An Even Sweeter Deal in Hershey

I’ve already written about Hershey Park and the Sweet Deal I got. If you go to Hershey be sure to visit Hershey’s Chocolate World, which is located right next to the park.

Hershey’s Chocolate World is FREE. Since it is located right next to Hershey Park and the parking is shared, they offer 2 hours of free parking to enjoy Chocolate World. The best part of Chocolate World is the Great American Chocolate Tour ride, which offers insight into the chocolate making process. The ride takes you through different parts of the “factory” to show you how chocolate is made. One of my favorite parts of the tour comes when you reach the area where the chocolate comes together, there is the distinctive, tantalizing aroma of chocolate in the air. The best part of the tour is at the end when they hand out free samples of Hershey chocolate. On our recent trip we got samples of the new Hershey Chocolate Meltaway Kisses.

We went on the Chocolate Tour ride four times since it was free and there was never really much of a line. Chocolate World was open 1 hour later than the park during our visit, so we visited after leaving the park both nights.

At the end of the tour you exit into the Hershey Marketplace Stores which holds all sorts of sweet treats made by Hershey, and items which you might not find in your local store. For example they were selling bags of 18″ Twizzlers which I have never seen in the store. They have numerous restaurants and cafes where you can taste more sweet treats.

If you are going to Hershey Park, then plan on visiting Hershey’s Chocolate World for an even sweeter deal.

A Sweet Deal

Map of Hershey Park

Our family just returned from a short vacation to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA.  If you haven’t been to Hershey Park I would highly recommend it.  It is only about a 4.5 hour drive from Rochester, NY, making it a nice destination for a weekend jaunt.

Hershey Park is probably my favorite amusement park after Disney World.  It is by far the best value.  The park was recently renovated to add a Boardwalk area including a wave pool and surrounding lazy river and new water slides. The park is large but they have placed roller coasters and little kiddie rides in each of the “towns,” making it easier for families with both younger and older children to enjoy.

We went to the park during the last week before schools start here in Rochester.  Since schools had already started in Pennsylvania, the crowds were non-existent and our kids were able to ride many of the rides over and over again.

We took advantage of Hershey’s Preview Plan.  If you buy your tickets the day before, you can get in the park for the last 2.5 hours (or the last 3.5 hours if the park closes at 11pm) of that day to preview the park.  While you have to pay $10 for parking to preview, Hershey will let you park for free the following day, essentially making the entire preview free.

The local Giant Food stores sell discount tickets for Hershey Park.  Normally an adult one-day admission ticket costs $52.95.  If you buy your tickets at Giant, you’ll pay only $41.95 per ticket, a savings of $11!  We bought 4 tickets so we saved $44, well worth the detour to Giant.  Savings on children’s tickets are only $2 per ticket.

The park was open 10 hours the days we were there.  Without discounts or previewing the park, each person would pay $5.30/hour to enjoy the park.  With our discounted tickets and the preview time, we brought the cost down to $3.36/hour, a 37% savings!   We got a sweet deal at Hershey.