10/15/2011 Trip Report to Dutch Wonderland’s Happy Hauntings – Part 1

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Oct 162011
 

Dutch Wonderland Castle's new friend

This is the first year I made the trip to Dutch Wonderland for their Happy Hauntings Halloween celebration and I hoped that my 3 year old daughter Rose and I would have a good time.  We had a blast at the park on a previous visit (you can read about it here) and she loves Halloween so I thought this would be a good match.

My experience on this trip was not a good one from the very beginning.  The park opened at 3 and we arrived at 4:15 to find the parking lot full and streams of families with very small children in costumes milling around the secondary parking area – a grassy field near the Kingdom Coaster.  Good news is though that they suspended the preferred parking for this event so all parking is Free.  If you want to get close to the castle (and I recommend you do, getting out of that lot was a nightmare) you better be there 30 min or more before opening.

Bag Check Line - be prepared to wait

We walked from our grassy, slightly muddy parking area to the castle where we waited in line for bag check outside the castle.  There was only one security person working and she was barely checking anything.  We are talking hundreds of people in line and one person checking bags.  Come on Dutch, add a few more.  I was pleased to see that the employee badges now have pictures on them – something I first saw at Delgrosso’s and liked.  Hersheypark has yet to implement this and I wish they would.  It is so easy to get a Hersheypark uniform from the Salvation Army and trick kids.  (Of course as my oldest pointed out the night before there are so many parents dragging around screaming kids how would you know if one was being abducted?  Even more true at Dutch Wonderland since tantrams are the norm.)

My favorite Halloween decoration came at the beginning of the trip.  They have a giant spider on the side of the castle.  It was big and black and scared bunches of kids.  This is a complaint I have with Dutch Wonderland.  Many of the Halloween touches were TOO scary for the little ones.  There was one in particular that had parents scrambling for an explanation as to what it was, but I’ll get there in a minute.

After waiting in line for bag check we went through the castle to the ticket booths.  Entrance is $21 for anyone 3 and older.  It amazed me that so many people didn’t even know what the fee was and kept asking for “2 adults and 1 child” and then their jaws dropped when they got the total and pulled out the cards ’cause they didn’t have enough cash.  This happened at the food places too.  Bring money.  End of story.

Many, many, many people with season passes were passing through the gates.  This is a free event for them so is a good deal.  For those who have to pay?  It depends on the crowd level and how your children do with it.  The crowd was so huge the night we were there that it was impossible to ride anything without a fifteen minute wait.  And my daughter was not in the best of moods – no nap – so it was more or less a waste of $21 plus the additional $25 we spend on food.

As you get in the gate the train is the first ride. We never got to ride it since it was so crowded and a toddler with no nap does not have the patience to wait that long.  If you ever doubt the age-range for Dutch Wonderland, take a look at the picture below.  Strollers are EVERYWHERE in this park and they create huge traffic jams when it is this busy.  My daughter at 3 is old enough to walk and we pack light with our backpack so we avoid the stroller issue.  If you can get your child to walk, you should.  Though if your child wanders a lot, then use the stroller.  I saw three kids get lost behind barriers on rides and parents having to scale fences etc to retrieve them.  Dutch Wonderland is a maze of paths and hedges and when it gets dark it is impossible to see anything so kids who wander WILL get lost.

Strollers as far as the eye can see

I asked Rose what she wanted to do and her response was eat.  Chicken and Fries.  OK, so we went to the Mill Stream Eatery which is a place I missed on my last two trips but I knew they had chicken.  DW is running a special that if you purchase your meal ticket at the gate you get a free dessert – savings of $3 or something – this is really not a bad deal if you know for sure what your kids will eat.  I think there are 6 options to choose from.  I personally would have liked to try the Chinese but, well, my 3 year old isn’t that adventurous.

At this point I realized that the park was what I would consider overcrowded.  Strollers lined every possible area and walkways were jammed with parents and kids.  Usually you see this in a couple sections of the park, but not on this trip – the entire park was filled like this.  And it was only 4:30.  My suggestion if you are local and have season passes is to come around 7 when the others start to give out and leave.  You’ll probably have a much better time.  Plus the trick-or-treat trail is a must do in the dark (more on that in part 2.)

We made some stops at the church, Bossie the cow and a few other Dutch novelties.  All favorites from last time that were previously empty and now jammed with kids (many with plastic weapons – lots of kids getting hit accidentally.)  The silo slide was closed.  The mill stream gem place was closed (not surprising.)  No pony rides (also not surprising) and the Lady Gay Paddle Boat was closed (very disappointing, this is a great low energy ride.)

