Hersheypark: Attraction 2012 Rumor and News Discussion

The new wooden fence that was being built along Comet is almost complete and is being painted white.

Another sign why I think this is a 2011 project.....

underslayer wrote:i belive what coast said . who knows they might of had the coaster meeting last year at this time for all we know. they wouldnt have all this marking and steaks and station layout done yet before they got the approval. i think we arw looking at to totally different projects next year coaster the year after tower. plus anyone going to the meeting i will be there

^^you're right. Hershey plans new attractions 3-5 years in advance, since the markings are for a roller coaster and probably for next year we should focus on what type of coaster it could be for next year. I dont think Comet is getting redone. Its too historic to be adjusted. Also, I was at the park this week and asked a bunch of employees about the coaster next year and I got answers like, "oh I dont........how do you know about that??) and guest services gave me a "I have no idea, we"ll have to wait and see!) in a real high spirited tone. Earlier in the year one of the operators of the wave swinger told me that some rides are leaving Comet Hollow and the coaster will be very tall next to Comet. Its definately a B&M hyper or a mega/megalite.

The Thunderbolt at Kennywood Park is just as historic as Comet, maybe even more to some extent. Parts of it that were The Pippin are older than Comet I believe, constructed in the 20's or 30's. When the ride became the Thunderbolt in the 60's, the newer sections of the ride were built and blended in with parts of the old Pippin section making for a "so-called" brand new ride.

Why I'm referring to the Thunderbolt vs Comet all comes down to this: When the Steel Phantom was built, in order to begin construction, it was either remove or re-profile the Thunderbolt to construct the Phantom. The park ended up building the iconic second drop right through the Thunderbolt so both rides could still exist, thus the Steel Phantom went through the coaster once. When it was transformed in Phantom's Revenge, the Thunderbolt was re-profiled again so that the Revenge could go back through its structure, again. Even some of Thunderbolt's track had to be temporarily removed for construction of Phantom's Revenge. If you have watched some of the Discovery and Travel Channel shows that were on in the early 2000's, you'll know what I'm referring to.

So it doesn't really matter how historic the Comet is, it can be done. The Thunderbolt proved to us that it can be done in multiple sections. Something to think about with all this speculation.

HPCrazy wrote:The Thunderbolt at Kennywood Park is just as historic as Comet, maybe even more to some extent. Parts of it that were The Pippin are older than Comet I believe, constructed in the 20's or 30's. When the ride became the Thunderbolt in the 60's, the newer sections of the ride were built and blended in with parts of the old Pippin section making for a "so-called" brand new ride.

Why I'm referring to the Thunderbolt vs Comet all comes down to this: When the Steel Phantom was built, in order to begin construction, it was either remove or re-profile the Thunderbolt to construct the Phantom. The park ended up building the iconic second drop right through the Thunderbolt so both rides could still exist, thus the Steel Phantom went through the coaster once. When it was transformed in Phantom's Revenge, the Thunderbolt was re-profiled again so that the Revenge could go back through its structure, again. Even some of Thunderbolt's track had to be temporarily removed for construction of Phantom's Revenge. If you have watched some of the Discovery and Travel Channel shows that were on in the early 2000's, you'll know what I'm referring to.

So it doesn't really matter how historic the Comet is, it can be done. The Thunderbolt proved to us that it can be done in multiple sections. Something to think about with all this speculation.

Hershey Park has room for a coaster in that area, I go to Kennywood all the time and its the size of Hershey Park cut in half. So to stay competitive with thrilling attractions they have to think of every way possible to squeeze stuff in. Plus Kennywood is way more liberal adding/removing attractions than Hershey because they have to be. They wont touch Comet.

Don't set yourselves up for disappointment if it's a 2012 coaster.

Yeah, there are markings down in Comet Hollow and it's surrounding areas of Comet, but all word is that the roller coaster is a 2012 project.

To all you saying that the board meeting is for the drop tower: why would a drop tower disturb sensitive environment aka Spring Creek? I think you're just being greedy for a coaster next year...

The Storm Runner wrote:To all you saying that the board meeting is for the drop tower: why would a drop tower disturb sensitive environment aka Spring Creek? I think you're just being greedy for a coaster next year...

Hersheypark does not really need anymore roller coasters unless they expand the park. A drop tower would be nice because they don't take up too much room. If anything would "disturb sensitive environment aka Spring Creek" a roller coaster would. Great Bear already has.

Stormwinder wrote:
.....Hersheypark does not really need anymore roller coasters unless they expand the park. A drop tower would be nice because they don't take up too much room. If anything would "disturb sensitive environment aka Spring Creek" a roller coaster would. Great Bear already has.

I agree 100% with that. Any type of coaster that HP can put in would take away from the Spring Creek feel, and more than likely make the area look extremely cluttered.

But in the township's agenda, HE&R is petitioning to be granted special exceptions to rules, one of which is disturbing the sensitive environment. You are exactly right: a drop tower would not disturb the environment; a roller coaster would. So obviously if they are asking to disturb the environment, then they are building a roller coaster.

hpinsane wrote:Don't set yourselves up for disappointment if it's a 2012 coaster.

