When Hersheypark opened in 1904, it was designed to be a "family" park. A place where you could relax, have a picnic, and take a scenic train ride around the premises. Today, Hersheypark still retains a great deal of the "family" element, but adds lots of thrills along the way.

Plan of attack

Hersheypark is charging $33.95 for admission during the 2001 season. This is a slight raise from the 2000 season. One of the greatest things about Hersheypark is the "preview plan". You buy a ticket after 6:00pm, tell them you want to preview, and your ticket will be good for the next day as well! So a ticket actually gets you almost 1 and a half days at the park!

Parking is usually not a problem, unless you come on a weekend. On weekends, Hershey can fill up pretty fast and you may find yourself out in the middle of nowhere. Usually, you can sneak around to an unused employee lot and pay only $5.

After you purchase your ticket, you walk through a nice little "village" area with lots of shops and some places to eat. As you climb up a small hill, the structure of the Comet is right there. I usually hit the Comet early in the day in order to avoid the longer lines the can occur in the afternoon and night. The Sooperdooper looper is basically right next to the Comet so you can hit it if you feel inclined to do so. This coaster never has a line, so you can pass it if you want.

Definitely take a ride on the "Great Bear", which is located just up from the 'looper. The wait fluxuates between 15-30minutes -- up to 1.5 hours if you want to wait for the first seat. The ride has a pretty good capacity and there are enough rides to watch from the queue, so the wait isn't too bad. This is the most "intense" rollercoaster in the whole park and definitely worth the wait.

After the Great Bear, make your way back through "Minetown" to the "Old West" area of the park. The Wildcat, Wildmouse, and Lightning Racer coasters are all located in this area. I reccomend hitting the "Wildcat" first as its lines are the longest in the park. This is easily the best coaster in the park. It has an incredibly twisted layout, but somehow manages to give a decent amout of airtime. The final helix and the first drop are both awesome.

The Lightning Racer will probably be the next ride on your agenda, so I recommend hitting it next. If you get to it early enough in the day, you can easily ride it several times (and you'll want to) before the line goes over 15 minutes. These coasters are very similar to the wildcat, but are taller and faster. I still prefer the Wildcat, but the front seats of the "Lightning Racer" are very comfy!

From there on out, it's up to you as to what you want to ride. I recommend doing all the coasters at least once, twice if you can. However, I would strongly avoid "Trailblazer" during peak times. The line is deceptively long.

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Food advice

Once hunger sets in, you can pick many styles of food to eat. Hersheypark excels at having a large variety of places to eat and food selections. My personal favorite area is right by the "Sidewinder". You can get Taco's, Hamburgers, Hot dogs, fries, ice cream, plenty of drinks, etc.. in this area. Lives shows are schedueled throughout the day and are usually pretty good. While you eat, you can watch the "Sidewinder" and hear the screams of its passengers =).

If you'd rather be indoors and airconditioned on a hot summer day, check out the cafeteria near the "Great Bear". It gives a nice view and has a large variety of selections. Pizza is probably the best thing served here.

There are numerous places to grab a soda, lemonade, or bottled water. The park also has soda machines in all the "major" lines. Hersheypark practically brings the stuff to you -- you just have to convince yourself to choke out that $2 for a 20oz. Sprite.

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Hersheypark is an excellent park. All the prices are fair and the rides are pretty cool. The "preview" feature and Zoo America make this park stand out from some of the other PA parks. The park doesn't have any really "extreme" thrill rides, but the "Lightning Racer" and "Wildcat" are both world-class wooden coasters. If you're planning to hit the PA parks this season, make sure Hersheypark is on your agenda!

Score

Coaster Score: 8/10

Food Score: 9/10

Atmosphere Score: 10/10!

Park Score: 9/10