Hershey Park Hype- I don't get it

The BBQ Pit
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Any Dopers been to Hershey Park, ever? I have been there more than I care to state and I personally think it’s not that great. Sure they have a nice theme, but the rides are few and far between and they are not very intimadating. and what is with the dolphin show in the center (?) of the park? With all the money that comes in to support that park, you’d think they’d try a little harder. You never see people saying there is an awesome rollercoaster at Hershey Park do you? It’s always somewhere else like in Six Flags or Bush (sp?) Gardens.

I’ve been to other theme parks a lot - like Paramount’s King’s Dominion which I think is way better with rides and more attractions than stupid Hershey.

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I was there when I was…oh…maybe 6 or 7. I remember being terribly disappointed that there were no chocolate waterfalls or Oompa-Loompas.

Fenris

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I go at least once a year. It’s only fifteen minutes from my home.

I think it’s awesome. The Wildcat, the Lightning Racer, both premiere roller coasters. The Great Bear is excellent as well. The sooperdooperlooper was the first looping roller coaster on the East Coast, IIRC, so that’s a bit of history right there, albeit dated just a tad. And the Comet will rattle your kidneys.

The rest of the rides are good, but not great, but since it’s not too far from me, I get a second-tier amusement park for very little traveling. Can’t beat it, in my opinion.

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Do they still have ZooAmerica there? As a kid who loved animals, I always thought that justified the price of admission all by itself.

jayjay

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Yep, ZooAmerica’s still there. Best thing about it is that a membership there gets you in at other parks like in Philly and Baltimore (although I think it’s only a discount now, rather than free admission YMMV).

And, yes, Hershey’s a small park compared even with Carowinds (NC/SC border near Charlotte). It started as a “company” park for the workers, then grew from there.

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Ah… cause the money ( a lot) goes to my school which is very close to the Park. They are actually designating Thursday as Hershey Park day when we all have to go like it’s a field trip or something… but judging by the weather today… it’s sure as hell better not rain when we’re there… that would suck.

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Also, given the fact that there’s really not a hell of a lot else to do in Central PA besides go to Hershey or watch the Amish do whatever it is Amish do, Hershey Park is actually not that bad. If nothing else, it’s a nice afternoon out.

Of course, it’s one of the reasons I’m looking forward to moving back up this fall. :slight_smile: [sub]Oh, and Airman, I’ll watch Aaron while you go on the roller coasters :)[/sub]

Robin, who has her choice of Fiesta Texas or Sea World or Schlitterbahn if she wants to pay a lot of money to watch other people have fun.

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I caught a look at one-day passes for Hershey on Saturday… it’s around 38 or 39 bucks

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Well, in the roller coaster thread in IMHO, I commented on the Big Bear and the Roller Soaker (haven’t tried the Roller Soaker yet, but Big Bear is awesome). The SooperDooperLooper may seem tame now, but it was one of the first looping coasters in the area, and it was an intense ride at the time. And it’s still fun.

The park has gotten bigger and more diverse throughout the years. It seems to be trying to cater to both thrillseekers as well as families now. No, it doesn’t have as many thrills as Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens, but it’s still a great park.

I’d hardly call Hersheypark stupid.

Sheri

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C’mere Molly Coddle, You ungrateful whelp!!!

::slaps the kid around and throws her against the wall::

Yes, I know the dolphin show sucks. The two miserable twits that run the show have voices squeakier than the performers, and the freakin’ tank is hardly big enough for a goldfish. So what? It was built before animals had rights, and before there even was such a thing as an environment. Back in the day it was either that or the tuna nets for old Flipper, so those Dolphins oughtta be grateful they’re not Sunkist.

The two wooden roller coasters, the Wildcat and the Comet, are great. There’s a brand new twin dueling wood coaster ride this year, that’s also about an 8. The Suspended coaster is world class, and the Bear is Ok.

That’s 5. Look at that again. 5, Five, Cinqe, Cinquo, or

5

cool roller coasters.

The new roller soaker (which looks pretty weak) makes 6.

