Hersheypark:Springtime in the Park 2011 Thread

Most of the information for Springtime in the Park has been released recently:
http://www.hersheyinthespring.com/hersheypark/

Hours:

Families and guests of all ages can experience two big weekends of Springtime In The Park! Enjoy dozens of attractions at Hersheypark including roller coasters, kiddie rides, live entertainment, and strolling Hershey's Product Characters. One, two, and three day tickets available.

Springtime In The Park will be open on the following dates:

Saturday, April 16: 10 AM - 9 PM
Sunday, April 17: 10 AM - 6 PM
Friday, April 22: 10 AM - 9 PM
Saturday, April 23: 10 AM - 9 PM
Sunday, April 24: 10 AM - 6 PM

Prices:

Regular Jr./Sr. 2 and under
1-Day Admission $26.95 $17.95 FREE
2-Day Admission $38.95 $26.95 FREE
3-Day Admission $48.95 $32.95 FREE
Family Four Pack TBD N/A N/A

The prices seemed to have increased by $3 which seems kind of unfair since nothing was added.

Entertainment hasn't been posted yet, but that's understandable.

The ride list is similar to last year with Midway America being open.

Looks like we should turn this into our "Spring Season-Starter Meet-up" thread. When is Easter for 2011? We should avoid having a meet-up during that weekend and concentrate on the other one. Once we get a date squared away, we can start spreading the word and posting it up on Facebook as well.

Hopefully with a majority of us having season passes for next year, this should definitely be a success!

EDIT: I just checked a 2011 calendar and Easter lands on the 24th so I would suggest having the meet-up on either the 16th or the 17th. Hopefully, it will not be so crowded that weekend as opposed to Good Friday and Saturday (the 23rd) due to people's long holiday weekends (like what happened this past year). Any ideas or suggestions, feel free to post!

The Springtime Entertainment Schedule has been posted on the official Hersheypark website:

Saturday, April 16
Little Rock
Hersheypark Amphitheatre
Showtimes: 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, & 6:30 PM
Enjoy the great country sound and dynamic performance when this group takes the stage!

Sunday, April 17
Jason Huddy
Hersheypark Amphitheatre
Showtimes: 2:30 PM & 4:00 PM
This award-winning magician provides impossible magic and first-class entertainment in a one-of-a-kind magical production!

Friday, April 22
5th Element Band
Hersheypark Amphitheatre
Showtimes: 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM
This group of friends will entertain audiences of all ages with their fun blend of hits that span the decades.

Saturday, April 23
Nightwind
Hersheypark Amphitheatre
Showtimes: 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM
This group pulls out all of the stops, with high-energy and danceable favorites of the 60's through today.

Springtime in the Park Storytime
Music Box Theatre
Storytime: 2:00 PM
Kids are invited to the Music Box Theatre for a story read by The Hershey Public Library and special character appearance by Little Nut Brown Hare. Free with admission to Springtime in the Park.


Sunday, April 24
Mark DeRose and The Way Home
Hersheypark Amphitheatre
Showtimes: 1:00 PM, 2:30 PM & 4:00 PM
Natives of the Central PA music scene, Mark DeRose and The Way Home brings a distinctive sound that challenges engaged listeners and easily entertains high energy crowds. Performing a blend of both original and cover tunes, their music has been described as "the stuff that makes feel good music feel so good".

Yep, found this one a day or two ago. Looks like they were originally confining the story time to Easter weekend for which I'm guessing is due to the expected larger crowds those days.

Just out of curiosity, what day do you think is best to go to STITP? I always take the kids down on Good Friday, but I am avoiding that day after the experience last year.

I can tell you that either April 16 and 17 or Easter Sunday would be your best bet. Good Friday and the day before Easter was bad last year (especially Good Friday), probably mainly due to the nice weather we had, as well as people's extended weekends and spring break for some others. Chris (and some other people) attended Good Friday last year and several reports came in that the Comet's line exceeded over one hour (filling the entire queue and going up the hill to the Lemon Drop Shop), and Great Bear's queue was pretty full with one train running. While I would expect Saturday (April 16) to be fuller than both Sundays, it shouldn't be nearly as bad as the day before Easter. I also attended STITP on Saturday in 2008 (when it was just open that weekend only, Easter fell in March that year) and the crowds weren't bad at all. I was able to get all my coasters in that were open and this was when Midway was closed and Fahrenheit wasn't open yet. Now of course if the weather were bad on all those days, it would put a damper on attendance.

