In September 2020 I came up with an idea – one that some would call insane. That idea, to ride all 32 seats on Hersheypark’s Skyrush in a single visit. I titled the idea Mission 32 in 9 since I would have nine hours to complete the task. There was one problem, however. I never tried. I woke up that morning and just knew I wouldn’t be able to make it happen. I barely slept. There was no way I was going to try to ride one of the world’s most intense coasters without any sleep. I didn’t even go to the park.
Fast forward until yesterday, Thursday, May 27, 2021 – just one day after Skyrush’s 9th birthday. It was the first day Hersheypark allowed pass holders their extra hour of Sweet Start entry this year. Sam and I were there at 10 a.m. sharp. We were going to give Mission 32 in 9 an attempt.
How did it go? Well, our first ride came at 10:15 a.m. and our 32nd, at 5:02 p.m. We did it and did it with time to spare.
All 32 Rows + 1 Haley
The only thing Sam and I planned to do yesterday was Mission 32 in 9. Even taking a couple breaks to eat, drink, film, and watch one of the trains get stuck on the lift hill for a few, we made well before closing time. With almost two hours left to go, we tossed around several ideas, but we both just needed to relax at that point. I did talk Sam into a single, front row ride on Comet before leaving, however.
Sweet Start Put Us Way Ahead of Schedule
I figured going in to the day, Sweet Start was going to be key to us getting ahead of schedule. By my math, we needed to average riding Skyrush once every 16.875 minutes. In the week leading up to our trip, I created an interactive PDF for Sam and I to track our progress on our phones. On that PDF, I included a pacing chart. By the time Sweet Start had finished at 11 a.m., we were one-quarter of the way finished and where we needed to be by 12:36 p.m.
During Sweet Start, a few of the ride operators saw us riding over and over again, so they began talking to us. We told them of our plan to ride every seat and they loved it. All day long they asked us how far along we were and how things were going. More on the staff in a bit.
Keeping Track
The PDF I created was a godsend when it came to making sure we were riding the right seats and claiming all of our ride photos. Earlier this year, Sam enrolled in the All-Season Digital Ride Photo program. I told her we should claim every photo during this event and we did just that! Knowing that we would be doing this, I placed timestamp boxes on every seat. Then, underneath each timestamp, I placed a checkbox to show that we had claimed that photo. I figured this would make claiming photos easier if the Skyrush booth was not open.
This feature came in very handy for the start of the day. The photo booth was not open during Sweet Start, but we claimed those photos by visiting one of the other stands in the park. Sam claimed the first 11 photos during our first break. When we went back to the ride after that break, the stand had opened and we were able to get each photo following that ride. It made things a lot easier on us. And more on the photo booth operator in a bit as well.
I Even Had a Little Fun on the PDF
Early in the PDF’s creation, I sent Sam some previews to see how things worked out on her iPhone. On my Android, things worked like a champ. On her phone, issues kept arising. Go Apple! Anyhow, on the final version of the PDF, I placed a few little fun items so Sam could get a laugh.
The first element was a photo of Twitch streamer and YouTuber, Asmongold. For those of you familiar with him, he focuses mostly on Word of Warcraft content and calls people who are fans of, or who do the same thing over and over, Andy’s. Last year, when many parks assigned seats, Sam and I seemed like we always were assigned Row 4. It became a gag that we were Roe 4 Andy’s.
The second element was a photo of our very own Renee giving us a thumbs down. Renee is no fan of Skyrush and I figured she’d tell Sam and I we are crazy for doing this. That proved to be the case because when we got done, I texted her and she replied, “You guys are insane.”
And speaking of people who aren’t fans of Skyrush? Ever heard of Chris from Airtime Thrills on YouTube? Of course you have. Sam and I have always loved his content and know he finds Skyrush to be overrated. I thought a disclaimer saying how Chris does not endorse these actions would be fun to place at the bottom. I hope he sees this one day.
All Those Rides
We knew going in that this was going to be an intense undertaking. It took until about halfway through for us to start to feel some exhaustion and/or soreness. I think a lot of that had to do with some of the ride transitions yesterday. They were hitting and hitting hard.
Everyone always says the back wing seats are the most intense on Skyrush. Typically, I find that to be the case as well. It wasn’t yesterday. The left side wing seats on the front half of the coaster were tossing us around like a wet towel over a fence. It was the most intensity I recall feeling on this ride. Sam noticed it too. We talk about it in the upcoming vlog that will be on the We Were Inverted YouTube channel this weekend.
With about 10 rides left, we really began to feel it. We took some Advil/Excedrin after our least favorite ride of the day – a Train 2 ride that rattled us like no other. A few of our rides during that portion of the day all had a bad rattle and all of them came on Train 2. A few rides later, however, and it was gone. Strange…
No Line for Comet
After Ride 32, Sam and I were content with filming some footage and calling it a day. As we walked past Comet when we finished and saw it was a station wait. I asked Sam if she could handle one ride on the old woodie and she said sure. We grabbed the front row, and I joked that it was the smoothest ride of the day. All kidding aside though, Hershey certainly has taken care of Comet and it’s riding better than I can remember.
Final Ride Counts
Comet (1)
Skyrush (32)
The Skyrush & Photo Booth Staff
I want to finish this blog, not talking about our amazing rides, or how sore we are today. Instead I want to talk about the the employees we spent the day with making this happen. You all were amazing!
Pretty much each and every staff member on the ride, at its entrance, and in the photo booth was so kind. They took notice of us riding over and over and asked us about it. When they heard what we were trying to do, they thought it sounded awesome and wished us luck. All day long they checked in on us to see how far along we were and how we were feeling. And once the photo booth opened, the staff member inside, on his own, saw us coming down the steps over and over again. He saw us claim photos each time and after several rides, he just had ours ready. We hadn’t even told him what we were doing until close to the end. He too, thought it was cool.
Hersheypark, if someone from your management team is reading this, I hope you can pass along praise to everyone who worked Skyrush yesterday – on the platform, on the ground, and inside the photo booth. We’d ask that you consider all of them for any types of employee recognition the company may do. They made yesterday that much better for Sam and I.
More to Come
In the days to come, you will be seeing more content themed to Mission 32 in 9. Sam and I filmed some talking segments while out at the park, along with some off ride footage. I’m going to combine it into a mini-vlog, hopefully tomorrow.
On top of that, Greg loved our idea and came up with some questions about how the day went. Sam and I are both going to answer his questions in a little interview that will also be published here on the site. Be on the look out for both items this weekend.
Hersheypark Photo Gallery - May 27, 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