So Chicken Fingers, fries and a refill of lemonade in my refillable cup were next.  (Yep, they are still good through the end of 2011 so bring it along) came into just under $9 with a season pass.  Food was 3 pieces of traditional park fried chicken tenders with some very bad, undercooked fries.  Not a wonderful meal, should have gone to Potato Patch instead for fries with gravy and chicken.  Oh well.  Now I know.

Handwashing station

Dutch does a few things right and wrong here at Mill Stream.  They have a handwashing station next to the soda dispenser (yeah) but all they have on tap are soda, lemonade and fruit punch.  I *really* wish they’d add a milk machine.  Yep, they’d lose money but I’d be really happy to have something other than sugar fueling my toddler.  Surprisingly they also did not have booster seats for the chairs and not enough high chairs for the standing room only crowd that was there.  Kids who can’t sit comfortably do not eat well and everyone has a miserable time.  Another good thing is a bottle of ketchup and a napkin dispenser on every table. That saves on trips to the condiment counter for sure.

I’m ending this trip report here since I’ve run out of time.  Hope to have the second part up this evening.  Part 2 features the creepiest thing in the park, the Trick or Treat Trail review and a review of the Molly’s Wacky Witch’s Brew show.

Hersheypark Mini-trip report 7/14/11

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Jul 152011
 

New Tram lines

Yesterday I took all three kids to the park and we were there from 4 to a little after 9.  What a long day that was with me being the only one with the two toddlers most of the time.

We were able to find close parking since some folks had left already which was nice, but I had problems with our stroller right away, I couldn’t really turn it so that made things tough until I figured out the front wheel brakes were on.  (I didn’t even know we had front wheel brakes!)

I finally got a picture of the new tram lines they are using.  These are very helpful and make getting a tram to the parking lot a lot easier - especially for folks with strollers.  There are only certain places you can put a stroller and some people used to try to take them on where you weren’t allowed to.  The stroller section of the tram line is now clearly marked so you get to the right place.  There are lines for people to wait in now too which keeps the mob scene to a minimum.  One thing of interest is now they only have one tram in at a time.  They used to bring in two if it was busy, but not now.  I’m guessing things move faster with the new line system so the wait is probably the same.

The plan was to take the two little ones to the zoo first while the oldest did her thing.  Well, the little ones wanted to ride and not visit the zoo so my plans were scrapped.  They rode the Bizzy Bees, the Tiny Timbers, Convoy, the mini Pirat and the small swings before heading to ZOOAMERICA.

Ranger Scratch and friend

Once we got to the zoo we ran into Ranger Scratch.  The little ones were afraid of him for some reason and he played along that he was hurt and disappointed that they wouldn’t shake his hand, but I’m sure Ranger Scratch will recover.

We all shared a Pepsi ICEE before heading back into the park.

We did the Dry Gultch Railroad next.  I’m very happy to see that they did some improvements to the scenery here.  New paint and some updates make it seem like less of a dying attraction.  Every park needs a train ride in my opinion and this one is not too bad.  If you ride this and are afraid of snakes, be sure to sit on the side of the car that is closest to the station.  There is a bit of theming (with some spraying water finally again) that is snake related on the side of the cars that is farthest from the station.

Somewhere in there was a ride on the Carrousel and the mini-himalaya.  Then I took the little ones for some dinner – around 7pm – while Sheridan left to meet up with her friend Sparky who works at the park and was getting off her shift.

A nice sized BLT Chicken Wrap

The kids and I ate Boardwalk Fries and a Chicken BLT wrap from Gourmet Grille.  I believe this is the same wrap sold at the Mixed Grill in Pioneer Frontier but the size of this wrap was nearly double anything I ever got there.  There actually was enough food in this wrap to feed myself and the two children with me having to really work to eat the last part of it.  A filling meal that kept us from needing ice cream later.  I had stopped at the vending machines next to the Flying Falcon to pick up a bottle of chocolate milk for the kids ($2).  This is the way to go if your kids want chocolate milk since what you get at the eateries that have milk is a milk box and it has about a third of the amount of milk in it and costs nearly as much.

A word here about Boardwalk Fries.  Boardwalk Fries uses peanut oil so it can be a source of allergy problems for some people.  Our son has a very mild allergy to peanuts and we have always given him these fries with no problem, but others with a more severe allergy may not be so lucky.

After dinner we went to the arcade and playing some 21 ball – not sure what it is really called but you roll balls down a ramp that has holes in it and try to reach 21 so you win.  Alyn and Sterling both won this but really it is just a low key game to keep them busy for awhile.

