The Sweetest Thing- A Hershey Park/Pa Dutch Country Trip Report

[TwizzleMouse]

Here are the flood of 2011 photos and the main reason that Wendy's you visited was rebuilt

 

[disney ny]

Wow! It has been a super long time but I wanted to finish up this report and not just leave it unfinished forever. So here is to trying to finish it up in the new year!

When I left off we had just entered the park and Braden had gotten measured to determine what rides he could ride on. Now he was only five but I can tell you he is super tall for his age so that meant he could go on a lot and he was insisting he wanted to go on one of the huge roller coasters. I tried to talk him into starting out with something tame but he wanted no part of it. So Avery and I rode the carousel without him.

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Braden was not happy but we moved on to other rides and offered him all kinds of options- he said no to everything! He was still insisting on a roller coaster so Grandma took him off to the "Cocoa Cruiser" for his first roller coaster ride ever and we took Avery on another ride.....

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Even though he had been acting all big and brave I know my child well and was nervous how he would handle even a small coaster so as soon as Avery was done we headed over to watch the big adventure he and Grandma were having.

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This is them in the front car.

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When they got off I nervously awaited the results and it turned out that he loved it!

 

[disney ny]

After the first few successful rides we walked around enjoying the parks. I had prepurchased online a meal deal and with this we each got a refillable mug. We quickly found a little quick service place and filled up our fancy orange refillable mugs with drinks as the temperature was already heating up! The one thing I noticed and really liked about the mugs is they are good all year! Now I don't live close enough to take advantage of it but I thought that was a great deal.

Now even though Hershey Park should have been the highlight of the trip I will be honest- I took very few pictures that day. I am pretty sure the reason was the heat. We walked all around the park that morning and I was trying so hard to make sure everyone was having a good time that I did not really pay attention to the heat. We went over to the "Trailblazer" which is a mine train type roller coaster, and everyone rode this ride twice. Even Avery! She totally loved it- I have a super brave little girl. After that we headed back toward the entrance to have lunch and that is when we all started to realize just how hot we were. I felt awful! I knew right away we had tried to do too much without a break and it was so hot. We cashed in our meal deal passes and got some lunch to try and make everyone feel better.

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But, I think at that point it was too late and the heat had gotten us all. We had done quite a bit and enjoyed ourselves but it was early afternoon and we were all tired out. We did some shopping on the way out and decided to call it a day. I am sure some people would have maximized the day and tried to get their money's worth but with two small kids it just wasn't worth it. We left the park, headed for I-81 and were on our way home.

Summary:
We have a fabulous time and I would highly recommend a trip to this area for anyone. It was perfect for a weekend get a way and we really wished we had tried to do just Amish Country and relaxed more and not even bothered with Hershey Park. I think my kids enjoyed it but we are not all day amusement park type people. Next time we would love to go for at least another night- maybe this summer! Sorry it took me so long to put an ending on this report but I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it helps anyone who is thinking about taking a trip to this area.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Great report. So nice to hear positive things without a bunch of complaints.

Glad you had a good time.

We live fairly close and I have always wanted to go to Shady Maple but just haven't done it. I think I will try to do that now.

 

[disney ny]

Great report. So nice to hear positive things without a bunch of complaints.

Glad you had a good time.

We live fairly close and I have always wanted to go to Shady Maple but just haven't done it. I think I will try to do that now.

Thank you for reading. We had a fabulous time so there isn't too much to complain about~ You should try Shady Maple for sure- I think my husband would agree to another trip just to go there again.

 

[clori]

Sounds like a fun trip. We (me, dh, dd14 and d10 went in August as well the week of August 9th thru 16th. Fortunately the weather never got too hot or humid. We stayed at Candlewood Suites in Harrisburg. We did the 4 hour night before and 1 full day at Hershey Park. My 10 year old was only 43 inches but since she doesn't love the big thrill rides it worked out fine. My dd14 rode some but not all of the bigger rides.

We also did Hershey Gardens, Hershey Story Museum and a all the Hershey Chocolate World attractions. It was fun making chocolate bars Hershey Chocolate World plus doing a chocolate taste test (I still prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate). At Hershey Story we made a small chocolate bar and did a chocolate drink test. My youngest who loves flowers for some reason didn't really enjoy Hershey Gardens beyond the Children's section. I wasn't sure about the Hershey Story but she loved having her activity book to do there and had a great time. My youngest did not want to do the trolley tour. When we got off she said it was great and would ride it again.

We took full advantage of our local museum pass. We did the zoo attached to Hershey Park (non park day), Whitaker, Lancaster Science Factory, and the Museum of Natural History and Science for free. Unfortunately we never made it to the Museum of Clocks and Watches. My family loves hands on museums especially science museums and some of these were done on a rainy day.

Of course we had to go to Lancaster. We did the Amish Experience package which I think was in Bird-in-Hand. We toured a house and school house, had a 90 minute bus tour where we stopped at a few places like a road side stand with horses, rode a horse/buggy and saw a movie about traditional Amish life. We also ate a traditional Amish lunch. Yum.

