Hershey park..can it be done on the cheap?

[inkedupmomma]

I just looked it up. The hotel down the street from my in-laws is a Wyndham with an indoor pool. It is only 20 minutes to Hershey and there are a couple of restaurants near there as well as a nice Target.

Again if you need any other info let me know.

You had me at Target

 

[loveysbydesign]

The site is working now:
http://contest.chevypenn.com/contest2entry.aspx

Just got out free HP tix in the mail from chevypenn.com The letter says only for certain dates but the tix don't!

 

[Schmoodle]

Just wanted to throw in my 2cents. We are about an hour and a half away and always get to Hershey a couple of times/year, but usually for a day trip. I've always carried in snacks and never had a problem.
If you are there for multiple days or plan to go back again, I agree the refillable soda cup is a good deal. We get ice cream cones at the Turkey Hill place in the park and they are enormous and delicous!

I find the park is not a great fit for kids like mine, that are too big for kiddie rides, but not brave enough for roller coasters and crazy stuff. I wish they had more middle-of-the-road stuff. But there's enough for them to do that they're not bored, and they love water parks, so now that they've got that section open, they are happy to spend most of the day there.

Definitely sign up for their mailing list on the website, you'll get info on discounts and special offers. I got free tickets to their Halloween weekend last year.

Now a question - on their website it says Sunday is one of their lightest crowd days, which seems weird to me. What do the locals think is really the best day to go?

Anyone else remember going through the real factory tour in the olden days? As a kid, seeing those giant vats of chocolate really made an impression on me, as did the bag of candy bars they handed me at the end! And OMG the smell of chocolate in the air... I've always been a fat kid LOL.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Just wanted to throw in my 2cents. We are about an hour and a half away and always get to Hershey a couple of times/year, but usually for a day trip. I've always carried in snacks and never had a problem.
If you are there for multiple days or plan to go back again, I agree the refillable soda cup is a good deal. We get ice cream cones at the Turkey Hill place in the park and they are enormous and delicous!

I find the park is not a great fit for kids like mine, that are too big for kiddie rides, but not brave enough for roller coasters and crazy stuff. I wish they had more middle-of-the-road stuff. But there's enough for them to do that they're not bored, and they love water parks, so now that they've got that section open, they are happy to spend most of the day there.

Definitely sign up for their mailing list on the website, you'll get info on discounts and special offers. I got free tickets to their Halloween weekend last year.

Now a question - on their website it says Sunday is one of their lightest crowd days, which seems weird to me. What do the locals think is really the best day to go?

Anyone else remember going through the real factory tour in the olden days? As a kid, seeing those giant vats of chocolate really made an impression on me, as did the bag of candy bars they handed me at the end! I've always been a fat kid LOL.

Thanks for the info.
I was wondering if we should try to go on a Wed. or Thurs. in August or wait and go on the weekend in Sept. I wonder which time it would be less busy!

 

[scottmel]

Thanks a million to th eposter that reported about the chevy offer! I was able to get tickets on Friday when they opened the 6 pm order window. I have 12 tickets on the way!!!! FANTASTIC! we are going for a weekk in August and Hershey Lodge gave us one set of comp passes so now I have another set for another day. thanks op!

 

[czycropper]

We just got back...my DH called me on Friday around lunch and said "let's go to Hershey for the weekend" , him.

Here's what we did:

Hotel - stayed at the Holiday Inn off Rt. 81 about 10 minutes away - It was about $150 a night (AAA rate) but it included free breakfast for the DDs and it has an indoor pool.

Tickets - we ended up not getting any tickets from AAA like we usually do. The hotel did give us a coupon for $10 off a one-day ticket but since we were going two days - we just bought the two-day pass ($70.50)

Food - we brought in water bottles which we bought at the gas station near the hotel for a $1.00 a piece and just put those and a few snack bars in the bottom of the backpacks we carried. We still ended up buying lunch there at the Subway and it was under $30 for the 4 of us on Saturday. We ate late, so ended up just having pretzels for dinner - I know not healthy but it was very hot & humid and none of us felt like eating much! We also had the bars and lots of water since we refilled the water bottles from the water fountain after my DDs threw their original water bottles away and we ended up paying $3.00 for a bottle of water. We also did spend some money on getting some lemonade, cotton candy & popcorn because that's what we always eat when we go there

We did all the rides on Saturday which was a good decision since we just looked into the Boardwalk part of the park and it was soooooo crowded. The longest we had to wait for a ride was an hour and half for Fahrenheit mainly because my DDs wanted to ride the front car. We rode Comet as soon as we arrived (10 min.); Great Bear (no wait & 20 min later in the evening-again front car wait); SuperDooperLooper (no wait-front car); StormRunner (30 min.); Wildcat (15 min because DDs had to go in the front seat); Sidewinder (20 min.); Thunder/Lightning (5 min.-back car). We went to Chocolate World and made a candy bar (yum!) and back to the hotel around 4ish for a swim and cool down and returned to the park at 7:30 pm since the park was opened till 11 pm. My DDs loved riding the coasters (for the 3rd or 4th time) at night. I rode my favorite wooden one (Thunder & Lighting) at night as well.

On Sunday we got there early after breakfast, we went straight to Boardwalk and were able to ride all the water rides with no wait for at least 5 times each, then relaxed at the "Shore", played a few games, rode a couple more coasters and left for home around 3 pm - I stopped at the scrapbook store in the outlets and was pleasantly surprised that they were having a 30% off everything in the store!!!!

