Hersheypark
Amusement & Theme Parks
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Hersheypark is THE premier historic family amusement and water park with something for everyone. Genuine hospitality, thrilling rides and attractions, water fun and live entertainment are all part of the authentic Hershey experience. Generations share memorable times in Hersheypark, the centerpiece attraction in one of the world's unique resort destinations. Located in a town founded by an American icon who created a brand that is synonymous with trust and quality, Hersheypark upholds the standard of excellence and advances the legacy of Milton S. Hershey.
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  • Dan A
    Camp Hill, Pennsylvania1,239 contributions
    Amazing Christmas trip
    I have been to Hershey Park multiple times in the past but this was my first time visiting Hershey Park Christmas Candylane. Me and my family were fortunate enough to be able to make it this year. As many of you know going to a theme park comes with packed parking lots and long lines. Well at this time of year it is a much more pleasurable experience. Not all the larger rides are open but we were visiting with small children so that was not an issue. We tricked our children into thinking we were just going to chocolate world, which is free and we have done multiple times and they did not figure out we were going to the actual park until we were already inside. The kids immediately started getting on rides over and over, once again because of the less volume of people there were barely any lines if a line at all. We made our way through the park while it was still daylight out and got pretty much all the rides done by nightfall. That is when this time of year really shines. Lights are everywhere and we managed to find ourselves by a creek with all the lit up trees right at the beginning of a light and sound show. All the trees changed colors and turned on and off to various songs and it was truly a great experience. We went and saw Santa and got the kids pictures taken, also barely a line. We also visited the reindeer barn and the employees answered all the kids questions about Santa’s magic reindeer. The kids had an absolute blast. One thing about this park that never changes no matter what time of year is the food prices. EAT BEFORE YOU COME. the food is astronomically expensive. Not even just a little over priced, ridiculously over priced. I think a cheese burger was almost $9 and chicken and fries was Almost $13. Don’t quote me on the prices but that’s not an exaggeration. One little gem I found was the kettle corn popcorn guy. I have a picture that shows massive bags of delicious kettle corn that is actually very reasonably priced. The top bags in the picture were only $6 I believe and held the entire family off until we left to get regular priced food. If you have the opportunity to visit during the Christmas season I would absolutely recommend it.
    Visited December 2019
    Traveled with family
    Written January 30, 2020
  • travelrus
    Clifton Park, New York339 contributions
    Not the most efficient park
    We visited here during April Break. They have a reservation system in order to keep the crowds manageable for covid. I have NO IDEA what their typical capacity is but It can’t really be anymore than what we saw because the crowds and waits were ridiculous. I don’t think the point is to have less rides open with less crowds as that just makes the lines just as long for the rides that ARE open, but that’s what happened. Several rides weren’t open so the ones that were had waits of 1-3 hours. Part of this was due to the crowds, part was due to their fast pass system (which means they go on every ride before the people standing in line), and part was due to the complete inefficiency of the staff for some of the rides. It took 10 minutes between each bumper car group due to the slowness of the man running the ride, and this wasn’t the only one that had the issue. Pros are: large variety of food and drink. The majority of people were wearing masks Cost of park Provisions was a cool upscale shop Cons: waits were WAY too long No social distancing Inefficiency of workers I would recommend the fast past if you can swing the cost but I think HP needs to revisit their fast past system or you’ll lose customers.
    Visited April 2021
    Traveled with family
    Written April 5, 2021
  • Lorene L
    West Virginia38 contributions
    A fun day for the family during the Christmas season
    We come to Hershey Park for the Christmas season. We go with a group of family members in age range now from 14 to 75 and we all have fun! The park opened for Christmas has nice rides open (although they could probably have more rides open and would be used but maybe not profitable for them to run). There are food shops open ( again could open more but may not be profitable). The zoo is open, shows are running, characters are there and have a building that you could go in and take photos(free with your camera and they don’t mind) with them, and yes Santa!!! The light show is great, the seal show was nice but could be a little longer( but I am sure the handlers get cold), The park is big enough of what is open that we spend the full day from opining to closing there, yet small and safe enough that at the ages everyone are we can split up and go do what our interests are yet pass each other and talk. We love Hershey this time of year and is well worth the entrance fee! It has been our family tradition for the past 10 years and ever year the park gets better and better. We can’t wait till next year!
    Visited December 2019
    Traveled with family
    Written January 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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mjnye
Rochester, NY3 contributions
Apr 2021
What an absolute disappointment. Decided to give the kids a break from the year of restrictions due to Covid-19 with a weekend in Hershey and a first visit to Hersheypark. While we thought we were visiting the park with limited capacity, this was not the case, and I can only believe it was at full capacity if there is such a thing to this money hungry organization.
First sign that Hersheypark doesn't care was the poor acting job of the security guard (I believe) who was supposed to be checking temperatures at the gate, with a quick wave from person to person without a look at the thermometer. I shouldn't forget to mention the complete lack of any direction or marking of the paths of entrance with people backed up past the Hershey's Chocolate Tour building. Too bad they couldn't have spared a few of the many parking employees waving their arms pointlessly in the parking lot to help direct pedestrian traffic into the park.
We spent the first hour (of only 8 available) in the park finding out that the rides we were trying to go on first were not open, and some never opened. Needless to say, the rides that were opened had ridiculous lines and at the longest, we sadly waited almost 3 hours to ride the crappy ripoff of the Toy Story ride from Disney World, Reese's Cup-something. Don't waste your time, even if it's a 5 minute wait. I wish I could provide 50% of what I offer to my customers and still get paid full price.
In another glorious example of how much Hersheypark doesn't care about their customers, we heard only one announcement over the course of the day about maintaining social distancing. It was really pointless anyway, there were so many people in the park, you couldn't have stayed 2 feet apart if you wanted to.
While I realize that the pandemic has offered challenges to every business, this is no excuse for the abundance of lazy and uninterested employees the park has hired to sit and talk at the ride entrances (Reese's Cup of Nothing is a prime example). Pro Tip: I learned today that the "sensor" that checks the Fast Track on the HPGO wristbands at Reese's doesn't work, so grab a free wristband and march right up front like all the people I watched today, they're not checking and they don't care.
I don't want to make it seem like that it's a total s*&tshow. There are a great number of wonderful people that work hard here and truly are trying to create a wonderful experience for our kids, but the lack of f*#ks given by the management of this park far outweighs their efforts.
Tomorrow we will go back, to try to make the most of our visit, and because we can't get our money back for the tickets. Who knows?, maybe we'll get on 6 rides, probably not. One thing is for sure is that we will never come back, and we'll make sure to tell everyone we know what a terrible experience it was, and recommend that they go elsewhere.
Written April 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mathew S
Forest Lake, MN7 contributions
Jun 2021
I took my family on a trip to Hershey Pennsylvania in June 2021. Of course we had to visit Hersheypark. Our primary goal was to arrive at the park when it opened at 11 AM and attempt to get to the waterpark first and then hit up some rides afterwards.

