We stayed the night in Hershey this year – it had been a few trips since we had been to Hershey Park and we wanted to go again. #2 wanted to go to celebrate his 12th birthday. I think the last time we went was to their Christmas Celebration evenings and it was AMAZING! We loved going that time of the year!
One of my favorite things about Hershey Park is that they offer a Preview night! You can get into the park the night before your day at the park and get the lay of the land! You can ride the rides and figure the park out before you spend the whole day there. We rode almost half the rides in the park that night alone.
Hershey Park offers an ALL day drink. You can refill the drink all day long. It is a GREAT deal. You can start using your drink during the preview night too! So get it the night before to get all of your money’s worth.
The next morning, we knew where we wanted to go and what rides we wanted to ride. We were able to ride everything once or twice (some rides up to 6 times). Kid #1 was able to ride EVERY open roller coaster at least once. Most 2-4 times. #2 rode most of them, but he chickened out on a few. #1 is a THRILL seeker and will ride any ride with no fear. #3 rode probably half the roller coasters – all the ones he was tall enough for. He loved the wooden roller coasters, which his dad and I do NOT enjoy. Thankfully, we have older kids now, so they can take their siblings on those rides we don’t want to ride. Phew!
#4 was tall enough for the Super Dooper Looper. A LOOP roller coaster! I couldn’t believe a 4-year-old was old enough for a loop roller coaster. Alas, he was tall enough (the height restriction was surprisingly low) so I took him on his first loop roller coaster. He LOVED it!! He went again with his dad. 4 years old and already riding loop roller coasters. Crazy!
One of the other things I loved about Hershey is they had TONS of little kid rides. I love Disney so much because kids of all ages can ride a majority of their rides. While Hershey has plenty of height restrictions, next to all the big rides with height restriction was at least one (if not 2-4) rides that little guys could ride! This was so wonderful! While the big kids (and maybe one parent) would ride the big rollercoasters or other rides, we could wait for them on rides for the little guys, without having to venture to another “land” or area! It was great. There were ones that they would go on by themselves too. If you know any toddler, if they can ride it by themselves (because they think they can do everything themselves!) they love it. Needless to say, even the one-year-old had a wonderful day at the park. He didn’t want to leave at the end of the day – wanted to keep riding rides. Thankfully, it wasn’t busy, so he was able to just go from ride to ride! Great for a short attention span.
A fantastic day was had by all. Watch for deals on tickets. I bought our tickets when it was Adults at kids prices and then bought the kids tickets from a discount retailer. We love Hershey Park (don’t tell Mickey that I cheated on him 😉 )
