Hershey Park was the place to be. It was packed! We arrived about mid-afternoon. There are many rides and attractions with signs pointing every which way when you enter. Our first stop was Chocolate World. It’s right there when you walk into the main entrance. You can’t miss it. It’s really sweet. Chocolate World takes you on a tour and everyone gets a free Hershey bar at the end of the tour. The whole park was quite busy with lots of people walking around everywhere. Since the water park end of Hershey called “The Boardwalk” had opened up a couple months back, we didn’t want to miss it. However, at first the weather seemed cloudy and cool but wow did that change! The sun came out from behind the clouds and it got much warmer. We knew we had to head right for the Boardwalk. You knew you were heading in the right direction because the number of people with bathing suits on and wet hair seemed to increase. Making a decision quickly is a necessity, otherwise you might get trampled.
*Tip* Go into the water park with as few items as you possibly can carry.
*However* Hershey offers lockers you can rent to keep your belongings in that are adjacent to The Boardwalk.
We made our way right over to The Shore (wave pool), which is new for 2009 btw! However, it was completely packed with about a mile long line. We wanted to get into a pool or get wet pronto, so the mile long line was not looking all too friendly. It was definite that we needed some type of quick fix and happily found we were next to a food/drink bar. After dehydration was averted we chose to go back to the Intercoastal
Waterway (lazy river). The line was still pretty long but we hopped on it anyway. Here came the surprise! Remember when I told you it was hot and we wanted to get wet pronto? Ok, hold onto your seats, apparently they wanted to grant us our wish. There are two spouts in the ground right near the lazy river. The main purpose of that is those on the ground to hit a button and spray those in the ride up above us.
Poor people on the ride you might think, right? Wrong! They are equipped with an arsenal of their own. They apparently had some type of release button so that when they were above the people standing in line at the lazy river (us) they would press it and everyone underneath would be soaked. Needless to say, we were soaked before we stepped foot in the lazy river. There’s something about having water thrown on you by surprise, it’s somehow colder?
We finally made our way into the lazy river. Trying to get into the 2 person tube is somehow extremely funny especially when you can’t get yourself situated in moving water, and you don’t want to fall out. After a good laugh we floated around the river. It was fun and relaxing, definitely kept us cool with the sprinklers going in different spots.
ROLLERCOASTER FARENHEIT
Once we were finished and found our flip flops it was off to another ride. This time it was Farenheit, dun, dun, dun. This is the rollercoaster with the 90 degree drop, straight up and straight down. After standing in line for 2 hours, it was finally time for the ride. Quick, exhilarating, and a blur is what you might call Farenheit.
HERSHEY SHOWS
By that time it was getting pretty late and we were feeling hungry, wanted to get out of our wet clothes. As we trekked back out to the parking lot, we grabbed a quick look at the show schedule. Hershey Park puts on a lot of musical shows that are fun to watch. At that point, we saw there was one more show at 8:30pm (park closes at 10pm). We thought it would be a good idea to get out of our wet bathing suits and into some dry clothes. Headed back to our hotel. (Parking ranges from $10 – $30 depending on amount of time you’re in the park.)
It was pretty packed at Hershey Park. Perhaps from the fact it was the first weekend of the summer that the entire Northeast had seen sunny warm weather or maybe this park is just a hot commodity. The park is very cute and fun with a lot to do for anyone from 5 and up.
WAIT!
A word of caution: prepare for a long day, get there early, have plenty to eat and drink and be prepared for very long lines. If you find a ride with a short line, jump on it! For those rides with the longer lines try to jump on them around dinner time. It might be your only chance.
HOTEL HERSHEY BRUNCH
The next day was a Sunday and we decided to go to brunch with some of our relatives that live in the area. They suggested the Hotel Hershey brunch. Hotel Hershey, named after Milton Hershey is a parge picturesque hotel with a 1900’s architecural design. It is great for taking pictures and looks out onto Hershey Park. The brunch is a bit pricey at $40/person and is formal, no jeans or t-shirts in the Circular Dining Room. The service is excellent and the food is very good but is suited more for the adult palette.
Oh one other thing! Almost all of the rooms in Hotel Hershey smell like chocolate. The brunch had a pianist and a cellist playing while we dined. The food ranged from the omlette to pasta salad to chicken or beef.
DESSERT…TIME 2 INDULGE
Now dessert, be ready and take this one time to indulge, you’ll really want to. We highly reccommend the Reese’s peanut butter pie and the Hershey chocolate marshmallow pie. They also have a fountain of chocolate where you can cover marshmallow, pretzels, or strawberries in it. You might think you walked right in to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!
Read also
