars. I’m a coaster enthusiast, so of course I’m going to say that. I wish the coaster could have kept them, but alas they didn’t.
Does that mean the ride experience is now horrible? No, it doesn’t. I felt many of the same sensations I typically have on Comet in these new trains. When it had buzz bars it also had seat belts, so you weren’t totally free. Also, Comet didn’t throw you up out of your seat like Phoenix does at Knoebels. That’s a ride that would be drastically changed by losing its buzz bars. Comet, not so much.
So, while I don’t love the change from buzz bars, I don’t exactly hate it either. It is still a very sentimental ride for me and one I still think rides as good as it has in recent years.
Wildcat's Revenge
There was no way we were going to leave the park without at least one ride on Wildcat’s Revenge. As much as Sam loves Skyrush, Wildcat’s Revenge is now her new favorite in the park. That also means it is her new overall favorite coaster as well. Skyrush sat as her number one coaster for the last few years, but it has now been surpassed.
We had a bit of a wait for Wildcat’s Revenge, but it wasn’t as bad as the line last week. The park was running only two of its three trains again so that meant slower moving lines again. Both of my 2024 visits have seen two train operations on Wildcat’s Revenge meaning the lines moved slower than my 2023 visits with three train operations. Still, totally worth the wait.
Once in the station, we made our way to the front row. Other than the pre-lift and first drop, Sam and I both prefer every other element in the front on Wildcat’s Revenge. We don’t hate the back, though. We just find the airtime pops going over or into the majority of the elements on this ride to hit better than being pulled over or through them in the back. Truth be told, there isn’t a bad seat on this coaster.
By the way, I’m also starting to debate internally on whether I prefer Wildcat’s Revenge to Skyrush now that I’ve ridden it numerous times the last two years.
Final Ride Counts
Coal Cracker (1)
Comet (1)
Great Bear (1)
Skyrush (3)
Sooperdooperlooper (1)
Storm Runner (1)
Wildcat’s Revenge (1)
Spending Some Time with Sam
It was long overdue getting to an amusement park with Sam. When I started this site, the two of us were always out and about riding our favorites and nabbing new credits. As much as I wish we could still be doing that today, life and work take priority. I’m glad we were able to catch up and get in some rides together. Hopefully we can find some time to do it again soon. I’m heading to Dorney Park next week with some of my co-workers. Maybe she’ll be able to make it? We shall see.
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - June 11, 2024
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
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
