Sponsored: The tickets for this trip were provided complimentary by Hersheypark
I mentioned in May that I was looking at doing a bunch of little day trips for more of a ‘staycation’ summer this year. We hadn’t been to Hersheypark in a few years – in fact, the last time I blogged about a Hershey visit was 2016!
In the past we would visit for a full weekend, but since it’s less than 2 hours away it could be a day visit for us (saving us from paying for a hotel… and a pet sitter). As it turns out, my friends at Hersheypark were so kind as to send us park tickets, so we visited over the weekend!
A little about Hersheypark: Milton S. Hershey opened Hersheypark in 1906. Hersheypark offers three parks in one, including a zoo, the largest rollercoaster collection in the Northeast and a waterpark. There are more than 70 rides, including 15 coasters and an 11-acre water park with 16 attractions. It is also the only amusement park in world focused on chocolate and one of my favorite parts of a visit is to their chocolate store for treats!
I really wanted to go for a visit while it was still May for a couple reasons. First of all, the weather was INCREDIBLE! The high was in the mid 70’s when we visited and we could not have asked for a more beautiful day. I also wanted to go before all the schools let out, hoping for lighter crowds.
As I mentioned, Hersheypark provided the admission tickets which was wonderful. In addition to the tickets, you need to pay for parking. We purchased parking online before we left for $25, rather than pay the at-the-door cost of $40. I also downloaded the Hershypark app the day before, so that we had access to ride availability and wait times. With that being said, some of the wait times seemed quite off when comparing real life with the app.
Okay, are you ready for some cuteness?
Here’s Jack measuring up with his Hershey’s characters about 10 years apart:
Yup, as of a couple weeks ago my Jolly Rancher sized kid is officially taller than me (I’m 5’7”).
And here’s a little swings comparison – 2014 vs 2026:
We had SO MUCH FUN at the park this year. Our favorite rides were the Hershey Triple Tower, the Pirate Ship, the swings and the Sooper Dooper Looper rollercoaster.
Before we left, we made sure to go through Chocolate World for their Chocolate Tour ride and did a little shopping so we had snacks for the ride home. I’m a huge lover of Chocolate Twizzlers, so I was happy to buy some for my stash.
It was such a wonderful day trip and we definitely want to visit again soon!