Five Things that Surprise People about Hersheypark

Chocolate World, Hersheypark No Responses »
Jan 162012
  1. There isn’t free chocolate everywhere.  Sorry folks, but the only free chocolate you will find is on the exit from the Chocolate Tour ride at Hershey’s Chocolate World.  In fact chocolate isn’t cheaper at Hersheypark either.  Candy is the same price you’d find at your local stores and actually somewhat higher in some cases.  What you will find are products your local store may not carry.  Chocolate World and Hersheypark often showcase new to the market items so if you find something you’ve never seen before and love it, buy a bunch.
  2. Hersheypark is not flat and walking can be difficult.  This is very true. The park covers 110 acres which is larger than Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and has high points and low points that challenge even fit walkers.  The park entrance is in a high spot and you can continue along on the higher route by passing around Comet Hollow and going into the Music Box Way section.  The low points of the park are Comet Hollow and sections of Minetown.  Many years ago steep steps led out of these two areas but now they are steep paths that are wheelchair accessible.  If you have problems with slopes, pay very close attention to the park maps which are marked with the word STEEP when the incline is harder to navigate.
  3. You can’t see all of Hersheypark in a day.  Some people may be able to visit all portions of the park, but not if they are going to be riding rides and certainly not if they want to visit the Boardwalk water park area.  With over 60 rides (including 12 roller coasters in 2012) and 110 acres of sometimes tough walking, you just can’t see it all in one day.  So what do you do if you only have one day?  Visit www.hersheypark.com and take a look at the map, the ride descriptions and anything else you might like to see.  Have everyone make a list of their top 5 choices and start there.  Come to the park early and stay late (evenings offer the shortest lines for nearly all rides) to fit as much as you can in during your one day.  Do not visit in August when crowds are at their peak.
  4. Hersheypark is expensive. Yes, this should come as no surprise to anyone, but Hersheypark is expensive.  Research all options on the website, with AAA, with Giant Food Stores, to get the best deal on your park tickets.  Average ticket price without discounts is $64. Expect parking to be $10-12.  Expect your average meal for an adult to run you $12.  Expect drinks to be $3-5 a piece – unless you get the refillable mug for around $8 which you can refill free with water and ice all day.  Games are $2.  You are talking $100 per person for a day easily.  Be prepared.
  5. Hersheypark is HOT. Holy cow is this true.  Black asphalt is the pathway of choice at Hersheypark and that means Hot! Hot! Hot! in the summer sun.  Beware your children’s feet if they are in flip flops.  They may end up with a burn on their toes.  Hersheypark has very little shade left due to park modernization and new ride additions.  They do try to offer shade cloths, misters and other things to help with heat and sun, but they are few and far between.  ZooAmerica is one exception to this and it is a nice shady rest in the afternoon during the summer – well, if you don’t mind the “animal” smells.  Best things to do are bring sunscreen, wear a floppy hat, lift an umbrella, drink lots of water and visit the shops and indoor cooled areas to keep the heat at bay.

Bonus 6th thing:

Hersheypark is shoulder to shoulder crowded on Saturdays late June through mid-August.  Yes, in good weather this happens.  Waiting hours for a kiddie ride, no place to park your stroller, lines down the block for bathrooms, most attractions at the Boardwalk waterpark are at capacity and closed to new visitors.  That is Hersheypark on a Saturday in late June through early August.  Want to beat the crowds?  Go during the week Tuesday – Thursday in the evenings.  (Daytimes are full of summer camps and tour buses.) Or visit in May or early June before school lets out.  Yes, some things may not be open but you will have a much more pleasant travel experience.  If you must travel on a Saturday during the busy season?  Stay late – and be prepared to wait in line for a very long time.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 6:41 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

10/15/2011 Trip Report to Dutch Wonderland's Happy Hauntings - Part 2

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Oct 192011

Some of the crowd at Molly's Wacky Witch's Brew show

Now let’s see, where was I?  Oh yes, we had just finished sort-of eating our dinner.  In the end my daughter ate 1 fry and half of a piece of chicken. “It’s yucky Mommy” was the answer I got to why she didn’t want more.  OK, the fries were awful but the chicken was about what you’d expect for such a place.  Much better with Barbeque sauce to dip it in.

Our next stop was going to be the riverboat ride, but, well, it was closed.  Major disappointment.  Second disappointment – the gondola ride had a line that must have been at least an hour long.  After standing for ten minutes without having a boat come through to pick up people we left.

There was a tantrum and tears (she had the tantrum, I had the tears) mostly because this ride looked like it would be so neat. It was heading toward dark and they had the canal the boat travels in decorated with music and lights of the creepy kind – I’m sure it would have been the highlight of my night, but I’m not sure we’d have even gotten through the line before we had to leave so we had to skip it.

We decided to hit the Trick-or-Treat Trail just as dusk was falling but in retrospect, you should wait until dark.  Picture this, you are in a tropical themed location with palm trees, various beach creatures and a water slide PLUS a make-shift jail, a graveyard and some ghosts.  It was cheesy, big time, in the light.  Wait until dark when you can almost ignore the beach theme and have some fun.

Trick or Treat Trail - through a dry water park

The Trick-or-Treat Trail is for kids ten and under, one trip per day.  You will have your hand stamped to prevent going around twice.  Our stamp was candy corn in black ink (which took two days to wear off.) The kids get a free trick or treat bag courtesy of AAA and this was one of the highlights of our trip since the bag had Richard Scary’s Busytown characters on it – big hit in our family.  Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm came along on our journey though the not-so-spooky path.  And no the kids do not have to have a costume on to participate.  We didn’t.

I give Dutch Wonderland a thumbs up for giving each parent a ticket for a piece of candy.  Yep, as a person accompanying a child you get to choose one of the stops and get a piece of candy for yourself.  Believe me, you’ll need the energy after spending a half hour trying to keep your kids from ducking under the barriers to take a closer look at the no-water water features.  Don’t think they can’t get through, they can and they will.

