2012 - Attraction 2012 - (12/3/10) Keystone thrills was able to take pictures in the Creekside catering area last week, uncovering a number of other survey markers.
(11/19/10) Screamscape sources tell us that the station for the 2012 coaster will indeed take over the current Tilt-A-Whirl site, with the ride’s queue taking over the site of the nearby bathroom in Comet Hollow. While we don’t know the entire layout, our source says to expect to see it go down past the Comet’s entrance and follow the creek up to the existing dam area by the picnic pavilion near the Comet’s turnaround.
(10/20/10) The latest rumor about Hersheypark’s 12th coaster project seems to indicate that the station for the new ride may be located near or even on the site of the old skyride station near the front entrance. Speaking of the new coaster, I had a thought. Given the questions asked by the RIT labcoats were all about the role water plays in a ride and drop ride sensations, could we be seeing a new B&M Dive Machine here?
(10/19/10) The crazy Hersheypark marketing team is at it again with what seems to be another Nantimi style viral marketing plot. Over the weekend there were a few people in white lab coats approaching guests to conduct surveys invoving questions about Airtime, water elements in rides and questions about freefall / drop rides. Fortunately for us, the staff of Keystone Thrills were one such group of guests surveyed, and have reported on the event.
Each of these lab coat staff members were wearing nametags, claiming to be staff from the “Ride Institute of Technology”. And the end of the survey, guests were given some exit passes and another small envelope with puzzle pieces in it. If you put the puzzle together it featured the RIT logo, website address and a message, “See u in the spring. Ride on!” Looking at the picture of the puzzle you’ll also notice that two of the puzzle piece are shaped like backwards numbers, so if you looked at the back of the puzzle it would make the number “12”. 12… not only as coming in 2012… but also because this will likely be the park’s 12th coaster. Now I wonder if there was a message at all on the back too… mirror writing, black-light writing, anything…
As for the website, there is a short interesting story, but no hard clues I could find… nor did I really expect to at this point in the game. No kissing on the first date after all, though they do provide an e-mail address to write into as well. Don’t bother looking to see who registered the site either… it’s been protected to cover up the owner’s identity. Nothing jumping out at me in the html code either I’m afraid, but feel free to poke around yourself as well.
While you ponder all this, Keystone Thrills has also sent us a link to their latest construction update at the park, showing off the various markings now in place.
(9/14/10) Keystone Thrills has posted some new pictures of the Comet Hollow area being prepared for some kind of construction to begin soon.
(8/28/10) So just what is going to Hershypark in 2012? No one is entirely sure, but the clues just keep coming. According to this article, they confirmed that they are seeking to rebalance the crowd level in the park by adding a major attraction to the Hollow side of the park. While they didn’t use the word coaster, it’s the most likely attraction to be on the way and will stand 212.2 feet tall. If I had to guess, I wonder if we’ll seen an expanded version of an Intamin Mega-Lite.
(8/19/10) The latest buzz for the big Hersheypark attraction does seem to back up that this may not open until the 2012 season. But after taking 2010 off from adding anything new at all, surely something new is on the way for 2011 as well you would think.
(8/7/10) Apparently the hint Hersheypark posted on their Facebook account may not have been a hint about the new attraction at all. I’m told it was followed up by a second posting that said, “Now get ready to see Hershey from your own two feet! Get ready for the first Hershey Half Marathon on Sunday, October 3. ” Bummer… but then again this is Hersheypark we’re talking about, and they’ve proven to be quite innovative about how they drop hints and tease about a new attraction in the past. (Ahem… Nantimi anyone?)
(8/6/10) Pictures of new Survey markings have been posted to Keystone Thills this week. Stakes are starting to show up this week and I’m told that there is a local meeting at the township slated for August 19th where they will discuss a proposal from Hersheypark for something big enough to need a height limit waver for something bigger than 200 feet tall, but no taller than 350 ft. So far they’ve only identfyed it as ‘Attraction 2012”. This brings us to a unique hint Hersheypark dropped as well as on their Facebook page that said: “Youve seen Hershey from the Kissing Tower.....Youve Seen Hershey from Storm Runner.....now get ready to see Hershey from......” It seems in indicate that something tall is on the way for sure.