Back to Founders Circle where we rode the mini-train and the traffic jam until we left a little after 9pm.

Not too crowded, lines were short and the weather was gorgeous.  Maybe was a little too long as people started to get cranky near the end of the night (namely me when our son wedged himself inside the caboose of the little train and I couldn’t get him out!)

The kids and I ate for under $20 on this trip which included:  water in refillable cup (free), soda refill, chocolate milk, Pepsi ICEE, regular boardwalk fries and a chicken BLT wrap.  It was plenty of food for us for a nearly six hour trip over dinner.  Some people would balk at the price but if you took your kids to a fast food joint you’d spend that much easy, and this food was better.

Dutch Wonderland Trip Report 6/24/11 – make sure your kids are the right age to visit

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Jun 242011
 

It has been at least eight years since I visited Dutch Wonderland and they’ve changed owners twice since then but I was pleased to see that some of the charm of the park I remember from my childhood was still there.

Parking is $10 or free depending on how far you walk

The park opens at 10am this time of year and I arrived early, around 9:30, and found the parking lot filling up quickly.  I drove by at 9:10 and the lot was empty even though the Breyers Ice Cream Parlor opens at 8:45.  If you’ve been to the park before you will notice a change, parking now comes in two flavors – free and preferred for $10.  Of course the preferred parking is closest to the castle.  Most people were choosing the free option.

Coffee anyone? You can take it into the park with you!

If you arrive to the park for opening and need something to eat or drink, stop at the Breyers Ice Cream Parlor for a treat.  They open before the park and anything you purchase here can be taken into the park unlike other food and beverages.  No other outside food is allowed into the park, though they allow one sealed water bottle per person.  Most of the food places in the park do not open until 11am so you  have an hour lag time if you end up hungry or thirsty.

Duke and the Princess are a minute late to work... 10am sharp!!!

If you are outside the park at 10am sharp you can get your picture taken with Duke, The Princess and the Knight.  I saw them walking out from backlot just at 10am.  There were many opportunities to see them in the park so don’t feel you need to do this first thing.  Autograph books are available in the park gift shop but I’m not sure why you need them for just 3 people unless you get the entertainment folks too.

The cutest bag check sign around!

Dutch Wonderland checks bags just like Hersheypark does either right outside the castle door or right inside depending on crowds.  This can take a long time for people with pool stuff for Duke’s Lagoon so save the security guys some time and have your bags open when you get there.

The Castle Gift Shop is HUGE, this in only one side of it. The other is just as big.

The castle is home to the Dutch Wonderland gift shop which is filled with things nobody needs but everybody buys anyway.  Pin trading is still going on here at Dutch Wonderland though all the pins today were buy 1 get 1 50% off.  That tells me they aren’t moving well and perhaps will be phased out now that Palace Entertainment owns the park instead of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts.

Get the ingredients lists with a smart phone

The first thing I did was go to guest services and ask about guests with disabilities and food allergy information.  I was told guests with disabilities are able to enter any ride through the exit with 4 members of their party if one party member wears a special wristband.  I was also given a large printout of the ingredients list from every food area in the park.  These are also available at all large food stands and on the internet if you have a smart phone.   You can also get season passes here and family finder ID bands for your kids.

You can also get a “my first visit” badge from guest services when you go to the park for the first time.  Neat little souvenir and you will get some special attention from the park employees who notice it.

The Family Finder program (that is what Hersheypark calls it, Dutch Wonderland doesn’t have it posted anywhere so I don’t know what they call it)  just has you put a wristband on your kids that has your cell phone number written on the back.  Dutch’s bands are green (Hersheypark’s are red) and you just ask for them.  If your kids get lost the staff calls the cell phone number.  No names are used.  When you see the number of kids under 6 in this park and the meandering paths DW has you’ll know why this is a good idea.

Season Passes are $104.95 in 2011

You can apply your single day ticket price to a season pass if you have a good day at DW and want to come back.  This is a nice feature for families who aren’t sure if their kids will enjoy the park or not.  You need to keep your ticket stubs to do this and visit guest services.

My applause to Dutch Wonderland for having photo IDs of their employees.  I saw this first at Delgrosso’s last week and hope everyone adopts it.  It is very easy to pick up park employee apparel at thrift stores (I just saw a pair of Hersheypark shorts yesterday for $1.50 at the Salvation Army) so the outfit doesn’t ensure you are dealing with a park employee and we need to make sure our kids are safe.  Thanks DW for doing this.  (Hersheypark, are you listening????)