It was a great time even though it was so and hot and humid. Saturday was definitely more crowded - I counted at least 20 "tour" buses in the parking lot but on Sunday it was less crowded.

OP - next time I will definitely go in Sept. or like we did last time the Thurs/Fri before Labor Day. Have a great time!

 

[MyMuse]

Just got out free HP tix in the mail from chevypenn.com The letter says only for certain dates but the tix don't!

I got mine too, but I wonder if it can be used on other days? and someone posted that it can be used for the "sunset" preview??? oohhhh

 

[loveysbydesign]

I got mine too, but I wonder if it can be used on other days? and someone posted that it can be used for the "sunset" preview??? oohhhh

I emailed them and they said it goes by the dates on the actual tickets. Not by the letter...those days are only recommended by Chevrolet because they have special things going on there that day at the park.

 

[kimbo0569]

Thanks for all the info everyone! Normally I probably would do a day trip there, but my ex and I split up in Janary unexpectadely, which forced me to cancel our Disney trip which was scheduled for this September Ideally I would like to take the kids for Hershey for at least one over night. I know it is no Disney, believe me I know BUT, it would be something fun and who doesn't love chocolate

If any of you have any more info, I'm all ears!!

No it's not Disney but honestly, it's such a great place, we're going back for a weekend in August and it will be our 5th time in 5 years! We have such a great time, it's our next favorite place to Disney.

Check CVS - They have coupons for Hershey, or if you are a member of AAA, you can get discounted tickets through them as well. We do a weekend which between hotel and park passes, it's around $500 but we do a two day pass and are staying 3 nights in the hotel. If you are only staying one night and doing one day at the park, it would be less than that. I believe someone mentioned the twilight preview pass which is another way of saving money.

I'm sorry about the split and that you had to cancel your Disney trip but I hope you get to do Hershey and have as much fun as we do!

 

[kimbo0569]

You had me at Target

If this is the area I'm thinking of, it's where we stay and there are alot of reasonable hotels on that road, I think it's Eisenhower Blvd in Harrisburg, PA. There's a Howard Johnson, Red Roof Inn, Econolodge, the Wyndham and a LaQuinta (where we are staying this time around). There are also some good restaurants around there - Chili's, Lancaster Brewing Company which is awesome! There is also a Red Robin right minutes away from Hersheypark near the outlets.

 

[MyMuse]

I emailed them and they said it goes by the dates on the actual tickets. Not by the letter...those days are only recommended by Chevrolet because they have special things going on there that day at the park.

Oh! Thank you; I don't like going against the rules but...if they don't check ID, etc, then maybe I'll choose another day just because all the warning for Saturday scare me.

I really didn't think the tickets were real real. I guess I should find someplace to stay! and start planning!

 

[inkedupmomma]

Thank you all SO much! Im actually super excited about going now! Any family time away is fun, add the chocolate and really, what is there to complain about? But wow, who knew there were SO many hotels to choose from!

 

[MyMuse]

Thanks a million to th eposter that reported about the chevy offer! I was able to get tickets on Friday when they opened the 6 pm order window. I have 12 tickets on the way!!!! FANTASTIC! we are going for a weekk in August and Hershey Lodge gave us one set of comp passes so now I have another set for another day. thanks op!

Aww, now it's closed. I completely forgot my sister has a Chevy.

She's a little mad, I didn't tell her right away!!! Ah well.

 

[stacy347]

I got 4 free tix last week for the Chevy promo ~ so glad I found this thread!
I really didn't think we'd be taking another trip anywhere this year, but it's pretty hard to say no to $200 worth of free tickets!
Thanks for all the useful tips everyone posted.
Now I just have to figure out the most budget-friendly hotel for a group of 5!

 

[TinkTink78]

I got mine!!! LOVE DIS!!!!!

So is anyone gonna use their tickets for another day? BTW PP thanks for emailing them and asking!!!!

 

[shystalips]

We went overnight during the last week of june. Your best hotel deal is probably the holiday inn, grantville through priceline. I never booked a hotel through priceline before but I believe I used a filter for hershey area for a 3 star hotel. Bid $65 a night. They came back with an offer for $75. Booked it but could've probably got it for $70. They don't guarantee a room with 2 beds, but trust me, when you call the hotel they will give you a room with 2 dbl beds. This is a decent hotel that is 8 miles from the park, there is even a casino a mile down the road. Good luck, priceline is actually kind of fun.

 

[mafibisha]

Bumping to ask the experts about Labor Day weekend.

Is that specific Sunday super busy? Or have the crowds lessened because school has started? We would only be able to go on Sunday, Sept. 5.

Also, someone said the local Rite Aids have discount tickets. Would they work Labor day weekend?

 

[Ricky's Girl]

We used to stay at the Hershey Lodge, but it's too expensive. We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on Jonestown Road in Harrisburg, I believe, and it was nice, clean, indoor pool, free breakfast, great staff, 4 miles from Hershey, and cheaper than others 2 miles away. It took less than 10 minutes to get to the park.

Thank you so much for posting this info. I just booked our room for a late September trip at the same CI&S on Jonestown Road. For the life of me I couldn't figure out where it was in relationship to Hershey. I feel so much better now knowing it's only 10 minutes away.

 

[loveysbydesign]

How is HP on the weekends in Sept? We have tix and won't be able to use them til then!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Also has anyone used their chevy tix? Did you have any problems using them?