So you go through a path and meet some scary and not-so-scary, happy and not-so-happy people handing out Hershey’s candy.  There are ten stops and you get ten different pieces of candy (except we only ended up with 9 some how.)  For parents who want to know what your choices are (you only get one you know) here is what my daughter got: Whoppers, fruity Twizzlers, a Hershey bar, a Heath bar, a graham cracker treat, milk duds, Reese’s cup, a Halloween Kit-Kat (it is orange colored white chocolate), and a Reese’s Fast Break bar (I think, it’s the short on in the orange wrapper under the Reeses Cup)

I went for the Kit-Kat not knowing it was orange, wish I had chosen the Heath or the plain old Hershey bar.

The Candy Haul

Notice something about that candy?  Yep, peanuts.  Those of you like us who have a little one with allergies need to be aware that unless you steer your child away from the peanut stops – and unlike Hersheypark, Dutch Wonderland doesn’t label the stops with allergens – your child most likely will be given candy with peanuts in it.  Be ready to intervene.  There are signs posted about Hershey’s allergen policy which has nothing to do with the Trick or Treat Trail, it just discusses the candy in general and says, ”Read the label.” OK, I summarized that down from 3 paragraphs, but it ends the same.  Basically Hershey does not provide allergen listings for their products and you have to read the label to get accurate information.

The best part of our Trick-or-Treat Trail adventure was the little girl behind us who tried to feed the giant skull a piece of candy.  Hilarious.

Beaker, Molly's dog poses for me

We sat and each ate a piece of candy and then went to see Molly’s Wacky Witch’s Brew show.  I wish we had skipped it.  I did manage to get a wonderful picture of Molly’s dog before the show began, but that was the highlight of the experience. Imagine several hundred people crammed around a stage meant to entertain 50-75?  It was crazy.  And if I am not mistaken these were the same two performers we saw during the summer in the Thomas the Tank Engine show.  They have a lot of talent, but the show is just not entertaining.  They need some better writers.

I do give them points for performing Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science.”  I could not for the life of me imagine why Bunsen and the Burners didn’t do this at Hersheypark, but sadly they did not.  That was the last song I heard before my daughter pulled me away to do something else, anything, else.  “I don’t like that show” was what she said.  So we went to the schoolhouse and wrote with chalk and rang the bell.  Hmm… that should tell you how exciting the show was.

Dutch Wonderland really should invest a little more time and money into their shows and on a real stage.  Kids love interactive theater and it can be very educational for them, but shows like this make adults cringe and little kids want to watch more TV.  No offense to Molly and her dog, they did the best they could. The only other entertainment offered was storytelling with the Princess and we missed that every time it was staged.

In fact we missed the Princess, the Knight and Duke entirely.  During summer we saw the Princess and the Knight roaming around and Duke occasionally having his photo taken, but not on this trip.  It seemed very odd for them to be missing.  Perhaps we just were not in the right place at the right time.

So, I promised I’d share the creepiest thing at Dutch Wonderland with you – and it isn’t the spider on the castle which definitely is right up there for some folks – nope, it is the severed hand.  If you are squeamish, or your children are squeamish or you don’t like to answer lots of questions about dismembered body parts then when you see the door below just keep on walking.

Door to Creepiness

This happens to be a wonderful Halloween display, very Martha Stewart-esque, but a little too much for the under 8 crowd. My daughter wanted to know where the rest of the man was that belonged to the hand.  The young boy next to her began to cry and said “Scary” and a little girl being held by her mother said, “I don’t feel so good.”  (We’re not sure what happened to her, they left pretty quickly.)  Mostly the parents’ response was “Wow.”  And then they quickly led their children outdoors to the pretzel or to milk Bossie the cow.

Neat Halloween display but be ready for questions from toddlers about the severed hand

I know kids see a lot of gore and guts on TV, but having it a mere two feet away is something a little different.  I think school aged children might be OK, but keep the toddlers out.  Just too many questions with this one.  Like the Church building with the real bible in it, this one just doesn’t work for everyone.

So we ended our night with some kettle corn ($3 for a small bag with a season pass, a fair deal and they now have an ingredient list on it and it is gluten free, yeah!) and some blue cotton candy which we took home to share.

And then we tried to find our car.  Ha!  In the dark, in a field called a parking lot… I felt lucky I didn’t have a mini-van since most of the vehicles there were mini-vans.  At least I only had to check for a red sedan, but it was too dark to tell what color the cars were until you were right next to them.

Parking Lot at night with flashlight help

Three things to consider if you will be leaving Dutch Wonderland after dark and you do not park in the main parking lot:

  1. Make careful note of where you parked your car – even take a picture with your cell phone.
  2. Carry a flashlight with you.  You will need it.  If you forget and you have an android smartphone there is a flashlight ap that works super well (I used it when I remembered I had it).  I’m not sure about the other platforms but I’m sure there is one somewhere for you guys.
  3. As you walk to your car figure out where the exit is.  There is really only one way out and depending on how people have parked, it might be a tight squeeze or hard to find in the dark.

So will we do this again?  Not on your life.  Not even for free with season passes.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 8:51 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

10/15/2011 Trip Report to Dutch Wonderland's Happy Hauntings - Part 1

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Oct 162011

Dutch Wonderland Castle's new friend

This is the first year I made the trip to Dutch Wonderland for their Happy Hauntings Halloween celebration and I hoped that my 3 year old daughter Rose and I would have a good time.  We had a blast at the park on a previous visit (you can read about it here) and she loves Halloween so I thought this would be a good match.

My experience on this trip was not a good one from the very beginning.  The park opened at 3 and we arrived at 4:15 to find the parking lot full and streams of families with very small children in costumes milling around the secondary parking area – a grassy field near the Kingdom Coaster.  Good news is though that they suspended the preferred parking for this event so all parking is Free.  If you want to get close to the castle (and I recommend you do, getting out of that lot was a nightmare) you better be there 30 min or more before opening.

Bag Check Line - be prepared to wait

We walked from our grassy, slightly muddy parking area to the castle where we waited in line for bag check outside the castle.  There was only one security person working and she was barely checking anything.  We are talking hundreds of people in line and one person checking bags.  Come on Dutch, add a few more.  I was pleased to see that the employee badges now have pictures on them – something I first saw at Delgrosso’s and liked.  Hersheypark has yet to implement this and I wish they would.  It is so easy to get a Hersheypark uniform from the Salvation Army and trick kids.  (Of course as my oldest pointed out the night before there are so many parents dragging around screaming kids how would you know if one was being abducted?  Even more true at Dutch Wonderland since tantrams are the norm.)

