We went on vacation to the sweetest place on earth!
This little town is more than just chocolate kisses and sweet thrills. Milton S. Hershey built this community with intentions to help the community thrive and give back to the children and his employees.
It's now one of the most visited cities in the United States.
In this blog post, I'll be sharing how we spent our weekend in Hershey, PA, to inspire you when making your own plans to visit Hershey too!
Visiting Hershey has been on our families bucket list of places to go since what feels like the beginning of time. My husband, Aaron, went to Hershey as a young kid and remembers it so vividly; from the chocolate factory tour to the way the streets smelled of sweet chocolate. It truly was one of those core memories for him. Since then it's become a place he wanted to take his own children to on vacation.
We had this trip on our list of places to visit once our kids were old enough to enjoy. We had been planning this trip for a whole year! Little did we know, we'd be taking a 6 week old baby with us too. Honestly, our newest and youngest child did so well! While our other two children were at the perfect ages (and height) to enjoy a good portion of the rollercoaster rides HersheyPark has to offer.
Luckily for us, we don't live too far from Hershey, PA. We decided to drive there and it was about a five hour car ride one way. The ride was not too bad or difficult to navigate from our starting point. Even with the current high gas prices, we used about 3/4ths of our gas tank to get there. At first, five hours in a car with three children sounded like a nightmare. We of course heard the "are we there yet?" when only being in the car for 15 minutes. Thankfully, the baby slept the whole ride. We did allow frequent stops and made sure to feed her at the half way point both ways. This worked out perfectly for us while traveling with a baby.
Before we left on our trip, I made Road Trip Journal's for each of my kids. In each binder I included several road trip games, coloring pages, journal entry pages, and sticker books appropriate for each child. My children love the license plate game when were on long car rides. I found a printable of the United States, so each time we found a new states license plate, the kids could color in the matching state on the map. I loved this idea because it helped us keep track of which ones we found while also teaching them some geography. We also kept them entertained with movies playing on a iPad and used our portable speaker for surround sound in the car. I highly recommend watching movies in the car this way, it makes the audio sound so much better. Below are some links to free printables I used from other bloggers.
Follow Me On Pinterest or Follow My Hershey, PA Pinterest Board for More Ideas & Suggestions when planning your trip!
Staying in Hershey
When it comes to finding a place to stay in Hershey, PA there are many options. We choose to stay in a renovated 1920's Airbnb house that was ten minutes away from HersheyPark in a town called Palmyra. We went on this trip with my sister-in-law, my nephews, and my husbands parents. This three story house was more than enough space for all of us. This house offers three bedrooms on the second floor and five single beds in the third story loft. The kids enjoyed having their own space to hang out and sleep in. On the first floor, you can enjoy playing pool or watching movies in the theater room. I recommend staying in this house if you're going with a group or a large family because the price does not change whether it's a family of four or maxing it out at eleven guest. Some other nice features to staying in this Airbnb was a washer and dryer, dishwasher, central air, private parking in the back, and an outdoor patio with grill. This house cost $275 a night. If you're interested in renting it for yourself use this link.
Other Places to Stay in Hershey,Pa
There are plenty of hotel options in and around Hershey, Pa that you can stay at; including Hotel Hershey and Hershey Lodge. Both of these hotels offer free resort benefits like extra hours at HersheyPark, free front gate shuttle service to the park, and much more. If you're interested in that list you can view it here. Both of these hotels also offer a package deal for kids. Kids can stay, play, and eat free with this special package. That includes free kids admission to HersheyPark (a $54 value). For those of you that enjoy camping or travel around with your camper, look into staying at HersheyPark Camping Resort. This campground also offers free resort benefits like the ones mentioned above.
HersheyPark
A huge thank you goes out to HersheyPark for sponsoring this portion of our trip. We already had full intentions of visiting HersheyPark on our vacation; this just made it sweeter.
All thoughts and opinions are of my own.
On our first full day of vacation we went to HersheyPark! HersheyPark started out as a green space / garden grounds and over time it started to include rides, attractions, and a zoo as a gift to Hershey's employees and their families. The park now includes 14 coasters, a water park, shops, restaurants, and plenty of rides for little ones to enjoy too!
Things to Know Before You Go!
It's super beneficial to purchase tickets and parking passes before you arrive. You can save money by purchasing your tickets online at Hersheypark.com. You can save even more money if you purchase a 2-day ticket or go with a large group.
