anyone do Hershey Park?

[GrumpyGoofy]

I work for the park. Saturdays are not good days to go. Best days are Sunday nights, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Just like Disney, the earlier, the better. Can't say for the hotels, but have stayed at the campground, we like it there. Also, if your son is young enough (8 or less), Dutch Wonderland is a park owned by Hershey about 1 hour away. My 2 sons love that one as well. There's lot of other things to do other than the park. Any questions, PM me.

 

[zendisney]

We went to Hershey Park last year at the end of May. We had a wonderful time. We enjoyed many of the rides. There were so many that were kid friendly. My dd got to go on a lot of the rides over and over because there was no wait. We also enjoyed the Hershey World Store/ How the Candy is made ride. SUre it was cheeky but fun. We had a blast.
We also went to Dutch Wonderland with the entire family. It's an amusement park designed for kids. The tots under 5 loved it. We all had a lot of fun. It was a great day with the entire family. I think everyone loved the "sky rides" at both parks. It was amazing. No, it's not Disney but that part of Pa is gorgeous. There is a lot to see and do. The price is right and you can usually get discount coupons and local food stores and Duncan Donuts. They even have a cheap rate if you go to both Hershey park and Dutch Wonderland. check out their websites. You can find out lots of info. There are also tours of the famous Hershey School. I guess if you like that sort of thing it is interesting. There are also lots of outlet malls and plenty of things to do.

 

[RMulieri]

I live here and never go except for Halloween.It is cute , but we prefer Dutch Wonderland since our DD is small

 

[rbork]

HP season pass holder here. Plenty of places to stay under 500$. You might even consider a farm B&B in lancaster. Fun experience and clean. Good meals around amish country. We go early, there for rope drop and then leave in the middle of the day to go back and swim then return at night if we want. HP is clean and nice for families. As stated before, HP is busy during summer months.

 

[scarlet_ibis]

I grew up about 30 minutes from Hershey, so I was there several times a year while growing up. We went back last summer for the first time in 10 year and I was SO THRILLED with all of the changes. The water park is AMAZING. The food choices were reasonable. The rollercoasters were great! I have to say, I had every bit as much fun at Hershey as I have had on Disney days.

 

[summerrluvv]

I booked a trip for the end of June since I got an awesome deal on the tickets with a promo they had earlier this month. We are going to do Hershey and Dutch Wonderland. We will be going to Hershey on the 29th...I hope it's not too crowded!

 

[yeslek]

HP can get really crowded in the summer for sure! But if it's available, go during the week. I've been told my entire life that Wednesday is the best possible time to go there, but any weekday must not be as crowded. It does get really hot (considering it's summer) but also beware that's it definitely not as flat as DW. You don't exactly climb mountains but after a full day some of those hills are down right exhausting!

 

[mdurette]

I just booked a trip for Tues May 18th to Saturday May 22nd. Staying at the Hotel Hershey. Going to concert Wed night so we should get discounted admission. Park is open starting Wed that week.

Question: I know that water areas of the park may or may not be doable depending on the weather. But, if it is hot enough....do people wear their bathing suits to the park for the day? (Kinda like Sesame Place - show up with suit on and cover up and flip flops)

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

We are actually in the park right now. It is freezing by the way. The boardwalk doesn't even open til memorial day weekend, I think. When it is open, you are free to walk around in your swim gear in that area. You need clothes in the rest of the park.

 

[antsss]

We also have season passes. Yay! During the week is better than the weekend. We LOVE the Boardwalk area. When we go in the summer, we go at opening with our bathing suits under our clothes. We hit 1 or 2 rides and then head right to the water. We get a locker ASAP for our keys, wallets, passes and cameras (the lines for the lockers get really long) and start with the lazy river. We always have a stroller with us. We keep our clothes, a few towels and other "not valuable" stuff in the stroller along with a little notepad and a pen so we can communicate with each other. We usually split up since the kids always want to do different things and it's easy to lose each other. The area is really big and spread out. And the crowds get CRAZY in the middle of a hot day. Each water area is a separate attraction with a turnstile and a line, so it's not unusual to have to wait on a line at the hottest part of the day. We get to the water early so when it starts to get really crowded we stop swimming and head to lunch. Then we change back into clothes and continue with our day in the rest of our park.

It's not unlike Disney in that a bit of planning can really pay off!

 

[HitchhikingGhost]

Went to HP a few years ago and had THE BEST time. Crowds are A LOT less than Disney, and the rides were great.

Food was good and reasonable, can't say enough good things about it.

If not mistaken it is routinely voted one of the best parks in the country each year.

 

[jkjkj98]

We were just at Hershey World in March. We could see the park. It opened the day after we were leaving town. It looked like a lot of fun though. My kids are 4, 7, and 9 and they did love Hershey World. They typically don't like 3D movies, but they loved the Hershey one. They loved the factory tour too! (free). In May they are coming out with a "make your own candy bar" that looked really fun.

 

[ratlenhum]

Depends on how old your son is. Hershey has a lot of big, major thrill rides and I was always told by others to wait until my son was 8 or older to bring him there or he wouldn't be able to go on half the rides

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Went to HP a few years ago and had THE BEST time. Crowds are A LOT less than Disney, and the rides were great.

You must have hit it on a good day. During the summer, the crowds are ridiculous. We absolutely refuse to go to Hersheypark in the summer because of how crowded it is. We stick to early spring and fall.

It is a lovely park, though. It's no Disney, however. They have a nice variety of rides and of course Chocolate World. Hotel Hershey is beautiful. I need to get over to the spa soon

 

[Mkrop]

Depends on how old your son is. Hershey has a lot of big, major thrill rides and I was always told by others to wait until my son was 8 or older to bring him there or he wouldn't be able to go on half the rides

Not true! We have been taking my kids for years and my youngest is 7. There are lots of kiddie rides. I also like how it is set up because amongst the big thrill rides are some kiddie ones. So while DH and DS12 would hit the thrill rides, DS7 could ride the kiddie rides and be in the same location to meet up afterwards. Dont get me wrong they have lots of coasters but unlike some other parks we have been too I felt there was a lot for the whole family to do.

 

[mjkacmom]

Not true! We have been taking my kids for years and my youngest is 7. There are lots of kiddie rides. I also like how it is set up because amongst the big thrill rides are some kiddie ones. So while DH and DS12 would hit the thrill rides, DS7 could ride the kiddie rides and be in the same location to meet up afterwards. Dont get me wrong they have lots of coasters but unlike some other parks we have been too I felt there was a lot for the whole family to do.

I agree! We started taking the kids when my oldest was 4, and there was plenty to go on. We were there last year, when my twins were only 6, and there were only a small handful of rides they weren't tall enough for (ds7 is a daredevil, and went on SO many coasters!).

 

[micheleq]

Going back to Hershey Park in June with my girls, mom, cousin and her son. We went when my DD5 was three years old and she loved it! There were alot of things she could ride with and without me. She and her cousin loved the Chocolate World experience (the ride and seeing the characters walk around the food court as we ate dinner), and this time we are going to try and get to Zoo America (part of the park, included in your admission) as well.

We are going on a Sunday and hitting the park on a Monday in early June. Hoping that will help us have smaller crowds.

It's not Disney, but we found the park to be clean and well-run. Food prices were outrageous though! $3.75 for a water bottle or powerade I think. We were allowed to bring one water bottle per person into the park, but no food. I guess that allowed us to save room for the delicious chocolate chip cookies you could smell anywhere in the park!!