My favorite Halloween decoration came at the beginning of the trip.  They have a giant spider on the side of the castle.  It was big and black and scared bunches of kids.  This is a complaint I have with Dutch Wonderland.  Many of the Halloween touches were TOO scary for the little ones.  There was one in particular that had parents scrambling for an explanation as to what it was, but I’ll get there in a minute.

After waiting in line for bag check we went through the castle to the ticket booths.  Entrance is $21 for anyone 3 and older.  It amazed me that so many people didn’t even know what the fee was and kept asking for “2 adults and 1 child” and then their jaws dropped when they got the total and pulled out the cards ’cause they didn’t have enough cash.  This happened at the food places too.  Bring money.  End of story.

Many, many, many people with season passes were passing through the gates.  This is a free event for them so is a good deal.  For those who have to pay?  It depends on the crowd level and how your children do with it.  The crowd was so huge the night we were there that it was impossible to ride anything without a fifteen minute wait.  And my daughter was not in the best of moods – no nap – so it was more or less a waste of $21 plus the additional $25 we spend on food.

As you get in the gate the train is the first ride. We never got to ride it since it was so crowded and a toddler with no nap does not have the patience to wait that long.  If you ever doubt the age-range for Dutch Wonderland, take a look at the picture below.  Strollers are EVERYWHERE in this park and they create huge traffic jams when it is this busy.  My daughter at 3 is old enough to walk and we pack light with our backpack so we avoid the stroller issue.  If you can get your child to walk, you should.  Though if your child wanders a lot, then use the stroller.  I saw three kids get lost behind barriers on rides and parents having to scale fences etc to retrieve them.  Dutch Wonderland is a maze of paths and hedges and when it gets dark it is impossible to see anything so kids who wander WILL get lost.

Strollers as far as the eye can see

I asked Rose what she wanted to do and her response was eat.  Chicken and Fries.  OK, so we went to the Mill Stream Eatery which is a place I missed on my last two trips but I knew they had chicken.  DW is running a special that if you purchase your meal ticket at the gate you get a free dessert – savings of $3 or something – this is really not a bad deal if you know for sure what your kids will eat.  I think there are 6 options to choose from.  I personally would have liked to try the Chinese but, well, my 3 year old isn’t that adventurous.

At this point I realized that the park was what I would consider overcrowded.  Strollers lined every possible area and walkways were jammed with parents and kids.  Usually you see this in a couple sections of the park, but not on this trip – the entire park was filled like this.  And it was only 4:30.  My suggestion if you are local and have season passes is to come around 7 when the others start to give out and leave.  You’ll probably have a much better time.  Plus the trick-or-treat trail is a must do in the dark (more on that in part 2.)

We made some stops at the church, Bossie the cow and a few other Dutch novelties.  All favorites from last time that were previously empty and now jammed with kids (many with plastic weapons – lots of kids getting hit accidentally.)  The silo slide was closed.  The mill stream gem place was closed (not surprising.)  No pony rides (also not surprising) and the Lady Gay Paddle Boat was closed (very disappointing, this is a great low energy ride.)

So Chicken Fingers, fries and a refill of lemonade in my refillable cup were next.  (Yep, they are still good through the end of 2011 so bring it along) came into just under $9 with a season pass.  Food was 3 pieces of traditional park fried chicken tenders with some very bad, undercooked fries.  Not a wonderful meal, should have gone to Potato Patch instead for fries with gravy and chicken.  Oh well.  Now I know.

Handwashing station

Dutch does a few things right and wrong here at Mill Stream.  They have a handwashing station next to the soda dispenser (yeah) but all they have on tap are soda, lemonade and fruit punch.  I *really* wish they’d add a milk machine.  Yep, they’d lose money but I’d be really happy to have something other than sugar fueling my toddler.  Surprisingly they also did not have booster seats for the chairs and not enough high chairs for the standing room only crowd that was there.  Kids who can’t sit comfortably do not eat well and everyone has a miserable time.  Another good thing is a bottle of ketchup and a napkin dispenser on every table. That saves on trips to the condiment counter for sure.

I’m ending this trip report here since I’ve run out of time.  Hope to have the second part up this evening.  Part 2 features the creepiest thing in the park, the Trick or Treat Trail review and a review of the Molly’s Wacky Witch’s Brew show.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 6:10 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hersheypark Mini-trip report 7/14/11

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Jul 152011

New Tram lines

Yesterday I took all three kids to the park and we were there from 4 to a little after 9.  What a long day that was with me being the only one with the two toddlers most of the time.

We were able to find close parking since some folks had left already which was nice, but I had problems with our stroller right away, I couldn’t really turn it so that made things tough until I figured out the front wheel brakes were on.  (I didn’t even know we had front wheel brakes!)

I finally got a picture of the new tram lines they are using.  These are very helpful and make getting a tram to the parking lot a lot easier - especially for folks with strollers.  There are only certain places you can put a stroller and some people used to try to take them on where you weren’t allowed to.  The stroller section of the tram line is now clearly marked so you get to the right place.  There are lines for people to wait in now too which keeps the mob scene to a minimum.  One thing of interest is now they only have one tram in at a time.  They used to bring in two if it was busy, but not now.  I’m guessing things move faster with the new line system so the wait is probably the same.

The plan was to take the two little ones to the zoo first while the oldest did her thing.  Well, the little ones wanted to ride and not visit the zoo so my plans were scrapped.  They rode the Bizzy Bees, the Tiny Timbers, Convoy, the mini Pirat and the small swings before heading to ZOOAMERICA.

Ranger Scratch and friend

Once we got to the zoo we ran into Ranger Scratch.  The little ones were afraid of him for some reason and he played along that he was hurt and disappointed that they wouldn’t shake his hand, but I’m sure Ranger Scratch will recover.

We all shared a Pepsi ICEE before heading back into the park.

