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HERSHEYPARK
Hershey, PA
Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company
 General Resort News - (9/22/2023) Take a look inside Dark Nights at Hersheypark event in the video below from DisneyLoversHP.
(7/27/2023) Hersheypark has posted on their Facebook page earlier today that Wildcat’s Revenge will reopen to guests in the morning, on Friday.
Elsewhere Hersheypark has released new details about this year’s returning Hersheypark Halloween festivities, on weekends from Sept. 15 through Oct. 29, 2023. For starters, during the last hour of operation at night, the park will turn off the lights around Candymonium, Comet, Lightning Racer and inside Laff Trakk, allowing for some ultra DARK RIDE sessions.
Meanwhile Dark Nights will return bigger than ever in 2023, and your admission is included with your regular day ticket to visit Hersheypark. This year’s event will feature 5 haunted houses, and 3 scare zones. Last year’s four haunts (Haunted Coal Mine, Creatures Uncaged, The Descent and Twisted Carnevil) will return along with a brand new fifth haunt: Auntie Mortem’s Abattoir. The Scare Zones will include the new “Fallout Zone” along with returning Midway of Misery and Darkstone’s Hollow.
(7/22/2023) Just a heads up to anyone heading to Hersheypark. A couple of Screamscape readers who have visited the park this past week have discovered that Wildcat’s Revenge is now closed. One reader reported it being open for a bit on Tuesday before closing, and then followed by reports of it being closed entirely for the days that followed during the week. Currently (as of Saturday Morning) the website now lists Wildcat’s Revenge as being “Temporarily Closed” so we don’t know just how much longer this may last, or what happened to cause it.
So for those planning a trip to the park just to try the new coaster, be sure to check on the status online (website or maybe the park app) before heading to the park.
(4/8/23) While most of our focus on the Hersheypark attraction area is mostly about the theme park itself, it turns out that the free-to-visit Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction located just outside the main gate is also opening a new attraction on May 19th. Described as an “immersive attraction” the new “Hershey’s Great Candy Expedition” will take guests on a colorful virtual train ride through six different and colorful worlds of candy featuring various Hershey brands such as Hershey Kisses, Reeces, Jolly Ranchers, Kit Kat, Twizzlers and more.
The 30 minute animated attraction experience will take place within a multi-sensory theater featuring 4K projection mapping across a 270º screen, various scents, a tasting experience during the pre-show and a small take-home bag of candy as they leave. A visit to Hershey’s Chocolate World is a must anytime you visit the theme park anyway, as it also features a free dark ride (Hershey’s Chocolate Tour),and various upcharge experiences such as the ability to create your own candy bar, a new station to stuff and create your own massive 1-pound Reese’s Cup (added in 2021), and you take part in a Hershey’s Unwrapped tasting show (added in 2019)
If I’m not mistaken, this latest attraction is taking the place of the previous “4D Chocolate Movie” theater experience, which closed down in September 2022. At the time I believe this was also an upcharge experience unlike the free dark ride, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there may be a charge to experience the new Hershey’s Great Candy Expedition.
(3/16/2023) Hersheypark has confirmed that last year’s new Dark Nights halloween haunt event will return again in 2023, running on select nights from Sept. 15 through October 29th. They also promise an event bigger event than before as the “Dakrness is taking over even more of the Hersheypark landscape” along with roaming characters the midways.
(1/29/2023) Based on a screen capture sent in to Screamscape, Hersheypark’s “chat bot” has apparently confirmed that the park has permanently closed ‘The Whip’ ride ahead of the 2023 season.
2023 - Wildcat’s Revenge - (6/3/2023) The official POV video of the new Wildcat’s Revenge has been released and you’ll quickly notice that the action kicks off at a high speed before you even hit the lift hill. In what has become almost a tradition for RMC conversion projects, the train passes rapidly through a series wild twists and dips while it travels from the station to the bottom of the lift hill, just to set the tone of the wild ride that lies ahead.
Take a virtual ride-along by watching the video below.
(5/25/2023) A brief video showing off some footage off the new Wildcat’s Revenge making test runs can be seen below.
(5/20/2023) It has been confirmed that the new Wildcat’s Revenge roller coaster at Hersheypark will open to guests on June 2, 2023. If you visit the park this weekend, you may also catch it in action, as test runs have officially begun this week.
(5/3/2023) A new construction picture showing off the latest progress on the Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark has been uploaded by the “Disney Lovers at Hersheypark” channel. Check it out below.
(4/23/2023) Exciting times for Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark has the tip-top of the new lift hill was hoisted into place. Check out the topping off of this new roller coaster into the video footage below.
(3/29/23) A new video has been posted showing off the latest construction progress on Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark this week.
(2/25/2023) Hersheypark has shared some great images of the new Wildcat’s Revenge under construction, taken just a couple of weeks ago.
(2/5/2023) A new video showing footage from an ACE construction tour of Wildcat’s Revenge has been posted this weekend, along with the release of the animated full POV of what the new coaster experience will be like. Check it out.
(2/1/2023) Another quick construction video showing off the progress on Wildcat’s Revenge can be seen below.
(1/22/2023) A new construction update on Wildcat’s Revenge can be seen on YouTube from the team at DisneyLoversHP. According to the new video footage the “underflip” element has been completed, check it out below.
(1/16/2023) A new video below shows off new footage from Hersheypark taken this week, which includes a view of the Wildcat’s Revenge construction site near later half of the video. Prior to that however they spot a bunch of survey markings on the ground along the old road that runs out beyond Skyrush.
