Hersheypark closed Tidal Force for good on September 7, 2026, ending the BoardWalk water ride’s 32-year run on the final day of the park’s 120th summer operating season. The ride had carried guests up a 100-foot incline before a splashdown that could top 50mph.
The timing matters because this is the day readers are looking for: the last chance to ride was Monday, and Hersheypark had already said earlier in 2026 that Tidal Force would shut down at summer’s end. On Sunday, the park posted that it was time for the ride to set sail and invited visitors for one last trip through Monday.
Tidal Force first opened in 1994, making it one of the longer-running attractions on The BoardWalk. Its removal leaves a gap in a part of Hersheypark that has long been tied to summer crowds, and the park did not say why it chose to retire the ride or whether anything will take its place.
That silence is the part that lingers. Hersheypark is closing one era while preparing to open another, and the two do not quite line up: the park will reopen on weekends beginning September 12 for Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights, then offer Christmas Candylane on select dates through January 3, 2027. The summer is over, but the park is not going dark.
What remains unanswered is the simplest next question. Hersheypark has not announced an exact reopening date for 2027, and it typically returns sometime in early April. For now, the last wave has already broken, and Tidal Force is part of the park’s past.
