Our Trip To Hersheypark

Okay, I hear you – you’re out there saying, “Wait, didn’t you just write a post about Hersheypark?” And the answer is: yes, yes I did. (Don’t worry if you aren’t actually asking that question – it’s hard to keep track of things these days.)

So, yes, on July 2nd – Derrick & I drove out & back to Hershey for their Media Event for the opening of their new roller coaster: Candymonium. It was a quick trip in which we did not bring the kids.

Here’s the deal though: we hadn’t planned to go to Hershey on July 2nd. In fact, we had planned to go to Hershey just a few days later – on July 5th & 6th. We had purchased our tickets & everything. We got the invite to Hershey’s Media Event just a smidge over a week before July 2nd & we decided it was something we couldn’t pass up. So, we went on Thursday, while still planning on going back (with the kids this time) on Sunday & Monday.

If you saw my post from Tuesday though – you know that the plans for our week-long coaster “tour” changed at the last minute & changed again while we were away (we kind of flew by the seat of our pants the whole week). In other words, instead of going to Hershey on July 5th & 6th, we went to Dollywood instead (what a trade-off, eh?)

We still had our tickets for Hershey though, so we did another swap-er-oo & took an extended weekend last weekend to visit Hersheypark (we had originally planned to go to Cedar Point last weekend).

It had been 10 years since the last time I was at Hersheypark (and then I visited the park twice in 2 weeks!) The park has changed a lot since the last time I was there – a brand new front entrance, new rides, and new coasters. I finally got to ride the infamous Skyrush & visit the waterpark!

Of course, the 2 days we spent at Hershey were 2 of the hottest days of the year. The area was under “heat advisories” and the general warning was to “stay inside”. Yikes. Thankfully, Hershey has a waterpark within itself, so we simply spent large chunks of the day in the water, trying not to fry to a crisp!

The kids did great – they loved Chocolate World (which we went thru & experienced several times) & were so good, even though it was so hot. They loved the waterpark, and they even got to ride their first rides together. Up to this point, we hadn’t been to any parks where Braelynn & Leander could ride a kiddie ride together (without a parent with them), so they had a ton of fun with that!

Disclaimer: Just in case you can’t tell, about half of the images in this post were taken on my iPhone and the other half were taken with my DSLR. Sometimes, the best camera is the one you have easiest access to!

I ran an experiment during our first visit to Kennywood Park this year – I tried taking video & putting together a vlog. It turned out to be so much fun that I decided I wanted to do it again during our time at Hershey! I still took lots of photos (they fill this post), but I took a ton of video too & I am obsessed with how it turned out!! So, if you enjoy looking thru the photos in this post – you have to watch my vlog!

When the weather is in the mid-90’s (with a “real feel” over 100º), ice cream is obviously a must.

The kids riding together (and without us) for the very first time! They LOVED it!

Derrick & Braelynn in the front row of Comet!

After a few rides with his big sister – she decided she wanted to ride a car on her own – so Leander took his very first SOLO ride!