I'm not even a chocolate fan but Hershey, PA is a destination I have long awaited to take
my family. After about a 9 hour drive, we were transported to a world of chocolatey goodness. Hershey was a budget trip for us so we opted to stay off site in Harrisburg at the Best Western Premier The Central Hotel and Conference Center which was about 15-20 minutes from the Hershey attractions. The hotel was very nice decorated with dark furnishings ( I'm assuming to play in with the chocolatey theme of the neighboring city, Hershey). We were greeted with Hershey Kisses and excellent customer service and nicely appointed rooms. The hotel even had Hershey kisses hanging from the ceiling and they had popcorn available and had an ice cream social planned the next day. I really loved the fact that even that far away you could feel the Hershey touch.
On our first night, we wasted no time! We rushed right over to Hershey's Chocolate World and indulged in a chocolatey good time! Chocolate World is one of those places where admission is free and you only pay for the attractions you choose. We decided on the free chocolate factory tour and the 4D chocolate mystery show. Both were super cute. We also did the create your own chocolate bar activity which was $20 per person. That was incredibly fun and cool but my husband and I still argue about whether or not we should eat our $20 candy bar. He says it is a souvenir, I say it's a $20 candy bar, eating it is the only way to get your money's worth.
The gift shop in Chocolate World is massive! Candy everywhere, big candy, little candy, chocolate candy, non chocolate candy it was hard not to walk out of there with enough Hershey's brand candy to last me a year.
We saved the Hershey Park Amusement Park for day 2. Because this was a budget trip, we decided to save money and purchase sunset tickets. Listen to me, Sunset tickets are the way to go; especially if you are on a budget. Sunset tickets afford you 6 hours in the park ( admission is usually after 4pm) for the uber discounted rate of $30.95 per person. Normal admission is $66.95 per person. We arrive right in time for sunset admission entry and spent the whole 6 hours in the park until closing and didn't feel slighted one bit.
The park is large with a mixture of kiddy rides and thrill rides in the same areas. My
older daughter likes the thrill along with my husband and my younger daughter is a scaredy cat like myself. That layout works well for us because we do not have to separate too far from each other. There are plenty of rides and a water park right in the middle of the park. The characters walk around in the park for photo ops as well.
When I mentioned that I was going to Hershey some said to me " I heard that they have Hershey kisses for street lights". Guess what, they do! The whole town is a magical chocolate land with chocolate filled menus, Hershey kiss street lamps, and complimentary Hershey products wherever you go. When you pay your bill at a restaurant, they return with chocolate. They hand out chocolate at the front desk at hotels, they leave chocolate in your rooms, the whole city is in on the theme and I love it!
The best breakfast we ate was at the Hershey Pantry. Their hot chocolate is to die for and they have etch a sketches for the kids to play with. For good italian, I reccommend
Fenicci's Of Hershey. The remainder of our meals we ate in the park or on the go. This was a really short trip.
Our Hershey getaway was short lived but fun. For 48 short hours we were immersed in a chocolatey good time full of thrill, history and all of the chocolate we could stand. My kids still request a repeat of our visit to the Sweetest Place on Earth!
Until next time Hershey, now.... What are you waiting for?
Comments