I'll definitely be there on the 17th for the site meet-up so feel free to stop by and say hi. I don't think I'll be there on the 16th though.

But here's to a great season opener and Springtime in the Park! Definitely praying for nice weather!

Thank you so much. I think I am going to shoot for April 17th. Maybe I'll run into you there.

I just checked the website for spring time and noticed that Ferris Wheel and Sidewinder are missing. I know Ferris Wheel is being worked on, but why is Sidewinder missing?

pushingbuttons wrote:I just checked the website for spring time and noticed that Ferris Wheel and Sidewinder are missing. I know Ferris Wheel is being worked on, but why is Sidewinder missing?

Hmm, good find. They might be still inspecting it just like what they did a few years ago with Storm Runner and Fahrenheit.
I don't really think many people are going to be upset if it remains closed during the event since it would save them the headache.

Having Ferris Wheel closed doesn't bother me. I'll be taking several rides this summer as well as probably HP in the Dark. Who knows, they could open it up at the last minute as they did the same thing with Fahrenheit last year. They probably just removed it from the list to be on safe side.

Supposedly today was the official first day for the park to be operating, but it was closed for a private party. 6 more days until STITP and about the same for our get-together so if you're interested in joining us, PM me and let me know and I'll give you all the info!

The weather isn't looking great for next weekend at all. Hopefully this is a case of the weather man not knowing anything.

I never follow the weather this early in advance. On the local news for last Monday, they were calling for this entire weekend to be a washout and it only happened to only rain (here in York at least) on Friday. Weather.com is usually pretty inaccurate too so I never follow them.

FlyersFan wrote:The weather isn't looking great for next weekend at all. Hopefully this is a case of the weather man not knowing anything.

Showers aren't that bad. It just means that it could be off-and-on, which could mean less lines, some rides may close when it rains, but may open back up, and cloudy skies when it's not raining.

Reguardless of the weather, I plan on being there both days since there are other things to do besides rides.

Ccron10 wrote:

FlyersFan wrote:The weather isn't looking great for next weekend at all. Hopefully this is a case of the weather man not knowing anything.

Showers aren't that bad. It just means that it could be off-and-on, which could mean less lines, some rides may close when it rains, but may open back up, and cloudy skies when it's not raining.

Reguardless of the weather, I plan on being there both days since there are other things to do besides rides.

I agree with you regarding the possibility of showers. Less people, more ride time. And most of the time the weather is dry. Even with less people means more re-rides when everything is operating. Even if there is a 30 to 40% of precipitation, I'll still be there as well...no big deal. That's one of the nice things about having a season pass, plus you can also slip over to ZooAmerica or Chocolate World as well. But still like I originally said, this weekend was supposed to be a washout as of last Monday and we all saw that it rained only on Friday. We have a full week ahead of us yet, things change.

FlyersFan wrote:The weather isn't looking great for next weekend at all. Hopefully this is a case of the weather man not knowing anything.

Hershey is known to have a bubble over top of it. So what ever the percent forecast it is, subtract 40% and that is what it actually is in Hershey

pushingbuttons wrote:

FlyersFan wrote:The weather isn't looking great for next weekend at all. Hopefully this is a case of the weather man not knowing anything.

Hershey is known to have a bubble over top of it. So what ever the percent forecast it is, subtract 40% and that is what it actually is in Hershey

I wish you were right but I live on the border of Hershey and work in Hershey yet it still seems to have rained most of the last few weeks. If it is just showers I will be happy though. Crowds will stay away because of the weather which I don't mind.

Again, I wouldn't worry about it. I highly doubt that the forecast will remain that way through the next six / seven days. The only way I'll be concerned is if it's Friday and they're shooting for 60% (or more) rain and damp conditions for Saturday (similar to what we had this past Friday) or on Sat and they're shooting the same percentage or more for Sunday and nothing else the next day. Other than that, I'm not worried.

