I had been in the park all day and it had gotten pretty late and the park was going to close in half an hour, although I was scared out of my mind I knew I needed to ride Storm Runner which at the time was new for that year. Towering over the Trailblazer, this red tracked monster with it’s silver support columns, it’s the tallest and fastest coaster in the park. Being one of the second fastest coasters in Pennsylvania toping out at 75mph, you would think it would be very tall, but it’s not. Because Hershey had limited space, they did not have room for a big tall lift hill. They called in Intamin, who had recently came up with a new launching technology. In the past coasters had used many methods of propulsion Flywheel launch, Reverse incline launch, weight drop launch, Compressed Air Launch, Linier Induction Motors, and the traditional old chain lift. This coaster uses a hydraulic launch system. The basic concept of a hydraulic launch system is similar to a traditional chain lift, but magnified times 12. Instead of a chain, the coaster uses a cable that is wound around a giant winch. Attached to the cable is a catch car, a device that latches onto the trains and rockets them down the launch track. To hook the two, a "dog" drops down in the center of the train and hooks into the catch car. About two-thirds of the way horizontal launch track, the train reaches its top speed, the dog lifts and detaches from the catch car, magnetic brakes slow the catch car, and the train continues up the 150’ vertical tower. This high tech system snaps you from 0 to 72 mph in just 2 seconds. Other bigger rides with this type of launch system, can bring a train of 5 cars from 0 to 128mph in just 3.5 seconds, then shoot it up a 456’ foot vertical tower, then back down going straight down the other side. This is of coarse the record breaking Kingda Ka, the tallest and fastest coaster in the world.
The launch track is parallel with the midway, so as you are approaching it there are trains of screaming people flying past you. I rode it at night which made it more fun. I walked up to the entrance, and my dad chickened out, so it was all me. I was, at the time, still a little bit scared of roller coasters so I was nervous. I walked into the queue and the sign said “35 minute wait from this point” That isn’t that bad for such a new coaster on a weekend, plus I didn’t know when I would be back next, so I decided to ride it anyway. I get in the line and waited and waited. This is back when I used to be a big Red Sox fan, so I was wearing a Red Sox hat. This family of Yankee fans were harassing me the whole time I was in the line. Right before we boarded the train, I told off the parents, because they were doing most of the harassing. Also the whole time I had to pee, really bad, but if I got out of the line to go, I would have to wait all over again and probably not get on, as they closed the queue. So I just decided to deal with it, if worse came to worse I had a cup from the lemon aid I was drinking before. So between the screaming Yankee fans, the unseasonable cold winds, and my bladder ready to burst like a fire hydrant, I wasn’t in the best mood. Waiting for this ride was quickly becoming no freaking night in France. So after 35 mins of being rather miserable, I am finally next, I couldn’t sit in the front, but I wasn’t going to let that rain on my parade. I boarded the train, threw my stuff on the other side of the platform, and sat down. It had a lap bar and over the shoulder system, to keep you in. There was a big sign on the back of the seat not to put your hands up, for the obvious reason. We were in the right station. So we made a sharp turn to the left then to the right. We slowly rolled out to the launch track. I looked over and saw my dad, we were close enough to be able to talk to each other so I said hi and other things. When we were ready to launch we rolled back a little bit, so the catch car could grab the train. It made a fa
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