This place is the chocolate version of Disney World. If you're doing a 1 day pass; pick two roller coasters to attempt to ride and get in line ASAP. There's no way you will ride all 14 roller coasters in one day. The wait times for each ride were anywhere between 45 mins to 120 mins long! YES! A two hour wait for some of the rides. Again, it's like a chocolate Disney World.
GET THE TWO DAY PASS! Next time, we're doing a two day pass so we can cover more ground and enjoy more than one side of the park for a short period of time. We attempted to do the roller coaster side, water park side, and meet up for dinner reservations by 6pm. We totally underestimated the times.
The park doesn't open till 11am! That doesn't stop people from getting there an hour or more early to be the first in line. We went on a Friday and it was busy. It was even busier on Saturday! We were so glad we chose a week day vs a weekend day; even though it down poured on us during our visit. We still enjoyed so much of the park and luckily was rained on while at the water park side. The next time we visit, I think we will plan to visit during the week again and maybe even between Monday-Thursday. Hopefully by visiting earlier in the week, it would be less busy and short line wait times?
WEAR TENNY SHOES! The park is HILLY! Oh man, we did not expect to endure the hills at this park. Bring the hiking shoes- just kidding... sorta. We had a lovely conversation with a family that has had season pass memberships for 6 years. They even said, the only part they dislike about the park is how hilly it is. These hills are not little. If you're taking small children in strollers, be sure you have the stroller wheels locked if you stop. That stroller could roll away.
GET THE SOUVENIR CUP! There are refill stations all over the park. You are allowed to refill the cup every ten minutes and refills are free the day of purchase at the park. If you come back for a second day, the refills are $1 a refill. We shared the cup between our family of four and refilled ours four times while we were there in a six hour window of time.
We definitely lived and learned on this trip, which will help us in the future when we plan our next trip! We would love to come back in a couple years when Allisyn is about 4-6 years old. This way we can do more roller coasters as a family or send our older children off to ride coasters together. Jaxon was the perfect height on this trip to ride plenty of rollercoasters with us if he chose too, but he is my scaredy cat. We also ran into the issue of needing someone to watch after Allisyn in order for us to get in line. We made bad communication arrangements with our family who went with us. whoops.
We also realized rather quickly, this park is not easily done in a day. Wait times for the bigger roller coasters were pushing two hours! Some of our family did get to get in line and wait to ride at least two roller coasters and said they were awesome! The long wait times sorta discouraged us from even attempting to wait in line that day, due to dinner reservations and a water park side to check out all in the same day too. Oh yeah, there's also a zoo... remember how I mentioned that. We didn't even come close to exploring the zoo. Get the two day pass. Get the two day pass. Get the TWO DAY PASS!
There is plenty to explore at the park too besides rides, water parks, and the zoo. There is so many neat food stands, food trucks, and restaurants at the park! There's even a Subway and a Chick-fil-a inside the park! I really wanted to go to Chick-fil-a but as expected it was packed. We also enjoyed a Strawberries and Cream Funnel cake. My sister-in-law and her son shared a Salted Caramel Funnel Cake. They also had Reese's pieces donut balls. While my husbands parents enjoyed a GIANT Reese's pieces donut. We looked all over for the famous King Size Milkshakes we've seen on Instagram but were not good at maps.
That reminds me, the park even has it's own App! It's actually quit handy and sort of a requirement while visiting the park. The app allows you to buy tickets, add ons, gps navigation to roller coasters, shows line wait times, and you can even order food from the app to be picked up. My father-in-law said he had to order pizza through the app even though he attempted to order at the counter; it has to be ordered through the app. The park does offer free wifi so using the app is never an issue.
Eating in Hershey
While on our trip, we were lucky enough to get reservations to enjoy a meal at The Chocolatier! It's a brand new restaurant that opened up earlier this year and it's located right at the park. It's actually above Milton's Ice Cream Parlor and inside the same building as HersheyPark Supply Co. gift shop. The Chocolatier serves family friendly meals with hints of chocolate to some of the dishes.
Even though the restaurant offers family friendly meals, be prepared to spend a little here. This is a splurge experience in our book since it costed our family for about $125.00. We did order three cocktails (which those were $14-$15 a drink- again it's an eating experience/luxury), two meals for adults, two kids meals, and we skipped desert due to the cost. If we were food critics, we would say the entrees were alright, nothing to really rave about, at least from our experience that night. But! The desserts. Ohhhhh man. The DESSERTS! The desserts are something to rave about and come back for time and time again! The desserts and the milkshakes are worth every single penny. The flavors are bold and delicious! The cocktails are all inspired by Hershey's chocolate and candies. Each of us tried something different and we all loved what we got. Some of us sampled each others drinks too. I highly recommend going to The Chocolatier just for drinks, desserts, and milkshakes.