From the resident meteorologist

The models have been fairly consistent bringing a system through the area Saturday afternoon into Sunday. I will be able to pin down some better timing later this week. I'll keep everyone updated

^According to weather.com, the latest is the best so far for the get-together. Saturday will be rain (70%) and Mostly Sunny on Sunday. I might still go to the park on saturday since it would probably be better than just sitting in my dorm room all day.

The last I looked, it was 70% rain on Saturday and only 20% on Sunday so yeah, Sunday does look much better out of the two. My guess is if the forecast remains like this, they'll probably operate on a limited schedule with selected rides available. They did this for HP in the Dark a few years ago when two out of the three days of one of the weekends were rained out.

The rain will be out of the area by 8am tomorrow morning. Behind the cold front expect windy conditions that may impact Storm Runner.

That's okay, maybe the forecasted windy conditions will discourage alot of people from attending so maybe the crowds will be low. It's also Sunday so I would expect for low crowds either way. If I don't hit all of the coasters I intend to do, it won't matter to me since I'll be there at least once a month (maybe more) through the summer beginning next month. So I will definitely get all my coasters in one way or the other this year lol.

I got to the park today around 11 and had to wait about 30 minutes just to get in the gate. There were pretty long lines for everything that I saw except lightning racer. I only waited about 5 minutes for that. It wasn't that bad but I didn't feel like waiting in lines today so I took a stroll around, went to the zoo and got my refillable cup for the season. I am going to go on Friday too and have a season pass so having to get on any certain ride wasn't a priority of mine. The weather was nice and I enjoyed just walking around with my son and letting him ride some stuff but that was it for me. We only stayed for 3 hours but it was enough.

What does the souvenir cup look like for this season? Since there isn't a significant ride or something to advertise like there was the Boardwalk, etc...
Glad the weather wasn't too much of an issue

It has the hersheypark logo along the top half of the cup and pictures of lightning racer, the swing, the chocolate bar meeting a family, 2 kids playing in the boardwalk and a bobcat or some type of cat all along the bottom half of the cup.

Crowds were heavy today but definitely better than on Good Friday last year. Comet wasn't bad either, not quite half the switchbacks were full. Chris and I rode the front seat with a one train wait. Sidewinder's new train looks so cool. I will have a full PTR this week as well as a video highlighting what went on today.

Figured I'd post my some quick pictures of what's going on. I didn't have my SLR, so I snapped a few pics with my Android.

The BBQ down by the Trailblazer was removed, and replaced with a new one. Looks promising, but expensive. Now its become the Spring Creek Smoke House





Anyone notice anything missing here?


Oh, there it is!


So, one thing that threw us off was how they reworked the Kissing Tower entrance and exit. Now, they utilize both queues, and you no longer exit through the entrance like you used to. Instead, they took part of the right queue, and turned it into an exit. The first picture is the front of the line waiting to board to give you an idea.


And the new exit:


A not so good picture of sidewinders new trains. It was not running, but an HP employee said it will not be running during Springtime in the park as it is not ready.



Some other notes:
- The Ferris wheel is still missing
- Fahrenheit was not running,
- Storm running was only running one train with the others containing testing dummies
- The Tudor Grill has been renamed, and re-themed to "The HersheyPark Place" -- "A Fun-filled dining experience" Asked someone about this and they said it will be pretty much the same. They just gave it a new name and a facelift. This makes me happy since we always enjoy the Tutor Grill.

Something else I forgot to report in my PTR was that we noticed that Lightning Racer's overflow was fenced off. This wasn't done with a chain either, it was similar to how Rodeo's extended queue was in its last year of operations. I know that Lightning Racer isn't going anywhere but maybe the park is finally realizing that it's pointless having an extended queue there when the thing is a capacity eater, especially on busy days.

I saw the Smokehouse change as well. Might check it out at least once with my season pass. I don't remember what Freeman's menu was like or if the menu for this place is any different.

We didn't have the chance to ride Kissing Tower at all but from how you explained it, looks like they're finally utilizing the back exit again. Sounds like the changes to the queue that HPinsane originally brought up finally did happen this year to some extent. Maybe I'll pay the ride a visit on summer opening day next month.

