Well here we are on the first day of my California trip, and I was more than overly excited when I heard last week that Skyrush would indeed open at Hersheypark on Saturday, May 26. Although Memorial Day Saturday is often a very busy day for parks, I decided to make the journey to the park and use my Dorney Park ID the get my complimentary ticket and spend some time in the park before heading to my sister’s softball tournament in nearby Mechanicsburg. While I also rode Great Bear, Lightning Racer, Wildcat, and Comet in my short day there, I am going to focus on my two rides on Skyrush for now since that is mainly what people are interested in at this point.

After seeing videos of testing and how awesome the ride looked from off-ride videos, I will admit that I was expecting this ride to be absolutely incredible. A lot of time when this happens, we see what some people call “anticipointment,” where people anticipate a ride so much that it doesn’t live up to their expectations, therefore causing disappointment. That being said, I will now admit that in no way, shape, or form did I feel “anticipointment” and the end of the ride.

I arrived at the park around 8:30AM, 90 minutes before the park gates open, but with resort guests gaining 9AM entry to get in line early, there was easily close to an hour wait right away by the time regular guests were let in at about 9:45AM. The new path that passes under Skyrush is open, and what a sight it was to be sprinting to get in line while being in awe of the sight that is, and will become even more beautiful. Two fountains sit in the middle of the two loops of the figure-eight layout, and once trees and shrubs grow into the scattered dirt spots on the hills on the side of the creek, this coaster will be even more beautiful.

By the time the ride started running trains just before 10AM, the line had backed up through the entire queue section, under the entrance sign, and down the pathway by the creek and to the front gate. I was told by various people at the park that the estimated wait between 10AM and 11AM had reached somewhere around the three hour mark.

The first few trains were dispatched to a roar of cheers and applause from the waiting crowd. To start the day, trains were being dispatched rather slowly, with anywhere from four to six minutes or so between trains leaving the station, but as the day went on they were being dispatched at a pace closer to two to three minutes, which would explain why later in the day I was able to ride after only about a half hour wait, granted that I waited about an extra twenty minutes or so for the front seat the first time around, bringing my total wait to a little over 90 minutes the first time.

As for the ride itself, I prefer the back slightly because of the incredible airtime on the drop, even though you do get a little pop in the front because the lift speed is so fast. During the ride otherwise, the airtime from front to back is pretty much the same just because the train loses hardly any speed until the end of the ride. Each hill provides scrumptious airtime reminiscent of El Toro, except on steel track. The Stengel Dive element actually provides some surprising lateral forces that send you flailing to the left and right, and the sleek lap bars allow you to take it in stride free of head banging. For those of you concerned about thigh pain, I found that making sure the bar is against your thighs at the start works well, so you are not hitting them, but rather just pressing against them over the hills.

As far as the “winged” seats go, I rode on the front right wing, and then in the back middle right seat. I have to imagine the outside seats have a lesser visual and sensual impact when not in the front row, but sitting there in the front is well worth the wait.

I don’t want to spoil too much for everyone, because I am sure it will take many who are reading this, especially those not in the east, a few years to ride. I will leave you with the fact that when I rode in the back, on each of the hills, including the drop, my shirt was lifted up to the point where it would have came off if my arms wouldn’t have been there to keep it on. So for now, good luck to those of you traveling to ride it soon, and have fun, because you are in for a special treat at the sweetest place on Earth.