Moments before the train stopped running...

I was going to ride the train to see how it was, but it broke down first thing in the morning and then later in the day as well.  Both times the riders had to get off and take paths back to the regular section of the park.  Not a big deal but frustrating.  I did get to ride the train between down times and it was interesting to note it has the exact same cars as Lakemont Park’s train.

The sign says don't crawl on the pretzel, well what is it there for then? (Everyone should have their photo taken with the pretzel!)

So I made my rounds and took pictures of the rides like I do at every park.  I was happy to see things I remembered from my childhood like the pretzel, the cow you can milk and the small houses they’ve always had.

I saw a few employees who were not exactly helpful to guests – one ride operator forgot to get a woman’s child off the ride before it started again and unfortunately the child hadn’t liked the first ride.  There were tears and an upset parent.  No apologies though but the girl was able to get off the ride.

It was somebody's birthday... yesterday

I saw some cases where the park could have been cleaner – like a birthday party tent that was left up in Duke’s Lagoon with yesterday’s balloons still attached.  Kind of sad to see first thing in the morning.  The one letterbox station I ran across was not well maintained.  The books inside were full, the ink pad was open and drying out and the stamp itself looked liked it had never been cleaned.  What a disappointment that would be to find after a long search.

But I have to admit those were the only negative parts of my trip.  I encountered very friendly people in most cases. The ones who weren’t friendly were guests – especially one father at the Kingdom Cafe.  I hope he was nicer to his children since they were standing with him and heard the things he said to me.

Up front in the monorail - what a neat view!

I had a great ride on the monorail and sat up in the cab with the driver.  I didn’t catch her name but she was great to talk with and answered all my questions (Thank you!!)  There is a single bench seat in the cab that you can sit in, but one thing to remember is the driver needs to concentrate to keep the riders safe so if you have excitable children you may want to have them sit in one of the other cars so as not to distract the driver.

Ride lines were very short until around 11am.  The Kingdom Coaster was short all day and I never saw a full train go out.  Many kids are not tall enough for this so it is understandable.

Gem height categories

I’d advise you to measure your kids before you go to the park to be sure they will be able to ride.  Dutch Wonderland uses a system similar to Hersheypark where they label height categories by a special name – in this case by gem colors to go with the royalty theme.  You can check the rides online to see the gem system and what heights each ride will allow.

Busy right from opening

Let’s see, what was busy first thing?  Duke’s Lagoon – the waterpark section.  I walked over there at 10:30 and there were less than a dozen empty chairs.  Dutch Wonderland has a lot of season pass holders and just like at Hersheypark’s Boardwalk those folks come and snap up the shade at 10:01 and everything else by 10:30.  You can rent cabanas at Dutch Wonderland and they are much cheaper than at Hersheypark but a better bet is to wait to visit Duke’s Lagoon until after 5pm.  Today the park was open until 8:30 and the water area was open until 8:15.  If you wait until 6pm or so to hit the water you’ve still got plenty of play time left, it’s still warm enough and some chairs will open up.  Plus you’ll tire the kids out for bed!

Not as cheap as Knoebels, but cheaper than Hersheypark.

Lockers are available and are much cheaper than at Hersheypark.  You buy tokens for a dollar and the lockers are either 1 or 2 tokens.  They are single entry though so you can’t keep going back to them or you have to pay again.

I am not a fan of waterparks and I think Dutch Wonderland was just fine without one, but heck, everyone else has them, right?  This one lacks a kiddie pool which I think is sad.  There are kids who do not like splashing and getting water in their faces and they have no place to go in Duke’s Lagoon.  I overheard one woman trying to comfort her daughter on this very point and they were both disappointed that there was nothing there the girl felt comfortable doing.  Other parks have “quiet areas” where there isn’t so much action for the little ones and I think Dutch Wonderland needs to think about that as an improvement.

The Frog Prince diving show, sit on the right down close for the best view and a little splash

Dutch Wonderland has a lot of entertainment options in the form of live shows of various kinds – one (or more) of them start every half hour.  I was able to take in parts of all the shows and I can tell you the kid’s overall favorites were the diving shows.  I have a soft spot in my heart for Dutch Wonderland’s diving shows since my fourth grade teacher was one of their divers.  She was a great teacher and knowing she dove off that high tower made me like her all the more.  I’m glad to see DW has kept this show since there aren’t too many of them left.