This didn't go as planned because they don't actually open any of the water park rides until noon. So those who arrive early have to sit for at least 45 minutes to an hour before they can go on any of the water rides. Additionally it was crazy at the entrance even though it was a Monday morning. It seemed like a Saturday.

Once the waterpark opened things went well for a little while as the wave pool had no weight and the lazy river was relatively short as well. But once 1 PM came the line started picking up drastically and the wave ride was at minimum a 20 minute 240 minute wait.

In addition if you don't bring sandals or shoes that can get wet you're going to burn your feet because only a portion of the water park is not blacktop and extremely hot in the bright sun. I made this mistake and got blisters. Her she was more than happy to charge you $25 for a pair of sandals, but I chose to put my shoes back on and move to rides.

The ride portion was much worse than the waterpark. With any of the roller coasters you would be waiting a minimum of 45 minutes to over an hour. The only rides we were able to go on were things like the claw and the mighty mouse Minnie coaster. You could of course purchase the fast pass and spend an extra cost but we didn't think the extra cost is worth it and tried to do what we could before park closure which was 7 PM.

We also purchased the food pass and the drink pass. I would highly recommend the drink pass as there are many stations throughout the park and the wait to refill is normally only 3 to 5 minutes. As for the food pass I felt like you really have to walk a good amount in order to take full advantage of this. The pass does not include a lot including subway, Chick-fil-A or any appetizer type items on the menus. Basically you can choose from pizza, sliders, hotdogs, nachos or in the rare instance at the smokehouse a chicken leg and cornbread. In order to justify this cost of $35 you will need to get three meals and given you are required to wait 90 minutes this was more difficult than expected. So my suggestion for those with the family is to get two passes and share amongst a family of four and make sure you timeout the 90 minutes and get at least three meals throughout the day to allow it to pay for itself.