No trip to the area would be complete without a visit to Gettysburg even if we had to switch plans around do to a rainy day. We bought an audio tour that we played in the car. We did the museum inside the visitor's center and picked up the free Park Ranger junior booklet. Then we followed the audio tour but we didn't stop at every single stop. I had debated over going to Gettysburg but in the end we were very happy that we went and my dd10 loved it.

Some other places we visited was Turkey Hill Experience where we made our own ice cream. We also went to an Indian Cavern which was really neat. Basically we were busy all day but by 7pm would eat dinner in the hotel room, relax and swim most nights. We also visited with family in the area a bit. Its a different trip than Disney but just as fun at least for my family.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Thank you so much for this report! We live about two hours from this area and yet while we've been to Lancaster many times for the Strasburg Railroad, we've never been to Hershey. We keep going to Disney every year, but now I'm thinking we should just stay in PA one of these vacations!

 

[dsneprincess]

We also did Hershey this past summer, along win Sesame Place. We went to Liltz to the Julius Sturgis pretzel factory tour, which was a different, fun add-on.

 

[disney ny]

Thank you so much for this report! We live about two hours from this area and yet while we've been to Lancaster many times for the Strasburg Railroad, we've never been to Hershey. We keep going to Disney every year, but now I'm thinking we should just stay in PA one of these vacations!

You should stay for sure! Sometimes we tend to overlook the treasures that are close to us- I know I do this. Hershey is so beautiful!!

 

[disney ny]

Sounds like a fun trip. We (me, dh, dd14 and d10 went in August as well the week of August 9th thru 16th. Fortunately the weather never got too hot or humid. We stayed at Candlewood Suites in Harrisburg. We did the 4 hour night before and 1 full day at Hershey Park. My 10 year old was only 43 inches but since she doesn't love the big thrill rides it worked out fine. My dd14 rode some but not all of the bigger rides.

We also did Hershey Gardens, Hershey Story Museum and a all the Hershey Chocolate World attractions. It was fun making chocolate bars Hershey Chocolate World plus doing a chocolate taste test (I still prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate). At Hershey Story we made a small chocolate bar and did a chocolate drink test. My youngest who loves flowers for some reason didn't really enjoy Hershey Gardens beyond the Children's section. I wasn't sure about the Hershey Story but she loved having her activity book to do there and had a great time. My youngest did not want to do the trolley tour. When we got off she said it was great and would ride it again.

We took full advantage of our local museum pass. We did the zoo attached to Hershey Park (non park day), Whitaker, Lancaster Science Factory, and the Museum of Natural History and Science for free. Unfortunately we never made it to the Museum of Clocks and Watches. My family loves hands on museums especially science museums and some of these were done on a rainy day.

Of course we had to go to Lancaster. We did the Amish Experience package which I think was in Bird-in-Hand. We toured a house and school house, had a 90 minute bus tour where we stopped at a few places like a road side stand with horses, rode a horse/buggy and saw a movie about traditional Amish life. We also ate a traditional Amish lunch. Yum.

No trip to the area would be complete without a visit to Gettysburg even if we had to switch plans around do to a rainy day. We bought an audio tour that we played in the car. We did the museum inside the visitor's center and picked up the free Park Ranger junior booklet. Then we followed the audio tour but we didn't stop at every single stop. I had debated over going to Gettysburg but in the end we were very happy that we went and my dd10 loved it.

Some other places we visited was Turkey Hill Experience where we made our own ice cream. We also went to an Indian Cavern which was really neat. Basically we were busy all day but by 7pm would eat dinner in the hotel room, relax and swim most nights. We also visited with family in the area a bit. Its a different trip than Disney but just as fun at least for my family.

Your trip sounds amazing. We will definitely go back as had such a great time and there is so much to do. I want to stay longer next time as well. When the kids are just a little older I would love to take them to Gettysburg. I have been once but it was forever ago and I love history. My Dad taught Social Studies and always took us to cool historic places and he always knew so much about them. I want my kids to appreciate and experience that too. A Disney trip is amazing but it is not always relaxing. This PA trip was relaxing and slow paced. I bet I can get my husband to sign up for a weekend again the summer.
You did a ton on your trip and I will have to add all of those things to my list. I am so glad I did this report as all of the tips and ideas people have commented have been very helpful!

 

[disney ny]

We also did Hershey this past summer, along win Sesame Place. We went to Liltz to the Julius Sturgis pretzel factory tour, which was a different, fun add-on.

I know we did one of the pretzel factory tours when I was in high school but I am not 100% sure which one. I had fun though! I love places where you get samples. Sesame Place is on my short list of places to visit before the kids get too old. Maybe this summer!

 

[franandaj]

I'm glad you got around to finishing this report. It sounded like a nice weekend, despite the heat and other challenges that you faced.