The Really Useful Theater - not as useful as you might think

The one show that seemed to disappoint a lot of kids was the Thomas the Tank Engine show.  At the one I attended more than half the audience left before it was over.  I have a hunch it is because Thomas does not talk.  My youngest daughter loves Thomas but I doubt she’d like this show with just two people singing and dancing and Thomas doing nothing more than puffing smoke. (See my update on this in my new trip report here.)

Sing along with "Grandma's Feather Bed"

Another one to skip if you want to keep the kids happy is the Bubba Bear show.  Though the older set get a kick out of these animatronic bears, the kids were not at all interested once the novelty of a moving bear wore off – less than 5 minutes.  I personally love these shows but I’m afraid this one will go the way of Knobel’s and Hersheypark’s and be gone soon.

2011 Kosher Mart Menu

Now, let’s talk about food.  My suggestion?  If you HAVE to eat in the park, eat at the Kosher Mart.  Their food is high quality for amusement park food and the prices are what you would expect for park food.  My best suggestion is, don’t eat in the park.  The food is below average with high prices and it is not very good for your kids either.  Servings are small and most of the food is extremely processed. (See Ed’s suggestion for passable food in the comments – thanks Ed!)

Where did I eat in the park?  Um, I didn’t.  I could not bring myself to eat any of the food at the prices they were asking.  I know the Kosher Mart has good food because they serve at Hersheypark too and I have eaten there quite a bit – plus the food is Kosher and has quality requirements to it because of that.  I got a souvenir cup to have a drink and I got a Dole Citrus Whip ($2.51 with my pass discount.)  The citrus whip is a mix of orange and vanilla and it was passable but the texture of the vanilla is not at all like ice cream so it just wasn’t very pleasing to me.

Gluten Free Kids meal for $6.99 at Castle Cafe

I watched people eating all over the park and I can’t say I saw anyone enjoying their food other than a few kids with softserve cones of Turkey Hill ice cream.  Especially disappointing were the people eating at the Castle Cafe.  This cafeteria style sit down restaurant makes your food to order (sort of) and does have a gluten free kids meal (the first I’ve seen – for $6.99) but I heard many people making unhappy comments/noises while eating their food and much of it got thrown away.

Picnic tables - use them!!!

So where should you eat?  Bring a picnic since there are picnic tables OR if you like burgers, get your hand stamped and walk down the sidewalk to Sonic.  Prices are high there for a Sonic but no higher than in the park and the food is better.  There is an Arby’s across Rte 30 and several other restaurants too but crossing Rte 30 with children is a scary experience. UPDATE:  we made a trip in August and I did find something great to eat – read about it here!

Snacking at DW is a little better.  Funnel cakes, ice cream, kettle corn and all of that is only expected to be so good so people seemed OK with those.

Duke's Lair, such a relaxing ride

My favorite ride of the day was the Dragon’s Lair.  This ride is sometimes busy, sometimes a walk on.  It was a walk on for me.  You sit on a bench like seat in a log shaped boat and go around the lagoon.  It is about 7-8 minutes at my guess and for one person it is great to stretch out and put your feet up and lean back into the boat.  If I closed my eyes I probably could have fallen asleep.  I would NOT want to ride this with an antsy toddler since there are no restraints and it is a longer ride.  If your kids don’t sit still, don’t take them on this ride.

Nice to sit and rock a spell

My favorite spot in the park?  A rocking chair along what I think is called the Greenway along the creek.  This is an educational part of the park where you can learn about birds, trees and “green” facts from a cheeky little firefly.  There are ducks to feed and at one point a covered place with a couple of rocking chairs.  Add in a cool breeze and it was a delight.

Tall, tall trees - and shade - and quiet

Coming in second was the stand of tall trees in what used to be the international gardens section of the park.  This part of the park is shaded, quiet and cool.  If your kids need a nap or you are a breastfeeding mom, this is a great place to visit.  (There is a breastfeeding mom area near the train but it was heavily used when I was there and in a noisy section of the park.  When I had an infant, I would have taken tall trees and cool shade any day over noise and crowds.)

There is lots more I could tell and hopefully will in other posts, but one thing I wanted to figure out while I was at Dutch Wonderland was would I take my two toddlers ( just turned 3 and 1 1/2) there this year.  The answer is no.  We will wait at least 2 years to bring our kids when they are 5 and almost 4.

Sure there were lots of families there with kids that age and yes they could ride a lot of rides and have fun in the water section, but frankly it is overkill for kids this age.  Our kids will have just as much fun at the town carnival for about 1/4 (or less) of the money.  The food is better and we have a kiddie pool with a sprinkler at home that they like just fine.

