Anyone been to HersheyPark in recent years? Any recommendations on what the best rides and attractions are? Any recommendations on places to eat in the parks?
I got a season pass and meal plan for the first time and looking forward to visiting the park a few times over the summer.
Are you traveling with kids?
Are you traveling with kids?
I'll be a solo traveler.
Wife and kids are going to Europe for 2 months with my in-laws this summer. Because of work, I'll be only joining them for 2 weeks. So to pass the time a bit, I figured I'd get a season pass to HersheyPark. I live just a little over an hours drive away and I also got the meal plan.
I figured if I went just 3 times, I'd pay for itself. Plus as a season pass holder, I was able to get tickets for my whole family at a cheaper discount too.
We go every 4th of July.
There’s an inn. I think is called white rose,
You can walk to the park. It’s a little bit of a hoof but convenient and you’ll save on parking .
Go early get a spot at the water park to use a a base all day. And cool off!
As a season pass holder, I'm allowed into the park 1 hour early before it opens to the rest of the crowd. I figure I'd use that first hour or two going on rides\attractions while the lines are short.
Then spending the rest of the day at the Boardwalk. Definitely planning to spend on hot days just relaxing at the lazy river or at the wave pool for a good portion of the afternoon.
I love rollercoaster but I went on Wildcat about a decade ago and pretty sure I got whiplash after the ride. I now avoid any wooden roller coasters.
you should bring a magazine or something it's going to be boring if you're just sitting by yourself.
I just would be so depressed.
Highly recommended by me and one Ernie Accorsi.
you should bring a magazine or something it's going to be boring if you're just sitting by yourself.
I just would be so depressed.
I'm a theme park junkie and the past year been to Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Busch Garden Williamsburg and Lego Land New York. Haven't been to HersheyPark in almost a decade but I usually like the atmosphere of being in a theme park, even on a solo trip.
I also love riding roller coasters but no one else in my family does. So while they're vacationing in Europe, I figured this would be a good way to ride all the rollercoasters I wanted without feeling guilty leaving my family to wait for me or do another activity without me while at an amusement park.
Plus I'll only be doing day trips, as HersheyPark is about a little over an hours drive from me.
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alone?
you should bring a magazine or something it's going to be boring if you're just sitting by yourself.
I just would be so depressed.
I'm a theme park junkie and the past year been to Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood, Busch Garden Williamsburg and Lego Land New York. Haven't been to HersheyPark in almost a decade but I usually like the atmosphere of being in a theme park, even on a solo trip.
I also love riding roller coasters but no one else in my family does. So while they're vacationing in Europe, I figured this would be a good way to ride all the rollercoasters I wanted without feeling guilty leaving my family to wait for me or do another activity without me while at an amusement park.
Plus I'll only be doing day trips, as HersheyPark is about a little over an hours drive from me.
I was just messing with you - when I realized you were going alone it reminded me of this scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall
link - ( New Window )
We also went on the Comet wooden rollercoaster a bunch of times. It was a nice in between ride everyone liked. I am hoping my more adventurous son will get on everything else with me but we'll see. I was not impressed with any of the food in the park. Standard burgers/pizza/pretzel stuff from what I remember. We skipped it mostly and went back to the hotel.
The biggest reason we are going back this year again is because the wife loved the Hershey Hotel. Fancy, fancy, fancy, so we're splurging again. If you stay there, you get in 30 minutes before everyone else, which is how we stumbled onto Candymonium before I knew it was a monster. Also, there's a really good restaurant (Harvest) and the pool is nicely laid out. They assign you seats at the pool, which sounds lame, but that also means you don't have to get there at the crack of dawn to save a spot with your towel.
We camped at their campsite, got us into the park early, HUGE bonus, but there is a loud train that blows straight through that campground at night.
Love the park, but I hate crowds. Hershey is crowded.
Knoebels is my fav. In Pa. Beautiful, heavily wooded throwback park in East Central, Pa. . 1970's vibe to it. Short lines and they aren't out to rob you blind. As amusement parks go, good food!
Great Bear, Skyrush, Stormrunner, Fahrenheit, etc. So many good ones. You'll need two days if you like coasters. Even their old wooden ones are still good. It's a great park still IMO.
That said I haven't been in probably 5 years, but my daughters when they played softball we had a tourney there every year for like 4-5 years. I love that park.
Are you traveling with kids?
We are headed there in July with our two kids...7 & 6. We have rooms reserved at the Tru by Hilton in Hershey for 2 nights. Any recommendations for a family?
We're supposed to go this Friday and the forecast shows potential thunderstorms most of the day. Saturday isn't much better.
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Storm Runner and Sky Rush are the two best coasters at the park.
Are you traveling with kids?
We are headed there in July with our two kids...7 & 6. We have rooms reserved at the Tru by Hilton in Hershey for 2 nights. Any recommendations for a family?
I live in Hershey. They just redid the entire downtown area and added Iron Hill Brewery, Starbucks, Primanti Bros, Beef Jerky World, etc. It's a nice walk for you.
With the kids? Make sure you do the Boardwalk while at the park. Also stop into Chocolate World with them so they can see how the chocolate is made. That could take up anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.
I also recommend eating before or after the park to cut down on the food at the park. The food inside the park isn't anything great. It's your average ballpark type food at a heavy cost.
