Hershey Park

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking of 1-night or 2-night trip to Hershey Park in early summer. We have two elementary age kids. Anyone with prior experience, can you give me tips? Driving from NW DC.

1) Should we go up on Saturday afternoon, stay over, do park on Sunday and drive home?
2) Drive up early Saturday to get there for 10am opening, and then stay over and drive home Sunday?
3) Drive up Saturday, do park on Sunday, and then drive home on a Monday (taking the day off)?

The park appears to be a one-day event from the website. Do you agree?

4) Could we drive up and back in one day?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

you will have shorter lines if you go midweek. Does your schedule work to do a Tuesday/Wednesday sort of trip?

[Anonymous]

Hershey Park is a one day affair. You could drive up on day 1 to Harrisburg, catch a Senators game (AA affiliate of the nationals) and stay overnight before making the 20 minute drive to Hershey the next day. It's about a 2 hour drive, so you shouldn't have any issues driving home following a day at the Park.

[Anonymous]

There's a little zoo, also.

[Anonymous]

You can access the park starting 2hrs before close on the day before your tickets for a "preview". We typically only stay over one night. Drive up and spend the day seeing the other attractions - chocolate factory, zoo, checking out a ball game, etc. You can then grab and early dinner and hit the park for a few hours before it closes and still have the entire next day to spend there.

[Anonymous]

We always just go for the day. Leave at 8, head back around 5.

[Anonymous]

It's an easy one-day trip, unless you want to go somewhere else in PA while you're up there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can access the park starting 2hrs before close on the day before your tickets for a "preview". We typically only stay over one night. Drive up and spend the day seeing the other attractions - chocolate factory, zoo, checking out a ball game, etc. You can then grab and early dinner and hit the park for a few hours before it closes and still have the entire next day to spend there.

This is exactly what we do but the free preview is 3hrs long, or at least it was when we went last Aug.


We drive up 270 to 15 thru Gettysburg and get there within 2hrs from Rockville. So for you it would be about 2hrs 20min.


My recommendation
Drive up Sat AM. check into hotel and go swimming. Hit the Chocolate Factory around 4pm and then eat at the restaurant right outside of the entrance gate. Enter park at 7pm and can stay until 10pm. Try and hit any big rides that night if you can. Go back to hotel to sleep.
Sunday (less crowded than Saturday) you head into the park at 10am (be there at 9:30am) and do some rides until noon and then go to waterpark area and eat lunch/splash around for the hot part of the day. Then back to regular clothes to finish out the rides, maybe go to the park zoo if there is time. You can either drive home that night or stay another night and drive home early Monday. There is no traffic that back way. My husband can usually get to work by noon if needed.

We have gone up for just the day here and there and it is tiring but the drive is very easy so there is no need to stay 2 nights unless you want more relaxing time.

[Anonymous]

We have never stayed overnight. Always done it as a one-day trip.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to stay overnight but I personally feel like you get more of your ticket prices when you do. There are some really cheap places to stay that have free breakfast and indoor pool. Usually in East Harrisburg which is 10min away. We have never paid more than $100 and to get the extra time, breakfast, a "fun" night in a hotel room (my kids LOVE staying at hotels!)

We usually go up on Sunday midday and do the Chocolate Factory and then go in the park for the sneak peek for a few hours. Then go all day Monday and it is usually empty!

The park can be done in one day but there is no way you could do the park with all the rides, waterpark, zoo and Chocolate Factory in one day.

[Anonymous]

I can recommend the Hershey Theater for an evening show, if there is something playing that your kids would like. We saw the Wiggles there - they often host touring Broadway shows (Annie is playing in late July.) It is a beautiful old time theater within walking distance to Fenici's Italian restaurant. We did Chocolate World as well - the kids were too young for the big coasters at Hershey Park then.
I hear the Hershey Gardens are nice too. People will sometimes combine Hershey with a trip to Strasburg or Lancaster. If you want to go low tech on Sunday there are lots of nice state game lands around where you could go hiking.

[Anonymous]

We stayed overnight because we have younger kids and driving there/back all in one day just sounded exhausting for us. We booked a cheaper hotel that was about a 15 minute drive away from Hershey Park rather than staying at the expensive hotels across the street.

[Anonymous]

It's usually a day-trip for us but I totally understand not wanting to drive home exhausted.

We went last week and I found out if you buy tickets online, they will let you in the park the evening before (2.5 hours before closing) free of charge. That might be too late for your kids but it's good to know. (It's called the Preview Plan.)

[Anonymous]

We've been a few times and it's a lot of fun! Someone mentioned the zoo. It's a nice little zoo. We did Hershey park one day then we did the zoo and chocolate world the next day. I think there is a water park too, but it was too cold for that each time we've gone. If you decide to go to chocolate world, there is also this very cool tour where you get on this bus and it drives through the town and they tell you Milton Hershey's biography. It's very cool. The bus stops at a few places and ou get out and see some places like the school for example. Very interesting tour. Free chocolate too!