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Sign in to suggest an update →A Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters woodie that has run continuously since 1946, making it one of the oldest operating wooden coasters in the United States. The Comet's out-and-back layout climbs an 84-foot lift hill before a series of airtime hills that follow the natural contours of The Hollow, delivering a classic, rhythmic wooden-coaster experience rather than modern hybrid-style intensity. Nearly eighty years after opening, it remains one of Hersheypark's most enduring and beloved rides.
Specifications
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Ride profile
Scaled against Hersheypark's operating coasters
Park intensity
Height
84 ft
#9 of 14 at Hersheypark
Ride experience
- First drop78.00 ft
- Out & back
- Ptc
- Wood
Ride details
Drop
78 ft
Specs from hersheypark.com
Learn more
Out-and-back layouts
Leave the station, hit a big drop, return parallel — the classic speed hill formula.
Rocky Mountain hybrid coasters
Steel track on reinvented wooden structures — steep, twisted, and often relentless.
Track compliance — why wood feels alive
Wood flexes; steel is stiffer — the same forces feel different on each structure.
Twister layouts
Helixes and direction changes stacked in one direction — classic wooden feel.
History
Sourced timeline and background for Comet.
Timeline
1946
Comet opens
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters wooden out-and-back debuts, becoming one of the oldest coasters in the park.
Background
The Comet opened in 1946, built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters in the classic out-and-back style that defined much of American wooden coaster construction in the mid-20th century. Its 84-foot lift hill and straightforward layout — climb, drop, and a series of hills running out and directly back — reflect the design conventions of an era before terrain coasters and twisting layouts became common.
Nearly eighty years of continuous operation make the Comet one of the oldest wooden coasters still running anywhere in the country, a distinction that comes with genuine maintenance challenges but also cements the ride's status as a piece of living amusement park history. Unlike many wooden coasters from the same period, it has avoided both closure and a hybrid steel conversion, retaining its original wood-on-wood character throughout.
That longevity has made the Comet something of a touchstone ride for longtime Hersheypark visitors, and its continued presence in The Hollow — largely unchanged in layout since 1946 — offers a direct contrast to the park's newer steel giants built just a short walk away.
Notable records
other · Region
One of the oldest continuously operating wooden coasters in the United States, running since 1946.
As of 1946
History primarily sourced from hersheypark.com. See also our data policy.
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Sources & official links
We link out to parks, manufacturers, and the pages where facts and media come from.
- Hersheypark — official sitehersheypark.com(opens in a new tab)
- Hersheypark on Coaster AtlasPark page
- Ride specifications sourcehersheypark.com(opens in a new tab)
- Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters — manufacturerptcoasters.com(opens in a new tab)
- Hero photo (See Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0)Image license & attribution(opens in a new tab)
- Official POV — Official park YouTubeWatch on YouTube(opens in a new tab)
- History & background sourcehersheypark.com(opens in a new tab)