We did the Dry Gultch Railroad next.  I’m very happy to see that they did some improvements to the scenery here.  New paint and some updates make it seem like less of a dying attraction.  Every park needs a train ride in my opinion and this one is not too bad.  If you ride this and are afraid of snakes, be sure to sit on the side of the car that is closest to the station.  There is a bit of theming (with some spraying water finally again) that is snake related on the side of the cars that is farthest from the station.

Somewhere in there was a ride on the Carrousel and the mini-himalaya.  Then I took the little ones for some dinner – around 7pm – while Sheridan left to meet up with her friend Sparky who works at the park and was getting off her shift.

A nice sized BLT Chicken Wrap

The kids and I ate Boardwalk Fries and a Chicken BLT wrap from Gourmet Grille.  I believe this is the same wrap sold at the Mixed Grill in Pioneer Frontier but the size of this wrap was nearly double anything I ever got there.  There actually was enough food in this wrap to feed myself and the two children with me having to really work to eat the last part of it.  A filling meal that kept us from needing ice cream later.  I had stopped at the vending machines next to the Flying Falcon to pick up a bottle of chocolate milk for the kids ($2).  This is the way to go if your kids want chocolate milk since what you get at the eateries that have milk is a milk box and it has about a third of the amount of milk in it and costs nearly as much.

A word here about Boardwalk Fries.  Boardwalk Fries uses peanut oil so it can be a source of allergy problems for some people.  Our son has a very mild allergy to peanuts and we have always given him these fries with no problem, but others with a more severe allergy may not be so lucky.

After dinner we went to the arcade and playing some 21 ball – not sure what it is really called but you roll balls down a ramp that has holes in it and try to reach 21 so you win.  Alyn and Sterling both won this but really it is just a low key game to keep them busy for awhile.

Back to Founders Circle where we rode the mini-train and the traffic jam until we left a little after 9pm.

Not too crowded, lines were short and the weather was gorgeous.  Maybe was a little too long as people started to get cranky near the end of the night (namely me when our son wedged himself inside the caboose of the little train and I couldn’t get him out!)

The kids and I ate for under $20 on this trip which included:  water in refillable cup (free), soda refill, chocolate milk, Pepsi ICEE, regular boardwalk fries and a chicken BLT wrap.  It was plenty of food for us for a nearly six hour trip over dinner.  Some people would balk at the price but if you took your kids to a fast food joint you’d spend that much easy, and this food was better.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 4:32 am Tagged with: , , , , ,

REVISED 7/1!!! Hersheypark crowds on 4th of July weekend 2011, which day should you go? Probably not Sunday.

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Jun 272011

 

The Sidewinder at Hersheypark – least busy on Monday the 4th

REVISED 7/01/11 – Folks, I just found out that on the evening of Sunday the 3rd there is a Def Leppard concert in the Star Pavilion (the arena… not the Giant Center).  People who have tickets to this event get reduced admission to the park.  Parking will be a nightmare since they will park folks for the Star Pavilion in the area that usually is reserved parking for Hersheypark.  In addition, when the concert lets out and the park closes at 10 you are looking a the potential for hours in the parking lot waiting to exit.  Hersheypark will be a busy, busy place on Sunday.  The good news is if you didn’t score tickets to the concert, you can stand outside Hersheypark near Chocolate World and hear the music for free.  Depending on how the stage in constructed, you may even be able to see something.

This fourth of July is really a 4 day weekend since lots of folks are off on Friday the 1st.  Going by previous years experience, Saturday and Sunday will be painfully busy – think unable to ride more than a couple rides due to lines.   Friday will be busy.  (7/1 Update:  We just returned from visiting and crowds were average for an early summer Friday.  Only one train was operating on the monorail so you know it wasn’t busy.) Monday will be light.

In past years the actual 4th of July day has always been very light in attendance since so many folks have picnics, parades and other things to do AND most bus tours do not run trips to the park on a holiday.

As always, weather is a huge factor.  Heat and cold do not keep people away, but rain does.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 8:51 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Hersheypark now has special Season Pass Entrance parking entrance line

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Jun 272011

Speed through the Hersheypark parking gates if you have a Season Pass

I heard this was coming but didn’t see it until my last visit to the park.  If you have a season pass to Hersheypark you can save yourself some time on busy days by staying to the far right when entering the parking lot.  There is a special booth set up on the far right (actually one of the Giant Center booths) for Season Passholders only.  They day I was there they had it marked with a sign.

I doubt this lane will be in effect when something is happening at Giant Center or when the park isn’t busy, but I went at 6:30pm on a Saturday and it was there and empty.

So if you have a Hersheypark Season Pass, look out for this special lane on the right.

Posted by ShawnMarie at 7:29 am Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Dutch Wonderland Trip Report 6/24/11 - make sure your kids are the right age to visit

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Jun 242011

It has been at least eight years since I visited Dutch Wonderland and they’ve changed owners twice since then but I was pleased to see that some of the charm of the park I remember from my childhood was still there.

Parking is $10 or free depending on how far you walk

The park opens at 10am this time of year and I arrived early, around 9:30, and found the parking lot filling up quickly.  I drove by at 9:10 and the lot was empty even though the Breyers Ice Cream Parlor opens at 8:45.  If you’ve been to the park before you will notice a change, parking now comes in two flavors – free and preferred for $10.  Of course the preferred parking is closest to the castle.  Most people were choosing the free option.

Coffee anyone? You can take it into the park with you!

If you arrive to the park for opening and need something to eat or drink, stop at the Breyers Ice Cream Parlor for a treat.  They open before the park and anything you purchase here can be taken into the park unlike other food and beverages.  No other outside food is allowed into the park, though they allow one sealed water bottle per person.  Most of the food places in the park do not open until 11am so you  have an hour lag time if you end up hungry or thirsty.

Duke and the Princess are a minute late to work... 10am sharp!!!

If you are outside the park at 10am sharp you can get your picture taken with Duke, The Princess and the Knight.  I saw them walking out from backlot just at 10am.  There were many opportunities to see them in the park so don’t feel you need to do this first thing.  Autograph books are available in the park gift shop but I’m not sure why you need them for just 3 people unless you get the entertainment folks too.

The cutest bag check sign around!

