http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx...7b-83bf6f2cd0c2

Lets look at the facts:

- No huge/ major/ -est coasters. Just some fun, good coasters.

- New addition to Waterpark in 2007 (Boardwalk)

- VERY clean park

- You don't need a home equity loan to eat there

- Many fun, family rides

- Gives you the old- style "carnival" feeling- i.e. you can smell the cotton candy/ candy apple in the midways, the attractions at night are lit up so good- it really takes your breathe away.

Hershey is one of two parks that make me remember what KI was like in the early to mid 80's.

And for those who have not had the opportunity to enjoy Hershey yet. Plan a 3 to 4 day vacation in 2008. Go to Kennywood and Hershey. You will not be disappointed at all.

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx...7b-83bf6f2cd0c2

Lets look at the facts:

- No huge/ major/ -est coasters. Just some fun, good coasters.

- New addition to Waterpark in 2007 (Boardwalk)

- VERY clean park

- You don't need a home equity loan to eat there

- Many fun, family rides

- Gives you the old- style "carnival" feeling- i.e. you can smell the cotton candy/ candy apple in the midways, the attractions at night are lit up so good- it really takes your breathe away.

Hershey is one of two parks that make me remember what KI was like in the early to mid 80's.

And for those who have not had the opportunity to enjoy Hershey yet. Plan a 3 to 4 day vacation in 2008. Go to Kennywood and Hershey. You will not be disappointed at all.

And just add in Entertainment ... Bingo ... It's the exact points I've been harping on that Kings Island needs to get back to.

If I were going to Pennsylvania for a vacation from the Cincinnati area, and the primary purpose was to visit parks, I'd somehow work Knoebels Amusement Resort into that Kennywood/Hersheypark mix. It's a real treasure. I bet Dick Knoebels' attendance is up this year, as well. I adore both Kennywood and Hersheypark, but Knoebels is not to be missed.

http://www.knoebels.com/

Ahhh... Kennywood. So many of their rides are just chart toppers. Plus the food is excellent too.

When I was going to visit KW, I posted on KPConnection.com that I was only going for a few hours and asked what hidden gems I should avoid missing. They ALL ranted about all the food I should try.

Kennywood is just one of those amazing parks.

Great attendance every time that I've been there and fantastic service throughout the park.

Hershey was voted number one park outside of Orlando this year also. It has to be because of the new Wildcat trains

^ No joke, dude. Best trains ever. It's like riding on a couch.

Well, like riding on a couch with a rather large cat sitting in your lap.

As for best trains ever, I don't know...but of the ones I have ridden, that honor would have to go the wooden coaster at Puyallup, Coaster at Playland in Vancouver, Jackrabbit at Kennywood and the Lakeside Cyclone. Honorable mention to the old oiler train on Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake.

But of the modern wooden coaster trains, I gotta agree...nuttin better than Millennium Flyers from Great Coasters International.

Where would y'all put Hershey Park in comparison to other parks across the country? There are some who call it the park with "best coaster collection in the US" while others just look at as a regular park.

I out it somewhere in the range of Kings Island from what I have seen of the park.  I haven't been yet.  Was supposed to go in 2020 but we wanted to wait to see the park at its fullest for our first visit.  I would say upper midtier.  

I went once in 2015 and I really like Hershey. It's got a great collection of coasters, plus a waterpark and mini-zoo.  Lightning Racer is a really fun coaster and I enjoyed Storm Runner and Great Bear as well. Actually, most of their coasters are really good quality. The only ones I had issue with were Wildcat (it was just alright...), Skyrush (if it wasn't for those thigh-crushing restrains, I'm sure it would be an amazing coaster) and Trailblazer (it was meh). See my trip report here for my full experience (it's the first post in the thread): 

 

Our most recent trip was this past year, second week of operations in early July. The new entrance area and Candymonium were top class. I slightly prefer Diamondback, but Candymonium was great. Coaster collection wise, I prefer CP, KI, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great America. SkyRush is so hard to love, the restraints are as bad as advertised. Fahrenheit is a weak Intamin IMO, and Wildcat is in desperate need of either Titan Track or the RMC treatment. Comet is a sleeper hit there, great old school woodie. Great Bear is unique, but limited. Their collection is solid, but not top 4 to me. I think BGT passes them as well with Iron Gwazi. Their Covid ops were also the weakest of the 5 parks we visited in 2020. Mask enforcement was nearly non existent, though I heard that improved a bit as the season progressed.