Little kids do not need all this stuff to have fun and in fact a lot of the kids in this youngest age range were miserable.  Too many loud noises, too many other kids, too much of everything.  They were overloaded and just couldn’t deal and a lot of parents were saying things like, “If you keep acting like this we’re going home!”  Going home after you just dropped $100 or more to get in the gate?  How sad.  Just think what $100 could buy at the carnival, or at the mall arcade, or at a free admission park like Knoebels?

Am I saying don’t take your littlest ones there?  No.  They will have a good time I’m sure, but think twice about it and maybe wait until they are older.  I do honestly feel Dutch Wonderland is best suited for children 4-8.  Over age 8 and it will be corny to most.  Under 4 and it just isn’t necessary for them to have all these things to have a good time.

So… Dutch Wonderland is still full of plenty of good family fun for families with small children. If you are in the area, be sure to drop by.

(New trip report with a 3 year old just added here.)

Springtime in the Park Trip Report – April 16, 2011 – Opening Day

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Apr 172011
 

Opening Day gates at 9:50am

I was one of the brave (?) souls who ventured out to Hersheypark on opening day of Springtime in the Park.  As I left my house a little before nine it was 41F and breezy but no rain yet.  The forecast was for heavy rains, high winds and temps in the 40s to maybe 50 if we were lucky.

I flashed my season pass to the parking attendant and parked with about 30 other cars in front of the Stadium.  It was about 9:20 by this time since I stopped to make a quick purchase of a new umbrells at Kmart.  That was the best money I spent all day.  You might see some black fabric with polka dots in some of my pictures, that is my umbrella.  The wind kept pushing it while I snapped photos.

I got out of my car and loaded up my pack and pockets with all the stuff I need to make this website happen and what was I surprised to hear?  The Great Bear.  Yep.  The coaster that never seems to be online when it is cold was running test laps.  The air was so humid I could hear exactly when it rounded each of its turns from my spot in the parking lot.  I wondered what other coasters might be operational – the temps were right around 45F in Hershey and it had begun to drizzle.

I stopped at Chocolate World to get a ticket for the Create Your Own Candy Bar experience at 1pm. I figured I’d be frozen and/or wet by that time from my running around the park.  (Little did I know!)

After that I went to the gates.  Only one security line was open but there weren’t many people in line.  It had stopped drizzling by this point but began again as I waited in line to get in.  The picture shows how crowded it was.  What a change from last year’s opening day on Good Friday.  As I always say, WEATHER has everything to do with crowd size at Hersheypark.

Bye Bye Tudor Grill

One of the first changes I noticed on my trip was that the Tudor Grill is no more.  The building is there but is being converted into something called Hersheypark  Place.  This is now going to be a character meal restaurant (think Disney folks) where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner with Hershey Product Characters.  How exciting!?!  I always liked the Tudor Grill because it was a break from the heat in the summer and not too many people went there so you could get seated quickly after the lunch rush.  You got to sit down and someone would bring you your food.  The prices were steep as in the rest of the park but all in all it was only about $3-4 more than counter service and it was really nice to sit down and be served.  So RIP Tudor Grill.  It was nice knowing you.

Smiling people let me in the gate and I grabbed my park brochures and set out to see what coasters were running.  Most of the rides were still warming up and I’m guessing the first rides of the day were on board the Carrousel.  How great it was to hear that Wurlitzer again…

Happy 65th season Comet!

I could see the Great Bear in motion as I went down the hill to Comet Hollow.  The Comet queue was open and I managed to catch a picture of the first train of the Comet’s 65th season going up the first hill.  Wonder how many of those eight or so folks knew it was an anniversary run?

Attraction 2012 - looks fun, doesn't it?

Next I went over to the Attraction 2012 site to snap some pictures.  Not much to see but a little bit of fence and some pipes and stuff.  Unlike most of the folks following this addition to the park, I don’t care WHAT it is they are putting in.  I’m just curious about how it will affect park traffic and whether or not they will enlarge the bathrooms in Comet Hollow to accomodate larger crowds.  That’s the geographer in me folks – plus I don’t ride coasters so I don’t have a vested interest in this other than seeing if it can enliven this section of the park for more than one year.

Sooperdooperlooper was sending empty cars and the queue was open, they just didn’t appear to have any business.  How sad.  I did later see one person ride this.

Up the hill to Great Bear where it is indeed open.   Will wonders never cease?  It began to rain in earnest at this point but then slowed to drizzle again.