Dutch Wonderland checks bags just like Hersheypark does either right outside the castle door or right inside depending on crowds.  This can take a long time for people with pool stuff for Duke’s Lagoon so save the security guys some time and have your bags open when you get there.

The Castle Gift Shop is HUGE, this in only one side of it. The other is just as big.

The castle is home to the Dutch Wonderland gift shop which is filled with things nobody needs but everybody buys anyway.  Pin trading is still going on here at Dutch Wonderland though all the pins today were buy 1 get 1 50% off.  That tells me they aren’t moving well and perhaps will be phased out now that Palace Entertainment owns the park instead of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts.

Get the ingredients lists with a smart phone

The first thing I did was go to guest services and ask about guests with disabilities and food allergy information.  I was told guests with disabilities are able to enter any ride through the exit with 4 members of their party if one party member wears a special wristband.  I was also given a large printout of the ingredients list from every food area in the park.  These are also available at all large food stands and on the internet if you have a smart phone.   You can also get season passes here and family finder ID bands for your kids.

You can also get a “my first visit” badge from guest services when you go to the park for the first time.  Neat little souvenir and you will get some special attention from the park employees who notice it.

The Family Finder program (that is what Hersheypark calls it, Dutch Wonderland doesn’t have it posted anywhere so I don’t know what they call it)  just has you put a wristband on your kids that has your cell phone number written on the back.  Dutch’s bands are green (Hersheypark’s are red) and you just ask for them.  If your kids get lost the staff calls the cell phone number.  No names are used.  When you see the number of kids under 6 in this park and the meandering paths DW has you’ll know why this is a good idea.

Season Passes are $104.95 in 2011

You can apply your single day ticket price to a season pass if you have a good day at DW and want to come back.  This is a nice feature for families who aren’t sure if their kids will enjoy the park or not.  You need to keep your ticket stubs to do this and visit guest services.

My applause to Dutch Wonderland for having photo IDs of their employees.  I saw this first at Delgrosso’s last week and hope everyone adopts it.  It is very easy to pick up park employee apparel at thrift stores (I just saw a pair of Hersheypark shorts yesterday for $1.50 at the Salvation Army) so the outfit doesn’t ensure you are dealing with a park employee and we need to make sure our kids are safe.  Thanks DW for doing this.  (Hersheypark, are you listening????)

Moments before the train stopped running...

I was going to ride the train to see how it was, but it broke down first thing in the morning and then later in the day as well.  Both times the riders had to get off and take paths back to the regular section of the park.  Not a big deal but frustrating.  I did get to ride the train between down times and it was interesting to note it has the exact same cars as Lakemont Park’s train.

The sign says don't crawl on the pretzel, well what is it there for then? (Everyone should have their photo taken with the pretzel!)

So I made my rounds and took pictures of the rides like I do at every park.  I was happy to see things I remembered from my childhood like the pretzel, the cow you can milk and the small houses they’ve always had.

I saw a few employees who were not exactly helpful to guests – one ride operator forgot to get a woman’s child off the ride before it started again and unfortunately the child hadn’t liked the first ride.  There were tears and an upset parent.  No apologies though but the girl was able to get off the ride.

It was somebody's birthday... yesterday

I saw some cases where the park could have been cleaner – like a birthday party tent that was left up in Duke’s Lagoon with yesterday’s balloons still attached.  Kind of sad to see first thing in the morning.  The one letterbox station I ran across was not well maintained.  The books inside were full, the ink pad was open and drying out and the stamp itself looked liked it had never been cleaned.  What a disappointment that would be to find after a long search.

But I have to admit those were the only negative parts of my trip.  I encountered very friendly people in most cases. The ones who weren’t friendly were guests – especially one father at the Kingdom Cafe.  I hope he was nicer to his children since they were standing with him and heard the things he said to me.

Up front in the monorail - what a neat view!

I had a great ride on the monorail and sat up in the cab with the driver.  I didn’t catch her name but she was great to talk with and answered all my questions (Thank you!!)  There is a single bench seat in the cab that you can sit in, but one thing to remember is the driver needs to concentrate to keep the riders safe so if you have excitable children you may want to have them sit in one of the other cars so as not to distract the driver.

Ride lines were very short until around 11am.  The Kingdom Coaster was short all day and I never saw a full train go out.  Many kids are not tall enough for this so it is understandable.

Gem height categories

I’d advise you to measure your kids before you go to the park to be sure they will be able to ride.  Dutch Wonderland uses a system similar to Hersheypark where they label height categories by a special name – in this case by gem colors to go with the royalty theme.  You can check the rides online to see the gem system and what heights each ride will allow.

Busy right from opening

Let’s see, what was busy first thing?  Duke’s Lagoon – the waterpark section.  I walked over there at 10:30 and there were less than a dozen empty chairs.  Dutch Wonderland has a lot of season pass holders and just like at Hersheypark’s Boardwalk those folks come and snap up the shade at 10:01 and everything else by 10:30.  You can rent cabanas at Dutch Wonderland and they are much cheaper than at Hersheypark but a better bet is to wait to visit Duke’s Lagoon until after 5pm.  Today the park was open until 8:30 and the water area was open until 8:15.  If you wait until 6pm or so to hit the water you’ve still got plenty of play time left, it’s still warm enough and some chairs will open up.  Plus you’ll tire the kids out for bed!

Not as cheap as Knoebels, but cheaper than Hersheypark.

Lockers are available and are much cheaper than at Hersheypark.  You buy tokens for a dollar and the lockers are either 1 or 2 tokens.  They are single entry though so you can’t keep going back to them or you have to pay again.

I am not a fan of waterparks and I think Dutch Wonderland was just fine without one, but heck, everyone else has them, right?  This one lacks a kiddie pool which I think is sad.  There are kids who do not like splashing and getting water in their faces and they have no place to go in Duke’s Lagoon.  I overheard one woman trying to comfort her daughter on this very point and they were both disappointed that there was nothing there the girl felt comfortable doing.  Other parks have “quiet areas” where there isn’t so much action for the little ones and I think Dutch Wonderland needs to think about that as an improvement.

