Hersheypark (HP) Discussion Thread

[pryonisys]

Hey everyone, I'm heading to Harrisburg this weekend to visit family and we're making my first trip to Hersheypark in quite some time (since before Skyrush was built) but this is going to be a bit of an interesting trip for me. This will be the first theme park I take my young daughter (16 months old) to. We were hoping to have grandparents come to Harrisburg also to watch her while we go to the park, but that fell through.

Long story short I suppose, does anyone have any advice for taking a toddler to an amusement park and still having a fun time? What are some things a young kid would enjoy at Hersheypark (I've always just ignored kiddie rides).

[coneyislandchris]

Hey everyone, I'm heading to Harrisburg this weekend to visit family and we're making my first trip to Hersheypark in quite some time (since before Skyrush was built) but this is going to be a bit of an interesting trip for me. This will be the first theme park I take my young daughter (16 months old) to. We were hoping to have grandparents come to Harrisburg also to watch her while we go to the park, but that fell through.

Long story short I suppose, does anyone have any advice for taking a toddler to an amusement park and still having a fun time? What are some things a young kid would enjoy at Hersheypark (I've always just ignored kiddie rides).

I brought my daughter here at 7 months and 22 months; 16 months is going to be tough. Is she walking on her own yet? Most of the kiddie rides that support children under 36" explicitly have the "no hand-held infants" restriction on that, and they usually test it by having the child take a few steps on their own. If she can't handle that, it's going to be very slim pickings as far as what rides she can go on. Off the top of my head, you should be okay on the carousel, Ferris wheel, Dry Gulch Railroad, monorail, and maybe a small handful of others. If she's good with walking, that opens up a much wider range of kiddie rides, and even some questionable choices that might be a little too much for someone under two, like the Tilt-a-Whirl and Starship America.

 

If you visit Hershey's Chocolate World which is accessible via their main parking lot, there is a free animatronic dark ride through "the factory" that she shouldn't have any problems with. They supposedly remodeled it for last season and I haven't checked it out since they made the changes, but I can't imagine that they would have changed it too radically.

 

You could also try checking out the shows at the Music Box Theater and the Aquatheatre if you think either of them will hold her interest; my daughter had a hard time sitting through them but she's naturally cranky.

Edited June 7, 2017 by coneyislandchris

[ImNotOneOfYou]

but I can't imagine that they would have changed it too radically.

 

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

[coneyislandchris]

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

Please tell me they kept the singing cows, at least.

[pryonisys]

Hey everyone, I'm heading to Harrisburg this weekend to visit family and we're making my first trip to Hersheypark in quite some time (since before Skyrush was built) but this is going to be a bit of an interesting trip for me. This will be the first theme park I take my young daughter (16 months old) to. We were hoping to have grandparents come to Harrisburg also to watch her while we go to the park, but that fell through.

Long story short I suppose, does anyone have any advice for taking a toddler to an amusement park and still having a fun time? What are some things a young kid would enjoy at Hersheypark (I've always just ignored kiddie rides).

I brought my daughter here at 7 months and 22 months; 16 months is going to be tough. Is she walking on her own yet? Most of the kiddie rides that support children under 36" explicitly have the "no hand-held infants" restriction on that, and they usually test it by having the child take a few steps on their own. If she can't handle that, it's going to be very slim pickings as far as what rides she can go on. Off the top of my head, you should be okay on the carousel, Ferris wheel, Dry Gulch Railroad, monorail, and maybe a small handful of others. If she's good with walking, that opens up a much wider range of kiddie rides, and even some questionable choices that might be a little too much for someone under two, like the Tilt-a-Whirl and Starship America.

 

If you visit Hershey's Chocolate World which is accessible via their main parking lot, there is a free animatronic dark ride through "the factory" that she shouldn't have any problems with. They supposedly remodeled it for last season and I haven't checked it out since they made the changes, but I can't imagine that they would have changed it too radically.

 

You could also try checking out the shows at the Music Box Theater and the Aquatheatre if you think either of them will hold her interest; my daughter had a hard time sitting through them but she's naturally cranky.

Thank you for the rundown. Ideally we would have had the grandparents stay with my daughter at my sister's place, but unfortunately that fell through. I'm expecting to maybe get a few hours in at Hershey but not much more, hopefully I can get my ride on Skyrush (much needed credit that I'm looking forward to).

It looks like she will be able to do some of the nice simple rides like the balloons and she likes animals so Zoo America may work out well.

In general this may be a disaster but I'll let you all know how it goes, hopefully we can actually have a good time.

 

In the future I will not do any amusement parks with any children under 5 probably (just so they can appreciate it a little more).

[coneyislandchris]

In the future I will not do any amusement parks with any children under 5 probably (just so they can appreciate it a little more).

Well, that's your call. The littlest one, who's now 28 months, has been on three kiddie coasters and a larger number of flat rides once she started walking, and aside from one ill-fated Scrambler run at Knoebels last year, has loved just about everything she's been on. Her second trip to Hershey was much more well received than the initial one, and she'll be coming back later this year, since we're spending two days at the park for my son's sixth birthday.