Yeah, there are markings down in Comet Hollow and it's surrounding areas of Comet, but all word is that the roller coaster is a 2012 project.

This is why people get "up in arms" around here. Please cite your source if you're able to. If you're unable to, then don't keep pushing "this coaster in definitely in 2012" in our faces until you can claim your source.

97% / 98% of us believe and agree that they would not be putting stakes in the ground or marking up a station and footers/poles, if this was a two-year project.

Hello everybody. I've been following this thread for sometime now and it really has me wondering what Hershey has up it's sleeve. Coming up very soon (about the last week of September / first week of October) my family may be going to Hersheypark for NSA staff day. I believe the park is closed that day to the general public, but open to NSA staff members. If I see anything suspicious, I'll take a picture.

HPCrazy wrote:
This is why people get "up in arms" around here. Please cite your source if you're able to. If you're unable to, then don't keep pushing "this coaster in definitely in 2012" in our faces until you can claim your source.

The source he got that from is from what the park has calling it: Attraction 2012. I believe it is safe to say that is is for 2012 since the park would not really just pick a number and it just happens to be 2012.
What more do you want for a source? It's from the park; you can't get any better than that.

Welcome to the website SupremeScream.

SupremeScream wrote:Hello everybody. I've been following this thread for sometime now and it really has me wondering what Hershey has up it's sleeve. Coming up very soon (about the last week of September / first week of October) my family may be going to Hersheypark for NSA staff day. I believe the park is closed that day to the general public, but open to NSA staff members. If I see anything suspicious, I'll take a picture.

Welcome to the site SupremeScream! Yes, if you see anything, let us know. It's heating up now, will be interesting to see what will happen come that time.

I guess people will start agreeing with HPinsane now. While we still don't have the sources, I'm still not going to believe anything until it's officially out in the open. Sure they can say "Project 2012" for anything, but it doesn't have to be a coaster.

**EDIT** - just to let you know, I have no intentions on this becoming a flame war caused by a group vs a group on this subject, so my apologies if my recent post had appeared to have come out that way. We all have our opinions and the right to share them, so let's just leave it at that.

Another update

First I found some steak markings across the creek.






Now more pictures of the wall going up next to Comet. I found a better spot to take pictures.










The word "lift" is starting to disappear off the ground


Just another picture of markings.

Is that fence in the foreground also new? Glad you're keeping track of all this.

no just the one farther away

My reaction to seeing the word "lift" on the pavement for the first time in those pictures was:

"YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

That's what I'm talking about! If Hershey gets an Intamin hyper/mega/mega lite, it has the best 1-2 punch in the east coast with Stormrunner. Take it to the bank, kids.

I'm now wondering if we'll be getting an Intamin here. As much as I would like to see a B&M, after doing some research through both B&M and Intamin's websites, isn't Intamin cheaper? Chris, you made mention that an Intamin Mega is cheaper than a B&M sit-down, am I correct? I thought it was something like that.

HPCrazy wrote:I'm now wondering if we'll be getting an Intamin here. As much as I would like to see a B&M, after doing some research through both B&M and Intamin's websites, isn't Intamin cheaper? Chris, you made mention that an Intamin Mega is cheaper than a B&M sit-down, am I correct? I thought it was something like that.

Yes. I found that the cost of a B&M Hyper is about the same as what it cost KD for Intimidator 305.

As for the fence, it seems like the kind of fence used to block of low zone areas like over near Storm Runner's launch section. The stretch of markers on the other side of the creek looks interesting too.

I have an update for you guys to the Keystone Thrills website and to help keep everyone updated. I have created a page on the website with all the updates posted in this thread to make it easy to be kept up-to-date on Attraction 2012.
As new photo and news updates break and are posted in this thread, I will then add them to this page as soon as I can. Feel free to browse the rest of the site too.
Let me know what you think.
http://keystonethrills.webs.com/attraction2012updates.htm

Like the idea Chris. It will be nice to look back after this is all completed and see what happened during the duration of the project.

I think thats a great idea.

Yeah I really like the idea! On another note I will be going one sunday during the next 4 or 5 weekends, I will be taking pictures. Is there anything spacific I should look for or should I just look for things I havn't seen pictures of on here?

I like how it keeps all the updates organized in in one area.

ChiefRedskin89 wrote:Yeah I really like the idea! On another note I will be going one sunday during the next 4 or 5 weekends, I will be taking pictures. Is there anything spacific I should look for or should I just look for things I havn't seen pictures of on here?

If you see anything thing that has been changed, or has not been mentioned before you can post that. Any picture you take of the park are fine too.

On anote of even more good news, I may be going to the park on August 28 for the evening. My college is having a trip to go there and tickets are only $5. It's limited to the first 94 students so I'll try to send it in ASAP.
I'll try to get photos, but I don't know what camera I'm going to take (either my cellphone or my new one).

