hershey park questions??

[mrsboz]

Hi. I know that a bunch of you went to Hershey last year so I was wondering if you would be able to steer me in the right direction. I was hoping that maybe some of you would know where to stay, what kind of discounts, and where, I can expect to find them. What admission is best? Anything that you can tell me would be really helpful. Would you recommend staying onsite? Thank you for your consideration.

 

[Kaitlynangel2]

We stay at the Marriott Springhill suites in Hershey - book way in advance to get a good price and a reservation. The room gives you a full pull out couch and a slight privacy wall. Also get a refrigerator in the room and a microwave and utility sink. Also includes a breakfast with eggs, sausage and bagels, hot cereal, muffins, juice. They have an indoor heated pool and jacuzzi. It is literally a straight run from the hotel to the park, no turns at all. Takes no more than 3 minutes from Park to hotel.

As for tickets, I went to Giant supermarket in the area and purchased the tickets at customer service, I believe it was a $10 per ticket savings. I live in NY but I researched so much I found this information on the internet. Look on the internet for the closest Giant foods to the Hotel and then call the supermarket to make sure they have the tickets and what the price is.

I hope this was helpful.

 

[sanibelover]

We went last year and Pricelined a hotel for $42/ night - Crown Plaza Harrisburg. This was actually in the city of Harrisburg but not too far away from Hershey. The hotel was fine. Had an indoor pool. The only problem we had was parking. They have a garage which you do have to pay for ($12/night?), but we had a cartop carrier on our van and couldn't fit in the garage. The doorman had to tell us where to park on the street which didn't bother us, but it was a bit of a pain. We actually got a parking ticket, but the hotel took care of it because we parked where they told us to.

All of that said, if you can get a decent price somewhere else, I would probably do it, but the hotels that were close to Hershey that were more reasonably priced seemed a little iffy to me. (I don't really like Days Inns, etc.)

We went in June and had most of the park to ourselves except for the water rides because there were a lot of school trips. Once all of those buses left (about 5 p.m.), the park was all ours until closing (10 p.m.?).

If you have never Pricelined before, www.biddingfortravel.com is a great help.

We loved Hershey. The park is great for all ages. Very clean and very manageable with not too much planning.

The Hershey visitor's center is Great! Mostly free. (if you can believe that!!!)

We also took the trolley tour which we liked, but may not be great for really young ones - depends how well they can sit still. We had a 3 year old with us who was quite happy whan the tour was over. Also, if you can help it, don't sit on the bench at the back of the bus. It gets really hot on your rearend - almost to the point of being painful. I'm not really sure why people are allowed to sit there - especially children.

 

[disneysteve]

I'll second the SpringHill Suites. We've stayed there a couple of times. It is relatively new and very nice.

 

[disneyfor3]

We just did Christmas Candy Lane at Hershey last weekend. Went to Strasburg Railroad first and saw Thomas the Tank Engine and then drove over to Hershey. I got us a hotel, Comfort Inn at the Park, through Hotwire for $73.00 a night (it is a 2 and 1/2 star hotel) which included a continental breakfast and an indoor pool. Our stay was very pleasant there, room was very clean, breakfast nice, staff very pleasant, and my son loved feeding the ducks with the food purchased from the duck feeding machine at the pond. They have a list of restaurants if you ask at the front desk which we enjoyed - try the diner down the road (great food). The prices at the park were $14.00 for a strip of 20 tickets or a wristband for $16.00 for the day. We also drove through the Sweet Lights (2 miles long) which were very enjoyable and cost $15.00. We also did the Polar Bear Express train ride at the Middletown Railroad (a very short drive from Hershey) which was a 1 and 1/2 train ride with a story read over the loudspeaker about Snowbear the Polar Bear and then someone playing Christmas music on an accordian and everyone singing along as well as milk and cookies for the kids and cider for the adults, and then Santa getting on halfway through the trip and giving each child a stuffed polar bear with a Christmas hat and taking time to get his picture taken with each child. This was very affordable at $12 per adult and $6 for a child, and it was very memorable. Can you tell my 3 year old son and my husband love trains. We enjoyed the whole trip very much.

