Skyrush doesn’t look like it should be this intense from the midway, but the numbers back it up: 200 feet tall, a 212-foot first drop, and 75 mph reached in the first three seconds. It’s the ride most Hersheypark enthusiasts name as the park’s best, and its height-versus-drop numbers confuse enough people that they’re some of the most-searched stats about the coaster.
Below is the exact answer to how tall Skyrush is, why its drop is officially taller than the ride itself, how it stacks up against Hersheypark’s other big coasters, who can ride it, and every design detail worth knowing before you get in line.
Quick Answer
Skyrush is 200 feet (61 m) tall, but its first drop measures 212 feet (65 m) — taller than the lift itself — because the track keeps descending past the base of the ride into the low ground cut by Spring Creek. Riders take that 212-foot drop at a steep 85-degree angle and hit a top speed of 75 mph almost immediately.
Skyrush Height vs. Drop: Why the Numbers Don’t Match
Skyrush’s cable lift hoists the train 200 feet into the air — that’s the ride’s official “height,” measured the way the industry measures every coaster: vertical distance from the ground at the ride’s base to the highest point of the track. The first drop is measured differently, as the vertical distance from the top of the drop to the lowest point of the track, wherever that lowest point sits. Skyrush’s layout keeps diving after it clears the base of the lift, cutting down into the low ravine alongside Spring Creek, so the drop measurement comes out to 212 feet — 12 feet more than the ride’s stated height.
The discrepancy connects to real local zoning history. Derry Township’s ordinance requires any amusement ride taller than 200 feet (up to 350 feet) to obtain a special exception from the township’s zoning hearing board. Records show Hershey Entertainment brought plans for the then-212-foot structure to township officials in August 2010 and secured exactly that kind of exception — confirmation that the coaster’s structure genuinely tops 200 feet in places, even though its published “height” stat, measured under standard coaster convention, lands right at 200. It’s a quirk of measurement, not a rounding error.
That first drop comes in at 85 degrees, just 5 degrees off vertical, making it one of the steepest drops on any non-launched coaster in the country.
Skyrush Stats at a Glance
Park: Hersheypark, Hershey, Pennsylvania. Manufacturer: Intamin. Model: Wing Coaster (Intamin’s first-ever installation of the type). Opened: May 26, 2012. Construction cost: roughly $25 million. Height: 200 ft (61 m). First drop: 212 ft (65 m) at 85 degrees. Top speed: 75 mph (121 km/h). Length: 3,600 ft (1,100 m). Ride duration: about 63 seconds. Layout: 4 high-banked turns and 5 airtime hills. Inversions: 0. Max G-force: 5.0. Trains: two 8-car trains seating 32 riders each, four across per row. Capacity: about 1,350 riders per hour. Minimum height to ride: 54 inches.
How Skyrush Compares to Hersheypark’s Other Big Coasters
Skyrush isn’t Hersheypark’s tallest coaster — that title belongs to Candymonium, a Bolliger & Mabillard hypercoaster that opened in 2020 at 210 feet with a 210-foot drop and a 76 mph top speed. But Skyrush’s 212-foot drop is actually deeper than anything on Candymonium, despite Skyrush’s overall structure being 10 feet shorter — a quirk that trips up a lot of first-time visitors comparing the two on paper.
Storm Runner, Hersheypark’s hydraulic-launch coaster, takes a completely different approach: it catapults riders from 0 to 72 mph in about 2 seconds, then sends them up and over a 150-foot top hat before three inversions. Wildcat’s Revenge, the RMC hybrid that debuted in 2023, tops out at 140 feet and 62 mph but packs in four inversions, including the world’s largest “underflip” element. Skyrush sits in a different lane from both: no inversions, no launch — its intensity comes purely from the steep drop, sustained speed, airtime, and the fact that riders are hanging in open air with nothing beside them.
The Ride Experience
The cable lift pulls the train up Skyrush’s 200-foot incline noticeably faster than a standard chain lift, so the crest arrives with almost no warning. The 85-degree drop that follows slams the train to 75 mph within the first few seconds. From there, the 3,600-foot layout sweeps through four high-banked turns and five airtime hills, threading directly above Spring Creek for most of the ride.
