Hersheypark Docks Tidal Force After 32 Years of Splashes

Hersheypark retired Tidal Force on September 7, ending 32 years of 100-foot splashdowns on The Boardwalk. The Hopkins boat ride, sold as the world’s tallest splashdown when it opened on May 28, 1994, dropped four 20-person boats at speeds exceeding 50 mph. The park has not said why the boats are docked, or what takes the lagoon.

The send-off landed in a mess of bad headlines. Hersheypark spent September 8 and 9 repeating that the park is open, with Halloween on September 12 and Christmas Candylane on November 13.

Tidal Force Took Its Last Labor Day Drop

Labor Day was the last operating day of The Boardwalk’s 2026 water season, and the last day anyone could ride Tidal Force. Hersheypark had named that date on June 9, then reminded people again on September 6, writing on Facebook, “After 32 years, it’s time for Tidal Force to set sail. Visit us for one last ride through Monday.”

On its Boardwalk page the park used the same nautical line, saying it would dock the boats permanently on September 7 after 32 years of the biggest splashes the park had seen. The water park itself ran May 23 through September 7.

When a vessel takes its last voyage, we believe it deserves a proper send-off. After 32 years of making the biggest splashes Hersheypark has seen, the final tide goes out on Tidal Force at the end of the 2026 summer season.

Hersheypark, The Boardwalk at Hersheypark page

The June 9 post from the park’s own account put the date on the record for the whole summer.

When a vessel takes its last voyage, we believe it deserves a proper send-off. After 32 years of making the biggest splashes #Hersheypark has seen, we'll dock the boats permanently after Sept. 7.

Grab tickets to splash this summer: https://t.co/fB4CN7Rs4g pic.twitter.com/o7fU9fkrdz

— Hersheypark (@Hersheypark) June 9, 2026

Members of the Hersheypark Connoisseurs group went to The Boardwalk on September 7 and wrote, “Farewell, Tidal Force! You’ll be missed!” The Great Ohio Coaster Club posted the same day, “Farewell to Tidal Force at @Hersheypark! Can’t wait to see what the future for this area of the park has in store!”

A 100-Foot Hopkins Boat Ride

Ride records list a Hopkins Shoot The Chute opened May 28, 1994 at a cost of $4 million. Hersheypark announced the project in October 1993, aiming for a May 7 opening, then delayed it after a snowy spring. Crews built it on a three-acre expansion, and the boats started running over Memorial Day weekend.

TIDAL FORCE AT A GLANCE

• Height: A 100-foot lift, billed as the world’s tallest splashdown when it opened.
• Speed: The drop sent boats downhill at speeds exceeding 50 mph.
• Load: Four boats, 20 riders each, with a 42-inch height minimum.
• Throughput: Opening-day notices in 1994 put capacity at about 1,600 guests an hour.

The splash was the show. An observation deck sat where people who skipped the boat could still take the wave, and the midway soaked anyone who stood too close. In the first season a wave off the drop injured a teenager on that deck, and the park later put up clear plastic barriers. The ride still advertised the drench. Bystanders were told to be ready.

Hopkins introduced the Shoot The Chute line in 1986 and later discontinued it. Coasterpedia’s product list still counted 19 of those chutes as operating and 10 as closed, with Tidal Force on the operating side. That count is now behind the Labor Day shutdown.

Sister Chutes Have Been Coming Down for Years

Hersheypark did not invent this retirement. Other Hopkins splash rides of the same vintage have already come out, especially at large chain parks that wanted the land or no longer wanted the water bill.

Closed Chutes at Big Parks

HOPKINS SHOOT THE CHUTE STATUS

Mile High Falls opened the same year as Tidal Force and is still dropping boats in Louisville. The closed column is heavier at Six Flags parks, where several 1980s and 1990s chutes came out between 2016 and 2025.

Kennywood and Knoebels Still Run Hopkins Chutes

Closer to Hershey, the same product is not extinct. Pittsburg Plunge has run at Kennywood since 1995. Sklooosh has run at Knoebels since 1997. Boston Tea Party has run at Canobie Lake Park since 1998. Those three still sell the old trick: a wide boat, a steep drop, a wet bridge.

Tidal Force was the tall example of that trick. Intamin later built taller Spillwater and Mega Splash rides, including Perilous Plunge at Knott’s Berry Farm, which opened in 2000 at 121 feet and came out in 2012. Hersheypark never bought that later generation. It stayed with the 1994 Hopkins tower until Labor Day.

Hersheypark’s Last Waterfront Teardown Paid for a Wave Pool

The park has already done this on the same waterfront. Before Tidal Force, Hersheypark tried to install an Intamin Spillwater in 1986. Derry Township blocked that plan over water management. Canyon River Rapids, an Intamin raft ride that also cost $4 million, opened in 1987 instead and ran until August 17, 2008.