As expected all of the shops are over priced and I would suggest buying from one of those discount shops as they sell a lot of the same items.
Written June 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

146erB
Baltimore, MD29 contributions
Aug 2021 • Family
I wish I didn’t feel compelled to write this, but I want to warn others before wasting their time and money. I took my nine year old son for a day trip on a Monday. We have been to the park several times over the year, but missed last year due to the pandemic. He was so exited to be a twizzler and ride the big coasters, that I splurged and paid $330 for two fast passes plus water fast passes . I couldn’t believe I spent over $500 total for 2 people to go to a local amusement park for 8 hours of time. Their excuse that the park is only open for limited hours due to Covid is total BS. They had no problem allowing an unlimited number of people not wearing masks indoors or in tight spaces into the park. If we didn’t have the fast passes I would have left. I spoke with other guests that didn’t buy them and had only been on two rides by 2 pm. They have created a two class system whereby you can buy your way into experiencing the park by paying double the price of the admission. By the end of the day we had been able to ride ten rides, all but one with fast passes. There is no way we would have come close to that without them. However, we water park add on for the fast passes was not worth it. The water park was so crowded. They do not have sufficient seating unless you want to pay even more $ for a cabana. We rode one of the two fast pass rides and tried to find somewhere to eat lunch nearby. An hour later we gave up because half the food concessions were closed or under staffed and the wait times for food would waste precious time for the 8 open park hours. Needless to say, we drank water and ate some snacks from home. We eventually got an overpriced Rita’s ice around 630, after waiting in line for 25 mins. The employees were goofing off and did not seem to care that there was a very long line. My son enjoyed the rides we went on, but I can’t help but feel cheated by Hershey’s. I have always been a fan of the park, but now it just feels like it’s all about the money. I Pilsner recommend it to anyone, unless you have unlimited funds to buy add-one, and don’t mind spending $700 for a day at the park waiting in long lines for food and drinks.
Written August 16, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael L
8 contributions
Nov 2021
We went for the Hershey Park Christmas, went on Saturday after Thanksgiving, with the hope to have a great family day with our teenager and early 20's daughters. It was about 40 degrees, no roller coasters were open, but one, the Super Dooper Looper, "due to the cold" and that one had a 3 hour wait - most of the older age rides were closed, and the younger aged rides had insane wait times. Just mobs of people waiting in insane lines for the few rides that were open, even the line to see the Reindeer was over an hour plus. The free tour of Hershey world was a 45 minute wait, and was just a fake rendition of the real chocolate factory. At 2:00 pm when the park opened, it took 45 minutes just to get in. How in the world Hershey park justified the prices is beyond me. We then did the Hershey Sweet Lights - another 35.00 cost to wait in a car line for 30-45 minutes for a 20 minute ride through some lights, which while cool, had a tough time justifying time and money for it. Might have just been the day we chose, but if looking for the weekend after Thanksgiving, stay away and look for another one
Written November 29, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Deb
4 contributions
May 2021
We had one day inside Hershey Park the day before Memorial Day. Fairly crowded despite a number of the rides being closed. It was warm weather the day we went at 92 degrees and the ‘real-feel’ of 97-degrees. The lines were long and after much discussion about our guests who traveled a long way, we decided to purchase the Fast Track pass at $100 per person which made the experience pricier than we anticipated. This allowed us to access more rides in one day; but not every ride has a ‘Fast-Track’ door as it is mostly for roller coasters. For instance, we spent way too long in line for the Monorail which is lovely overview of the park.

Being so warm that day, we were in constant search for bottled water. There are Pepsi Vending machines all around the park, but on that day almost all had empty water bottle retainers, and only had soda pop. The few machines that did have water stocked were out of order.

The food stalls had very long lines; and expensive with food that was not great. We chose Spring Creek Smoke House and it was a slow moving line. Food was mediocre at best, but we were starving. There are groupings of outdoor tables to sit and eat at many of the food stalls—we just needed a break from the sun/heat. We learned that Hershey was opening a new big indoor restaurant the next weekend (after Memorial Day) which I think will be a much needed respite from heat, and getting a decent more satisfying meal, and a place to sit and relax/refuel to go out for more running around.

