Product Code Database
Skyrush is an Intamin prototype Wing Coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened to the general public on May 26, 2012, as Hersheypark's 12th roller coaster and the park's third coaster made by Intamin. Skyrush features a cable lift that raises the train at . The roller coaster is located in the Hollow section of Hersheypark, next to the Comet wooden coaster; Skyrush itself is mainly set above Spring Creek.
The concept for what is now Skyrush dates to 2007, but Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company did not file plans for the ride's construction until August 2010. Hersheypark launched the Attraction 2012 marketing campaign to promote what eventually became Skyrush, and the park officially announced the ride in August 2011. Despite delays caused by flooding, Skyrush opened to the general public on May 26, 2012. Reviews of the ride have generally been positive, and Amusement Todays Golden Ticket Awards ranked Skyrush as the fifth-best new ride for 2012. Additionally, in every year except 2016 and 2020, Skyrush has been ranked in the Golden Ticket Awards as one of the world's 50 best steel roller coasters.
Hersheypark launched a marketing campaign, Attraction 2012, to promote what eventually became Skyrush. The Patriot-News wrote that the campaign included "fake Web pages, hidden messages, foreign languages and symbolism". Although Hersheypark publicly divulged little about the new ride, Attraction 2012 prompted extensive discussion on social media. Park officials submitted to Derry Township officials in April 2011, indicating that a roller coaster with a winding layout would be built in the Hollow section of Hersheypark. Work on the coaster had begun in early 2011, when workers began diverting Spring Creek, allowing the ride's concrete supports to be constructed. By June 2011, pieces for the as-yet-unnamed attraction had arrived on site. In conjunction with the Attraction 2012 campaign, Hershey Entertainment filed a trademark for the name "Skyrush" by July 2011.
The ride was officially announced on August 2, 2011. Skyrush was to be the first new roller coaster at Hersheypark since Fahrenheit in 2008. Skyrush was built on the site of the Sunken Gardens, a portion of Hersheypark that had not been open to the public since 1972. The Sunken Gardens was redesigned when Skyrush was constructed. The site was flooded in September 2011 during Tropical Storm Lee, which forced workers to remove and reinstall all of the concrete footings; this delayed construction by three weeks. The along Spring Creek were rebuilt in conjunction with the Skyrush project, and the area received new landscaping. Because of a relatively mild winter in late 2011 and early 2012, construction crews were able to complete the ride before its scheduled opening on Memorial Day in 2012. The ride's construction employed up to 160 workers simultaneously.
Skyrush opened to the general public on May 26, 2012. The ride cost $25 million and was the 12th roller coaster at Hersheypark, as well as the third coaster that Intamin built at the park (after Storm Runner and Fahrenheit). With Skyrush's completion, Hersheypark rebranded the surrounding section of the park from "Comet Hollow" to "The Hollow". Park officials anticipated that the ride's opening would cause the park's attendance to increase. Skyrush was one of three to open in the United States in 2012, the others being Wild Eagle at Dollywood and X-Flight at Six Flags Great America. The three Wing Coasters were featured on a Good Morning America segment in June 2012. Skyrush was also Intamin's only Wing Coaster installation until 2016, when Flying Aces opened at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.
In 2024, Hersheypark announced via their Instagram account that Skyrush would be receiving an updated logo, new seats, and new restraints for the 2024 season. In addition to the train upgrades, the station was "reimagined" with new lighting and sound effects.
The roller coaster was the first Wing Coaster installed by Intamin. It has two trains, each with 32 seats; there are eight cars in each train, each with one row of four seats. The trains are of extended width, with the two center seats in each row directly above the chassis and two additional seats that hang off the width of the chassis. The seats have lap bar restraints, which consist of flat plates that hold down the lower body of each rider; there are no over-the-shoulder restraints for each rider's upper body. Soon after the ride opened, guests criticized the lap bar restraints as overly painful because the restraints exert high amounts of pressure on the lower body. In 2024, the seats and restraints were replaced.
During the off-season (end of Hersheypark in the Dark and lasting through March of the following year), the queue area next to the station is disassembled. A crane then lifts the trains off the track and into the queue area, where two or three employees overhaul the trains.
The original ride restraints that were used between 2012 and 2023 was frequently criticized by many Roller Coaster enthusiasts and general riders due to the potential pressure they caused to a rider's thighs while riding which could result in thigh pain. This resulted in some people using the derogatory nickname of "thighcrush" to describe the ride. The new ride restraints used since 2024 have been called more comfortable compared to the original restraints and have been praised by some reviewers.
|
|