 

As far as HE goes, he's a beansprout who was 42" at three and hit 48" tall before he turned five, and so we've been making a habit of roadtripping it all over the place to different parks, since he ADORES rollercoasters and rides. In fact, many of his earliest rides were there at Hershey since they have low height requirements on many of their classics (Trailblazer, Comet, SooperDooperLooper, etc). He's currently got 65 different coasters under his belt and is hoping to hit 100 before he turns six.

 

So yeah, I wouldn't invoke the nuclear option quite yet. I hope that your daughter manages to enjoy herself, get on some stuff, and it begins a long love affair with parks for her!

[Pseybert]

The changes to the Chocolate Tour includes an inexplicable on-board screen that distracts from the ride. It also has footage of how the real factory works. As a kid, I assumed the dark ride was the actual factory. This change completes the destruction of that illusion for small children. Awful in every way.

 

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[ImNotOneOfYou]

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

Please tell me they kept the singing cows, at least.

 

They've... changed...

[ytterbiumanalyst]

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

Please tell me they kept the singing cows, at least.

 

They've... changed...

Are they singing steaks now?

[pryonisys]

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

Please tell me they kept the singing cows, at least.

 

They've... changed...

This is terrible news. I've seen two changes of that ride but always loved the singing cows.

[ImNotOneOfYou]

There's a talking chocolate bar. What more is there to say.

Please tell me they kept the singing cows, at least.

 

They've... changed...

Are they singing steaks now?

They might as well be.

[coasterbill]

As a kid, I assumed the dark ride was the actual factory.

 

Wait... so as a kid you thought Hershey's chocolate was made by 3 cows wearing hats named Gabby, Harmony and Olympia who spent the entire day singing a song about milk chocolate over and over to pass the time before they could finally clock out?

 

I mean, I won't judge. Everyone believes stupid sh*t when they're little but... really?

[Henry M]

Does anyone have a review on all three towers yet? It seems a little strange having three rides which do the same thing, except for capacity sake.

[Pseybert]

As a kid, I assumed the dark ride was the actual factory.

 

Wait... so as a kid you thought Hershey's chocolate was made by 3 cows wearing hats named Gabby, Harmony and Olympia who spent the entire day singing a song about milk chocolate over and over to pass the time before they could finally clock out?

 

I mean, I won't judge. Everyone believes stupid sh*t when they're little but... really? [emoji38]

I actually don't remember the cows or know if they were there. I believed the chocolate making parts were real, obviously.

 

Either way, the bright video screen is not needed on a dark ride.

[ImNotOneOfYou]

Does anyone have a review on all three towers yet? It seems a little strange having three rides which do the same thing, except for capacity sake.

 

I didn't get to ride the smallest tower, but it appears to be an average Double Shot. Compared to Power Tower at Cedar Point, the other two are quite intense.

[Pseybert]

Does anyone have a review on all three towers yet? It seems a little strange having three rides which do the same thing, except for capacity sake.

 

I didn't get to ride the smallest tower, but it appears to be an average Double Shot. Compared to Power Tower at Cedar Point, the other two are quite intense.

Rode all 3 last week. The larger two provide a fun ride experience, with Reese's feeling more intense. Kisses tower felt like a tame version of Reese's, so I don't see the point in building it as I don't think many will ride that over the other two if they're afraid of heights.

 

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[CNYCoasterguy11]

In the future I will not do any amusement parks with any children under 5 probably (just so they can appreciate it a little more).

Well, that's your call. The littlest one, who's now 28 months, has been on three kiddie coasters and a larger number of flat rides once she started walking, and aside from one ill-fated Scrambler run at Knoebels last year, has loved just about everything she's been on. Her second trip to Hershey was much more well received than the initial one, and she'll be coming back later this year, since we're spending two days at the park for my son's sixth birthday.quote]

 

We took our Daughter to Hershey for her first real park when she was 18 months old, she loved the rides, and later that same year we went to Story Land in NH which was perfect, all but a couple allowed her to ride. My daughter now loves rides and roller coasters and I hope to get her on even more this summer, Shes on the smaller side so its tough to find parks that allow kids under 42" and be worth it for her. But the few I find she cant wait to visit, she loves watching videos of them too. Its never too soon to get them on and loving them.

[LeoBruz199]

Does anyone have a review on all three towers yet? It seems a little strange having three rides which do the same thing, except for capacity sake.

 

I didn't get to ride the smallest tower, but it appears to be an average Double Shot. Compared to Power Tower at Cedar Point, the other two are quite intense.

Rode all 3 last week. The larger two provide a fun ride experience, with Reese's feeling more intense. Kisses tower felt like a tame version of Reese's, so I don't see the point in building it as I don't think many will ride that over the other two if they're afraid of heights.

 

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And to think a few months ago we thought Reese's was going to be the pointless one!

[pryonisys]

In the future I will not do any amusement parks with any children under 5 probably (just so they can appreciate it a little more).