The Frog Prince diving show, sit on the right down close for the best view and a little splash

Dutch Wonderland has a lot of entertainment options in the form of live shows of various kinds – one (or more) of them start every half hour.  I was able to take in parts of all the shows and I can tell you the kid’s overall favorites were the diving shows.  I have a soft spot in my heart for Dutch Wonderland’s diving shows since my fourth grade teacher was one of their divers.  She was a great teacher and knowing she dove off that high tower made me like her all the more.  I’m glad to see DW has kept this show since there aren’t too many of them left.

The Really Useful Theater - not as useful as you might think

The one show that seemed to disappoint a lot of kids was the Thomas the Tank Engine show.  At the one I attended more than half the audience left before it was over.  I have a hunch it is because Thomas does not talk.  My youngest daughter loves Thomas but I doubt she’d like this show with just two people singing and dancing and Thomas doing nothing more than puffing smoke. (See my update on this in my new trip report here.)

Sing along with "Grandma's Feather Bed"

Another one to skip if you want to keep the kids happy is the Bubba Bear show.  Though the older set get a kick out of these animatronic bears, the kids were not at all interested once the novelty of a moving bear wore off – less than 5 minutes.  I personally love these shows but I’m afraid this one will go the way of Knobel’s and Hersheypark’s and be gone soon.

2011 Kosher Mart Menu

Now, let’s talk about food.  My suggestion?  If you HAVE to eat in the park, eat at the Kosher Mart.  Their food is high quality for amusement park food and the prices are what you would expect for park food.  My best suggestion is, don’t eat in the park.  The food is below average with high prices and it is not very good for your kids either.  Servings are small and most of the food is extremely processed. (See Ed’s suggestion for passable food in the comments – thanks Ed!)

Where did I eat in the park?  Um, I didn’t.  I could not bring myself to eat any of the food at the prices they were asking.  I know the Kosher Mart has good food because they serve at Hersheypark too and I have eaten there quite a bit – plus the food is Kosher and has quality requirements to it because of that.  I got a souvenir cup to have a drink and I got a Dole Citrus Whip ($2.51 with my pass discount.)  The citrus whip is a mix of orange and vanilla and it was passable but the texture of the vanilla is not at all like ice cream so it just wasn’t very pleasing to me.

Gluten Free Kids meal for $6.99 at Castle Cafe

I watched people eating all over the park and I can’t say I saw anyone enjoying their food other than a few kids with softserve cones of Turkey Hill ice cream.  Especially disappointing were the people eating at the Castle Cafe.  This cafeteria style sit down restaurant makes your food to order (sort of) and does have a gluten free kids meal (the first I’ve seen – for $6.99) but I heard many people making unhappy comments/noises while eating their food and much of it got thrown away.

Picnic tables - use them!!!

So where should you eat?  Bring a picnic since there are picnic tables OR if you like burgers, get your hand stamped and walk down the sidewalk to Sonic.  Prices are high there for a Sonic but no higher than in the park and the food is better.  There is an Arby’s across Rte 30 and several other restaurants too but crossing Rte 30 with children is a scary experience. UPDATE:  we made a trip in August and I did find something great to eat – read about it here!

Snacking at DW is a little better.  Funnel cakes, ice cream, kettle corn and all of that is only expected to be so good so people seemed OK with those.

Duke's Lair, such a relaxing ride

My favorite ride of the day was the Dragon’s Lair.  This ride is sometimes busy, sometimes a walk on.  It was a walk on for me.  You sit on a bench like seat in a log shaped boat and go around the lagoon.  It is about 7-8 minutes at my guess and for one person it is great to stretch out and put your feet up and lean back into the boat.  If I closed my eyes I probably could have fallen asleep.  I would NOT want to ride this with an antsy toddler since there are no restraints and it is a longer ride.  If your kids don’t sit still, don’t take them on this ride.

Nice to sit and rock a spell

My favorite spot in the park?  A rocking chair along what I think is called the Greenway along the creek.  This is an educational part of the park where you can learn about birds, trees and “green” facts from a cheeky little firefly.  There are ducks to feed and at one point a covered place with a couple of rocking chairs.  Add in a cool breeze and it was a delight.

Tall, tall trees - and shade - and quiet

Coming in second was the stand of tall trees in what used to be the international gardens section of the park.  This part of the park is shaded, quiet and cool.  If your kids need a nap or you are a breastfeeding mom, this is a great place to visit.  (There is a breastfeeding mom area near the train but it was heavily used when I was there and in a noisy section of the park.  When I had an infant, I would have taken tall trees and cool shade any day over noise and crowds.)

There is lots more I could tell and hopefully will in other posts, but one thing I wanted to figure out while I was at Dutch Wonderland was would I take my two toddlers ( just turned 3 and 1 1/2) there this year.  The answer is no.  We will wait at least 2 years to bring our kids when they are 5 and almost 4.

Sure there were lots of families there with kids that age and yes they could ride a lot of rides and have fun in the water section, but frankly it is overkill for kids this age.  Our kids will have just as much fun at the town carnival for about 1/4 (or less) of the money.  The food is better and we have a kiddie pool with a sprinkler at home that they like just fine.

Little kids do not need all this stuff to have fun and in fact a lot of the kids in this youngest age range were miserable.  Too many loud noises, too many other kids, too much of everything.  They were overloaded and just couldn’t deal and a lot of parents were saying things like, “If you keep acting like this we’re going home!”  Going home after you just dropped $100 or more to get in the gate?  How sad.  Just think what $100 could buy at the carnival, or at the mall arcade, or at a free admission park like Knoebels?

Am I saying don’t take your littlest ones there?  No.  They will have a good time I’m sure, but think twice about it and maybe wait until they are older.  I do honestly feel Dutch Wonderland is best suited for children 4-8.  Over age 8 and it will be corny to most.  Under 4 and it just isn’t necessary for them to have all these things to have a good time.

So… Dutch Wonderland is still full of plenty of good family fun for families with small children. If you are in the area, be sure to drop by.

(New trip report with a 3 year old just added here.)

Posted by ShawnMarie at 3:36 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What will the crowds be like at Hersheypark on Father's Day? Probably big.

Hersheypark No Responses »
Jun 142011

Dads make Hersheypark fun, even in the rain!