Hi everyone...I finally got in touch with an old friend thats worked for Hershey Entertainment for years to see if she had any info on whats going on. I didnt want to post anything until I had any solid information that was worth mentioning but in the conversation i had with her surprisingly she knows everything about it, what type of coaster & even the name thats already been chosen for it. Unfortunately she would not break and tell me anything...she probably thinks i would go on some site spreading the news around lol. But one thing she said without any hesitation was that this coaster is for next year!! Not 2012. If past years are any indication we should be getting an official announcemet soon....

You wouldn't imagine how much I hope your right!

Bigxtreme wrote:Hi everyone...I finally got in touch with an old friend thats worked for Hershey Entertainment for years to see if she had any info on whats going on. I didnt want to post anything until I had any solid information that was worth mentioning but in the conversation i had with her surprisingly she knows everything about it, what type of coaster & even the name thats already been chosen for it. Unfortunately she would not break and tell me anything...she probably thinks i would go on some site spreading the news around lol. But one thing she said without any hesitation was that this coaster is for next year!! Not 2012. If past years are any indication we should be getting an official announcemet soon....

Welcome to the site. So is this in relation to the plans filed with the township zoning board or is this an entirely different project?

Bigxtreme wrote:Hi everyone...I finally got in touch with an old friend thats worked for Hershey Entertainment for years to see if she had any info on whats going on. I didnt want to post anything until I had any solid information that was worth mentioning but in the conversation i had with her surprisingly she knows everything about it, what type of coaster & even the name thats already been chosen for it. Unfortunately she would not break and tell me anything...she probably thinks i would go on some site spreading the news around lol. But one thing she said without any hesitation was that this coaster is for next year!! Not 2012. If past years are any indication we should be getting an official announcemet soon....

Sounds promising. Hopefully this information is correct. And thanks for mentioning your source. Like was mentioned on here before, they probably had a meeting set aside for this project that has already happened and been approved, thus why we see all the survey marks, stakes and lines on the ground. Like I said all along, that it seems unlikely that they would even waste their time to do something like this when the attraction wouldn't open until 2012. Did you hear any word on when they could be announcing this, should this be true?

Chief Redskin, if you happen to make it up in the coming weeks, yes, any new pics would be more than welcome. I'm curious to see if they did any more tree clearing since it was last reported.

I'm thinking that if they want permission to go over the height limit, then it has to be a drop tower. I highly doubt they would install two coasters in a row. It would clutter the park up too much in its current footprint.

Does anyone know what the height limit is for Derry Township?

What department does Bigxtreme's source work in?

I didn't get to ask her about the township meeting regarding "attraction 2012" as our conversation got cut short. My guess is that attraction 2012 is just that...a meeting with the township in regards to plans for that year and has no connection to what we're seeing going on inside the park now. Hershey has added attractions on consecutive years before but as HPCrazy stated there's about a 0% chance of it being another coaster. A drop tower is something Hershey has been missing for sometime now & I would love to see them finally add one! Hopefully we get more info on that next week as I believe someone here said they were planning on attending. As for my source she works with marketing and advertising. I consider her very reliable...but nothing is set in stone until its made official.

thanks for the info. Im excited to hear the big announcement coming soon.

If your source is from Marketing & Advertising, then that's pretty deep in the company. Of course nothing would be official until all of this is officially announced, but your information seems to be accurate and "in line" as to what's been recently going on. "Attraction 2012" most definitely isn't linked to what we're seeing here, so I bet you it will be a drop tower. What else can be built between 200-350 ft besides a coaster?

By the way, welcome to the site!

If they're petitioning for a height extension for 2012, then that means that this coaster, if it were to be built in 2011, would have to be less than 200 feet. Still think it's 2012, but that's just me...

This may not be logical because Hershey barely themes their rides, but I wonder if "Attraction 2012" will be themed on the end of the world. Most likely not true, but just a thought.

OMG a roller coaster themed to the end of the world would be an epic win! I don't know how you could pull it off but it would be insane. Also with Carrowinds and Cedar Point dropping hints do you think that HersheyPark will be next?

Hershey is definitely not going to install a coaster (or ride) based off of something like that. Definitely not when they are in the midst of a place that makes candy.

Oh I know that. I don't think anybody will for that matter. I just think it would be a cool Universal idea or something.

If it's going to be Intamin again, I guess I can't really have a problem with that. Especially if it's cheaper for them. Just having one B&M vs all these Intamins, well..... lol!

is anyone making a trip anytime soon?

HPcrazy and I would be going up again only if I had been given extra tickets, but thats not going to happen this year.

I'm almost positive me and the family are going up augest 29th. For our sanity's sake can they just give us a hint or something already!

^ I agree! I hope we know something before HP in the Dark. It would be nice to go up there in October and know more information on what's going on.

I'll be heading up on August 28th for the evening so maybe I'll see if can snap some photos while I'm there.
I went on the Nantimi webpage just now to see if there was a chance that they might reuse it, but it seems that the domain name expired over the weekend. I hope they do though....Good times.

Toninght is the land zoning meeting to discuss "Attraction 2012". They might reveil a few tidbits of info, but I would just be enough to confirm what they want to do.

I can't go, does anyone plan on going?

I'd go if I lived closer. Driving 40/45 min to a zoning board meeting doesn't really do me justice.

if I wasn't working i'd be there