(12/17/2022) Herheypark has posted a photo update showing off the progress so far on Wildcat’s Revenge, which includes a great look at what I believe once was the original Wildcat’s lift hill and first drop, now being transformed into an amazing flip-over inversion that you’ll encounter when rising up out of the ride’s new first drop.
(11/18/22) RMC appears to have had the lead car from one of the new Wildcat’s Revenge trains on site at IAAPA this week. As mentioned in the press release from Herheypark, Wildcat’s Revenge is supposed to have three uniquely themed trains when it opens.
(11/9/22) Would you believe that the first sections of red RMC track are now in place on Wildcat’s Revenge? Check out some great construction pictures taken this week posted to Facebook by William Supko Photography.
(11/7/22) A construction update showing off the changes and track removal already done to the Hersheypark Wildcat can be seen this week at Theme Park Fix.
(11/5/22) Wildcat’s Revenge is coming to Hersheypark in 2023. As expected, the park’s former Wildcat coaster will be transformed into an all new hybrid-coaster creation almost unrecognizable from it’s former self by RMC. The new ride will feature a 140 foot tall lift hill, an near vertical 82º first drop, allowing the train to hit a top speed of 62mph as it runs through 3,510 feet of track and through four inversions, including the “World’s Largest Underflip”. Hersheypark also says Wildcat’s Revenge will feature three uniquely themed trains.
While many RMC conversions result in the new coaster being shorter than the original, this will not be true for Wildcat’s Revenge, as the former Wildcat was only 3,183 feet long, stood just 106 feet tall and maxed out at 50mph.
For collectors who love the former Wildcat, the park preserved 160 pieces of wood and track from the old ride and were selling them as a limited time collectors item on Thursday in the park for $300, though I can only imagine that those sold out in record time.
(10/30/22) According to a teaser posted by Hersheypark, it looks like they will reveal what is really going on with Willdcat (RMC Conversion?) on November 2nd. Stay tuned!
(10/17/22) We haven’t heard much about the status of Wildcat since it closed at Hersheypark, but a reader sent a link to a video with some great footage of the coaster shot about a month ago where you can see some of the early renovations taking place. Still nothing to confirm about exactly what is happening, such as a local of RMC style track, but for all intents and purposes this an RMC conversion is what is generally accepted to be taking place at this point. I suspect we won’t hear anything official from Herhseypark about this until late October or November.
(8/12/22) So while Hersheypark still hasn’t revealed their plans for the Wildcat, our sources say it’s a fairly safe bet right now that it will be an RMC conversion, rather than anything from GCI. Rumor has it that someone from GCI let it slip not long ago that GCI did bid on the project, but they were outbid from RMC for the job.
(7/9/22) Big news came from Hersheypark yesterday afternoon when the park announced that their Wildcat wooden coaster will be closing on July 31st. The text says this is a “Last to ride alert!” to “visit for one final ride.” But while they tease that the ride is closing for good, they also ask an interesting question, “Any suggestions on what we could do with 3,100 feet of wooden track? Stay tunes for details later this year.”
Of course this has led everyone to call this out as an RMC hybrid conversion. In fact, RMC themselves responded to this tweet with one of their own, claiming that “We have a few ideas…” On a related note, you may also remember guests spotting odd blue paint markings along the Wildcat’s supports. At the time we were told it was for in-park inspection purposes and not part of an RMC conversion. While this may prove if RMC does come in to convert Wildcat into a Hybrid coaster, I do have another theory.
GCI has been making some small headlines lately with the creation of their “Titan Track”, a new steel track product designed to compete with RMC’s own hybrid track system. (Note: it is also important to remember that Skyline Attractions is also responsible for the creation of the Titan Track system. Skyline describes it as being an “innovative, weld-free track, which Skyline Attractions designed and engineered for Great Coasters International, Inc. Titan Track is a unique roller coaster track that consists of custom-built steel composite sections that are mechanically fastened without the need for continuous welds or cold-forming techniques. This method reduces maintenance, expedites the installation process, and offers an incredibly smooth and quiet ride experience.”
A test run of Titan Track has been running on the White Lightning coaster at Fun Spot for a couple of years now, and this season GCI added sections of Titan Track to Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake and to Wolverine Wildcat at Michigan’s Adventure. While the Fun Spot addition was a proof of concept of the product located in Orlando so GCI could show it off for potential new sales, this year’s additions are meant to help the parks smooth out trouble-spots on their existing coasters known for roughness.
This brings me back to Hersheypark’s Wildcat… which holds a special place in the Roller Coaster history books as being the very first coaster built by GCI, which opened way back in 1996. Over the years Hersheypark has worked with GCI to maintain Wildcat, and even upgraded it from the original PTC trains to GCI’s Millennium Flyer trains in 2007. So in my train of thought, given the importance of Wildcat to GCI, it would only be fitting if anyone were to convert Wildcat into a hybrid coaster, it should be GCI themselves coming in to give it a Titan Track makeover.
Keep in mind that whatever happens to Wildcat, this doesn’t necessarily mean it will have inversions or other wild elements. RMC’s first project was the conversion of the Texas Giant at Six Flags over Texas, which essentially kept the majority of the existing coaster’s layout while reprofiling the run to offer the increased thrills that the new track system could offer. If this ends up being the first full conversion to Titan Track, this could end up being a more faithful conversion of the existing layout as we know it.
Either way, exciting times ahead for Hersheypark for the 2023 season! Stay tuned!
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