Oh, poor baby, the parks not good enough for you, is it? Only six roller coasters, oh poor me why do we have to go to Hershey Park which is so lame? Why does our class has to take off a whole day from all that fun, exciting, and fulfilling schoolwork and spend a day seeking trivial amusement at a place specifically designed to indulge overeducated underinformed snotnose brats like myself?

Speak to the principal. I’m sure he’ll let you stay behind if it’s just too much trouble to go.

The Midway is cool. Even I can win a stuffed animal there. And they have all the usual rides and amusements a decent park should have.

You’re also missing the whole social issue. Milton Hershey located his chocolate factory in Central Pa because of high quality natural water, ready access to train lines, and a great local supply of milk, a key ingredient in Hershey’s chocolate products.

He also brought life to what was basically another Appalachia economy wise. Coal was dying.

He built schools for underprivileged children. He educated orphans through college and offered them jobs for life, before there was such a thing as disability or workmen’s comp, no worker who was injured or disabled had to face poverty in Hershey Pennsylvania. He built Universities, and a world class teaching, medical hospital.

If you get hurt on the highway, or otherwise suffer severe trauma, one of three or four 30 million dollar helicopters, bought and paid for by Hersheys will come and get your sorry bleeding ass, bring you on board with a full trauma team, and fly your ignorant self at 200 miles per hour back to one of the finest hospitals in the whole fucking world in an attempt to save your worthless life.

He built your streetlights. he built your community and your schools and your libraries. He could have kept it all like a Donald Trump, but Milton S. Hershey created the most successful community/corporate partnerships in history, as well as a lesson in corporate responsibility that remains to this day.

And, YOU, YOU, YOU, miserable little Mars Bar, Spree eating bastard have the unmitigated audacity to sit there and put on blase airs because you don’t think the amusement park this fine and upstanding human being built for you is quite good enough to hold your interest???
Say something Dammit. Don’t just sit there looking at me llike that!

Do you think I’m yelling at you because I like it?

Don’t give me that smug smile buster, or I’ll wipe it off your face!

You’re gonna eat this Hershey bar, and you’re gonna like it.

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I can personally attest I have never been eaten by the OP.

Me, I went to Hershey Park a few times (and Busch Gardens and Six Flags Great Adventure and other places), but now I go to Disneyland. Every freakin’ month. :smiley:

Esprix

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Blinks
Scylla
I know about Milton Hershey plenty, I go to Milton Hershey School…I know how his deeds helped the community, but the management it’s under now is total chaos. It’s not all the glam and glitter that it was.

The school has gone to hell, teachers and houseparents charged with sexual abuse and plenty of other things…(to be continued…)

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Glam and glitter? IIRC the Milton S. Hershey school is actually coming under fire from several of it’s alumni because the academic standards have become so high that they would no longer be able to get into it if they were still children. They feel it’s improved so much that it’s become elitist and fallen away from its intended purpose of providing a quality education for underprivileged children.

Hardly glamourous.

People have been doing bad things for a long time, Molly. The fact sombody working for the school may be a monster, hardly invalidates the mission of the school, or the past and continuing good works of one of the premiere examples of fruitful corporate altruism.

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The Comet had two “trains” when I knew it. One was called “Halley’s Comet”; the other was called “Mork’s Comet”. Are they still called that?

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Last time I went to Hershey Park was <thinking> 1968. We toured the factory first - that I remember, but I can’t call to mind anything about the park.

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I’m a Kennywood man myself, but I’ve been to Hershey park once and enjoyed it. I went because Weird Al was playing in the park.

Good Coasters. Good food. Good zoo–We watched an albino squirrel build a nest for like an hour breaking off and moving impossibly large branches.

Scylla: Don’t they also have a Wild Mouse coaster. That’s 7.

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Try Knoebel’s Grove in Elysburg, PA. It’s great. Free admission and parking (you pay either by the ride or all-day pass). And it’s in a forest, not a concrete jungle, so there’s lot’s of shade.

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So why does it taste like brown chalk then?

-fh, tearing open a Cadbury’s Whole Nut