I ordered the Spring Garden Flatbread; Whipped Ricotta, Tasso Ham, Asparagus, Grilled Onions, Hershey's Chocolate Balsamic Glaze
Load Fries Topped With Hershey's Chocolate Barbecue Pulled Pork, Cheddar Queso, Scallions & Buttermilk Ranch- these were honestly the best. We shared them around the table and they were better than my entree.
My Sister-in-Law ordered the Reese's Take5 Chicken Sandwich; Reese's Peanut Butter & Jalapeno Caramel Grilled Chicken, Hershey's Chocolate Drizzled House Bacon, Leaf Lettuce, On A Pretzel Roll
Over The Top Hershey's Chocolate MilkshakeChocolate Milkshake Topped With A Chocolate Chip 'Brookie' And A Chocolate Chip Cookie, Whipped Cream, Cookie Crumble
Reese's Peanut Butter MilkshakeChocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake Topped With Peanut Butter Pie, Reese's Pieces Candies, Whipped Cream
Summer Peach Milkshake RECIPE DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL Peach Milkshake Topped With Peach Coffee Cake, Raspberry Sauce, Whipped Cream, Pretzel With HeathToffee Bar Bits
REESE'S CUPFUSION CheesecakePeanut Butter Cheesecake With Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Dark Chocolate Cookie Crust, Chocolate & Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Garnish, Whipped Cream
My husband had The Chocolatier Martini; Stoli Vanilla, Chocolate Liqueur, Crème De Cacao, Fresh Cream pictured above & not picture; S'mores Martini; 360 Chocolate Vodka, Kahlua Coffee Liqueur, Stoli Vanilla Vodka, Drambuie, Heavy Cream, Chocolate Graham Cracker Rim & Roasted Marshmallow
Jolly Rancher Watermelon Cocktail A Flavor Ride Inspired By Our 2 New Jolly Rancher Themed Attractions; Ole Smoky Sour Watermelon Moonshine, Simple Syrup, Sierra Mist, Grenadine, Garnished With A Jolly Rancher Candies Rim And Watermelon Wedge
Reese's Cupfusion Old Fashioned; Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Templeton Rye Whiskey, Bitters, Luxardo Cherry, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
The Frozen Chocolatier; 360 Chocolate Vodka, Kahlua, Hershey's Cocoa, Hershey's Milk Chocolate & Whipped Cream
Troeg Independent Brewing Company
We also visited Troeg Independent Brewing Company. This brewery and restaurant was quite lovely. The seating options were endless. From bar stools, booths, dining tables, outdoor patio tables, picnic tables, and bonfire seating too! We dined at a family dining table that seats 10! Each table had fresh cut flowers in vases and it just felt so welcoming to sit down for a meal with your family. The restaurant has a different kind of set up where drinks are ordered through your waiters, but the food is ordered from what's called The Snack Bar. I had the smoked chicken sandwich with the best pickles ever on it! My hubby had the BBQ brisket sandwich, it also tasted just as good! We also ordered the Rosemary Popcorn to try. It was pretty delicious and the kids ended up taking it with them to finish eating it. Our nephew had the grilled cheese and it looked heavenly! It was on thick sourdough bread with multiple melted cheeses and comes with a tomato soup like dip. YUM. The kids menu offers friendly options like chicken fingers, hot dog, pb&j, or a salad with caesar dressing. My daughter chose the salad and sadly they have no other dressing options- so heads up. Luckily, she doesn't mind that and ate it without the dressing. Our son loves hot dogs so he was very happy. We will defiently visit again here on a future trip because the food was so good and well worth it! This restaurant is kind on the wallet too. We were able to sneak by paying around $50 on food. That's pretty good when Micky D's costs around $40 anymore for a family of four.
This is a brewery, so of course we had to sample the drinks! The table ordered a Core Flight & The Shabang Flight. Flights consist of four- four oz samplings. The table agreed that the Troegenator and the raspberry Shabang were the top favorites. It was fun to sip and sample all the different flavors. My father-in-law so wished to be able to tour the brewery but it wasn't open for tours that day. If you would like to visit Troeg Independent Brewing Company use this link for more info.
