Nice subtle theme on this ride, with a very nice classic looking station. They often run four trains on on this one which makes the wait one of the shortest in the park. The dueling aspect added a lot to this otherwise simple layout and was also well timed; although I did notice Thunder winning by a few feet almost every time. This is a nice smooth wood coaster, probably the smoothest I can remember. This is why I can't give it a perfect score though, it's too smooth. Not a lot of action going on here, personally I'd rather be on the Wild Cat up the hill. If I didn't feel like being thrown around I'd opt for a steel coaster, but if I want a wood coaster there's a reason and Lightening Racer does not deliver. It's still very rerideable due to the short wait and overall still very fun ride... just don't expect a party

I enjoyed the racing element to this ride. This is a beatiful coaster and very enjoyable to the whole family. When I rode this it started raining very heavily so the indoor station was helpful in keeping dry. This was my first rollarcoaster I ever rode so im glad that this coaster is still around and in use at Hershey. Defiently not the greatest thrill at Hershey but its still on of my favorites.

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 4 Every so often, you hear of a coaster that sounds so unique and interesting that when it is finally ridden, there is the inevitable let down. On our summer trip of 2008, Lightning Racer unfortunately fell into that category due to a number of reasons. However, lets look at some of its positives first. Lightning Racer is considered to be a dueling or racing coaster due to the fact that it contains two coaster trains which run simultaneously along two different tracks. The coasters in this case (named Lightning and Thunder) begin on staggered lift hills and are constantly flying beside and around the other coaster train. This technique is done to perfection with IOA&#39.s Dueling Dragons (see my review) and this ride is almost as good. Unlike other racing coasters, (Gemini at Cedar Point, Gwazi at BGA, etc.) it is never known which side will win. We rode each side twice and won both times on the Lightning side and once on the Thunder side. There are a variety of factors which cause once side to finish first and probably the way I leaned forward and yelled at the top of my lungs are not among them. Regardless, the racing aspect is great fun and adds to the overall experience. Both sides are also silky smooth with nary a hint of roughness. There are very few, if any, pops of airtime but there are tons of laterals which make up for it. The quick directional changes and transitions are smooth, fast, and fun as well. So what is the problem? This sounds dumb but I really don&#39.t know. I do have a few ideas but am not really sure if any of them are legit. This ride is a capacity machine since it runs two trains on each side. However, on our visit they had the entire middle of each train roped off. They only opened about 4 seats on the front and 4 on the back. I am not sure if this is standard procedure on slack days but this led to wait time in the station. Now granted, the wait time was not significant (less than 10 minutes) but as an enthusiast I was wanting re-rides. I do not think there would have been a problem filling each train on each ride so that was not an issue. It&#39.s also known among coaster enthusiasts that wooden coasters run better when the trains are full. The added weight usually adds speed and thus the elements are more enjoyable. Since wooden coasters do not have inversions (except for the former Son of Beast at King&#39.s Island) the laterals and speed are very important. Since Lightning Racer was not running full trains, I think some of this was lacking. Then again, I was looking for a better version of Dueling Dragons and this ride is definitely not that. Since wood is my preferred material of choice when riding coasters, I was fully expecting this ride to dive into my top 10 among the great woodies. Alas, it is not even in my Top 20 despite the high score I will still give it. Maybe another day I can make it back to Hershey and give this thing another whirl or two. Until then, Lightning Racer gets a solid 9 and, despite its shortcomings, is still the best ride in the Land of Chocolate. And it has a short wait.

This was a great ride! the capacity is great and the ride is quite thrilling. I loved that the highly banked turns and the dueling aspect was amazing.

Very unique and beautiful racing wooden coaster, but ultimately I came off disappointed. Lines are very short for this thanks to its monster capacity and the ride was glass smooth throughout thanks to the Millenium fliers, but there was almost no air and laterals during the ride. The racing element was great though and really made this ride exciting.

To date, Lightning Racer is by far my favorite ride I have ever been on! The ride looks very nice with the massive wooden structure and all of the trains flying by. Capacity is amazing on Lightning Racer as because of both tracks and two train operation on each, Lightning Racers line usually isnt more than 10 minutes. I have been on Lightning Racer a few times and all of my rides have been on the green side (I forget if that is Thunder or Lightning). I will admit, my first ride I was scared to go on. The biggest coaster I had been on to that point was the Sky Princess the day before. Well, I gave it a shot and glad I did. Lightning Racer was amazingly fun. All of the twisting drops and turns were very thrilling and the ride was insanely smooth (I hate rough rides). But what really won me over was the racing element. Racing against the other train was really fun. The tunnel during the ride was a nice touch too. Lightning Racer is my new king of coasters.

Pretty good ride. I love the idea of the racing wooden coasters. It offers a pretty decent ride, definitely not the best at the park though.

Probably the best ride(s) at Hersheypark. The racing/dueling aspect turns what would be two 8 out of 10 wooden twisters into one notch higher. The ride itself is very fun and probably best in the front of the train as I find with most twister coasters. Another bonus is that this line always seems to be quite short even on the busiest of days.

Very awesome ride, and the second woody with MFs I ridden (or second and third I should say), just alot of fun, excellent timing and pacing as well with the trains for the racing/dueling effect.

One of the best Woodies I have ridden to date. Its fast, smooth, thrilling, and the seats are really cool. The "dueling" sections are designed really well too. Not as intense as its neighboor, the Wildcat, but its also a lot less painful. This is a modern classic, and its the reason that I love Wooden Coasters so much.