A wounded beast

On past Minetown I saw the Flying Falcon in the distance and something in my head went, “That’s not right.”  Nope. The thing was still in pieces.  It was kind of neat to see the guts of the thing – I had never seen the tower dismantled before only the cars taken off – but it was also like looking at a large, wounded beast.  Rumors have been around for years that the ride is on its way out but it appeared that it was being fixed, not dismantled so perhaps it will live again.

Down the hill into Trailblazer country where this good old mine train was running just like it always is.  I thought about riding but knew I had to get to the other sections of the park before the rain really started and shut down whatever else might be open.  I never did make it back to this section of the park.

Spring Creek Smokehouse

As I went up the hill to Storm Runner I noticed probably the biggest change I saw at the park.  What was formerly Freeman’s Texas BBQ (the place that pit roasted beef and made that section of the park smell wonderful) has been converted into a couple prefab buildings and a very large outdoor cooler with the new name of Spring Creek Smokehouse.  I never did eat at Freeman’s but always wanted to and guess I never will now.

So up the hill to Storm Runner, which was loading one train as I passed by.  Yep, it ran for a few minutes with one train.  I’m not sure exactly how many trips it made before the rain shut it down but when I passed by again at 11 it was closed and only the crash test riders were in the train.

New red cars in the mist for Sidewinder

I passed by the Sidewinder which was not scheduled to be open according to Hersheypark’s website and it indeed was closed.  The Sidewinder got new cars this year and the crews are still working with them.  My camera fogged up at this point so my only picture of the cars looks like it was taken through the mist.

On my approach to Fahrenheit I saw people being turned away so I guessed that this one was not running.  Nope, they needed 50F and no rain to get this coaster online and we did not have that at any point on Saturday.  There were a lot of disappointed people.

The Wildcat

Wildcat was next and was up and running but with single riders only most of the time.  Wonder what it is like to be the only rider on a coaster like that.

The Wild Mouse was zooming along with more riders than any other coaster I’d seen so far.  This thing is invincible.  I watched for awhile and you could see the water flying off riders as they rounded the outside corners.  I bet it was a wild ride for sure!

Last on the list was Lightening Racer and it too was operational.  One run I saw was a father and son, each with a train to themselves.  How cool is that!

So, let’s see.  For a very brief time Hersheypark had 8 of its 11 coasters running.  Sidewinder was scheduled to be closed, Fahrenheit couldn’t get off the ground and Roller Soaker won’t open until the Boardwalk does on Memorial Day weekend.  This is a much better track record for the park than what I’m used to in the Spring.  Hope they do as well on the rest of the Springtime in the Park days.   (Note: by the time I left a little after noon there were no coasters running except perhaps Trailblazer which I didn’t get to check.   With the severe weather our area experienced I’m guesssing the coasters never did run again though it didn’t matter because there wasn’t anyone to ride them.)

So what about the rest of the park?  Empty.  And wet.  And windy.  I toured the whole place looking for new things for 2011 and there isn’t much to speak of other than what I already listed.  Some of that may change by opening day in May but overall the park is much as it was in 2010.  Look for the big changes to come in 2012 I would guess.

It was as crowded as it was sunny... not at all

I did stay in the park until just after noon when I made my way to Chocolate World which was absolutely mobbed with tour buses and teenage cheerleaders.  By this time my shoes, socks and pants to the knee were soaked through.  Good thing was only my hands were cold.  Luckily I had a change of shoes and socks in the car.  I did make this really cool candy bar:

Mmmmm.... chocolate, but it took over an hour to make!!!

When I left after 2pm this was the extent of the parking for Hersheypark, they never put a car in the main parking lot.  And three of the cars in that picture left when I did so we’re talking maybe 20 vehicles?  Wonder how long THEY lasted!

Thanks for reading to the end!

Can you do Hersheypark in one day? Maybe but mostly likely not.

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Mar 132011
 

Night at Hersheypark

As with all things, the answer to this question is “It depends.”  And what it depends on are five things:

  1. Do you want to ride every coaster?
  2. When will you be visiting?
  3. What will the weather be like?
  4. Do you want to visit the Boardwalk?
  5. Do you want to eat?

If you do not want to ride every coaster (Hersheypark has 11 right now, moving to 12 in 2012) then you can do a decent tour of the park in one day – but it will be a VERY full day and you will have to rush your meal and take it with you.  You won’t have time to see the shows, visit ZOOAMERICA, enjoy the Boardwalk or spend much time at Chocolate World, but you can tour the entire park itself and maybe even get a few rides in.