Written June 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

GregLaura S
Gainesville, VA52 contributions
Aug 2020
My family and I love Hershey Park, we live in Virginia but are season pass holders. The park is clean and the staff are friendly. We obviously haven't been as often this year as in years past due to COVID19, but we've still been able to enjoy the park. Because of COVID19, lines are definitely shorter than they would be normally during the summer including holiday weekends (4th of July and Labor day). Candymonium is really cool - though I recommend you do NOT try and go at the beginning of the day, lines are long then...since it's at the very front of the park, you have to make a point to come back out to it so later in the day the lines tend to be much shorter. I.E. we've been able to walk right on several times but first thing in the morning, you could have an hour wait. I know it's just after labor day so people won't care about the water park as much, but the water park was definitely limited this year. A lot less of it was open than say last summer. Depending on how you feel about wearing a mask/using hand sanitizer, etc., you may like what I have to say next and you may not. When you come into the park, they are enforcing masks, when you get on a ride, they are enforcing masks, but there are a lot of people walking around either without masks or not wearing them properly (i.e. down around their chin or not covering their noses). Again, when people go to get onto rides, the ride operators tell them they need their masks on in order to board, but I've seen people make it to the front of the line and they not even know where their masks are. In multiple visits, there have only been two times that I was aware of them pausing a ride to disinfect, mind you this was over several days...although there is hand sanitizer in some areas, we didn't see people wiping down tables in food areas any more than normal and because there are less people visiting Hershey Park, this also means that less rides are open, less food options are open, etc. We still had a great time and will keep our season passes, but this years experience has definitely been different.
Written September 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

itislaurennm
7 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
Hershey during COVID
The park was very clean, had temperature checks at the entrance, markers on the ground to maintain social distancing, signage, operators reminding riders to wear masks, plenty of hand sanitizer and strategically placed security guards respectfully enforcing the rules. Almost everyone was wearing a mask, even younger children. However, even with all the thoughtful measures, it was a bit overwhelming to be around such a large crowd of people during these times. There is no way to completely social distance when the park has so many guests. There were also not any noticeable cleaning efforts on the rides themselves. This didn’t bother me, but could cause anxiety for others. I felt comfortable in the park and enjoyed my visits. They’re doing everything they can to make a safe environment, but you still have to gage your own comfort level being around crowds.

Also just as a tip, you now need a separate ticket for timed entry to go into Chocolate World! We decided to visit Sunday morning before heading home and it was awesome. We were able to walk right on the Chocolate Tour and leisurely shop without any crowds.

Toddler in the Park
We traveled with a 3 year old and we were so happy with the availability of rides for him! We spent two days in the park with plenty to do. He loved the kiddie rides and games. The park was very stroller friendly which was great for tired feet and navigating crowds. Theres plenty of space to park and watch your child or take photos on the rides which was also nice. It was wonderful to share the sweetness of Hershey with him!

Hershey Park in the Dark
The event is pretty festive and fun! So many guests dress in Halloween costumes, spooky music is being played, there are special lights and pumpkin displays! It’s a really fun mood and quite fun to wander the park in cooler weather. The trick or treat trail was super nice! My son loved running though and collecting all the candy. It was simple but very well done. I would definitely attend this event again, but probably earlier in October or on a Friday or Sunday with hopes of smaller crowds! When we came on Friday evening, the longest line was 25 minutes, including the coasters, but a few were closed. On Saturday, more rides were open but the lines were 45-120 minutes for roller coasters. They offer Fast Pass now which seems awesome, but the price was very steep at $120 per person! Either way, after attending this event, I would definitely love to visit during the others!
Written October 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Arlene T
1 contribution
Jun 2021 • Family
My family and I planned a trip to PA specifically to visit Hersheypark. We purchased a 2 day pass and the unlimited fast pass for the first day. Today was the was day one of our two day pass. I was so excited to get there and couldn’t have been more disappointed when I left. We paid almost $200 additional for the fast pass tickets and we only got to go on 5 rides. The fast pass was a complete rip off. We got to skip the line on the Candymonium and we were able to skip a partial line on the Skyrush. Other than that it was completely useless. We would enter the “Fast Pass” gate on each ride, but it just lead to the main line and we were completely ignored by the attendants. The Fahrenheit, Sidewinder, Stormrunner, and SooperdooperLooper coasters were all closed, as well as two out of the three Triple Towers. It rained while we were there causing almost every ride to be shut down for over an hour, which is clearly not the park’s fault, but they offered no rain checks (as stated on their website), or any gesture to make up for the lost time. I understand that they have no control over the weather, however we paid over $575 for a family of 4 to visit this park for 2 days (not including $20/ea day for parking) and after spending the entire day there we got to go on just 5 rides. The fast pass was a completely waste of money and I’m so upset that we spent an additional $200 for absolutely nothing. I am very disappointed and to be honest I’m not even looking forward for our second day tomorrow. I don’t know if we just had the worst luck when it came to the rides, but my advice to those of you who are planning a trip to this park would be to do some research to make sure their main attraction coasters are up & running and I’d strongly recommend skipping the Fast Pass. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day, although without being able to skip ahead on two rides because we don’t have the Fast Pass I’m thinking we’ll be lucky if we get to go on 3 or 4 rides. Good luck!
Written June 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Patricia G
Putnam, CT56 contributions
Aug 2021 • Family
We purchased our tickets early in June and we’re able to buy all adult tickets at kids prices. This made the two day ticket for five very affordable for our group. We also took advantage of the two hour “preview. “ which allows ticket holders to enter the park from 5:00-7:00 one evening prior to your first visit. We were traveling with our son, daughter and 13 year old grandson. The park has a lot to offer all age groups but be prepared to wait in line.

