OT - Hershey Information

[dtuleya]

Since I live near Hershey, I thought I'd start a information thread for anyone who is interested.

Here is some ticket information. Usually Giant Food Stores in the area sell discounted tickets that you can buy directly at the store. These are usually the best value. I'll post more about that closer to summer when they start advertising prices. If I remember, it usually saves you about $6-8/ticket.

ONE-DAY Admission
Regular (ages 9-54) $35.95
Junior (ages 3-8) $19.95
Senior (ages 55-69) $19.95
Senior Plus (70+) $15.95
Children (ages 2 and under) FREE

Two Day Fun Flex Ticket
Visit HERSHEYPARK for any 2 days this season:
Regular (ages 9-54) $52.95
Junior (ages 3-8) $35.95
Senior (ages 55+) $35.95
Children (ages 2 and under) FREE



Three Day Fun Flex Ticket
Visit HERSHEYPARK for any 3 days this season: Regular (ages 9-54) $75.95
Junior (ages 3-8) $53.95
Senior (ages 55+) $53.95
Children (ages 2 and under) FREE



Consecutive Day Admission
$25.95 (ages 9-54)
Purchase today's ticket at regular price (see above)
Keep your ticket stub and present it at the Main Gate on your return to purchase your Consecutive Day ticket

HERSHEYPARK Sunset Plan:
Get discounted admission when you come later in the day!
Ages 9-54 $20.95
Ages 3-8 and 55+ $17.95

6 PM Closing - Enter Park at 3 PM
8 PM Closing - Enter Park at 4 PM
10 & 11 PM Closing - Enter Park at 5 PM

Preview Plan - Be Our Guest!
Purchase a regular full-day admission ticket for tomorrow, 2-1/2* hours prior to Park closing, and be our guest FREE for the remainder of that evening. (*3-1/2 hours for 11 pm closing)

6 PM Closing - Admission after 3:30 PM
8 PM Closing - Admission after 5:30 PM
10 and 11 PM Closing - Admission after 7:30 PM

(Not valid on Sunset, Consecutive or Concert Special Admission)

 

[dtuleya]

Traditionally the Park is open 10 AM - 10 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM - 11 PM on Saturday.

Gates open at 10 AM. Rides open by 10:30 AM.


Click here to download a map of Hershey Park.

Click here for a look at what type of entertainment they had in 2003.

Click here for information about rides.

Click here for information on food and shopping in the park.

Click here for information on Zoo America.

Click here for information on planning your trip.

Click here to request brochures.

Click here for information on Hershey Highmeadow Campground.

Click here for events. Not too much is scheduled now, but they have all types of great concerts and events at Hershey venues.

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Hotels in the area

Springhill Suites

Hampton Inn & Suites

Rodeway Inn & Suites

Spring Hill Suites, Comfort Inn and Holiday Inn Express have all come up on winning bids for Priceline.com If you are interested in bidding for a room, click here and check out recent bids at Biddingfortravel.com.

If you plan on using Priceline, quite a few people have had success in winning nice hotels in the the Southern Harrisburg area. Only about a 10-15 minute drive to Hershey Park.

The following hotels in the Harrisburg area that have come up are:

3 Star
Marriott Harrisburg

2.5 Star
Wingate Inn
Wyndham Garden Harrisburg

2 Star
Baymont Inn & Suites Harrisburg
Howard Johnson

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Do you have to have a Giant Bonus Card to buy the discounted HP tickets? I have one, but wonder if folks from outside the region might have a problem getting the discount without the card.

Thanks for the thread!

 

[dtuleya]

I'm not sure if you need a bonus card or not, but to be on the safe side, click here to download an application and mail it back to them OR you can fill out an application at the service desk at any Giant and receive a Bonus Card on the spot.

 

[Beanie]

Thanks, Denise!! I am really looking forward to going to this place, I have never been!! I was looking on their website today and it looks like a lot of fun!! I am trying to talk my parents into coming up from Florida to go with us for the week...almost have them convinced!! LOL

 

[odddog]

Hershey park is the Northeast Disneyworld. It truley is the cleanest amusement park (outside of Disney) we have ever been in and VERY family friendly. The only down side is it is very hilly, it is not at all flat like the usual amusement park. But it is very pretty. Your parents will love it, I hope you can convince them.
G.

 

[dtuleya]

It is great Beanie! As Gregg mentioned, it is a little hilly, but it is beautiful. They have a North American zoo, dolphin shows, live entertainment and sometimes there is even what I like to call "B" entertainment/concerts in the park which is included in your admission.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

DH will be going to school in PA in the fall and we will be driving down several times over the next several months. I have always wanted to go to Hershey! Thanks for all of the information. Annmarie

 

[sdamico71]

Saw in your post of the Marriott Harrisburg. We have stayed there many times and highly recommend it.
Clean, and relatively inexpensive (compared to others in the area during amusement park season)
Other hotels are probably just as good, but thought I would give you a first hand opinion on that hotel.

 

[mom2girls29]

We started going to Hershey when our dd was 2. She will be 14 this year. We have stayed at the Comfort Inn and the Hershey Lodge in Hershey and at the Holiday Inn in Harrisburg. The Lodge was wonderful with shuttle service, a couple of onsite restaurants and at the time a theater for guests to watch a movie. The grounds were beautiful and included lovely swimming pools. We could only afford one visit there, then it outpriced our budget! For the price the hotel in Harrisburg could not be beat. Through AAA you could stay Sunday night and Monday night w/ Sunday being almost half price. They have an on site restaurant w/ kids menu, indoor and outdoor pools. It might be 15-20 minutes to the park.

Last April, I booked a room at the Comfort Inn as a stop over on our way to VA. It was nice to revisit the hotel we had taken our dd to over 10 years before. The room rate at the hotel was $99 a night but I found it on Travelocity for $69. This included a continental breakfast. I felt like such a bargain hunter until my husband pulled back the sheets and a silverfish slithered out. Thank goodness it was only a one night stay.

As for the park, we even took Disney veterans who liked this better because of the cleanliness and shorter lines. You don't often wait 45 minutes in line like you might at Disney. The park is divided into areas and each has a combo of adult as well as kiddie rides. We've always gone in the night before for the 2 1/2 hr visit and returned the next day.

A nice respite from the hot summer sun is a visit to Chocolate World, just outside the park. Here you can take a simulated tour of the factory and see the chocolate process in air conditioned comfort. At the end of the tour, you receive a free sample and exit through the store. This tour can be taken as many times as you wish to wait in line and you can go here without entering the park.

Just down the road is a campground as well as outlet shopping. It is not the same as going to the huge outlets in Reading (about an hour's drive away) but certainly more convenient.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Great post! Thanks for all the info. We went last June & will be going back this coming Aug.

Do you have to have a Giant Bonus Card to buy the discounted HP tickets?

No, you don't have to have the Giant Bonus Card (or at least we didn't last year). Thanks to Denise's tips for our trip last year, we went in a Giant on our drive into PA. We went to the customer service counter & had no problem at all getting our tickets. The prices there were better than any other discount tickets we could find.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Yes, Giant does have an excellent discount on the tickets for HP. I have a bonus card, as I do my regular shopping there. I just wanted to be sure that fellow posters were entitled to the same privelege of the the discounted tickets if they didn't have a bonus card.

I'm considering going to the Barry Hom meet (I think June 12th or sometime near then). There's a thread on the DIS Meets board , should anyone be interested. I haven't decided, because DH's new employer has their company picnic at HP, so we may only go then.

 

[dtuleya]

I know we won't be able to go to Barry's meet. That is the first weekend the kids get out of school and we always do something special with them.