I visited both days this past weekend. Saturday was a wash...literally. We were able to ride Wildcat, Wild Mouse, Lightning Racer, Music Express and Whip before it really started to pour. We wanted to continue riding coasters, but everything was pretty much shutting down at noon. So we left.

Sunday was crazy busy so we went straight to Great Bear. My 10 yr old cousin rode it for the first time. We hardly had any wait for that one. We rode Wildcat and Racer again, but skipped the Mouse because the line was too long for a ride that we really don't care for. Looper's line at one point was out to the Wack-a-Mole game...insane! Carrousel had no line so that became our last ride of the day. That was the only flat we felt like going on...again the lines were just too much for us when we have season passes.

We checked out the new trains for Sidewinder. I can not wait to try them out. My 8 yr old cousin is excited as well. The new Smokehouse smelled phenomenal! I didn't check out their prices, but I did look at their menu. I was disappointed to see that they don't have the giant pickles or ice tea any more. That was the only thing I ever got from Freeman's.

I also had hoped to meet up with everyone at the statue, but we go to the park later than I thought and the lines for paid parking and to get in the gate were too long and it put us into the park later than the meet up. Maybe next time

Hoping to maybe go this Friday for a few hours...we will see!

^ It was crazy Sunday for sure. I also smelled the food at the new smokehouse and it does smell great. I will be eating there at some point this summer. I think my family is going on Friday too. At least for awhile. Once the park opens for the summer I will be trying to go once a week so waiting in lines isn't worth it for me.

HPCrazy wrote:We didn't have the chance to ride Kissing Tower at all but from how you explained it, looks like they're finally utilizing the back exit again. Sounds like the changes to the queue that HPinsane originally brought up finally did happen this year to some extent. Maybe I'll pay the ride a visit on summer opening day next month.

No, they're actually not utilizing the back door at all. They moved the exit gate from where it was in the back, to the front queue.

gb980109 wrote:

HPCrazy wrote:We didn't have the chance to ride Kissing Tower at all but from how you explained it, looks like they're finally utilizing the back exit again. Sounds like the changes to the queue that HPinsane originally brought up finally did happen this year to some extent. Maybe I'll pay the ride a visit on summer opening day next month.

No, they're actually not utilizing the back door at all. They moved the exit gate from where it was in the back, to the front queue.

So judging from the first picture of Kissing Tower's queue, they had the new queue span both sides of the building and have the exiting guests go through the wide queue to the left and exit towards the other side of the building?

I'm sorry, but I didn't make it up to that area Saturday or yesterday.

pushingbuttons wrote:I just checked the website for spring time and noticed that Ferris Wheel and Sidewinder are missing. I know Ferris Wheel is being worked on, but why is Sidewinder missing?

Sidewinder is closed because they have new trains for the 2011 season.

Ccron10 wrote:

gb980109 wrote:

HPCrazy wrote:We didn't have the chance to ride Kissing Tower at all but from how you explained it, looks like they're finally utilizing the back exit again. Sounds like the changes to the queue that HPinsane originally brought up finally did happen this year to some extent. Maybe I'll pay the ride a visit on summer opening day next month.

No, they're actually not utilizing the back door at all. They moved the exit gate from where it was in the back, to the front queue.

So judging from the first picture of Kissing Tower's queue, they had the new queue span both sides of the building and have the exiting guests go through the wide queue to the left and exit towards the other side of the building?

I'm sorry, but I didn't make it up to that area Saturday or yesterday.

That's correct. You enter the queue to your left, and you actually cross right over into the right queue, and eventually board vis the left queue. When you unload from the kissing tower, you enter out of the right queue over towards the Twin Turnpike. It is true that the rear entrance is not being utilized.

Good news.
The Ferris Wheel is back up (except for the cars and pin wheel), and Flying Falcon is completely put back together.

I noticed the Ferris wheel was back up today when I drove past the park on my way home. I am going to the park for awhile tomorrow so I will try to remember my camera and snap a quick picture. I hope the weather report scares the crowds away tomorrow. I would like to get on a few rides instead of just walk around. Actually I should say a few roller coasters. I haven't rode fahrenheit or storm runner yet this year.