Negatives:
1. The park no longer has paper maps which forces you to download their ap on your phone. We felt we spent a-lot of time searching for where we wanted to go and how to get there.
2. The park was crowded both days we visited. Be prepared to wait for the more popular rides unless you want to purchase a Fast Track ticket. The price for this add on varies by day and for the time we visited it was $75.00 per person….No thanks!
3. The “wait times” for rides that you see on the ap is rarely accurate. We got in one ride line listed with a 5 minute wait and stood in line over 45 minutes.
4. Long lines for food. Several eating places closed, due to lack of help.
5. Picture Pass is a great idea if you are planning to ride roller coasters, etc. Our family only had two photos taken in the park. Characters will pose for photos but there isn’t a photographer there to capture the picture and workers are not allowed to take photos with your phone. Luckily another family took our photo then we reciprocated.

Positives:
1. We purchased the single meal deal for $14.00 and found this to work well.
2. There are places to refill your water bottles throughout the park for free.
3. It was easy to drive into the park and passing through the turnstile was quick.
4. Lots of merchandise for sale but again gift shops are understaffed and you need to wait to checkout.

Positive:
Written August 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Brooke
125 contributions
Jul 2022
Stayed at the Hersheypark Camping Resort and used the free bus to the park so we didn't have to pay $25 for parking. This park is a multi-day park if you would like to do everything that you can. Took advantage of the free preview Friday night and sweet start both Saturday and Sunday morning. Went to the water park Saturday and rode the coasters on Sunday.

Try to avoid the water park on a Saturday!!! Our experience was horrible. The wait times for the pool and lazy river were outrageous. The wait for the water coaster was outrageous as well. It seemed the Fast Track to general admittance rate was 4-1. The lines were so slow, the whole water park was crowded, and we missed out on a lot of rides because of this. Also, bring shoes if it's a pretty hot day out. The pavement will burn your feet otherwise. The park knows this because there is a shoe store conveniently positioned a little past the entrance. There are free shoe cubbies near the entrances to Breaker's Edge and Whitecap Racer.

As for the regular park, the lines were pretty long but doable. I think if we did not get the free extra hours from staying at a resort our experience would have been way worse. Very confusing layout and the signs are helpful only half of the time at best and are inconsistent. The staff members were super friendly. There were free water fountains throughout which was a definite plus.

I certainly feel the wait times and crowds are something that need to be addressed. I don't know the correct solution, but a cap on attendance in the water park or a higher price for allowing people to cut in line would be some sort of start. People are clearly willing to spend over $100 to cut in line even if they seem to decide to complain about the high price afterwards. By buying Fast Track they are adding to the problem of why they are saying they absolutely needed to buy it in the first place.

Overall, we really enjoyed our visit. I do recommend camping at the Hersheypark Camping Resort as a cheaper alternative to paying $25/day to park and having to pay to stay at a separate hotel and missing out on the Preview Night/Sweet Start perks.
Written August 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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