Day 7: Dutch Wonderland / Hersheypark
Day 7: Dutch Wonderland / Hersheypark
Credits
Pictures and Editing: Richard Davis and Justin Garvanovic. Report Compilation: Chris Hull, David Elvey, Phil Coates and Susan Ellis.
Dave Scott
A very wet day! And it wasn't from sinking the log flume for a change! Great Bear has lots of personality; very tame in the morning but built up some real speed and force going into the evening. After the disappointment that was Kingda Ka I didn't hold much hope for Storm Runner - fortunately I was one of the lucky ones to avoid the rain and can say that it's an excellent ride. The launch feels fast and intense, and the additional freeform track (as opposed to element-element-element) is definitely the way forward for steel coasters. I'll be back!
Steve Fagin
Well, this park was certainly teeming with life. A hectic start was accompanied by oppressive weather, yielding only three rides before lunchtime. Wildcat and Great Bear were well worth riding, while The Comet was a pretty good traditional woodie. The weather eventually broke after lunchtime, closing most of the rides temporarily but also flushing away the swarming crowds of schoolkids. Much later, this freed up many of the rides for unfettered free riding, and even the girly StormRunner put on its galoshes and kagool and allowed myself and the exasperated crowds one or two (excellent) rides. Defining moment: StormRunner. Worst moment: announcement of ERS cancellation due to rain. I hope to ride Duelling Dragons next time!
Kim Varde Lassen
Loads and loads of school children - a nigntmare!! Rain and started to fall later in the afternoon and thunder eventually closed all the rides temporarily. I did get to ride Storm Runner fortunately...an OK ride, but it looks more wild than it is. Great bear on the other hand was fantastic. My addiction to B&M is definately increasing. In the rain and in the dark I think it was even better.
In danish: Til venner og familie: Vi holder dampen oppe - der er meget faa pauser, og det begynder at kunne spores, men vi har det stadig rigtig sjovt. Vi er pa vej til Idlewild og Lakemont. To parker jeg ikke kender, men det goer jeg saa i morgen.
Terry Jarvis
I've been to this park twice before, back in 1997 and 2001, and it is one of my favourite parks. There is just so much to do here, but unfortunetly I hardly managed any riding at all today, mainly due to the fact there was just to many school kids there and i mean thousands and thousands of them, and just when the place was starting to quieten down the heavens opened and that's how it stayed for the rest of the day, i thus didn't get to ride Lightning racer or Stormrunner, but overall had a good day.
Bart Van Goethem
What a day at Hershey's!! I am going to remember it for a long time. Loved every minute of it. I think I have fallen in love...
Malcolm Marr
In some part of Pennsylvania women require a permit to wear cosmetics. If you think I can "make up" a tenuous link from that you're mistaken so you get a bad pun instead. Hershey's was a very busy park with more kids than I thought could fit into the park. I wasn't sure we'd get to ride everything with queues in excess of 90 minutes. Fortunately we had heavy rain which cleared a lot of the public out. Rather ironically Storm Runner doesn't run in the rain but I did get to ride it after a lengthy wait. I'm not sure if it has the best launch but it does have the best layout with some very unique elements. The B&M is very good in this park too!
Matthias Pies
Wer schon mal an einem langen Wochenende im EP oder in Efteling war, der kann sich so ungefaehr vorstellen,was wir in dem Park erlebt haben. Tausende von Menschen stuermten in den Park, vor allem Schulkinder die in Amerika anscheinend nichts anderes zu tun haben als in Freizeitparks zu gehen. Zu dem kam noch das das Wetter ziemlich bescheiden war. Gegen Nachmittag fing es an zu Regnen, so dass im Park alle Bahnen geschlossen wurden. Komisch, ist aber so. In dem Park wurden beim kleinsten Anzeichen von Regen ale Bahnen dicht gemacht. Wegen dem schlechten Wetter kam ich auch leider nicht dazu den Duelling Woody zu fahren. Naja ein Grund nochmal hin zu fahren. Der Park an sich ist recht schoen. Storm Runner hat mir besser gfallen als Kingda Ka, und auch der Roller Soaker ist eine absolute Spassmaschiene. Ein Park mit Wiederbesuchswert; nur bitte ohne Schulkinder
Andrew Lamb
The day started with a suprise trip to the Dutch Wonderland. We were only there for an ERS on their wooden roller coaster. It was a very good ride, smooth and very re-rideable. We then moved over to Hershey Park On arrival we were greeted by thousands of school kids, that made huge queues for the rides, over an hour in most cases for the big rollercoasters. I only managed to get on three rides before lunch, The Comet, Wild Cat and Lightning Racer. After the very tasty and delicous lunch provided for us, I re-rode the wildcat and Ligthning Racers (which by the way was giving fantastic rides really flying round the track. it then bucketed it down closing all the rides, at which point my heart sunk, luckly we had a dry patch and they re-opened, so I managed to get on all the coasters before the rain returned and ruined the ERS planned
on Lighting Racer.
