Screamscape recently reported that Hersheypark will likely be removing the steel suspended coaster Roller Soaker this winter. The park dropped a hint about a roller coaster leaving the lineup at a CoasterCrew event. And now, Screamscape has pointed us to a for sale listing that looks a lot like Roller Soaker.
I never got to ride it, but I did ride a similar Setpoint coaster at Freestyle Music Park and Flying Super Saturator at Carowinds. Roller Soaker looked like a lot of fun. It was quite a sight to witness an epic water battle. Guests below took aim with water canons as riders flying overhead bombed their attackers with the 16 gallons of water that the suspended cars held. I doubt that the ride will be replaced with another roller coaster as Hersheypark will likely use the space for another water ride.
Will you miss Roller Soaker? Leave a comment and vote in the poll below. Image via CC courtesy of Roller Coaster Philosophy
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August 22, 2012 at 07:22
I've never ridden one of these rides, but to me they look kind of gimmicky. They don't look exciting at all (I realize they're family rides) so I won't be disappointed that I never got a chance to ride one.
August 22, 2012 at 08:15
I will miss it especially now because I was just there August 3rd and decided not to ride it because the line was tremendously long. If I knew about the rumors of it being taken down, I might have ridden it. And since last year I accidentally poured all my water out in the station, I didn't get to drop water on guests except for previous rides on it I had when I was younger. I will miss it, but I have to agree that it has a horrible loading capacity.
August 22, 2012 at 08:57
Huh! I never got around to riding this. It looked potentially fun, but more as a water ride/game-like experience than a roller coaster.
August 22, 2012 at 10:00
Hershey is my home park, and I've riddne the Roller Soaker many, many times. It's not a thrilling coaster, but it's TONS of fun, and very unique! The wait times and capacity for the ride are horrible, though–it's the slowest moving line in the park and looks a lot shorter than the wait time actually is. I'm not surprised Hershey is getting rid of it, but I'm glad I waited an hour to ride it for (probably) the last time a couple days ago! Maybe we'll get a water coaster like Master Blaster in its place…nothing like that here is Northeast PA!
August 22, 2012 at 20:23
It sounds like the capacity might have done this ride in. On a different note, since Hershey is your home park, what's your take on Skyrush? Did you find it fun, painful, both? Have you encountered the new softer restraints?
August 26, 2012 at 09:55
Skyrush is awesome! It is the most intense coaster I've ever ridden (granted, I still haven't been to Cedar Point or ridden Intimidator 305 or Kingda Ka yet…lol). I have ridden it twice (in May and June), and it was even better the second time. I never had any problem with painful restraints like many others have–I was in the outer winged seat both times, so maybe it's an inside-seat issue? I was going to ride Skyrush again when I went to Hershey again this past Monday, but rain unfortunately cut our trip short. I will hopefully be heading out to Hershey again in either September or October, so I can see what's up with the new restraints then!
August 27, 2012 at 07:47
Do you know if Skyrush is gonna be open for Hershey Park after dark?
August 27, 2012 at 10:02
According to Hershey's web site, it will be!
August 22, 2012 at 12:08
Knowing it would be a slow loading ride with horrible capacity, I went on this first thing when I went to Hershey and I loved it. Of course there was no line so my opinion may be different if I had to wait an hour, but it was a blast drenching people both from the ride and from the ground. My buddy nailed a lifeguard at the nearby lazy river with a water bomb and got a huge reaction from the crowd below, great fun. The interactivity was the difference between a boring ride, barely a coaster, and an entertaining attraction. I hope the replacement ride/slide/attraction is a worthy one.
August 22, 2012 at 15:56
It also occurs to me that these things are among the few true suspended coasters (as opposed to inverted coasters) that are still around.
August 22, 2012 at 16:50
I Agree with Jessica. This coaster is fun, especially for the kids, but the wait times and ride capacity are awful. Also, the ride breaks down quite a bit… One time my niece and waited an hour, and the ride broke down when we were about to get on because of a problem with the restraint system. I won't be shedding a tear about Roller Soaker's removal.
August 22, 2012 at 21:52
i go to hersheypark often as im only 15 mins away but i knew this ride was going to get plucked eventually. its service life was running out plus like everyone has said the capacity is horrible. but for me the ride is not NEARLY worth the usual almost 2 hour wait, and im sure hershey noticed. id rather ride the other coasters anyway.
August 23, 2012 at 16:42
rode it in 06. line was too long, ride was too short and boring. very bad load/unload procedure.
August 24, 2012 at 21:19
I live 10 minutes from the park and have been on this several times over the years. The Pros: interactive experience on the ground and on the ride. It is a neat concept. The Cons: Very long wait time and not a lot of riders per hour. It's location at the back corner of the Boardwalk and proximity to Lightning Racer makes sense to replace this with another type of water attraction. I will not miss it.
August 25, 2012 at 00:04
I think the powers that be at Hersheypark will take this opportunity to expand the water park. The "Boardwalk" area of the park is always jam-packed, and, although I personally aren't crazy about the idea, it would definitely be in the park's best interest to expand this area by adding more slides (speed slide, anyone?) and/or another pool of some sort.
August 24, 2012 at 21:55
Hersheypark is now apparently denying the ride is for sale–but that's all they're denying; it's possibly significant that they didn't say it's not going away.
August 26, 2012 at 11:37
I never had the chance to ride this. Bummer! We lived in Hershey when I was a kid, hope to visit again soon.
August 26, 2012 at 23:16
I rode it last year with my (then 6 year old) son. Waited in line well over an hour for it (and got on before a passing thunderstorm). I agree with the comments that it is not a large capacity ride, but with the popularity (given that people continuously wait to get on it) why take it out? Is HP getting that many complaints and/or is it a maintenance nightmare?
August 27, 2012 at 15:26
I got in line for it when I was at Hersheypark last year, but the line was moving waaay to slow, and with the wife not looking too thrilled about getting wet, I ended up skipping it. The emphasis seemed to be more on the “getting wet” part than the coaster part so I don’t regret missing out on it.
December 12, 2012 at 15:22
As of December 12th, the entrance ramp leading up the Roller Soaker's station is being removed. No official word from the park yet as to what's going on, but it's our understanding that the park is going to make an announcement within the next few weeks. Most likely the coaster will be removed and they'll replace it with typical water park flumes.