 

[Leota]

We've been hitting Hershey every summer lately as it's only about a 5 hour drive from here. We stay in Harrisburg & get more for our money, accomodation-wise. It's about 15 minutes easy drive to Hershey from Harrisburg. There are often AAA or Entertainment book rates. I'd love to stay on-site, but just can't justify the cost.
Since we go for a couple days, we found the best ticket for us was the 2 day ticket. If you buy it the night before, you get 2.5 hours admission free that night.
Hershey is a very nice amusement park. It tides us over between WDW trips....

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We stayed at a Fairfield Inn that was about 10 minutes from the park. It was nice, clean, and we paid $59/night. This was late fall, so I am not even sure that they have a pool.

I would love to stay "onsite", but the Hershey Hotel is VERY expensive!!

 

[Luvdancink]

They have two "onsite" hotels. (although neither of them is actually onsite, you have a minute or two shuttle bus ride) There is the hotel hershey. Which is VERY fancy. Great for your hunnymoon, maybe not so affordable for a weekend with the kids. (Although they have the best chocolate massage in their spa) There is another hotel which is more affordable called the hershey lodge and convention center. Give them a call they are almost always running specials. This is the hotel meant for families. They sometimes even have specials which include tickets with your stay. If not, ask them for directions to the Giant grocery store which has discounted tickets year round. Right now its the wristbands for christmas, but in the spring they will have the discounted hershey park regular season tickets.

~Kristy

 

[davesdog]

This may help some http://www.hersheypa.com/ I live about 10 miles from the park, so I get by there often. Usually Giant food stores have A good deal, and some years AAA does also. So far they haven't said what next summer deals will be. I just looked and season passes were $85. until Jan 1. This include free parking. So if your local, or plan to visit more than once, this is the best. I subscribed to this thread, so when they start their offers for 05, I can fill you in, or if your interested in my opinion of A local Hotel? You can send me A private message here, and I'll give you my email address. There are no real onsight hotels. But there are plenty close by. Most of the entire Harrisburg, Lebanon, and Lancaster area is within
30-45 minutes of the park.

 

[curlyjbs]

Mrsboz
I tried to email you but your email is turned off. I can definetely help you with discount tix for Hershey park. If you want you can pm me for more info.

curly

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

We have gone twice. The first time we stayed at the Baymont Inn in Harrisburg. I did Priceline and got it for some ridculous price, maybe $35/night. The second time we stayed in Grantville at the Comfort Suites for $99/night. Both hotels were nice but I prefer the Comfort Suites. The drive to Hershey was quick and easy. When we stayed in Harrisburg I got lost several times. Of course, most people don't get lost as often as me LOL.

I love Hershey, PA and can't wait to go back. I'm trying to convince DH we need to go again.

 

[mrsboz]

thank you all so much for your quick replies. I am not very good at all with the computer. As silly as it sounds I have no idea how to "pm you" or how to turn my email on? We are thinking of maybe seeing the Philadelphia Phillies first and then driving to Hershey Park. My children are 11, 9 and 4 anyone else that has any suggestions of what else is worth seeing I would be so happy to hear from you. Can anyone recommend a hotel near the stadium? Are they outrageously expensive? Thank you soooo much.

 

[sanibelover]

Another thing we did in Hershey that was fun: Hershey Adventure Sports. They have go cart type cars which the 11 year old will be able to drive by themselves. My DS (10 at the time, I think) thought this was the best thing ever - no rail on the track, they zipped along, and he got to go by himself. He liked these better than all of the rides at Hershey.

http://www.adventurehershey.com/

The place is immaculate. Very nicely done. We were impressed.

 

[piglet33]

We just did Christmas Candy Lane at Hershey last weekend. The prices at the park were $14.00 for a strip of 20 tickets or a wristband for $16.00 for the day. We also drove through the Sweet Lights (2 miles long) which were very enjoyable and cost $15.00.