I had a reader (Hi Todd!) ask about crowd levels for this weekend at Hersheypark – I’ve been thinking about it myself since our family would like to make a trip down.

So here is my best guess (and with Hersheypark, that is the best you can do with so many variables):  it will be busy both days, Saturday more so than Sunday, but Sunday will be heavier than usual.

Father’s Day is not one of the holidays where you see a dramatic decrease in attendance (4th of July the place is usually nearly empty) so I expect crowds to be in the normal range which means very crowded on Saturday (think lines for everything and the Boardwalk shoulder to shoulder) and Sunday will be busy as well – but less so.

Last I heard the weather for the weekend is supposed to be good so locals will be coming out in high volumes.  If the weather forecast changes to rain then you will see a decrease in attendance.  Hot weather or a chance of showers does nothing to attendance.

Did you know Dads can get in Free on Sunday?  Yep.  Sears stores have coupons for one free Dad admission when you buy another adult admission.  (You can’t combine that with Giant discounts – sorry.)  Details can be found here.

Something to consider on busy weekends is the Sunset ticket option.  The park is open until 10pm this weekend so you get to go in at 5pm for a discounted rate of $27.95.  You get 5 hours of ride time (and 3 hours at the Boardwalk which is open until 8 and empties out after 6:30) for much less money.  This is the time of day when you actually CAN ride things so your ride time/admission fee ratio is much better.  You can find all the ticketing options for Hersheypark here.

Remember Giant Food Stores are still offering discount tickets too. See the info on these and other discounts here.

So think of Father’s Day weekend as any other summer weekend – Saturday very busy, Sunday still pretty busy.  Parks thin out after 6pm.

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Posted by ShawnMarie at 4:54 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Springtime in the Park Trip Report - April 16, 2011 - Opening Day

Hersheypark 2 Responses »
Apr 172011

Opening Day gates at 9:50am

I was one of the brave (?) souls who ventured out to Hersheypark on opening day of Springtime in the Park.  As I left my house a little before nine it was 41F and breezy but no rain yet.  The forecast was for heavy rains, high winds and temps in the 40s to maybe 50 if we were lucky.

I flashed my season pass to the parking attendant and parked with about 30 other cars in front of the Stadium.  It was about 9:20 by this time since I stopped to make a quick purchase of a new umbrells at Kmart.  That was the best money I spent all day.  You might see some black fabric with polka dots in some of my pictures, that is my umbrella.  The wind kept pushing it while I snapped photos.

I got out of my car and loaded up my pack and pockets with all the stuff I need to make this website happen and what was I surprised to hear?  The Great Bear.  Yep.  The coaster that never seems to be online when it is cold was running test laps.  The air was so humid I could hear exactly when it rounded each of its turns from my spot in the parking lot.  I wondered what other coasters might be operational – the temps were right around 45F in Hershey and it had begun to drizzle.

I stopped at Chocolate World to get a ticket for the Create Your Own Candy Bar experience at 1pm. I figured I’d be frozen and/or wet by that time from my running around the park.  (Little did I know!) 

After that I went to the gates.  Only one security line was open but there weren’t many people in line.  It had stopped drizzling by this point but began again as I waited in line to get in.  The picture shows how crowded it was.  What a change from last year’s opening day on Good Friday.  As I always say, WEATHER has everything to do with crowd size at Hersheypark.

Bye Bye Tudor Grill

One of the first changes I noticed on my trip was that the Tudor Grill is no more.  The building is there but is being converted into something called Hersheypark  Place.  This is now going to be a character meal restaurant (think Disney folks) where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner with Hershey Product Characters.  How exciting!?!  I always liked the Tudor Grill because it was a break from the heat in the summer and not too many people went there so you could get seated quickly after the lunch rush.  You got to sit down and someone would bring you your food.  The prices were steep as in the rest of the park but all in all it was only about $3-4 more than counter service and it was really nice to sit down and be served.  So RIP Tudor Grill.  It was nice knowing you.

Smiling people let me in the gate and I grabbed my park brochures and set out to see what coasters were running.  Most of the rides were still warming up and I’m guessing the first rides of the day were on board the Carrousel.  How great it was to hear that Wurlitzer again…

Happy 65th season Comet!

I could see the Great Bear in motion as I went down the hill to Comet Hollow.  The Comet queue was open and I managed to catch a picture of the first train of the Comet’s 65th season going up the first hill.  Wonder how many of those eight or so folks knew it was an anniversary run?

Attraction 2012 - looks fun, doesn't it?

Next I went over to the Attraction 2012 site to snap some pictures.  Not much to see but a little bit of fence and some pipes and stuff.  Unlike most of the folks following this addition to the park, I don’t care WHAT it is they are putting in.  I’m just curious about how it will affect park traffic and whether or not they will enlarge the bathrooms in Comet Hollow to accomodate larger crowds.  That’s the geographer in me folks – plus I don’t ride coasters so I don’t have a vested interest in this other than seeing if it can enliven this section of the park for more than one year.

Sooperdooperlooper was sending empty cars and the queue was open, they just didn’t appear to have any business.  How sad.  I did later see one person ride this.

Up the hill to Great Bear where it is indeed open.   Will wonders never cease?  It began to rain in earnest at this point but then slowed to drizzle again.

A wounded beast

On past Minetown I saw the Flying Falcon in the distance and something in my head went, “That’s not right.”  Nope. The thing was still in pieces.  It was kind of neat to see the guts of the thing – I had never seen the tower dismantled before only the cars taken off – but it was also like looking at a large, wounded beast.  Rumors have been around for years that the ride is on its way out but it appeared that it was being fixed, not dismantled so perhaps it will live again.

Down the hill into Trailblazer country where this good old mine train was running just like it always is.  I thought about riding but knew I had to get to the other sections of the park before the rain really started and shut down whatever else might be open.  I never did make it back to this section of the park.

Spring Creek Smokehouse

As I went up the hill to Storm Runner I noticed probably the biggest change I saw at the park.  What was formerly Freeman’s Texas BBQ (the place that pit roasted beef and made that section of the park smell wonderful) has been converted into a couple prefab buildings and a very large outdoor cooler with the new name of Spring Creek Smokehouse.  I never did eat at Freeman’s but always wanted to and guess I never will now. 

