Skyview at Hersheypark

NOTE: There are two similarly named rides in addition to Skyview: the Sky Ride (a cable car transport ride that connected the Rhineland region to the Minetown region) which was in Hersheypark from 1974 to 1991, and Skyrush, which was installed in Hersheypark in 2012. 

Skyview opened in Hersheypark in 1966. It was constructed, starting in the fall of 1965, to provide a scenic, round-trip ride over The Hollow and Spring Creek. The ride was manufactured by Universal Design, Limited, (UDL) of New Jersey. UDL was a company known for building sky rides and monorails. They notably employed Bill Tracey, who designed dark rides (including The Lost River and a Gold Nugget ride for Hersheypark).

Skyview is registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Amusement Ride Safety Division as PA Ride ID Number 91 under the name Sky Ride.

Evolution of Skyview

Skyview has been painted in several different colors over the years, with the ride initially having a light blue appearance. For a number of years the ride was tan. For all of the 1990s and 2000s, it was painted red. In 2013, the gondolas were repainted with a variety of colors such as red, green, blue, and yellow. Over time the gondolas have been replaced; many of the gondolas no longer in use were auctioned in the fall of 2016.

Since UDL has been out of business since the late 1970s, ride parts and technical support for Skyview has been supported by SkyTrans Manufacturing, Inc.

Here is a video of Skyview from 1966, which shows views of the Lost River and it’s theming, a little bit of the canoe boathouse along Spring Creek, Tip Top, a closer look at the Lost River down-chute, and a nice look at Comet’s station.

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