There is a new restaurant right outside the park called the Chocolatier I think. Haven't checked it out.
Parkside Inn is right outside the park and has the best wings in the entire Central PA area. Strongly recommend that. Troegs brewing company is right down the street and you can find a good meal there. I always see families there.
Breakfast, I'd recommend the Hershey Pantry.
Also, stop at the Hershey Outlets right next to the park for some cheap souvenirs if needed.
We're supposed to go this Friday and the forecast shows potential thunderstorms most of the day. Saturday isn't much better.
If it's thundering with rain, they'll shut down some of the faster coasters due to safety. Last thing you want when visiting is getting smashed in the face with rain while blasting through the sky on a coaster.
If it's just passing rain, usually it'll result in shorter lines because people head out or head inside somewhere.
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Storm Runner and Sky Rush are the two best coasters at the park.
Are you traveling with kids?
We are headed there in July with our two kids...7 & 6. We have rooms reserved at the Tru by Hilton in Hershey for 2 nights. Any recommendations for a family?
When my kids were that age, our park plan was to go straight to the Reese dark ride as soon as we entered the park. As the lines get insane after the first couple of hours. Back then it was some sort of sports Reese Peanut Butter vs Hershey Chocolate type ride but now I think it's called Reese's Cupfusion where you battle an evil peppermint candy?
After that dark ride, head straight to the Boardwalk. Enjoy the lazy river and wave pools before it gets massive crazy packed. They also have a great kids splash water playground.
Once you're done with the water attractions and you head back towards the exit, this would be the time to take advantage of all the small kiddie rides that have short lines. There are ones with a small train, bumble bee, airplane, frogger type kids drop ride and many others. (Avoid the temptation to go on these rides early on in the day, they hardly have any lines later in the day and don't waste you first couple of hours in the park on them).
As you wind down your day, this also might be a good time see Zoo America. Don't waste time on it earlier but perfect way to end the day with young kids before you leave the park.
Basically, you'll be allowed entrance to the park for 2 hours before the park closes for a free preview, just show your ticket. So if the park closes at 9pm, you'll be allowed into the park at 7pm. Good way to knock out a few rides that will have longer wait times the following day, as a lot of people will be leaving the park around that time.
If you stay at one of the Hershey Park resorts, you'll be able to take advantage of a 3 hours free preview.
I also believe parking if free for the free preview, you just need to show them a valid park ticket.
Learning more and more about the park, watched several Hershey Park YouTube videos last night. Mostly about park strategy and what time of day would be best to ride all the roller coasters.
Good advice, I'll be mostly going on weekends but hopefully I'll be able to wrap up work a bid early on a few weekdays to spend the final couple of hours in the park.
To bad the park closes early on weekdays at 8pm. Although looks like in July and August, the park will be open till 9pm on the weekends.
We did a day of FastPasses for my son and me last year. One of the most fun days we've ever had.
We're supposed to go this Friday and the forecast shows potential thunderstorms most of the day. Saturday isn't much better.
thunderstomers can be a good thing. Typically, most people leave. If you can wait it out, you may end up being able to walk onto any ride.
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I feel like in recent years they have been really understaffed which makes the lines for food awful. If you like big coasters, they have some good ones. The only one we avoid is Wildcat. It's a pretty rough ride.
I love rollercoaster but I went on Wildcat about a decade ago and pretty sure I got whiplash after the ride. I now avoid any wooden roller coasters.
Comet and Lightning Racer are fine and nowhere near the rough ride you get on Wildcat.
I lucked out with the timing of this thread and this post. Just went to Troegs, was perfect for me.
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Oh and check out Troegs. I love that brewery
I lucked out with the timing of this thread and this post. Just went to Troegs, was perfect for me.
Since you're there, how's the park so far? Any new attractions you've liked? Also how are the Stand-by lines, heard they can be pretty long for most rides.
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In comment 15718000 Johnny5 said:
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Oh and check out Troegs. I love that brewery
I lucked out with the timing of this thread and this post. Just went to Troegs, was perfect for me.
Since you're there, how's the park so far? Any new attractions you've liked? Also how are the Stand-by lines, heard they can be pretty long for most rides.
Sorry, I'm no help, didn't go to the park today, going tomorrow. And my kids are still pretty young.
I'm more into the food/beer myself, therefore we stay in Harrisburg which has some more options.
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In comment 15718000 Johnny5 said:
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Oh and check out Troegs. I love that brewery
I lucked out with the timing of this thread and this post. Just went to Troegs, was perfect for me.
Since you're there, how's the park so far? Any new attractions you've liked? Also how are the Stand-by lines, heard they can be pretty long for most rides.
We spent the afternoon at the Boardwalk/waterpark. Basically no line for the tube slides or the racer. My kids (9 & 7) Had a great time. Temp was in the low 70s with sun, plenty of warmth for it. For the non-water rides, some were good, others had lines and we skipped.
Good point, plus the last couple of times that I just visited Chocolate World (not the park), when I left the Chocolate World Parking, the attendant just waived people through without checking any tickets. (maybe due to staffing issues?)
Didn't notice too many rangers fans...some Yankees hats. And the youth girls soccer group from my town happened to be there in uniform.