We just got back from our trip to Hershey and also did Christmas Candylane and Sweet Lights. We bought wristbands for the three of us and definitely got our money's worth. My 2 year old DD had a blast. We even had breakfast with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the Hershey characters, which was very nice. We stayed at the Hershey Lodge, which was wonderful. We will definitely stay there again. We plan on doing this every year since DD had so much fun.

 

[Helene]

I'm not sure how long you plan on staying in the area, but Hersherypark recently purchased Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster. It's only a 35-40 min ride from Hershey and DW would be a great park to visit with your 4yo, but the older children wouldn't have as much to do. There are also two great outlet centers in Lancaster.

The website is www.dutchwonderland.com

 

[piglet33]

We also went to the Hershey Outlets and got some great deals. These outlets are right across the street from the park. I went to Carters and got 2 winter coats for my DD for next year for $20 each. They were normally $50 and $60 so I'm very happy with that savings. It was a nice place to take a break from the rides. We also ate at Red Robin that had very good food and great sour apple lemonades! Oh I wish I had one now!

 

[tkd lisa]

We've stayed at the Country Inn and Suites listed as East Harrisburg. It was a very easy 10 minute drive down a country road to get to the parking lot at Hershey Park.

Not sure if you have any connections to federal government or military employees, but those categories also get good discounts. I think our tickets are about $12 less than general admission.

 

[Magalex]

My husband, myself, and DS (preschool age) went to Hershey this past June. We loved it and return for many times. We live in Pittsburgh so it is about 5.5 hours away. We stayed for 3 days. I found a locally owned small motel on a Hershey website. The owners and employees were very nice and helpful. The rooms were very clean and updated. It has been privately owned since the 80's. They took an old motel and made it cute and cozy. The small outside pool and landscaping was very clean and pretty. If you are not looking for a big luxury hotel and are there for the park..it is a perfect little budget place..the website is www.whiterosemotel.com. They have a frig, microwave, and coffee maker in the room. Located in the heart of Hershey! In the summer Hershey park offers a preview night with purchase of tickets..At 7PM they sell tickets to guests who will be visiting the park the following day and allow the guests to enter that night before until the closing of the park(summer season)..You kind of get a sneak preview. That was great!

Have Fun!
Magalex

 

[LIMOGE7]

Would definately stay at The Hotel Hershey. It was awesome and lovely and would be a treat to kids and adults alike. Their is free chocolate all over and they are so friendly. You shower with chocolate soap and the food is delicious. Splurge it is worth it and they will never forget it. The house tour is awesome and the older kids will enjoy the gift shop with soda shop and the grounds with pool, gardens fish, chocolate, more chocolate and golf.

 

[babieemelly]

I LOVE Hershey Park - I've been there 4 times, including this past summer. We usually stay in Lancaster ... it's SUCH an amazing, amazing place. It's so interesting driving around and seeing the Amish men and women working the fields, and the little Amish kids playing on their scooters. It really IS like stepping into another time. I never get sick of it! We stayed at the Lancaster Host Resort and it was GORGEOUS! The lobby was one of the nicest I've seen (and I'm from NYC where there are tons of gorgeous hotels), the pool was so nice, the staff was very friendly and helpful and the restaurant, playground, golf course, tennis courts, game room and other amenities at the sprawling resort were great. It was also a great location - directly across the street from Dutch Wonderland on Lincoln Highway East. There was a Lapp's Family Restaurant right next door, mini golf across the street and tons of stores (both big chain stores like Walmart and small Amish-owned stored) all along the street. We went to Hershey Park for the day on September 1st and were SHOCKED - it was empty! For the Chocolate Making Ride we walked RIGHT ON (we've never had less than a 30-minute wait on all our other trips) and we walked right into the pre-show of the 3D show as it was starting (a really cute show!) The lines were pretty much non-existent in the actual park - even for the new crazy ride Storm Force Accelatron (the biggest, fastest coaster in the world!) there was literally a 2 minute wait! We had another GREAT experience and Lancaster will always be one of my favorite vacation destinations!