With Park Boulevard being rerouted in 2016, a segment of old Park Boulevard was abandoned that is adjacent the main entrance of Hersheypark.
On July 6, Hersheypark began posting clues on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and on their website, hersheypark.com/2018/. Clues will be posted prior to the August 8 announcement teased at the end of June. There are six clues total, and since the middle of July, the last three clues have been posted (although the sixth clue isn’t really a rebus, nor a clue).
It’s also worth noting that when the 2018 website first went live, the site header was 2018 Attractions. It has since been changed to 2018 Attraction | Hersheypark.
The clues for this viral marketing game are rebuses, which uses pictures to represents words, or parts of words. It is essentially a code. The object for the player is to solve what the sentence says. Because the clues have already been released and solved, I provide the answers in addition to the clues as well.
Clue 4 of 6
Posted on July 19, 2017.
Here is the key to the answer: [T + hiss = This] [May + KS = makes] [hashtag / pound sign = number] [sand castle fort + EEN = fourteen].
Clue 5 of 6
Posted on July 28, 2017.
Here is the key to the answer: Get [read + y = read] [2 = to] [the fun (mirrored) = double the fun].
Clue 6 of 6
The final clue was posted on August 1, 2017. This one really isn’t a clue – just a reiteration of the upcoming announcement on August 8.
Local media
On Tuesday, July 18, York Daily Record posted an article recapping the recent clues for the 2018 attractions.
PennLive also published two articles about the some of the recent clues released.
Maps of markers in Hersheypark
I added a handful pictures to the map, which you can see below. This map has been updated with photos of new markers that have been placed in the old pool area, since July 15. A few more markers have been placed in and around the area that is anticipated to be used for the new attractions Hersheypark is teasing.
What this means for this area of what now is directly part of Hersheypark’s property remains unknown for the time being.
Take a look at the map below to see pictures provided by Matthew Meckley in the Disney Lovers at Hersheypark group on Facebook. One photo was also provided by W Geoffrey Miller who was at Hersheypark on July 10. It is a photo of surveyors doing sampling work.
Hersheypark also began placing similar markers in The Boardwalk region of the park. The area impacted so far appears to be mostly where part of the park’s only water coaster, Roller Soaker, once stood.
Roller Soaker was a steel, suspended, roller coaster in which you carried a bucket of water to drop on “unsuspecting” people below the ride. The ride was installed in 2002 and removed following the 2012 season, after having many maintenance issues throughout that ten year period.
Here is another map showing markers from this area of the park, with pictures provided by Matthew Meckley in the Disney Lovers at Hersheypark group on Facebook.
New markers appeared in this area, so this map has been updated.
The Claw
On July 26, an incident on a Fireball ride at the Ohio State Fair caused a number of injuries and one death. Fireball is a type of portable Revolution ride, which is the same kind of ride Hersheypark has – The Claw. Hersheypark’s ride was manufactured by Chance Rides; Chance Rides owns the manufacturing rights to build permanent park models in North America.
Chance purchased those rights from Dutch manufacturer KMG. They continue to manufacture portable fair models, like Fireball at Ohio State Fair.
Hersheypark took the precaution of closing The Claw pending the investigation; the ride reopened on Sunday, July 30.
This article is part of a series of Hersheypark Update articles which will be added when necessary. The updates to this area are pretty historically significant given that Hershey Park Pool, Starlight Ballroom, and Hershey Creamery used to be in this area. However, with the addition of markers appearing in The Boardwalk, in the area where Roller Soaker used to stand, I will also have updates on that area as necessary. Keep checking back for more!