CORE FLIGHT
4oz each: Perpetual, Sunshine, Troegenator & Lucky Holler
We had plans to eat at some other dining locations but had to cancel those reservations. Next time we go, I would love to dine at more of the local restaurants on the main strip of Hershey or even the mom and pop diners. Want recommendations on where to eat in Hershey, Pa? Use this link to find my Hershey, Pa Pinterest board!
Hershey's Chocolate World
On the second day of our vacation, we visited Hershey's Chocolate World! This place is a candy store on steroids. Not only does it provide the largest selection of Hershey's chocolates and candies, you can also create your own chocolate bar, and attend the free tour to see how Hershey's chocolate is made! There's so much more like a theater, a 4D movie, and trolley tours too! We purchased tickets early (highly recommended) to be able to attend and experience all that Hershey's Chocolate World had to offer. You'll save a ton of money by doing the ticket bundle and it includes free parking ($40 value). If you want to do it all and see it all, this is the way to go. Otherwise, purchasing tickets for one event isn't all that bad, but you will have to pay for parking. We choose the Adventure 1 Ticket Bundle. This package includes Hershey's Unwrapped Theater, Hershey's Trolley Works, 4D Chocolate Movie, and Create Your Own Candy Bar.
Hershey's Unwrapped Theater puts on a show for all five of your senses as you learn and discover how chocolate is made. This theater includes a Chocolate Tasting Kit for the audience to enjoy as you help Doc Chocolate dream up new creations. This was cute and interactive. The kids enjoyed it and the Tasting Kit is a neat souvenir to keep.
The 4D Chocolate Movie is a digital animation and special effects show. You become apart of the show as you help Hershey's Character solve a Chocolate Mystery! This show is actually closing the curtains I just found out. They will be discontinuing this attraction after September 5th, 2022. The will be relieaving a new attraction next summer for the 50th anniversary of Hershey's Chocolate World on June 30th, 2023.
Hershey's Trolley Works was honestly my favorite part of the whole day. You'll take a ride through the town of Hershey for fun facts, theatrics, history, and chocolate samples. You'll be inspired by the story of Milton Hershey and see historic landmarks throughout the city. I love listening to the true stories and learning more about Milton Hershey. On this tour, I also learned that you can tour Milton Hershey's home! I would love to tour his home on a future trip to Hershey!
The last event we did was Create Your Own Candy Bar where you get to create a signature candy bar of your own. You get to select the type of chocolate, the fillings inside, and design the candy bar label. You then get to watch your chocolate bar be made through the factory belt. It's cool to watch it go through each stage, but we wished it was a little more of a hands on experience. Our 9 year old daughter even wished it was more hands on of her actually doing the creating. If it had more hands on involvement... even pushing buttons or pulling levers would make you feel like you had more involvement in creating your own chocolate candy bar. Over all, it was a fun day and a sweet experience.
Hidden Gems at Hershey
The weekend we visited Hershey was a hot and humid one. After a day at Hershey's Chocolate World, we were ready to just go sit in the A/C and find something for the kids to do besides sit in a house. Before leaving for Hershey, I had researched playgrounds in the area and thought if we had time we could go see what Hershey Castle Playground was all about. It was only a couple minutes away from our airbnb and letting the kids run around and play would be great! Little did we know that it is at Derry Township Community Center, which also has a indoor and outdoor swimming pool like our local outdoor YMCA.
Instead of sweating and getting hotter at the playground, we paid the admission to go swim! We spent a couple hours at the pool cooling off. The outdoor community pool offered splash pads, low wave pools, water slides, and deeper portions of the pool where you can also play water basket ball. Inside there was more pools and a indoor small water playground. It costs us around $45 for a family of four to enter for the day. When we visit Hershey in the future, we will keep this place in mind to visit again!
Returning To Hershey
We plan to visit Hershey again in about five years. We would love to bring our children back and be able to ride more coasters at HersheyPark and splash around freely at the Boardwalk. Places we did not get to visit and would like to on our return trip would be, The Hershey Story Museum, Milton Hershey's House Tour, and Hershey Gardens. We would also like to walk the main strip in town that is lined in Hershey Kisses street lamps and dine at any of the restaurants and bars along the strip. We had a memorable weekend in Hershey, Pa. There is plenty to do and to discover in the Hershey, Pa area. If you're looking for more ideas of what to do in Hershey, follow my Hershey, Pa Pinterest board for new and continuous ideas as I pin them!
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