Chris Hull
A day of a few contrasts - one being the weather! A surprise morning visit to Dutch Wonderland to ride their Sky Princess woodie. A nice fun coaster - bigger than average for a 'kiddie/family' coaster. Then on to Hersheypark to tackle the bigger woodies (Comet, Wildcat and Lightning Racer) and the much bigger crowds! The woodies proved to be really fun rides - the crowds of school kids however a little tiresome. Big Bear (B&M Suspended) was also another of those non-standard B&M rides. Smooth and forceful ride. Stormrunner was however a little ironic. The weather proved to be it's downfall as it showered and stormed during the day. Stormrunner doesn't live up to it's name at all as it doesn't run in inclement weather! Still a few rides were managed and it proved to be a popular ride. My favourite element being the inversions and the dive out of them. Rather unique and bearable in the restraints. Evening ERS however had to be cancelled due to the weather which was a shame as it would have been very enjoyable on a racing coaster. Love to Tim & Ross - hope the trip is cool enough for you two! Uncle Christopher
Mark Riley and Jenny Lamb
Great surprise visit to ride the Sky Princess kicked off today, and what a fun family woodie it is! Then it was on to Hershey. The dark ride was fun, just make sure you have the gun the right way around. The rain stopped play a few times today - including the planned evening ERS. Loved Storm Runner - far more fun than the simple up-and-over Stealth. Let's just hope the rain doesn't stay with us too long.
andycoasterboy
This morning we had a 'surprise' ERS at Dutch Wonderland on the Sky Princess - CCI's first woodie - our 2 Dutch members Midas and Leon were treated like royalty. Then onto Hershey where there were way too many yellow buses, fortunately heavy showers washed them all away and we pretty much had the park to ourselves albeit in the drizzle. Storm Runner - nice elements shame about the restraints IMHO, ouch for the taller people!! Lightning Racer still a great ride, shame our ERS was canceled due to the downpour. Fortunately after psyching myself up to get drenched on the Roller Soaker it shut down due to a storm overhead - so when it eventually re-opened we had a completely dry run :)
Jeff Holmes
Our second surprise park was Dutch Wonderland which was aimed at very little kids although their Sky Princess woodie was really cool. Our next park was Hershey. This park was the total opposite of Dutch Wonderland with loads of coasters both wood and steel and a very big park. Their 4 woodies (one was a racer) were running superbly even though Wildcat was a little on the rough side. One of their steelies Storm Runner was good with great elements. The downside of the day though was when our ERS on Lightning Racer was cancelled due to the heavy rainfall which was a real pity as this coaster(s) were running fantastically.
Paul Worts
I have got a flight from Germany and will meet you guys at JFK.
Andrew (Viper) Barrett
The surprise park was Dutch Wonderland, basically aimed at kids which made it perfect for me with their classic wooden coaster Sky Princess... With lovely staff!!!!!! Next was Hershey Park which was very big with some classic wooden coasters. I even liked the Great Bear which was a classic inverted coaster. The only 2 downsides to the day was the weather and packed with school kids.
Paul Orsmond
First Suprise of the day was to go and ride Sky Princess at Dutch Wonderland which was a very nice woodie, then it was on to Hershey which I thought was a great park but overrun with school trips which made the day really busy, thankfully however crowds died down later in the day and I still got to ride all coasters excluding the Roller Soaker. Storm Runner was the highlight here, a fantastic ride only slighty spoiled by its short length. There was a lot of other good coasters here too like Great Bear, Superdooperlooper and the Comet. Sadly our ERS was cancelled because of the rain, but I still enjoyed the park. I would love to come back here some day.
