Roller Coaster Guide to Hersheypark: Every Coaster Ranked
Hersheypark quietly runs one of the deepest coaster lineups in America: hypercoasters, a modern RMC hybrid, launch coasters, dueling wood, and antiques from 1946 and 1977 that still deliver. Here is every major coaster ranked, with the seat and the hour that make each one its best self.
1. Skyrush
- Ride experience: 200 feet tall, 75 mph, and the most aggressive airtime on the East Coast. The winged outer seats hang you over nothing while the ride hammers through ejector hills at full speed. It is short, violent, and perfect. Hersheypark installed new seats and restraints in 2024 that significantly reduced the notorious "thigh crusher" lap bar pressure, it rides considerably more comfortably than it used to. Still the most intense ejector airtime on the East Coast.
- Height requirement: 54 inches.
- Best seat: Back row, left wing seat. Nothing else in Pennsylvania compares.
- Best time to ride: Any time. Our wait tracking shows Skyrush averages about 9 minutes, the shortest line among the giants, because the train swallows people. Night rides are mandatory.
2. Wildcat's Revenge
- Ride experience: The RMC hybrid rebuild of the old Wildcat. A whipping first drop, a massive wall stall that hangs you sideways, and relentless pacing through the woodwork. The best all-around coaster in the park.
- Height requirement: 48 inches.
- Best seat: Back row for drop whip, front for the stall visual.
- Best time to ride: Rope drop. It sits deep in Midway America and pulls steady lines all day.
3. Candymonium
- Ride experience: The B&M hyper. 210 feet, big graceful hills, long floater airtime, and a glassy-smooth ride that makes 76 mph feel friendly.
- Height requirement: 54 inches.
- Best seat: Back row for airtime, front row at night for the view.
- Best time to ride: Last hour. It is near the front gate, so it is busiest at open and empty at close.
4. Storm Runner
- Ride experience: Hydraulic launch, 0 to 72 mph in about two seconds, straight up a top hat, then a flying snake dive that remains one of the strangest inversions anywhere.
- Height requirement: 54 inches.
- Best seat: Front row. The launch is the ride.
- Best time to ride: Morning, before its modest capacity meets the midday crowd.
5. Fahrenheit
- Ride experience: A vertical lift, a 97-degree beyond-vertical first drop, and a tight inverting layout with a Norwegian loop.
- Height requirement: 54 inches.
- Best seat: Back row, where the drop pulls you over the edge.
- Best time to ride: First two hours. It has the worst throughput of the majors; our data shows it averages nearly 17 minutes, among the longest waits in the park.
6. Great Bear
- Ride experience: The B&M invert that swoops off the hillside, howls over sooperdooperLooper and the creek, and ends too soon.
- Height requirement: 54 inches.
- Best seat: Front row, left side.
- Best time to ride: Midday works; the line moves.
7. Lightning Racer
- Ride experience: Dueling GCI woodies, Lightning versus Thunder, with racing finishes decided by ounces. Smooth, fast, endlessly re-rideable.
- Height requirement: 48 inches.
- Best seat: Front row of either train; pick the side that lost your last race.
- Best time to ride: Evening, when the wood is warm and the races feel faster.
8. Comet
- Ride experience: The 1946 classic at the front gate, still throwing honest airtime once it warms up.
- Height requirement: 42 inches. Best seat: back. Best time: late afternoon, fully warmed.
9. sooperdooperLooper
- Ride experience: The 1977 Schwarzkopf single-loop pioneer, butter smooth with real positive Gs. Height: 42 inches. Best seat: front. Best time: anytime; it is a walk-on machine.
10. The rest
- Laff Trakk: indoor spinner, 42 inches. Fun once, but our tracking shows it averages 20 minutes, the longest wait in the park. Ride at rope drop or skip.
- Jolly Rancher Remix: the rethemed boomerang, 48 inches. Midday filler.
- Wild Mouse and Trailblazer: hairpin classic and starter mine train for the kids in your group.
- Twizzlers Twisted Gravity: the newest addition, still drawing curiosity lines around 10 minutes. Check it early.
First-timers guide order
Wildcat's Revenge, Lightning Racer, Great Bear, Candymonium, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, then Skyrush once your confidence is earned, with Comet and sooperdooperLooper as palate cleansers.
Enthusiast order
Wildcat's Revenge at rope drop, Fahrenheit and Storm Runner before 11 AM, Skyrush laps through the afternoon since the line stays short, Lightning Racer races at dusk, Candymonium and Skyrush again in the dark. Laff Trakk only if the board says under 15.
Thoosie