If you want to ride every coaster, and don’t have access to the Sweet Access Pass to get a front of the line pass, then you will need at least an evening and a day.  Up that to two full days if either of the days is  Friday or Saturday.  And be prepared, the vast majority of your day will be spent waiting in line – but I think coaster folks are used to that.

If you visit on a Friday or Saturday you will need more than one day, perhaps three if you are there Friday and Saturday.  Crowds are heaviest on these days.

If the weather is good – even if it is very hot – you will need two days because crowds will be heavy.  If it is raining you can easily do everything in one day – including all of the coasters (that are operational.)

If you want to visit the Boardwalk you can’t do the park in one day.  There is not enough time to wait in line for the slides and splash in the pool AND visit the rest of the park.

If you want to eat you need to know that food lines at Hersheypark move very slowly unless you eat at off hours (which in 2010 there weren’t too many – between 3:30 and 4:30 seemed least busy) or at some of the places that aren’t very good.  Hersheypark also has an annoying habit of having a separate line for different items.  You may need one line for drinks, one line for food and another for ice cream.  All at the same restaurant.   If you can split up your party that speeds it up. Finding a place to sit is another challege – yes, you’ll need someone to save the spot too.  In most cases if you want to sit down and eat you need to plan for 1 hour and 15 minutes to do it.  It is faster (and cheaper) to take a tram out to your car and eat a picnic lunch than it is to eat in the park.

So… can you do Hersheypark in one day?  Yeah, but you won’t have a good time and you’ll have to skip the Boardwalk.

Hersheypark is BIG.  It covers over 110 acres and it is not level.  You will get tired walking this park, especially in the heat.  The newer sections – such as the Boardwalk area and the Midway - aren’t tree covered yet.

And rides?  There are over 60 of them.  There are 11 roller coasters and 27 rides designated as kiddie rides.  Not all the kiddie rides are in one place at Hersheypark.  Knoebels does this one right with having them all together to save parents of small children some walking.

Another thing to consider is the entertainment. Some folks avoid it entirely, but Hersheypark has some really great shows and you can find one starting every 30 minutes.  You’re not getting the full value of your admission if you skip them.  Plus some of them are indoors with AIR CONDITIONING!

So plan for at least an evening and a day if you can.  Two and a half days if you want to enjoy the Boardwalk.  But what if you can’t?  Here are my tips for getting the most out of your trip:

  • Visit on a holiday when crowds are light or Sunday through Thursday.  The Fourth of July has been very empty the last two years until evening when folks show up for fireworks.
  • Review the rides/shows/park map online before you leave to see what you really want to visit.  Make a list of must see items so you can plan a route there.  If many of your must see items are in the Boardwalk then plan two separate trips to cover the park and the water features at different times or just plan to only visit the Boardwalk.
  • Get there at opening and go to your roller coasters first – especially Fahrenheit.  Then Storm Runner. (These rides are not really close to each other.)  After that try the woodies over in the Midway America section.  Then go back to the Comet, Great Bear and Sooperdooperlooper after midday when many folks are at the Boardwalk and that end of the park. (NOTE: This will change in 2012 with the new coaster.  The crowd density of the park is expected to shift back toward Comet Hollow for several years until most people have ridden the new ride.  It is slated to be squeezed in between the Comet and the Sooperdooperlooper.) The Sidewinder is nothing special and the Trailblazer is only a mild ride – but it is one of the last of its kind and deserves a ride just for that.  The Roller Soaker seems to be closed more than it is open and I’d suggest you watch it before you ride it to see if it is worth your time.  It is slow loading and the lines move very slowly.
  • Stay until closing.  The park clears out dramatically after 6pm when the bus tours start to leave, especially on weeknights and Sundays.  Most rides will be walk-ons plus you get cooler weather and the park lights are great.
  • Bring a picnic lunch and only buy from small vendors to save time.  Do Chocolate World (if you want to – it is kitschy but you won’t get cheaper candy) on your way back into the park.
  • If you eat in the park, get something portable and eat during a show.  Food is welcome at all show venues and you can always find a seat.
  • Skip ZOOAMERICA.  It is part of your admission but if you’ve been to a zoo before you won’t see too many new things there.  The dark exhibit and the prairie dogs are highlights I haven’t seen elsewhere, but the rest is pretty unremarkable. Though they do have a food stand there that often isn’t busy called Timber Treats so if you don’t bring a lunch you might buy one there.  Offerings are limited to hotdogs, chicken tenders and fries.  They are offering a meal ticket for $6 this year.  You can find info on that here.
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