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    (6/18/13) We’ve seen this talked about over the past few years and the latest plan for the needed road realignment behind the park (MORE...)
    (5/20/13) Screamscape sources tell us that Hersheypark may soon unveil some kind of memorial in front of the Wildcat for an employee who passed away from cancer (MORE...)
    (5/3/13) The new 4D show at Hershey’s Chocolate World has now opened. You can see a review and details about what makes this impressive (MORE...)
    (4/22/13) According to a post on BlooLoop the new Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4D attraction will be ready to open sometime in May.

General Resort News - (5/20/13) Screamscape sources tell us that Hersheypark may soon unveil some kind of memorial in front of the Wildcat for an employee who passed away from cancer earlier this year by the name of Nick Pantalone. Nick was said to have been just 19 when he passed away after suffering from an aggressive form of cancer for 3 years. I’ve also heard that his voice may be added to some of the recordings on the Wildcat, Lightning Racer and Great Bear attractions.
    “Nick was a Four Diamonds kid at the Hershey Med Center, a foundation that helps families with kids that have pediatric cancer. Four Diamonds pays for expensive treatments (each shot can be over $1,000), pays for counseling, and even pays to help children achieve what would otherwise be impossible to make the best of a terrible situation.”  I look forward to hearing more about this when Hersheypark makes the official unveiling.
    (4/9/13) A detailed report on the various changes made to SkyRush this season has been posted to All American Thrills. They confirm that there are NO trims on the first drop at all (thank god!) but instead the quick lift hill system slows down as you crest the top.
    (4/8/13) Good news for Hersheypark guests as the park finally opened Skyrush for the 2013 season late on Saturday afternoon. Reports are very limited at this point, but the early word on Twitter is that there have been some modifications to the position station’s loading gates to allow for quicker loading / unloading. I’ve also seen a report claiming that the speed of the lift hill may have been reduced as a way to try and slow down the ride just a little bit as well as cut down on the restraint discomfort.
    Speaking of the restraints… while there don’t appear to have been modifications to the restraints, I did get a report claiming that the airtime-filled ride did feel much more comfortable to their legs than what they remembered from last year. There was also an unconfirmed possible sighting of a trim at the top of the first drop, so if anyone can confirm or deny that rumor, please do let me know.
    (2/22/13) I’ve been told that Hersheypark has now removed Skyrush from the list of rides that will be open for the “Spring in the Park” event weekends on March 29-31, April 6-7 and April 13-14.
    (1/19/13) Hersheypark’s Chocolate Covered February is on the way back again... the popular annual event where those with a healthy obsession with chocolate that really crank it up to 11. In addition to the different Chocolate-Covered Family Fun and Romance vacation packages, the resort will also hold the Chocolate Dinner Extraordinaire on February 1st, a vareity of other Chocolate-Infused Dinner specials throughout the resort, Chocolate-Covered Children’s Teas, Chocolate Tastings, Wine & Chocolate Pairings, Chocolate Spa Treatments, Chocolate Martinis and much much more. Click here to find out all about it!
    (12/7/12) All American Thrills pokes around Hersheypark this week to see what they can find out about the off-season work taking place on SkyRush.
    (11/26/12) Hershey Entertainment and Resorts has a new CEO by the name of William F. Simpson Jr. according to the local news. He will replace Ted Kleisner (who is retiring) starting January 1st, 2013. As for the future, he mentions that park guests can expect some updates to the park’s water rides in the future.
    (11/12/12) While nothing much has been mentioned about the rumored removal of the Roller Soaker from Hersheypark, it has been noticed that the ride has been listed in a posting of available attractions on the IRM Facebook page at the top of the Coasters section as Setpoint Family Suspended. The stats match up with the RCDB listing for the ride as well.
    (10/23/12) All American Thrills has reported in from Hersheypark this week, taking a look at the latest changes happening up on SkyRush. The station is fenced in and queue line removed for the time being, with one of the trains sitting where the queue would normally be.
    (10/15/12) There has been some speculation as to why SkyRush may be closed for the remainder of the season, including possible work on the restraints as well as a possible reconfiguration of the station to allow for better load/unloading. However on top of both of these two obvious areas of needed improvement, Coaster-Net reports that the real reason for the immediate shutdown involves a new issue that came up. According to their report, nearly all of the train’s wheel axles failed a recent inspection, and will require extensive repair work.
    (10/12/12) Screamscape sources tell us that Skyrush will be closed for Hersheypark in the Dark, and possibly through to next season.  Could it be time to make some new modifications to the coaster and restraint system?

