For years, you have been too scared to ride that one roller coaster that always seemed just a little too high, or fast, or intense. But as you watched all your friends and relatives ride the coaster and come off with excited grins and fun stories to tell, you've felt a pang of jealousy, because a small part of you wants to join them. And now, today you have finally worked up the courage to try the coaster. Odds are, you will end up loving it, and want to show your new love off to the world. What better way to do so than to buy yourself a roller coaster T-shirt?
Roller coaster T-shirts are a great souvenir, and Hershey, Knoebels and Dorney all have many varieties of coaster shirts for almost all of of their big roller coasters. But sometimes, it can be tricky to find a shirt for the coaster you are looking for. I will tell you exactly where to find T-shirts for your favorite roller coaster at these parks--and which park offers the most for your money.
One note: Shirts come in all shapes and sizes, and the prices tend to rise slowly from year to year, so the prices I will quote for you are very general. Take them as a guide, not an exact estimate. Also, names of shops can change over the years, so if something sounds unfamiliar, the name of the store may have changed from what it used to be in the past.
Hersheypark: Between $14.99 and $18.99
Comet: Looking for a shirt about Hershey's beloved old wooden coaster? Look no further than Comet Souvenirs and Supplies, which is a small stand located right across from the Comet's entrance. You can't miss it!
Fahrenheit: Hershey's newest coaster has tons of shirts to promote it! Find them at Coaster Collectibles, which is located near the coaster in Pioneer Frontier.
Great Bear: For Hershey's classic inverted coaster, you can find all the shirts you need at The Kissing Place, located right across from the coaster's entrance. Note: I think the name of this store has changed since I was last at Hershey, to Marketplace Souvenirs. I will double check this when I go to Hershey next month.
Lightning Racer: For shirts about Hershey's wooden racing coaster, go to the store that the ride exits into, the Lightning Racer Markdown store. You can get great buys here! Especially look for shirts that claim you were victorious over the other train.
Roller Soaker: For this unique water coaster, try any store in the Boardwalk section of the park. Shirts featuring the Roller Soaker may have been more prevalent when the ride opened eight years ago, but check out Beachology and you may find what you're looking for.
Sidewinder: I have not once seen a shirt for the boomerang coaster Sidewinder, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist at some point. Try the stand outside Sidewinder's next-door-neighbor Storm Runner, or Coaster Collectibles near Fahrenheit, and you may get lucky--but don't hold your breath on this one.
Sooperdooperlooper: Looper shirts have been hard to come by in recent years--they are usually in small quantities and have very little selection when it comes to shirt designs. Try to find Looper shirts at the Comet souvenir stand or at a stand-alone booth right next to the Looper itself.
Storm Runner: The "0 to 75 in two seconds" coaster has its own stand near the ride that sells a moderate amount of shirts for the Storm Runner enthusiast. Again, however, these were more prevalent when the ride first came out.
Trailblazer: I have never in my life seen a shirt for the Trailblazer, Hershey's mine car coaster that is very tame and great for kids. The ride is quite old, which is probably why I believe no shirts are currently sold today. If anyone knows of any, please feel free to let me know!
Wild Mouse: Shirts for the generic Wild Mouse ride have been spotted in Hersheypark from time to time, in various locations all over the park. One place I have had the best luck is at Hersheypark Outfitters, which you see immediately upon walking through the park gate. This store used to be called Hersehypark Happenings, and under the old name the store seemed to have more coaster shirts than it does now.
Wildcat: Another older coaster that had more shirts back in the day when it first came out. I have not seen many Wildcat shorts out there, but if they exist today, I would try the Lightning Racer store first, or Hersheypark Outfitters.
Knoebels: Between $9.99 and $14.99
Phoenix: For multitudes of shirts about Knoebels' oldest and most famous wooden roller coaster, go to the Chalet store. It is located across from the ride, and is a large, beautiful shop which lends a nice atmosphere to find exactly what type of Phoenix shirt you're looking for.
Twister: Knoebels' newer wooden coaster doesn't have the history that the Phoenix does, but you can still find many shirts that feature the ride. They are located at the Twister Shop, which is next to the place where you can pick up your Twister souvenir photo. It is just a booth rather than a store and the selection isn't quite as large as the Phoenix gets, but you can still find a good shirt here.
Dorney Park: Between $15.99 and $19.99
Hydra: There is an entire shop dedicated to merchandise related to Dorney's floorless coaster, and if you ride the coaster, you cannot miss it--you have to walk through it to exit the ride! The store is big and does not disappoint when trying to find the best shirt that represents the great green coaster.
Talon: Dorney's inverted coaster has many shirts, and I have always seen them in the Carousel Emporium, which is located near the main entrance and is on the midway between the Carousel and Talon itself. This store sells many different items, but it has always featured Talon shirts, as well.
Demon Drop, Possessed, Steel Force, ThunderHawk and Wild Mouse: For all of Dorney's other coasters, try the Possessions store, which is located across from Possessed. This store features all of the park's coasters (except, I believe, the Wild Mouse, but this could have changed) and is a great one stop shop for all your coaster enthusiast needs!
The Verdict:
1. Knoebels
2. Dorney Park
3. Hersheypark
Knoebels knows that coaster lovers enjoy showing off what they've ridden in T-shirt form. The park provides multitudes of different shirt designs for both of their wooden coasters. And with many of the T-shirts being only $9.99, the price is right, as well! Dorney comes in second because of the appeal of the one-stop shop that is Possessions, and all of their coasters are represented with a variety of shirt designs. Dorney really only has two drawbacks: their prices tend to be the steepest among the three parks, and the lack of coaster T-shirts near each individual ride can confuse some people as to just where to go to find their favorite coaster's T-shirt. Hersheypark's lack of T-shirt respect as the rides get older puts them in third place--unless you're looking fot a Comet T-shirt, the older the ride gets, the harder it is to find a variety of T-shirts for it--if you can find any at all!
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