So up the hill to Storm Runner, which was loading one train as I passed by.  Yep, it ran for a few minutes with one train.  I’m not sure exactly how many trips it made before the rain shut it down but when I passed by again at 11 it was closed and only the crash test riders were in the train.

New red cars in the mist for Sidewinder

I passed by the Sidewinder which was not scheduled to be open according to Hersheypark’s website and it indeed was closed.  The Sidewinder got new cars this year and the crews are still working with them.  My camera fogged up at this point so my only picture of the cars looks like it was taken through the mist.

On my approach to Fahrenheit I saw people being turned away so I guessed that this one was not running.  Nope, they needed 50F and no rain to get this coaster online and we did not have that at any point on Saturday.  There were a lot of disappointed people.

The Wildcat

Wildcat was next and was up and running but with single riders only most of the time.  Wonder what it is like to be the only rider on a coaster like that.

The Wild Mouse was zooming along with more riders than any other coaster I’d seen so far.  This thing is invincible.  I watched for awhile and you could see the water flying off riders as they rounded the outside corners.  I bet it was a wild ride for sure!

Last on the list was Lightening Racer and it too was operational.  One run I saw was a father and son, each with a train to themselves.  How cool is that!

So, let’s see.  For a very brief time Hersheypark had 8 of its 11 coasters running.  Sidewinder was scheduled to be closed, Fahrenheit couldn’t get off the ground and Roller Soaker won’t open until the Boardwalk does on Memorial Day weekend.  This is a much better track record for the park than what I’m used to in the Spring.  Hope they do as well on the rest of the Springtime in the Park days.   (Note: by the time I left a little after noon there were no coasters running except perhaps Trailblazer which I didn’t get to check.   With the severe weather our area experienced I’m guesssing the coasters never did run again though it didn’t matter because there wasn’t anyone to ride them.)

So what about the rest of the park?  Empty.  And wet.  And windy.  I toured the whole place looking for new things for 2011 and there isn’t much to speak of other than what I already listed.  Some of that may change by opening day in May but overall the park is much as it was in 2010.  Look for the big changes to come in 2012 I would guess.

It was as crowded as it was sunny... not at all

I did stay in the park until just after noon when I made my way to Chocolate World which was absolutely mobbed with tour buses and teenage cheerleaders.  By this time my shoes, socks and pants to the knee were soaked through.  Good thing was only my hands were cold.  Luckily I had a change of shoes and socks in the car.  I did make this really cool candy bar:

Mmmmm.... chocolate, but it took over an hour to make!!!

When I left after 2pm this was the extent of the parking for Hersheypark, they never put a car in the main parking lot.  And three of the cars in that picture left when I did so we’re talking maybe 20 vehicles?  Wonder how long THEY lasted!

Thanks for reading to the end!

Posted by ShawnMarie at 6:15 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hersheypark Springtime in the Park - when will it be least crowded?

Hersheypark No Responses »
Mar 172011

Overflow line on Good Friday 2010

Once again Hersheypark will be open two weekends for Springtime in the Park but they are changing it up from last year when it was Easter weekend and the weekend AFTER Easter.  In 2011 they are open the weekend BEFORE Easter and Easter weekend.  So which days will you get the park to yourself? Probably none since this event has become so big, but you can find less crowded conditions on certain days. 

Before I make my predictions I want to make perfectly clear that above all else, WEATHER is the deciding factor on crowds at Hersheypark.  Hersheypark attracts many locals and they can pick and choose which days they come since they don’t have to make extensive plans.  You will not see big local crowds when it is cold or when it rains – or even threatens rain. 

Weather affects your riding abilities also since many roller coasters won’t operate when it is too cold.  Wet conditions can also close rides and thunderstorms can too if they have lightening with them.  (See my post about the Hersheypark Storm Center.)

If you don’t mind cold or rain by all means hit the park on a cold, rainy day.  Jack and I have done this on numerous occasions and have had the place to ourselves.

So, my predictions are made as if all weather conditions for all days are clear, mild and beautiful.  If any one day has bad weather that will affect the number of visitors on the remaining days.

Here are my predictions for 2011:

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    • Absolutely best time to go:  First thing Easter Sunday April 24th.  People generally do SOMETHING on Easter that involves either going to church services or food (or both) so you will find very light crowds until 1:30pm or so when people are done with lunch and make their way to the park.  It WILL get busy for the rest of the day until closing at 6.  Many Central PA kids have the Monday following Easter off so families will stay later.
    • Next best time to go:  Sunday, April 17th.  Sundays are light days at Hersheypark and I’m betting that a few locals still won’t know Springtime in the Park is happening the week BEFORE Easter this year so you may see lighter crowds this day because of that.  The park will empty out closer to 5 this day because kids will have school the next day so you might get a light hour at the end.
    • Maybe a good time to go:  Saturday, April 16th.  I’m still betting that the Central PA folks may not know the park is open this day (expecting it to be the weekend after Easter like last year) but you never know.  Saturdays ARE Hersheypark’s busiest day during the on-season so you should expect more crowded conditions than Sunday.  Crowds will thin around 6-7pm and since the park is open until 9 you can get some good riding time in for coasters as long as it does not get too cold.
    • Not a good day to go:  Saturday, April 23rd.  This is a Saturday and it is a weekend that everyone who goes to Hersheypark knows the park is open.  Lots of locals will come on this day.  Again, less crowded after 6-7pm.
    • So what about Good Friday you say?  Uh, see the picture above from last year.  I’d avoid it if you can.  That picture was taken in an OVERFLOW line they had to open behind the gate where the employees come it to alleviate crowding at the gate.  And this was about 11am, not first thing. Gates were heavy into the early afternoon and again after dinner. Good Friday used to be the absolute best day to visit for Springtime in the Park because crowds were so light.  So what happened?  Springtime in the Park has gained more popularity.  Back when I first went in 2000 I bet I could count on fingers and toes the number of people who were there.  As the years have gone by the crowds have increased.  Another reason is because more people have off of work on Good Friday than they used to.  I’m not sure why that is but I know my job added it as a holiday about 6 years ago.

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Posted by ShawnMarie at 10:08 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
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