Mick FK
Surprise, Dutch Wonderland family park with a wooden coaster - a great ride & a kiddie coaster. Hershey, packed with 1000's of school children talking to them they where there for a music for and choral comp, a big park, my longest queue was Stormrunner 1 3/4-2hrs but wow with the extra elements it's a brilliant ride.
The rides must be well maintained, they all run really well, the coaster lighting racer runs everywhere not just side by side amazing overall a great park I really enjoyed it. I rode it before storms stopped the ERS. miss you all x x x x
Tim Herre
Finally, my wet dreams have come true STOP Today was the day we visited Dutch Wonderland STOP Very Dutch STOP Full of wonders STOP Sky Princess zippy little coaster STOP Cutie from marketing department STOP Then onto Hershey STOP Unfortunately, a million schoolkids had the same idea STOP Field day madness STOP But did all the coasters STOP New favourite woodie STOP But Holiday World is still to come STOP Storm Runner wipes the floor with Kingda Ka STOP Bought great Hoodie STOP Finalised the day by drinking two pitchers with the Diggleman STOP One would have easily been enough STOP But sometimes men have to do what they have to STOP Cheers STOP
Mark Sebley
Day started with a surpise visit to Dutch Wonderland and an ERS on there woodie Sky Princess. A good little ride with some nice pops of airtime. So on to Hersheypark which was enjoyable despite the weather and the thousands of children. A good selection of rides and coasters with the woodies being especially enjoyable. Wildcat had improved no end from two years ago and in the front seat was a really wild and enjoyable ride. Great Bear was as smooth as ever. Shame the rain ruined the ERS, it would of been especially good on those great coasters.
Midas van de Graaf:
Dutch Wonderland was a funny surprise. Leaving the park again before opening hours was sort of ... different. Anyway I enjoyed the Sky Princess and the park looked well maintained. I didn't know what to expect of Hershey park and I still don't quite know yet what to think of the park. I did enjoy all of their coasters. Great Bear was surprisingly good but what about Lightning Racer in the rain: absolutely superb! I must visit Hershey again.
John Coffield
The Comet and Great Bear were running very quick and smooth. But the true highlight of the day was on the Lighting side of Lightning Racer, it was brilliant. A top 10 coaster by all measures!
Yvonne Janik
Dutch Wonderland was a lovely park, and we appreciated the ERS on both fun coasters. Lisa Side arranged a great time for us. What fun! I had not been to Hershey since 1997, and the park is bigger and better than ever. Thanks Kathy Burrows for all the arrangements - too bad we missed Lightning Racer for night time ERS, but even "the sweetest place on earth" can't control the weather. :(
Thomas Enders
Heute im Hershey Park hatten wir leider etwas Pech mit dem Wetter und es gab sehr lange Wartezeiten weil tausende von Schulkindern unterwegs waren. Bei starkem Regen wurden auch alle Coaster geschlossen. Zum Glueck hatten wir bei einem kurzen Regen-Stop die Moeglichkeit Stormrunner zu fahren. Wirtklich ein Top-Coaster der sehr viel Spass macht und mir von den Intamin Accellerator-Coastern bisher am besten gefaellt. Die ERS vom Lightning Racer viel leider wegen Regen aus.
David and Susan Ellis
We started today with a surprise visit to Dutch Wonderland to ride CCI's 1st coaster, Sky Princess. Despite being tamer than some of their later coasters, it was a pleasant experience. The rest of the day was spent at Hershey Park, along with thousands of school children. We decided to ride Storm Runner first, a 2-hour queue. After the standard US park lunch we rode Roller Soaker, a SetPoint water suspended coaster, which broke down with me on it! Soon after, the thunder clouds arrived, and following a sudden downpour it rained for most of the remainder of the day, with torrential rain unfortunately cancelling the ERS on Lightning Racer...sort of ironic really, given the name of the coaster.
David Harrington
The day started with a surprise visit to Dutch Wonderland, a nice little family with two coasters, a family Pinfari which didn't interest me much and a woodie called Sky Princess. This would be a great introductory ride for children. We left at 10:00 for Hersheypark. When we arrived there were a lot of school coaches and sure enough, there were massive queues on everything. A thunderstorm at 16:40 closed the park down, though, and when the rides slowly started to reopen the queues were much better. Unfortunately, the weather continued to close rides but luckily I got the last ride on Storm Runner before it shut down again. Weather also killed our ERS. Overall, the staff were very friendly and helpful, but slightly disappointing because of the weather and overcrowding.
