So Comet is running perfectly per usual, and while Lighting Racer is still very good, it does need a decent bit of patch work.

Hersheypark TR

I was planning at being there at opening, but a car crash on the section of PA Turnpike by me took me an hour to get out of Allentown.  I left before 8:30 with the intent to be there between 9:30 and opening at 10 since I had a LOT of construction on I-78, but I didn't end up walking in the park until 10:45.  I-78 and US-22 has so many trucks going that route which didn't help the congestion. 

The lost half hour didn't really hurt the day at least.  I, being the Hersheypark connoisseur that I am, knows how the crowds go in the morning.  Crowds look crappy early on weekdays because they all flock to Candymonium and Comet early, not unlike how you don't go to GateKeeper or Raptor first at Cedar Point.  I made a beeline to the back of the park and checked coasters on the way back.  I did come armed with Fast Track, but it only does so much.  The merge points are usually just before ride stations.  Laff Trak has its merge outside the building, so if you have a full queue there, FT still gets you a minimum 20 minute wait.  Ride crews are fine for the most part, but have moments of slowness every once in a while.  I may have a high bar from my visit at BGW, so they're probably fine at HP and I'm just going off of recency bias.

Once the crowds spread and/or headed to the water park, the only real uses for the FT were Fahrenheit, Wild Mouse, and Laff Trak.  Coal Cracker and Comet had a little bit of a wait all day.   Had pizza and a salad for lunch.  The park still sits solidly at being my 3rd favorite park now, park smelled and looked great throughout, just a nice day at one of my happy place parks.   

Ride Count

1- Skyrush, Jolly Rancher Remix, Trailblazer, Fahrenheit, Wild Mouse, Laff Trak, Coal Cracker, Kissing Tower

2- Candymonium, Sooperdooper Looper, Wildcat's Revenge, Storm Runner

3-  Great Bear

5- Comet

6- Lightning Racer

Went over the woodies already.  I'm still not a fan of Skyrush.  JRR is a nice facelift for the Boomerang, though, I wish they actually used on-board music instead of just pumping music outside the station.  Looks snazzy at night.   Great Bear, among the B&M inverted coasters I've ridden, still retains being the most re-rideable of them IMO.  I had one of the better rides I've had on Fahrenheit.  Storm Runner is still amazing and the ride confirmed to me that I prefer it to Pantheon by quite a bit. 

Candymonium- This feels extremely out of place, almost kind of a reverse Thunderbird situation.  I prefer the old entrance but understand why HP had to do it, but Candymonium kinda sits by itself with the carousel that they moved way out front of the rest of the park.  I kind of lost track it was there for most of the day it feels so isolated.  The ride itself is pretty good, kind of a faster paced Diamondback with the way it rode.  The area by the fountain could be spruced up a bit, seems a bit barren.  At last plant some more trees around the entrance, its kind of a concrete wasteland. 

Wildcat's Revenge- I'm finding with the newer RMC's that they kind of tamed their shaping a bit.  It and Twisted Timbers have fewer moments of that jerky ejector air that Storm Chaser and SteVe has loads of.  It also has a nice lack of intensity than most of the other RMC's which was kind of a pleasant surprise to lay back and enjoy the layout without having to brace so much.  There is an unbanked turn past the halfway point which it flies through and has lateral forces on par with Thunderbolt and Legend, albeit brief.  One moment you're climbing up the airtime hill prior, the next you're slammed against the side.  It probably has my favorite pre-lift of the RMC's I've ridden as well.   It sits pretty close with TT for me, I prefer it to Storm Chaser and Lightning Rod, but SteVe still reigns as my favorite RMC.  

  

Twister and Phoenix still run like a dream.  Twister maintains atop my wood coasters.

I'm pretty sure Flying Turns trains are recliner chairs on wheels.

So the idea behind saving Knoebels for last was to make it an ease down day before a relaxing day at Longwood and Philly.  However, today is the hottest day of my trip.  Slight humidity, but also just straight up hot.

Tip for Phoenix- if you want the magical launch to the moon airtine where you are nearly standing up, ride in the first car.

I'll do a Knoebels TR later.

But seriously, if you guys are ever in the Philadelphia area, visit Longwood Gardens and do all the fountain shows.  Great place to relax.

I drove from Allentown to Zanesville non stop because I always try to stop on the Zanesville exit that has an A&W.  I wish I had that or a DQ in my neighborhood.

Knoebels TR

Knoebels more or less turned out to be a slightly longer Dorney Park venture.  Being the last park on the trip, I was very tired by that point and the heat wasn't helping.  I did get 4 on each woodie and 1 on the other coasters, which, Flying Turns happened to be open so got lucky there.  Seriously, between dodging the rain and Tempesto opening at BGW, Flying Turns and Skyrush being open (Skyrush opened later in the season, too), I feel I got some pretty good luck on this trip.  Google Maps did give me a good way to get to Elysburg, the problem is a lot of roads aren't marked well in the middle of the PA countryside.  Next time I go, I'm sticking to numbered routes.  Had a good burrito for lunch.