(7/26/10) RCPro has posted new pictures of the current construction markings at Hersheypark.
(7/22/10) Keystone Thrills has posted some pictures showing off some new survey markings on the ground near the Creekside Catering area. There is still some debate about if this project is for 2011 or 2012… though one rumor suggests that it may be both. Following the rumor that this may be an new Intamin coaster, our source suggests that a section of the ride may actually punch through the venerable Comet, which would have to have it’s structure modified a bit to handle this in time to reopen for 2011, and possibly save the new ride until 2012. It’s only a rumor… don’t get worried just yet.
If that wasn’t enough, one of our readers supplied us with an overhead picture of the park, with red dots where all the survey markers were seen as of last month. I’m sure more have been spotted by now, but even then you can see the area being surveyed is quite large.
(7/7/10) Some may be thinking back to the coaster project that got away from Hersheypark… Turbulence (aka: Frequent Faller), as a possible inspiration for the park to buy a ZacSpin coaster from Intamin. However it has also been pointed out that the overall project area contained within the known survey points is really far too large for a ZacSpin, so we’ve got to think bigger. Could Hersheypark be thinking of building the first Mega-Lite coaster in the US perhaps? We know they have been a huge hit internationally. Of course Intamin also has a few other tricks we have yet to see in the US like the Wingwalker coaster, the new Spinning Coaster or even the infamous AquaTrax system. So far all we have is very mild rumors and lots of speculation. Time to do some digging.
(7/6/10) While nothing more have been firmed up, the latest rumor going around the park does seem to indicate that the next coaster at Hersheypark will likely be from Intamin again.
(6/14/10) The latest rumors swirling around Hersheypark’s next big coaster project actually now throw Premier Rides into the mix with Intamin as well… and hint that B&M is now more unlikely. Many also seem to think that the project may not be until the 2012 season, though with surveying going on right now, anything can happen.
As for those markers, I’ve been contacted by a reader with some professional experience as an actual surveyor and was told that the markings we’ve seen so far have nothing at all to do with the layout of the project. All of the triangle markings found so far have a “Mag Nail” driven into the asphalt in the center and are actually “Control Points”, which are then usually number sequentially as they are created. These points mark the locations the surveyors use to work from... and not the location of the project itself. If people look hard enough, there should be more of these Control Points discovered around the site, as they are set up in a loop around the actual area where the work will be done. So once all the different Control Points are discovered, we should have a large loop surrounding the overall location of the new project area. However the loop could be quite large... much larger than the actual project itself, as I’m told that the permitter loop would also include any and all sites where other infrastructure work (electric, water, sewer, roads, walkways, etc) will also be modifed or tied into.
So really the best thing to do right now, other than to find more markers, would be to also create an overhead map showing off the location of each discovered and numbered marker as time goes on.
(6/10/10) Lots of rumors are starting to swirl about the next big coaster in the works for Hersheypark… both good and bad. Starting with the bad news, one rumor claims that this could result in the end of the classic Sooper-Dooper Looper, though I really hope that one is wrong.
As always, there are tons of rumors claiming that the park’s next coaster will be a B&M at last again, despite the fact that they had been sticking with Intamin for the last few. If they do go with B&M, the ride could be either a Flyer or possibly even a Hypercoaster, but there is no telling what it may be if they go with Intamin. Certainly an Intamin Mega-Lite coaster would go over well in this area too, but it’s too early to tell.
(6/8/10) A few pictures showing off some of the survey markings being made in Comet Hollow at Hersheypark can be found at Keystone Thrills.
(6/2/10) I’m told that small white triangle looking survey markers can be found around the Comet Hollow area. One is even said to be placed right under a section of Great Bear’s track. Anyone have pictures?
(6/1/10) The latest rumor sent in about Hersheypark claims that they may be looked at obtaining a new B&M coaster creation in the next two years. While nothing is set in stone yet, I’m told that the rumor going around is that the station may be placed in the Comet Hollow section of the park, which is also expected to see the Tilt-A-Whirl removed after this season. More when we find out.