Chris Simon
Hershey's Wildcat is growing on me - a superb ride in the front row, too bumpy in other seats though. Still not completely convinced by Storm Runner. Like the launch and inline twists, but it all tends to bang me about a bit especially that odd 'trick track' at the end.
Alan Prior & Carolyn Buckley
Today was very busy at Hersheypark, after talking to one of the ride operators we discovered that the reason the park was full of school children was that this week is the week after they have their exams but before they finish for vacation so that most schools in Pennsylvania would have been going to theme parks this week. She said that she was surprised we didn't have VIP passes. We didn't get to ride Storm Runner because of the kids (queue too long to consider) and then the rain (we told the ops that Stealth runs in the rain but I don't think they believed us). Lightning Racer was the best ride in the park that we tried (yes, it's a woodie and we actually liked it!).
Tim Tipler
I enjoyed all the coasters at Hersheypark but for most of the day it was full of school kids and then the rain came. Jan James missing you both hope to speak to you tomorrow from the hotel room lots of love tim
Chris Penn
Hershey is a fantastic park with a good selection of rides,the best coaster being lightning racer.
we had a good day despite the peskey kids!.......
Darren and Mary
Water rides were great and prepared us for the torrential rain later,thousands of youngsters at the park made it very busy until the rain came. Darren had his own ERS on supperdooperlooper for about half an hour in the rain, great park.
Nina Kleppe
Hersey Park was a nice park with some good coasters. I had a good, but a bit stressfull day. It's a shame that they close the coasters when it's raining. And that we missed the ERS and lost 2 counts because of the rain. What a bummer. The surprice visit to the Dutch Wonderland was a nice surprice.
Even Stangebye
I waited a total of 4 hours to finally get to ride the Storm Runner (or Storm-Runner-not-Running-if-it-is-a-teeny-weeny-bit-of-rain-in-the-air-that-might-damage-your-pretty-face-Coaster). It would have been my 150th coaster, but I had to take the 150th ride on a Vekoma boomerang instead! Gosh!! Look to Europe where pretty much all coasters run in the rain. But, when that is said, the ride was excellent - so was the Great Bear, Comet and the Roller Soaker.
Peter Jackson
Today started out with a suprise visit en route to Hersheypark. We pulled in at a small park called Dutch Wonderland. Had an ERS on Sky Princess followed for myself by a bit of sneaky duck feeding. On to Hersheypark where we visited a zoo and then had many rides. There was lots of walking. The rides suddenly closed due to a storm. Was this the Point Of No Return as far as the weather was concerned? It seemed that it was as the ERS on Lightning racer had to be scrapped due to approaching lightning.
Peter Procter
Not reported for a while but I'll keep it short. Can't fault the trip so far, it's been better than anything previous and we're just halfway through. Hershey yesterday was a bit manic yet slow - thousands of school kids and others due to some major radio station offer. Still, managed to ride virtually all I wanted to. Today (June 3rd, day 8) is a relative rest day and very welcome at that. Well, tarrah for now.. apart from hello to mum, dad and Squeek (puddycat) and everyone else. Good boo!
Steve Davies
Despite zillions of school parties, Hershey's apparant lack of policy on queue jumping, and major rides closing as soon as any sign of rain coming - has to be rain free for half hour before reopening (which cost us our ERS) I still managed all major coasters eventually. Storm runner was worth the wait!
Eirik Erstad
After much waiting and running, we finally got to ride Storm Runner. We had to leave the queue twice while waiting for the front seat. Well, not much one can do about the the weather. Storm Runner was great. More of a true coaster than Kingda Ka, All in all Hersheypark was a delightful experience, despite the crowds and the rain.
Odd Arne Roste
Most Coasters at Hersey was great. After three tries an three hours waiting in line I finally got to ride Storm Runner and it was great. My 100th coaster was .....Trail Blazer. No ERS because of the rain in the evening. Jeg vil ha poteter og kjottkaker med brun saus naar jeg kommer hjem.