THE BOARDWALK WATERFRONT

1. October 1993: Hersheypark announces a $4 million splash ride on a three-acre expansion.
2. May 28, 1994: Tidal Force opens after a weather delay, with four 20-person boats and a 100-foot lift.
3. 2007: The Boardwalk water park opens for the park’s centennial, wrapping Tidal Force and Canyon River Rapids into a new themed area. Park officials later tied that season to a record 2.7 million visits.
4. August 17, 2008: Canyon River Rapids closes for good.
5. May 23, 2009: The SEAquel opens on that footprint, a $17.6 million pair of The Shore, a 378,000-gallon wave pool, and the Intercoastal Waterway lazy river.
6. 2018: Breakers Edge, a water coaster, and Whitecap Racer join The Boardwalk.
7. June 9, 2026: Hersheypark names September 7 as Tidal Force’s last day.
8. September 7, 2026: The boats make their last drop on Labor Day.

Then-general manager Frank O’Connell said in 2009 that pulling Rapids had been a hard call, then pointed at the math that replaced it.

With the winding line of the Rapids, we could take in about 800 people per hour. The wave pool can hold more than 500 people at once, and we expect that to turn over four times per hour. On a hot day, that gets pretty important.

Frank O’Connell, Hersheypark general manager, at the 2009 SEAquel opening

That is the pattern sitting under Tidal Force. A 20-person boat makes a scene and a line. A wave pool, a lazy river, or a kids’ play pad holds more bodies on a 90-degree afternoon. The Boardwalk listed 17 water attractions on 11 acres for 2026, and it added two new play spots inside Bayside Pier, The Inlet and The Island, with 45 water features between them. Those pads are not a named stand-in for Tidal Force. They show where the park has been spending on water: more people in the splash, fewer people in a single boat.

Why the Park Spent Two Days Saying It Is Open

The louder mess after Labor Day was a headline problem. A widely shared post treated the summer shutdown as the death of Hersheypark itself, down to where eighth graders would go on field trips. Replies pointed at the actual sentence in the stories: one ride closed. Hersheypark answered from its own account on September 8, then posted a cleaner clarification as September 9 began.

We want to clarify any confusion around this headline. Tidal Force, a water ride, closed after 32 years on Labor Day. Hersheypark remains open for our 120th season with Halloween on Sept. 12 and Christmas Candylane on Nov. 13. We look forward to sweet memories for years to come!

— Hersheypark (@Hersheypark) September 9, 2026

“Tidal Force, a water ride, closed after 32 years on Labor Day,” the park wrote. “Hersheypark remains open for our 120th season with Halloween on Sept. 12 and Christmas Candylane on Nov. 13.” An earlier reply on September 8 put it shorter: the park is still open, one water attraction closed after Labor Day, and Halloween begins Saturday.

That mix-up was predictable once the send-off copy leaned on last voyages and docked boats in the same week the 120th summer season ended. The seasonal close and the permanent close landed on the same Monday. Readers who stopped at a headline could miss the distinction, and the park had to spend two days drawing it.

Saturday the Boardwalk Switches to Candy and Haunt Houses

The Boardwalk does not go dark with the boats. Hersheypark Halloween is open weekends September 12 through November 1, and Dark Nights is in its fifth year.

WHAT STAYS ON THE CALENDAR

• Dark Nights: Five haunted houses and five scare zones, including the new Reese’s Depot Of Doom, included with park admission.
• Trick Or Treat Trail: Fourteen candy stops for children 12 and younger, running from Hershey’s Chocolate World to The Shore at The Boardwalk, the wave pool that replaced Canyon River Rapids.
• Dark coasters: Candymonium, Comet, Lightning Racer, and Wildcat’s Revenge go lights-out in the last hour, and Laff Trakk stays dark all day.

The trail’s last stop is the point. Families collecting candy in October will walk onto the footprint that already ate one $4 million water ride in 2008. Tidal Force’s lagoon sits in that same district, empty of boats, while The Shore, the lazy river, Breakers Edge, and Whitecap Racer keep running when the weather and the calendar allow. Christmas Candylane is dated for November 13, which is the next seasonal overlay the park named in its correction posts.

The Park Will Share Plans When Appropriate

Amanda Polyak, public relations manager for Hersheypark, would not give a reason for the closure when the June announcement went out, and she would not name a replacement. “Hersheypark is always planning and exploring ways to enhance the guest experience,” she said. “We will share any future plans when appropriate.”

WHAT WE KNOW

• The last day: Tidal Force ran through September 7, 2026, then closed for good.
• The machine: A $4 million Hopkins Shoot The Chute from 1994, 100 feet tall, four boats of 20.
• The district: The Boardwalk remains an 11-acre water park with 17 listed attractions for 2026, minus this one.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The reason: Hersheypark has not cited maintenance, capacity, water use, or a specific new ride.
• The replacement: No name, no opening year, and no site plan has been posted. A 2027 ride is rumor only.
• The lagoon: Whether the pool, the lift, and the spectator bridge stay up through Halloween has not been spelled out.

Hersheypark is open. Tidal Force is not. The next dated thing on that acreage is Halloween on September 12, with Christmas Candylane listed for November 13, and still no name on the hole the boats left behind.