2013 - New 4D Film in Chocolate World - (5/3/13) The new 4D show at Hershey’s Chocolate World has now opened. You can see a review and details about what makes this impressive new 4D theater interactive show different from all the rest over at AllAmericanThrills. Tickets cost $6.95 and the show is about 20 minutes long.
    (4/22/13) According to a post on BlooLoop the new Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4D attraction will be ready to open sometime in May.
    (4/8/13) We’ve got a picture of some construction taking place over at Chocolate World this week. This is all part of a long term plan to expand the independent attraction over the next few years, including a plan to add 6,580sqft of additional retail space by 2016-2017. No word yet on when the new 4D Theater show will be ready to open, or what it will be called. The hints on the website only indicate that we will see Hershey’s Product Characters brought to life like we have never seen before to help tell this new 4D story. They did release a little teaser video on YouTube however that may have given away the title as, “Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4D”. Two more videos, one featuring Reece’s and Kiss have also been put online in the last few days. The hints so far indicate that the 4D theater show will be interact with the audience in a way never seen before, allowing there to be over 100 different possible outcomes to the story.

    (8/16/12) CoasterCrew reports on their Facebook page that a sign has been placed in front of the “Hershey’s Really Big 3D Show” attraction at Chocolate World stating that this is the film’s final season and that a new 3D Show was coming in Spring 2013.

2013 - Boardwalk Expansion - (4/10/13) According to new listings on the Hersheypark website, it looks like the names for the two new waterslides added to The Boardwalk this season are Hydro and Pipeline, along with the Shoreline Sprayground area replacing the old Roller Soaker.
    (4/8/13) The new Orange and Yellow waterslides in the Boardwalk are now in place. Thanks to a picture sent in by one of our readers who visited the park, everyone can see them as well, added to the right side of the platform in the picture.
    (3/8/13) AllAmericanThrills reports finding Orange and Yellow slide pieces now on site for Hersheypark’s waterpark expansion project, which is supposed to add two new slides. So far the park has not released details about the new slides yet.
    (1/11/13) The latest update from All American Thrills shows that nearly all of the Roller Soaker has now been removed from Hersheypark.
    (1/2/13) A new demolition update from the Roller Soaker has been posted to All American Thrills this week where it looks like about half of the coaster has now been removed.
    (12/21/12) Hersheypark told the local media that the Roller Soaker will be replaced by a 5,000 sqft Sprayground area along with additional seating areas for the Boardwalk waterpark. They will also add two new water slides to the Boardwalk itself which will be ready by Memorial Day weekend.
    (12/20/12) Hersheypark has confirmed on their Facebook page at long last that the Roller Soaker is being removed from the park to make room for a yet to be announced new water attraction.
    (12/18/12) The latest word from All American Thrills on the status of Roller Soaker is that workers are now on site removing the nearby water guns and canopy structures near the coaster, and the queue ramp has now been completely destroyed. They also spotted some workers looking like they may be removing the mostly unsed over-flow queue area for Lightning Racer. No word yet on what the site may be used for instead.
    (12/14/12) All American Thrills has posted the first pictures showing off what seems to be the first steps of removing the Roller Soaker from Hersheypark. The trains are all removed, which isn’t that unusual as it is the off-season, but they have also started to take apart the ramp up to the station.
    (12/10/12) I’m hearing that we can expect an announcement soon from Hersheypark regarding the future expansion plans for the Boardwalk area of the water (ie: new water attractions) which should also include the long awaited confirmation that Roller Soaker is leaving. Look for this to happen sometime in the next month.
    (8/24/12) Hersheypark is attempting a little PR Spin Control this week the park’s PR team told the local news that the Roller Soaker is NOT for sale, despite the online listing showing that it is. Of course this wouldn’t be the first time a ride has been listed as being for sale and denied as such by the park, only to see it removed a few weeks later anyway. It also wouldn’t be the first time that a ride was listed for sale... only to see it sitting pretty at the park for years to come, if no one was interested in buying it.
   Of course the park only really said that the ride was not for sale... and not for $799,000. They did not say that it was staying in the park. Backing up the ride’s possible pending removal comes a story from a park guest who while standing in line for Roller Soaker this week, saw a worker from the local “PA 1 CALL” group on site. This is who you call to mark off all your underground utilities before you begin digging and construction work, and they were seen marking off the utilities between the Roller Soaker and Lazy River.
    (8/21/12) It has now been un-officially confirmed that Roller Soaker will be leaving Hersheypark this winter. The unique Set Point creation is now listed for sale on Rides4U for $799,000.
    (8/15/12) During the Coaster Crew “Rush The Sky” event at Hersheypark over this past weekend, an important hint was dropped by the staff during the behind the scenes tour. The group was told to be sure to ride all 12 roller coasters in the park before they leave, “because that number won’t be the same next year.”  With SkyRush having just opened, it seems a good bet that the park is ready to retire one of their coasters this winter.
    Nothing more was said, but the general speculation over the past few years is that Roller Soaker was on it’s last legs. The very limited capacity and success of the water park attractions around it simply make the site more valuable for a waterpark expansion than the park’s coaster count.  I suppose we could also see the Wild Mouse or even Trailblazer retired as well, but my money is on Roller Soaker right now.