Ccron10 wrote:Good news.
The Ferris Wheel is back up (except for the cars and pin wheel), and Flying Falcon is completely put back together.

I don't think the pin wheel will be returning. That's my understanding anyway.

It didn't take them long to re-assemble it back together. But I guess you figure it wouldn't since it never takes long for the portable one at the York Fair to go up. Yeah if you could pics of it, that would be great. I doubt it will be running though, but you never know. I also hope the pinwheel returns, that would be a shame if they would just get rid of it, like they did everywhere else in the park. I'd expect Falcon to be open though.

I hope the pinwheel returns because that is really visible from HP drive. I always liked seeing it as I drove past. I don't expect it to be open because the cars weren't up as of 5pm tonight. I didn't see any lights on it yet either. I think they will just hold off on opening it until opening day.

I don't think the pinwheel on Ferris Wheel will return because it hasn't been the park's symbol/logo since 2006.

FlyersFan wrote:I hope the pinwheel returns because that is really visible from HP drive. I always liked seeing it as I drove past. I don't expect it to be open because the cars weren't up as of 5pm tonight. I didn't see any lights on it yet either. I think they will just hold off on opening it until opening day.

Yeah because it's not even listed for STITP. Also gives them time to put on the lights (and hopefully the pinwheel) and do testing prior to summer opening day.

FlyersFan wrote:I would like to get on a few rides instead of just walk around. Actually I should say a few roller coasters. I haven't rode fahrenheit or storm runner yet this year.

I hope you can get your rides in that you want to do. Our group was able to get every coaster, except Trailblazer and Wild Mouse without a problem, except with Fahrenheit when it stopped for a short period because of problems and we were stuck in line. But waits weren't too bad for coasters, at least when we hit them. Chris and I were able to hit the front of Comet and the line only reached not quite to the middle of the switchbacks, went pretty quickly.

This will be a quick post...about to try Sidewinder's new trains! Very excited!

Chris called me earlier and said that they are VERY smooth! Hopefully, he'll have some pics to post. Can't wait to check it out next month when him and I head back up there. Will be nice to finally grab that credit!

The park was packed this morning but once it started raining it cleared out quick. The sidewinder is very smooth. I didn't get on fahrenheit or storm runner because neither were open when I got back to that area. Oh well I will have plenty of time to get on them this summer. There are lights on the ferris wheel they look smaller than they used to but maybe that was just me. I have pics of it and will post some later.

HPfangirl4life wrote:This will be a quick post...about to try Sidewinder's new trains! Very excited!

It was nice meeting you today.

I was there as well and was suprised that it was open.

There was a good 1/2 hour wait to ride and the queue was down one switchback.
Let's talk about the trains. I found them to be MUCH better than the old ones with plenty of arm space, comfortable restraints and with nothing coming near your head. It is almost pretty much impossible for your head to hit the restraint (I checked).
As for the experience....I now consider it to be up there with Great Bear, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, and Lightning Racer as one of the best coasters in the park (Not the best, but still packs a punch). Going through the corba roll was smooth, the loop was intense, but taking it in reverse was the most intense part of the ride. There was hardly a rough patch during my rides, no head-banging what-so-ever and most importantly, no headache!
The only negative part I found was that the backrests of the seats were kind of hard and if you kept your head against it, it can hurt. What I've done to solve this was to keep my head away from it.

I really like the look of those trains. I'd rather have the seat be a little rough than have my head bang around the entire time I see you pointed out the restraints were more comfortable. Imo, Sidewinder had some of the most uncomfortable restraints in HP. I found that when sitting next to someone, your arms are pretty much locked against each other and you're banging elbows. So this is some good news!

Coming from a former "Sidewinder-hater" ... I can't wait to try this thing out when I'm there next month!

Anyone ever go on Easter Sunday? My plans fell through for tomorrow and I have nothing to do from about 11 until 3. I figured if it isn't very crowded on Easter I might go over for a few hours.

It's great on Easter. I went last year and no one was their until about 3. Im only worried about the weather for tomorrow. I hope a storm doesn't hit.