Road Trip. Day 4. Upside Down.
Today’s the day!
We woke up around 7:30 and we were actually out of the room a little after 9. We went to the quick service place and got breakfast, got on the shuttle around 9:30, and were at the gates of Hershey by 9:50. THIS is a rope drop I can get on board with. The park opens at 11, but if you are staying at a Hershey property you get in an hour early.
We were let in and went straight to the Reese’s Cupfusion because we heard that line builds up fast. We got there, but it was still “closed for maintenance.” We didn’t want to give up our spot so one of us stayed on line while the rest of us took the girls on a few kiddie rides. After they did 3 rides the Reese’s ride opened, and there was STILL a short wait. I can’t even imagine waiting on the actual line because it barely moves. The ride was fun, kind of like Buzz Lightyear. We all enjoyed.
From there Inbar and I headed down towards the Sooper Dooper Looper with Hallie. This is a real roller coaster and goes upside down. Hallie had heard her friend went on it so she was set on doing it as well. Hallie did amazing and really loved the ride. I’m so proud.
From there we saw on the app that the Comet was only a half hour wait. Well, that was wrong. We were on that line for over an hour. It was a nightmare. At one point some entertainment troop came by and did “Name That Tune” which was moderately entertaining, but the line was painful. While on line we saw one of the second grade teachers from HAFTR go by. As we were about to get on the ride, they told us to wait while people came in from the exit. It was people who were on crutches, a whole group of them. Obviously we were “understanding” but after over an hour of waiting it was just rough. Anyway, we finally got on the ride and it was really fun. Hallie was a little taken aback but she enjoyed it. Unfortunately those are the only two big coasters she can do.
While we did those rides, Tzvi took Madeleine to the teacups and then the swing, which is exactly what it sounds like – a giant swing that just swings back and forth. Tzvi doesn’t like roller coasters because he gets nauseous, so I was surprised he went on two incredibly nauseating rides, but it was nice he wanted to appease Madeleine. They also rode the carousel, which is pretty fast for a carousel, so more spinning around for him.
While we were still waiting on line for Comet Tzvi got food from the Kosher food truck. When we got off we headed to meet them and ate lunch. It was chicken nuggets and fries for everyone. Actually, Tzvi and I got the chicken sandwiches, which turned out to just be chicken nuts on a bun. Definitely not as good as I remember – in the olden days you would get a huge bucket of fries. No more. Shame.
After lunch we walked to the monorail, because the app said it was a 10 minute wait. Guess what - it was an hour. This app is ridiculous and made us waste so much time, it was infuriating. There was only one monorail running. Like, why. It was cute though, but not worth an hour wait. After that we split up. Inbar and I went to do coasters and Tzvi took the girls.
We walked around the park and wound up at Wildcats Revenge. This was the re-done wildcat. It was insane. Terrifying. You can’t go on it if you are a leg amputee because the ride literally holds you in by the legs. Definitely the scariest coaster I’ve been on. After that we did the Lightning Racers, which used to be fun, but was now just painful (is it because the coaster is 15 years older, or because I’m 15 years older?).
[Tzvi: we walked all the way around to the other end of the park looking for Dippin Dots, which Hallie is obsessed with for some reason. The girls both got them, then Hallie ate hers and half of Madeleine’s. I just don’t understand the appeal. Then they wanted to go on the frog hopper, which is a little ride that goes up and down (and not very fast). They could’ve done it themselves, but once again Madeleine wanted me to join them, so… I rode the frog hopper. Twice. Then we went on the little train. It wasn’t even like I was sitting with them on the train – they were in the front cab “driving” it and I was on a bench behind them, but the cab was enclosed so it wasn’t even like we could see each other. But they wanted me on that train!]
We all met up at the Sunoco auto track, which is like Autopia in Disney – basically little cars on a track and you steer and press the gas. Madeleine and Hallie enjoyed driving. Then we took a ride up the Kissing Tower, but we forgot to kiss.
Walking out we saw that the line for Great Bear looked short, even though the app said it was 30 minutes. Inbar and I did it and it was definitely shorter than 30 minutes. We found Tzvi and Hallie sitting in Starbucks charging Tzvi’s phone. I took Hallie to do another small coaster, the Cocoa Cruiser. It was more fun than it looked. We hit the Merry Go Round one more time, and Inbar and I ended the day with Candymoniun, another major coaster. I guess the thing with new coasters is not harnessing your body, but just having a big lap bar, which is basically terrifying because you don’t feel locked in. Guess it’s part of the thrill.
We did some shopping at the main store at the park entrance, but they didn’t have the sweatshirt that Hallie wanted that she had seen in another store earlier in the day, so she made me walk back into the park to find that sweatshirt. Well, the sweatshirt ended up being adult sized, so she picked out a different sweatshirt, which it turns out they sell in the shop in our hotel. At least she’s happy. Madeleine got a life sized (well, her size) chocolate bar plush doll.
For dinner we ate at the Chocolatier, the main restaurant located at the park entrance. The food was pretty good. I got a heath bar crusted salmon, Tzvi got a veggie burger, and the kids got pizza and pasta. We ordered ice cream sundaes for the kids, and then a “Wildcat” sundae and peach cake for us. Well, dessert took about 45 minutes. They said it was because they were taking extra precautions because of the allergies. It was crazy. So much waiting today. They didn’t charge us for the dessert, thankfully.
By the time we got out of dinner it was after nine. We Ubered back to the hotel and went right to bed.
Fun day.