Loving The Hershey Park Experience

Stop Spinning When Green

Answer: “Oh, I think he’s going to puke.”

Question: “What are things we said at Hershey Park?”

Okay, there were a couple of “uh oh” moments while at Hershey Park. But they were all related to Marshall getting spun around too much, which, by the way, wasn’t the park’s fault. Our kids had an enjoyable first experience at Hershey Park. It’s a place where there are carnival rides, roller coasters, water slides, arcade games, and dining options galore. There are even plenty of opportunities to see a marching band walking through the park.

Hershey Park from the Gate

We arrived to Hershey Park on a Tuesday morning when they opened at 10am. It’s a pretty awesome feature to have large shuttles ready for its guests, which we absolutely took advantage of. The ability to take breaks from endless walking, even at the start of our day, is pretty huge. It prevents them from getting burned out too quickly. Adelaide and Marshall were so excited to enter Hershey Park and were instantly pointing at almost everything as soon as we passed through the gate. Meghan’s parents came along as well, aka Nana and Pop Rod, and all of the adults grabbed a map.

After looking at the map, we quickly pointed out to the kids that we’re going to take advantage of the rides we want to ride as soon as we see them. We told them it’s going to be a “go with the flow” kind of day where we jump on rides when we reach them, which turned into a great plan. The longest wait for any ride was when the kids went with Meghan and Pop Rod to ride the Comet. This wooden roller coaster was a favorite for them, while the kids were a little back and forth on their feelings. “It went really high and it made my belly feel a little bad.” That was Adelaide’s response, while Marshall had a similar (and more intense) response to the Dizzy Drums.

Kid Ride Experiences

Although the description for the Dizzy Drums is “a low-speed, gentle alternative to the Tea Cups,” I can’t imagine what the Tea Cups are actually like. Adelaide spun them around so quickly, Marshall struggled to keep himself upright, which was followed by a nauseated, pale-green expression. It’s safe to say we feel pretty lucky he didn’t lose it on the ride. It was also completely understandable when he broke down in tears afterwards. He felt miserable. Yes, he eventually told Adelaide to stop spinning them around, but that came closer to the end of the ride. Poor little dude.

We took a few minutes for him to sit, drink some water, and recover from the dizzying experience. There were plenty of kid rides similar to this one, but there were also excellent roller coasters perfect for kids who have never been on one before. We returned to the Cocoa Cruiser the most, especially when inclement weather approached, but we’ll get to that later. This is a super short ride with great turns that our kids loved! It was awesome to see such huge smiles on their faces as they went on this ride again and again.

The Trailblazer was another fantastic beginning coaster for the kids, since it’s set closer to the ground. Although my role in this adventure was baggage carrier, because I have an unfortunate motion sickness response to rides, it was fantastic to see everyone else hop on a ride and hear about how fun the ride was. Marshall is smaller than Adelaide, so he was unable to ride all of the same rides as his sister. His biggest disappointment came at the realization that he didn’t reach the height requirement for the bumper cars. In all honesty, we thought we’d be able to ride with him, but the height category that included supervision was a class above his. Though, we were proud of Adelaide when she declined to go on the ride. She knew how upset Marshall would have been if she went and he didn’t.

Highs and Lows

One of the best things about Hershey Park is the amount of shade going through a good portion of the park. Avoiding the hot sun made the day much easier! So, we didn’t have to worry about the kids taking as many breaks. On the other side, the water park is all sunshine and water. Unfortunately, we were unable to take advantage of the water park. Our plan for the day was to start with the coasters and transition to the water park later in the day. So, when we got in line for our first slide, the water park closed due to incoming inclement weather.

First, we totally understand the need to close areas of the park when weather is on the horizon. Second, we definitely appreciate Hershey Park looking out for its guests to make sure it’s a fun and safe experience. It did start to rain, but not immediately where some of the other rides needed to be closed, So, the kids were able to experience a handful of other rides, including the Cocoa Cruiser again, which Adelaide LOVED riding by herself in the front! So, as the rain started to pour heavier and thunder boomed in the distance, we were well on our way to Hershey’s Chocolate World.

Hershey Park and Chocolate World for Us

The great thing about exiting the park is that the staff will stamp your arm, so you can return later in the same day, if you’re planning on coming back. The chocolate tour was packed, obviously, because of the guests pouring in from the rain. The packed lines shuffled through a self-guided tour with loads of information on the history of the Hershey company. Once we arrived to the ride, we were able to comfortably sit in the same car and watch how the process of making some of the best candies in the world happens. It really was a fun ride for the whole family. Plus, the experience was even brighter when individual Hershey bars were given to everyone leaving the tour. My kids were happy to share my piece of chocolate.

Hershey Park is a fantastic location for the whole family. For our family, the 1-Day Tickets were a perfect introduction to the Hershey experience, because by the end of the day, we were immediately discussing the option of season passes for the following year. To me, when I think about the overall experience, instantly considering multiple return trips is a total win!

What’s next on our list? Should we have a return visit and further rate Hershey Park once we visit the water park? Should we go to another theme park first? If you want us to visit Hershey again or if you think we should visit another theme park, share your thoughts in the comments below or tell us on our Facebook page.