Site Expansion Plans - (6/18/13) We’ve seen this talked about over the past few years and the latest plan for the needed road realignment behind the park, which will also allow Hersheypark to eventually expand over into the golf course site can be seen here.
    (6/17/11) We’ve talked about this before on Screamscape, where a proposed moving of Park Blvd. behind the park would open up a huge section (31 acres) of land to allow for a massive expansion to Hersheypark over the next decade or more. Now Keystone Thrills has posted their own write up about it, followed by the local news doing their own write up about it as well.
    (5/3/10) I’m glad to report that we were contacted by someone who claims to have worked on the plans for the rerouting of the roads behind Hersheypark who tells us that the Hersheypark Monorail was taken into consideration and the plans for the new roads were designed to go around it, so it will not be removed.
    (5/2/10) I believe some of this may have been mentioned before but this article from March outlines some proposed road changes, relocations and an intersection removal all around the area of Hersheypark where the back section of the Monorail route goes, which is sure to have some kind of effect on the park. Specifically the bit about realigning the way Cocoa Ave. and Park. Ave connect, which you can see in the map would make the easiest way to do this to run the new road right down the same path that the monorail beam takes.
    Previous rumors from last fall also mentioned a possible plan to move the western side of Park Blvd. so that it would travel through the golf course site instead, opening up that property for the next 100 years of happy expansion possibilities. Unfortunately the only really solid way to access this section of the park would be right through the current main entrance area, requiring a new main entrance area to be built elsewhere. The most likely idea could be to just simply move it over slightly to take up the location of the current backstage road and building(s) between the current entrance and the Arena, allowing them to keep on using most of the existing gift shops and amenities now in place in Tudor Square. 
    Keep in mind this is all very long term planning being rumored here… stuff that would probably take most of the next decade to see realized… if they opt to go that way. I was just thinking that perhaps some of this was a related trade-off… a bit of Quid Pro Quo if you will.
    (9/11/09) Screamscape sources tell us that Hersheypark is looking into plans that would relocate Park Blvd on the south side of the park to take a new path through the old Country Club site. The old road will be removed allowing for Hersheypark to expand into the remainder of the property there over the years as needed.