The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 82

F6 THE MORNING CALL, SUNDAY. JUNE 2, 1996 AIRFARE PACKAGE London -49 RT London Air, Hotel, 6 Nights $829 Germany .449 RT ooft Paris 449 rt "a'y 5 Ni9hte-Mr' Vienna rt Cancun 7 Nights, Air, Hotel $568 Rome $739 RT Prices Available for All European and Asian Countries QnSnCIO Air, 3 Nights, Hotel I Car $299 NASHVILLE: MON, JULY 1 -SUN, JULY 7 3 nights accommodations at the Opiyland Hotel, olher nights enrouts. 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 3 dinners, admission to Dolywood Themepark, Dbcie Stampede, Smokey Mountain, General Jackson Showboat, Oprytand Theme nark Grand Ole Oorv. TNN taping, Ryman Auditorium, and a city tour of Nashville LAKE GEORGE LAKE PLACID: TUES, JULY 9 FRI, JULY 12 3 nights accommodations. 3 lull breakfasts, 3 fun dinners.

Prospect Mnuntian Fort Wilt am Henrv. Lake George boat cruise. Lake Placid tour. John Brown's Farm $362 Olympic Jumping Complex, Saratoga. FOXWOOD CASINO: SUN, JULY 28 2 nfcihts accommodations at the Two TUc, JULT i Trees Inn, your choice of a $10.00 or $5.00 food credit full festival or breakfast buffet $234 MYSTIC FOXWOODS: MON, AUG.

12 WED, AUG. 14 2 nights accommodations. 2 full breakfasts, 2 fun dinners, admission to the USS Nautilus Navy Submarine Museum, Visit Okie Mistick Village, day at Foxwood Casino $231 WILDCAT Continued From Page F1 sometimes experiencing 5 and even 6 gs, "they were quite violent and hurt people." But with com-putef technology, he was able to design a smoother and safer ride. "We take it to the limit of excitement," said Clair Hain Boodley's partner who built the coaster, "but we don't want to hurt people. There are times when you float a little bit, but you won't smack your legs against the bar." Asked about other major cyclone or twister coasters that still are running, Boodley said: "This is totally unique.

Nothing like it is operating anywhere. There's nothing out there like this with swooping drops and high banked turns. One in Texas is close to it, but it doesn't have banked turns like this one does." Park officials said Wildcat is bringing the most attention to Her-sheypark since sooperdooperloop-er, the first looping coaster of its kind on the East Coast, was unveiled here in 1977. It's refreshing that Hershey-park makes no largest, highest or fastest claims for Wildcat. "We didn't think we had to," said J.

Bruce McKinney, chairman of the park's board and chief executive officer. "You get into an 'arms race' that no one really wins. We're not concerned if someone goes higher or faster. This is a good, solid family ride." "It's not a record-breaker, but it delivers a record-breaking ride," said Boodley. "It's a great example that height does not necessarily mean a great ride.

The greatness of this ride will be acknowledged by its personality." The park, which opened May 11, is observing its 90th operating season this summer. On May 25, park visitors got their first chance to ride Wildcat. Park officials hope Wildcat will push Hersheypark attendance over the 2 million mark this summer, weather permitting. "So much depends on weather," said McKinney. "We love droughts." Last year, a record-breaking 1,875,000 people visited the park.

To avoid long waits, arrive as soon as the park opens and head directly for Wildcat. Waits for the 90-second ride could be 1 to VA hours, said Franklin R. Shearer, vice president and general manager of HERSHEYPARK 100 W. Hersheypark Drive Hershey, Pa. 17033 DSElECTIOrilS: Hersheypark is 75 miles from Allen-town, less than a 90-minute drive.

Go west on Interstates 78 and 81, then south on Route WHEN TO GO: The park is open daily through Sept. 2, then weekends through Sept 22. Gates open at 10 a.m., rides at 10:30. The park will close at 8 p.m. today through Friday, and next Sunday through June 13.

If open till ,10 p.m. most days in midsummer (including next Saturday), till 1 1 p.m. most weekends in July and August COST: Admission, which has increased since last year, is $26.45, $15.95 for children 3 to 8 and seniors 55 and older. Children under 3 are free. Late-day admission is $13.95 for anyone 3 and older.

That reduced price begins at 3 p.m. when the park closes at 6 p.m., at 4 when it closes at 8 and at 5 when it closes at 10 or 11. If you arrive 2lA hours before the park closes and buy a ticket for the next day, you can go into the park that night for free. Admission discounts are available to groups of 20 or more. Parking costs $5, $7 for campers and vans.

