OT: 1 yr old at Hersheypark or other amusement park

[goofy4wdw2]

We're meeting family at Hersheypark and I was wondering if DD1 (12 months, just had her birthday) would be able to ride any of the kiddie rides. They don't really have rides like Pooh, IASW, or Peter Pan, where you sit and look around. Hersheypark has a category of rides for under 36", and DD is 29", but I am thinking the rides may be too bumpy for her. Has anyone taken a 12 month old to a non-Disney amusement park, and what was your experience?

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I have not taken DS2.5 to Hersheypark yet. I haven't been there in several years, but as I recall there aren't alot of rides you can ride with your child. So, he would either have to ride himself (if he makes the requirements) or you would have to ride with him if they allow it. Most amusement parks that I have been to, aren't as accomodating as far as riding with a young child as Disney is. Not sure how far you are from Knoebels but that is a nice little park with free admission. My DS loves the antique cars, the trains and the boat and we can hold him on those.

 

[Pamomof3]

We have season passes for Hershey Park have for many years, my youngest is five and their our many children rides there for all ages. You will have a great time make sure to check out zoo America as well.

 

[goofy4wdw2]

Thank you so much for your responses!

Pamomof3- Thank you for the tip on Zoo America! Which rides do you think would be appropriate for a 12 month old? She's pretty adventurous, but pretty petite. I was looking at the website...can she ride things like the Ladybug, Frog Hopper and Tiny Timbers if we go with her (the height requirement just says less than 36")? Will they allow us to ride? I never really paid attention to any of these rides before! Thank you!

 

[tms295]

If i am not mistaken... Hershey will let kids ride the under 36" rides if they are able to sit by themselves... No Hand Held Infants!

 

[stacy6552]

We have been to Hershey with a toddler. He didnt ride a thing. If WDW is an A-list park, Hershey is at best a C-list park. Maybe we are too spoiled by WDW, but we found it dirty, and not really fun. The rides were all jerky, except the water ride, which had a long long long line, no fast-pass system. These days we go up, regularly, but we just go to Chocolate World and stay out of the parks.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

We go to Hershey Park once a year for UPS day. There are rides there for your "minature". I suggest you go on the website and print out the list of rides for her though. They do have the new Reese's ride which looks like it's sort of Buzz Lightyearish, that you can all enjoy. We like Hershey Park. We frequent amusement parks in addition to going to theme parks.There is something there for everyone. I've got a minature(DD2) a Hershey's Kiss(DD4) and a Twizzler(DD9) so we always try to get a little bit of everything in. Also Dh nd I are ACE members and Lightning Racer is my favorite wooden coaster. They don't have fast pass like someone else mentioned and like I said we go on UPS day when the crowd level is not really high(although it gets larger every year), so I don't know whats it's like on a regular operating day. Someone else mentioned ZooAmerica. Also, don't forget to go to Chocolate World. There's a 3-D show in there and a simulated tour ride that has a song you will be singing for the rest of your life in it(Hershey's Chocolate, Hershey's Chocolate...) Have fun.

 

[Barbers2005]

If Dd can sit up on her own, there are a ton of rides she can ride at Hershey. A lot of them are mini versions of midway type rides, like the scrambler and the pirate ship. There's a list on the Hershey website (I checked a second ago and there were 35 rides listed). We went last week and we did check out most of the kiddie rides, but Dd4 thought they were a little too tame. Probably about right for your little one, though, and I saw a lot of teeny kids on them. Also, don't forget about the shows. There's a really cute show with sea lions and trick divers at the aqua theater and some neat musical-type shows all around the park. ZooAmerica was pretty neat too, with some animals from the southwest that we don't have in our local zoos.

 

[lynlam]

Not sure if you are asking for other things to do instead of Hershey or not...but there is another park nearby called Dutch Wonderland. We took our DD's there last year, they were just turned 3 and 5....and they loved it. Its a campy, sorta cheesy little park (in comaprison to Disney, etc of course) but it is totally geared to the under 9 set. DD's could ride everything except the "big" coaster. They had cute little shows, pony rides, and all your typical midway stuff - Bumper cars, log ride, train, cars, merry go round and lots more. It was a very clean, nice park and was not very big, so we had no trouble doing everything. Oh, they also have a nice water park with a splashpad, and one of those big bucket thingies...and some cool big water slides.
Anyway, if you are looking for an alternative, I would highly recommened it.

 

[skoba-nelson]

We went to Hersheypark when our DS was 13 months. We noticed as barbers2005 posted if the toddler can sit up on their own they're good to go. We did have one ride operator ask my wife "He can walk, right?" She quickly answered "sure, I'm just helping him into the ride." Actually upon arriving home from that trip he started walking on his own.

We found Hersheypark quite nice. Not on par with WDW, what is. But in our mind cleaner than Cedar Point where we've been 18 times this season. Alas CP is only 35 minutes away.

As a first time visitor to HP we spent the entire day there and a couple of hours the previous evening from a special package. (Buy full ticket at starlight admssion and come back next day for free) We didn't go to the Zoo until later in the week. We camped there a week. With local Toledo Zoo membership ZooAmerica was free. I'd skip the zoo if crunched on time, as title of zoo hints at ZooAmerica consists of animals from America-only.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Not sure if you are asking for other things to do instead of Hershey or not...but there is another park nearby called Dutch Wonderland. .

Dutch Wonderland is owned by Hersheypark also, so you might be able to get a discounted ticket if you buy for both parks at the same time.