The Crowding Problem and How to Work Around It

On a peak summer Saturday, Candymonium and Skyrush will show 60 to 90-minute waits by 11 a.m. Most visitors pour into Hershey's Chocolatetown at the front of the park, see the biggest coasters, and stand in line for them all day. The result is that rides just 200 yards away with identical or better experiences are walking on.

These are the ones worth knowing about.

Wildcat's Revenge

This is the single most overlooked coaster at Hersheypark and it isn't particularly close. Wildcat's Revenge is a hybrid coaster — Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) rebuilt the bones of the old Wildcat wooden coaster with a new steel track, delivering powerful airtime hills, quick direction changes, and inversions. It opened in 2023 and the general public still hasn't caught on to how good it is.

Why the short waits: the ride runs three trains and features a separate loading platform that keeps the cycle moving. On days when Candymonium shows 75 minutes, Wildcat's Revenge often shows 20. Minimum height is 48".

When to ride: First thing after park open, or in the last two hours of the day.

Lightning Racer

Dual racing wooden coasters. Two tracks, two trains, they leave the station simultaneously and race the entire circuit. The competition element gets your group animated in a way that a single-track coaster just doesn't. Lightning Racer sits in the Pioneer Frontier area away from the main entrance, which keeps its lines perpetually shorter than they deserve.

The wooden track gives you classic airtime over the bunny hills. Nothing extreme, but genuinely fun. Minimum height 48".

When to ride: Anytime — this one rarely breaks 30 minutes even on busy days.

sooperdooperLooper

Pennsylvania's first looping roller coaster, opened in 1977, and somehow still flying under the radar. It's a single loop of steel track that delivers a complete inversion and then runs through a lakeside setting with a water splash finale. The theming and surroundings are genuinely pleasant and the ride itself is smooth.

The reason nobody lines up: it doesn't look impressive from the midway. The layout is compact and the loop doesn't tower over the park. Guests walk past it hunting for the bigger names. At 48" minimum it's actually one of the best intermediate coasters for kids growing into thrill rides.

When to ride: Midday, when everyone else is at Candymonium.

The Carrousel

Most guests treat historic carousels as a ride-once-with-small-kids attraction. The Hersheypark Carrousel is different — it retains all 66 of its original hand-carved horses from when it was built in 1919. That means no fiberglass replacements, no modernized plastic. Vintage wooden carousel horses are increasingly rare and these are in exceptional condition.

No height requirement, essentially no wait, and the ride is legitimately beautiful. Worth 10 minutes of any adult's time.

Trailblazer

A mine train coaster that threads through the Pioneer Frontier area. It's gentle enough for shorter guests but moves through the terrain with enough speed and turns to be genuinely engaging. Most adults dismiss it as a kids' ride and move on, but it's a good re-ride when you have leftover time at the end of the day and the big coasters are still showing long waits.

Almost no wait, ever.

Hershey Triple Tower

Three drop tower experiences at different heights — Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge, Hershey's Kisses Drop, and Milton's Millions. Because it's presented as one "triple" experience, guests assume they've seen it from afar and skip it. The tallest of the three hits 100 feet and provides one of the better aerial views of the park.

Lines are negligible because it looks like a kiddie ride from a distance. It is not.

ZooAmerica

Included with every Hersheypark ticket. Most guests arrive at the park, see the rides, and never walk into ZooAmerica. It's an 11-acre North American wildlife exhibit attached to the park via an elevated walkway, featuring over 200 animals including black bears, alligators, bald eagles, and bison.

Ideal break on a hot day, genuinely good if you have kids under 8, and the admission is already covered. Visit during the midday lull when coaster lines peak.

The Boardwalk (Midday)

Everyone hits the water park in the afternoon when it's hottest. If you go when the park opens and ride a few coasters first, the water park is far less crowded in the morning hours. The wave pool and lazy river see very short waits before 11 a.m.

Tips for Hitting the Gems

• Start at the back of the park (Pioneer Frontier) at rope drop — crowds funnel toward the front toward Chocolatetown first
• Wildcat's Revenge and Lightning Racer are neighbors; ride both before 10:30 a.m.
• Use the Hersheypark app for live wait times — it's accurate and updated in real time
• End your day with sooperdooperLooper and Trailblazer when the headliners have drained their crowds