Admission includes entrance to ZooAmerica, an 1 1-acre American Wildlife Park that is home to more than 200 animals. Park visitors also can take a free ride Hirough Hershey's Chocolate World, a World's Fair-type ride through a simulated Hershey factory. Guaranteed to make you famished for chocolate, it ends at a large store where you can satisfy that craving. HERSHEYPARK INFORMATION: (717) 534-3900. OTHER HERSHEY INFORMATION: (800) HERSHEY.

"IL" T. Hersheypark now has five roller coasters. The others are sooper-dooperlooper, Sidewinder, added in 1991, and Trailblazer, added in 1974. The 100-acre park claims more than 50 rides and attractions. Wildcat was designed by Boodley and built by Hain, partners of Great Coasters International, Inc.

in Northumberland. It's the first coaster built by their company, though Shearer said they designed and built coasters for other companies. Boodley said it's the first roller coaster built by a Pennsylvania company since the 1970s. "We have an agreement with Hersheypark that we will not build another ride like it," said Hain. "On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being super spectacular, I rate this one as a 20," raved Shearer at a well-attended May 22 Wildcat press preview.

The preview featured a herd of performing circus elephants, clowns and dancing Hershey's products but no formal question and answer session. Park spokesmen maintained that wasn't done because everyone was eager to get on the ride. Reporters and photographers nervously waiting for their first ride on the two red and white trains jokingly asked if the press kits included air sickness bags. "Are you a screamer?" a woman asked the man boarding with her. "No, I just turn white and pass out," he replied.

Everyone aboard the first train shouted in jubilation when it returned to the station, apparently happy still to be alive. Shearer, dressed in a business suit, was in the first seat, next to a clown. While many journalists raved about Wildcat after their rides, one shrugged and said: "It's another coaster." Wildcat is one of more than 50 new roller coasters scheduled to open this year, which has been designated "The International Year of The Roller Coaster" by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions and American Coaster Enthusiasts. Those organizations report more than 500 roller coasters al- ready exist around the world. The new coaster is among others featured in "Wild Rides," a one-hour television special, narrated by Stacy Reach, scheduled to air on The Discovery Channel at 3 p.m.

today and at 8 p.m. and midnight June 29. Hain said the coaster can carry up to 1,000 people an hour. For $8.45, passengers can buy photographs of themselves riding Wildcat. Built in an empty field, Wildcat covers nearly two acres.

The wood has been left natural, enhancing the beauty of the structure and turning it gold in the sunshine. Park officials said the coaster, with chaser lights illuminating its twisting track, is even more stunning at night. Wildcat is built into the side of a hill. Because the highest part of the ride is at the highest part of the terrain, gravity helps the coaster maintain its speed as it rumbles down the track. Although the highest hill is 90 feet, Boodley said the change in elevation from there to the lowest part of the track is 105 feet.

"The hillside lets us do that." As you approach the coaster from below, it appears to be wrapped around its handsome Victorian station house, which is painted red, white and blue and topped with banners. Hershey officials said the new ride "combines the elegant style of the 1920s with 21st-century technology and attitude." Wildcat will be the cornerstone attraction in a new nostalgia-themed area called Midway America, which will be developed over the next 10 years and will pay tribute to the park's history. The new area, which will cover up to 10 acres, already has a miniature train that ran at Hersheypark in the 1930s and '40s. Eventually, it will include a Ferris wheel, a whip and possibly other rides the park had in the 1930s through the 1950s, plus shops and games on an old-fashioned midway. "We wanted a signature piece to start it," said Shearer.

The park was established in 1907 by Milton S. Hershey as a "picnic and pleasure grounds" for his employees. The new coaster is named in honor of The Wild Cat, a wooden coaster that Hershey gave to his town in 1923, as a gift for the community's 20th anniversary. That Wild Cat, an out-and-back style coaster, was at Hersheypark until 1946, when it was replaced by the wooden Comet, which is 50 years old this year. Hershey spokeswoman Kathy Burrows said Comet's highest hill is about 10 feet higher than Wild Cat's.

Comet's first hill drops down over Spring Creek in the park. Comet's ride is about the same length, but that coaster loses its speed faster. Phillies vs. Florida July 7 Medieval Times July 7 $54 AO Star Workout Day July 6 $37 Ellis IslandStatue of Liberty July 10 Beauty The Beast Sat, July 13 $110 3BakerAnnle Warbucks July 14 Phlla. ZooNJ Aquarium July 17 Washington ZooSmithsonian July 18 $38 Phantom of the Opera-3 left July 20 Peddlers Teddy Bear Picnic July 21 Rush Llmbaugh July 24 $28 Yankees vs.

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