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 Review of Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge @ Hersheypark
0 Rating Posted by: Canobie Coaster on 9/26/2006 4:05:00 PM
Have you ever had a massive argument over which ingredient in a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup is better? You may have (I never did since I detest both peanut butter and chocolate), but I highly doubt you would assemble a massive competition to settle this rather trivial question. However, the premise of the Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge is exactly this, as two athletic individuals have a massive argument over which ingredient is better: chocolate or peanut butter. While the story definitely is whacky and honestly very forced in my opinion, I definitely do commend the park for taking the shooting dark ride and managing to make it more competitive than usual. Located in Music Box Way, the Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge is housed inside Hersheypark’s old ice skating rink. Unfortunately, the building’s exterior and most of the queue line is incredibly bland in my opinion. While the snow white paint job looks fresh, the building just looks naked since there is very little theming at all except for the ride’s small sign and a few TVs explaining the ride’s premise. Towards the end of the queue line, there are some random Team Peanut Butter and Team Chocolate paraphernalia, but none of it is particularly noteworthy. However, the station itself looks great as it is themed to a locker room. Not only is the station teeming with sporting equipment, but it really does capture the feel of a locker room, albeit a rather funky one due to the vibrant orange and blue paint scheme. However, the zany colors help capture the light-hearted nature of the attraction in my opinion. Often these shooting dark rides have long, slow-moving lines since they are popular with all ages. Fortunately, this one doesn’t usually have all that bad of a wait. In the middle of the day, the ride usually has a 15-20 minute wait. However, if the line gets long, I highly recommend utilizing the single rider line since that usually gets you on the ride immediately. Additionally, this is usually a walk-on towards the end of the day since most of the crowds have dissipated throughout the park. But if you do have a sizeable wait, have no fear because the entire building is very cool and air-conditioned. Eventually, riders are assigned one of two teams, Team Peanut Butter or Team Chocolate. Each team consists of four riders. The two teams each have their own car, but the cars are linked together for the ride. Unlike most versions, this one begins with a lift hill. After cresting the hill, the train navigates some very small roller coaster hills. Then, the real competition begins. Using the laser guns, riders see a variety of targets in each and every direction. Additionally, there are some that are stationary, while others move. For example, one of the targets is a roller blading girl in a continuous loop. Subsequently, that target is considerably harder to hit, so if you want your team to win, I highly recommend targeting the more stationary targets. Midway through the ride, a gigantic scoreboard displays the scores in a very quick recap a la an ESPN halftime show. Following that are more targets. If the ride is particularly busy and loading slows down a bit, occasionally the ride will momentarily stop at a certain scene, which enables riders to really load up on points. After the last room, the ride ends with yet another short roller coaster segment, much like the first one. Finally, the official winner is announced and the team scores are displayed. While I enjoy the ride for the most part, there are a few shortcomings really holding this ride back. First, while the aforementioned roller coaster segments are definitely unique, they don’t really do much since it is taken incredibly slowly. I would much rather prefer an additional shooting room or two. Second, while there are a great variety of targets in each room, each room just seemed to be a bit random and thrown together. Some of the rooms just seemed a bit empty other than the 2D cut-out targets, so I think that is where the feeling comes from for me. Third, the ride is quite short, especially compared to other versions I’ve been on at other parks. While lines are short enough for multiple rerides in succession to solve this problem, it still is disappointing since the competition just doesn’t seem long enough in my opinion. Overall, the Reese’s Xtreme Cup Challenge is a very cool shooting dark ride. While the story is definitely corny, I really love the competitive nature of the attraction. Additionally, the guns are very responsive and didn’t give me any trouble at all during my numerous rides. Despite its shortcomings in a few areas, this is still one of the better shooting dark rides I’ve been on. I highly recommend riding this in a visit to Hersheypark since it not only is a refuge from the heat, but it is a very fun attraction as well.
 
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