Because riders sit in wing seats cantilevered outside the track, there’s no floor, no train body, and nothing in their peripheral vision — every hill and turn feels fully exposed to open air. The whole circuit is over in about 63 seconds, and the ride sustains G-forces up to 5.0, among the highest of any modern steel coaster.
Wing Coaster Seating: Best Seats and Sightlines
Skyrush was the first Wing Coaster Intamin ever built, serving as a prototype for the model before other installations followed elsewhere. Each 8-car train seats 32 riders in a staggered arrangement: odd-numbered rows sit toward the middle of the car, even-numbered rows sit out toward the wings, so every seat gets a slightly different view and airtime intensity.
Enthusiasts generally point to the rear wing seats as the most extreme — they’re the farthest from the track and amplify both the airtime on the hills and the sensation of the drop, since there’s nothing in view but open air and the ravine below. Middle-row seats feel marginally more stable if it’s your first ride.
Height Requirement and Who Can Ride
Skyrush’s posted minimum height is 54 inches (about 4 feet 6 inches). There’s no official maximum printed on Hersheypark’s own ride page, but because the wing-seat restraints wrap closely around the hips and thighs, taller and larger riders have historically found the fit tighter than on a standard coaster — even after the 2024 restraint redesign. Hersheypark keeps a test seat right at the station entrance specifically so guests can check their fit before waiting in line, which is worth doing if you’re unsure.
2024 Seat and Restraint Overhaul
For years, Skyrush’s original trapezoidal restraints earned the ride an unflattering nickname among enthusiasts — “Thighcrush” — for how tightly they clamped down on riders’ upper legs. Ahead of the 2024 season, Hersheypark and Intamin retrofitted the existing trains with redesigned seats and restraints shaped to fit around the thighs rather than press into them, along with a refreshed station featuring new paint, lighting, and sound design.
The upgrade kept the ride’s stats — height, drop, speed, and layout — completely unchanged, but it resolved the single biggest complaint riders had about the experience, and it’s been well received by the enthusiast community since debuting.
Awards, Rankings & Where Skyrush Stands Today
Skyrush placed among the top new rides in Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards the year it opened and has landed on the publication’s top steel coasters list in most years since. Within Hersheypark itself, community rankings and enthusiast polls consistently put Skyrush at or near the top of the park’s coaster lineup, generally ahead of Fahrenheit and Storm Runner, thanks to its combination of steep drop, sustained speed, and exposed wing seating — though some riders now rank the newer Wildcat’s Revenge above it for sheer variety of elements.
Skyrush height and stats FAQs
How tall is Skyrush?
Skyrush is 200 feet (61 m) tall, measured from the ground to the top of its cable lift hill.
How tall is the Skyrush drop, and why is it taller than the ride’s height?
The first drop measures 212 feet (65 m) — 12 feet more than the ride’s overall height — because the track continues descending past the base of the lift into the low ground above Spring Creek before leveling out. Height and drop are simply measured differently in coaster stats.
Is Skyrush the tallest coaster at Hersheypark?
No. Candymonium is Hersheypark’s tallest coaster at 210 feet. Skyrush is 200 feet tall, but its 212-foot first drop is actually deeper than Candymonium’s.
How fast does Skyrush go?
Skyrush reaches a top speed of 75 mph (121 km/h), hitting that speed within the first few seconds of the 212-foot first drop.
How long is the Skyrush ride?
The full circuit — lift, drop, four banked turns, and five airtime hills across 3,600 feet of track — takes about 63 seconds.
Does Skyrush have any inversions?
No. Skyrush has zero inversions. Its intensity comes from speed, the 85-degree first drop, sustained airtime, and G-forces up to 5.0, not loops or corkscrews.
What is the height requirement to ride Skyrush?
Riders must be at least 54 inches (4’6″) tall. There’s no official posted maximum, but the wing-seat restraints fit closely, so Hersheypark provides a test seat at the entrance for guests to check their fit.
What’s the best seat on Skyrush?
Rear wing seats are generally considered the most intense, since they sit farthest from the train’s centerline and amplify both the drop and the airtime on each hill. Middle-row seats feel slightly more stable for first-time riders.
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