Well, that's your call. The littlest one, who's now 28 months, has been on three kiddie coasters and a larger number of flat rides once she started walking, and aside from one ill-fated Scrambler run at Knoebels last year, has loved just about everything she's been on. Her second trip to Hershey was much more well received than the initial one, and she'll be coming back later this year, since we're spending two days at the park for my son's sixth birthday.quote]

 

We took our Daughter to Hershey for her first real park when she was 18 months old, she loved the rides, and later that same year we went to Story Land in NH which was perfect, all but a couple allowed her to ride. My daughter now loves rides and roller coasters and I hope to get her on even more this summer, Shes on the smaller side so its tough to find parks that allow kids under 42" and be worth it for her. But the few I find she cant wait to visit, she loves watching videos of them too. Its never too soon to get them on and loving them.

I think it's more concern currently. I hope she loves amusement parks and I can take her from a really young age. The nice thing about Hersheypark is there is ZooAmerica if we find she hates the rides. (man I hope she loves rides).

I think I just took a more extreme thought due to the current concern, it will probably go way better than I'm expecting.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on Saturday vs. Sunday for smaller crowds?

[SteelForceless]

Does anyone have a review on all three towers yet? It seems a little strange having three rides which do the same thing, except for capacity sake.

 

I didn't get to ride the smallest tower, but it appears to be an average Double Shot. Compared to Power Tower at Cedar Point, the other two are quite intense.

Rode all 3 last week. The larger two provide a fun ride experience, with Reese's feeling more intense. Kisses tower felt like a tame version of Reese's, so I don't see the point in building it as I don't think many will ride that over the other two if they're afraid of heights.

 

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And to think a few months ago we thought Reese's was going to be the pointless one!

I think it fits nicely with the "Choose your thrill" theme that they're going for. The Hershey kisses tower provides a tamer ride along with the shorter height, the Reese's one is taller with a stronger launch, and the Hershey tower is taller still with the added drop and height.

[GnastyGnoric7]

I have ridden the Reses's Tower and the Hershey's Tower. The Reses's Tower was fun, but the Hershey's Tower is the one that gets me every time. I have ridden it 10 times, and every time it drops from the top, I find myself blurting the s word. I love the Hershey's Tower or as I refer to it, the "Sentence Enhancer Tower".

[amy_mel]

In the future I will not do any amusement parks with any children under 5 probably (just so they can appreciate it a little more).

Well, that's your call. The littlest one, who's now 28 months, has been on three kiddie coasters and a larger number of flat rides once she started walking, and aside from one ill-fated Scrambler run at Knoebels last year, has loved just about everything she's been on. Her second trip to Hershey was much more well received than the initial one, and she'll be coming back later this year, since we're spending two days at the park for my son's sixth birthday.quote]

 

We took our Daughter to Hershey for her first real park when she was 18 months old, she loved the rides, and later that same year we went to Story Land in NH which was perfect, all but a couple allowed her to ride. My daughter now loves rides and roller coasters and I hope to get her on even more this summer, Shes on the smaller side so its tough to find parks that allow kids under 42" and be worth it for her. But the few I find she cant wait to visit, she loves watching videos of them too. Its never too soon to get them on and loving them.

I think it's more concern currently. I hope she loves amusement parks and I can take her from a really young age. The nice thing about Hersheypark is there is ZooAmerica if we find she hates the rides. (man I hope she loves rides).

I think I just took a more extreme thought due to the current concern, it will probably go way better than I'm expecting.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on Saturday vs. Sunday for smaller crowds?

 

I am planning on going this Saturday and I'm dreading the crowds but my daughter will be in from out of town so Saturday it is. If I had to pick a weekend day it would be Sunday. This is also the first weekend in our area that all of our schools are out for the summer so the crowds are likely to be full on summer crowds.

[ArgoZ]

Well, finally made it to Hershey for my first time Saturday night and Sunday. I never thought I'd see the day, but despite the bruised thighs and intense pain of 10 rides in less than an hour: I have a new number one. Holy crap Skyrush is stupid and perfect all at the same time. Sorry El Toro.

 

My fav Steel too, probably because it reminds me of my fav woodie El Toro. I still give the edge to Toro, it's a slightly better overall ride and length. At night time, on a slick track, El Toro delivers an incredible and noticably better ride compared to when the park opens. SkyRush delivers anytime. Intamin masterpieces!

[Genx24]

Just got home from a great weekend to the area, which of course included a trip to the Sweetest Place on Earth. Skyrush is still the GOAT, the park was as beautiful and well-maintained as always, and the three new towers blend in seamlessly.

 

The Hershey tower is a lot of fun, and is clearly the most popular. Throughout the day yesterday, the Kisses and Reeses towers would cycle half empty, while the Hershey gondola was always filled.

 

Only minor complaint is that Stormrunner was only running one train, but when that is the only negative you can find, you know you had a great weekend. I love Hershey. This trip solidified that this is my favourite park on the East Coast.

[amy_mel]

I was at the park Saturday as well. I don't know how true this is (information was gotten from a teen employee) but what I heard regarding Storm Runner was that the train was damaged very badly upon morning testing and has been out of service since. Maybe someone with better inside information can confirm or deny this. Sounds like most of the summer will have one train operations.