Hersheypark’s fear factor doesn’t come from one record-breaking coaster — it comes from range: a genuinely exposed wing coaster, a steepest-in-park launch machine, a wood-steel hybrid, and a run of smoother B&M coasters, all standing next to century-old wooden classics that are more rattly than scary.
This ranking is built from Hersheypark’s own ride pages for height, speed, and drop stats, cross-checked against Wikipedia and RCDB for figures the park doesn’t publish itself (first-drop angle, inversion counts, and Comet’s true drop height), then ordered by combined steepness, launch force, and inversion count rather than height or speed alone.
Stats at a Glance
- Scariest Ride: Skyrush
- Tallest Drop: 216 ft (66 m) — Candymonium
- Fastest Ride: 76 mph (122 km/h) — Candymonium
- Most Inversions: 6 — Fahrenheit
The Ranking, Most Intense First
1. Skyrush — 200 ft tall (61 m), 75 mph (121 km/h), 85° first drop, zero inversions. Feels like: open-air wing seats put your legs over open space with nothing below them, and five zero-g airtime hills throw you out of the seat repeatedly — the fear here is exposure and sustained airtime, not height alone.
2. Storm Runner — 150 ft tall (46 m), launches 0-72 mph (116 km/h) in 2 seconds, a 180-ft (55 m) drop off a 90° top hat, 3 inversions. Feels like: a full-force slam into the seat back the instant you leave the station, a stomach-drop over the top hat, then three quick inversions before it’s over in about a minute.
3. Fahrenheit — 121 ft tall (37 m), 58 mph (93 km/h), a 97° first drop (steeper than straight down), 6 inversions. Feels like: you crest the lift and immediately fall past vertical, then get thrown through six inversions back to back — short, disorienting, and relentless.
4. Wildcat’s Revenge — 140 ft tall (43 m), 62 mph (100 km/h), 82° first drop, 4 inversions including the ‘World’s Largest Underflip.’ Feels like: a wood-and-steel hybrid that flips you upside down four times at odd, twisting angles — less about raw speed, more about unpredictable inversions.
5. Candymonium — 210 ft tall (64 m), 76 mph (122 km/h), a 216-ft (66 m) first drop at 77.3°, zero inversions. Feels like: pure height and speed — the park’s tallest and fastest ride floats you through seven airtime hills without ever turning you upside down, so the scare is the drop and the speed, not disorientation.
6. Great Bear — a 90-ft lift (27 m) into a 124-ft (38 m) drop, 61 mph (98 km/h), 4 inversions (vertical loop, Immelmann, zero-g roll, corkscrew). Feels like: an inverted coaster with your feet hanging free the entire ride, which makes even modest stats feel bigger — the loop and zero-g roll are the standout moments.
7. Hershey Triple Tower — the tallest of its three towers rises 189 ft (58 m). Feels like: a straight vertical free-fall with no coaster elements at all — for people who fear heights more than g-forces, a few seconds of true weightlessness here can feel scarier than anything else in the park.
8. Lightning Racer — 90 ft tall (27 m), 50 mph (80 km/h), a wood dueling/racing coaster. Feels like: two trains launch side by side and cross paths more than once, so the thrill is competitive proximity and a handful of airtime hills rather than any single big element.
9. Comet — 84 ft tall (26 m) with a 78-ft (24 m) drop, 50 mph (80 km/h), a wooden coaster built around bunny-hill airtime. Feels like: an 80-plus-year-old wood coaster that rattles and shakes more than it truly scares — the airtime is real, and so is the roughness.
10. Trailblazer — 52 ft tall (16 m), 45 mph (72 km/h), no inversions. Feels like: a gentle, classic steel coaster with mild hills — Hersheypark’s own site calls it a ‘Moderate Thrill Ride,’ and that’s exactly what it is.
11. Laff Trakk — 51 ft tall (16 m), 40 mph (64 km/h), an indoor spinning coaster with zero inversions. Feels like: the darkness and an uncontrolled 360° spin are unsettling in a fun-house way, but the actual speed and drops are mild — more disorienting than intense.
Intense vs Rough: Know the Difference
Fahrenheit, Wildcat’s Revenge, and Great Bear are engineered to be smooth despite their inversions, so their scares are legitimately about g-force and disorientation rather than physical discomfort. Skyrush is a genuine standout for thrill, but its outer wing seats are also known among riders for pinching against the legs — a real discomfort that’s separate from the fear factor, not a sign the ride is somehow rougher than it is intense. Comet and Lightning Racer are the park’s honest ‘rough, not scary’ rides: their wood-track construction and age mean real shaking and jostling that has little to do with actual intensity — they’re bumpy rather than frightening.
If You Are Nervous, Start Here
Start with Trailblazer — mild hills, no inversions, and the park’s own ‘Moderate Thrill Ride’ label. Step up to Comet next, a real wooden coaster with genuine airtime but nothing extreme. If that goes well, try Lightning Racer for the fun of the side-by-side race without any inversions. Skip Skyrush as a first thrill ride — its 85° drop and open-air wing seats make it the wrong place to test the waters. If you’re riding with someone below a ride’s height minimum, note that Hersheypark’s official rider safety guide requires that a supervising companion ‘meet all the attraction requirements, as well as assist the guest’ — the companion has to qualify for that ride themselves, not just be an accompanying adult.
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Scariest Rides at Hersheypark FAQs
What is the scariest ride at Hersheypark?
Skyrush. Its 85° first drop, sustained 75 mph speed, and open-air wing seats that leave your legs dangling with nothing below them make it the most consistently intense ride in the park.
Which ride at Hersheypark has the biggest drop?
Candymonium, with a 216-foot (66 m) first drop — the tallest drop of any ride currently operating at Hersheypark.
What is a good first thrill ride at Hersheypark?
Trailblazer, followed by Comet. Both are classic coasters with modest height and speed and no inversions, making them a solid entry point before trying something like Skyrush or Fahrenheit.
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Photo: Hmich176 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.