Review – Hershey Chocolate World
I cannot believe that there were people arriving, parking miles away and taking trams, to attend this Hershey Park area activity all day. We arrived at approximately 9AM (it opens at 9, about an hour before Hershey Park), parked up front, did everything we wanted to do (which was basically take the Hershey Factory Tour Ride and buy some overpriced chocolate from the gift shop), and left by 10. There is a little more to do there, but not much.
The factory tour ride is well worth the five minutes we waited to get on. Any more than that, and it’s probably not worth it. It’s interesting, but not inspiring. At the end, they hand out "samples" (a miniature Take Five bar in my case) and you can buy photos.
There is a "trolly tour", I don’t know where this goes but be advised – these are just buses. If your kids are looking forward to some sort of rail-driven event, you will be disappointed. It’s some sort of tour, and I think it actually costs money, but at the end of the day, it’s a bus ride.
In a corner of one of the gift shops (and there are many) there is an area where the kids can actually "participate" in a Hershey’s Kisses production line. This consists of waiting for wrapped Kisses to fall down a "production line" and they catch them in a box. If you want to keep the box, you have to buy it. They take pictures, and you gotta pony up ten bucks to get them back.
Overall it’s mostly a mall, with shops and fast food and shops and shops and shops. Plan to spend money. If that’s what turns your crank, go for it. Don’t come here expecting to "experience Hershey" (unless you define "Hershey" as "every other strip-mall corporate America presence you’ve ever ignored while driving home from work.")
My advice – go early (parking is free for the first 2 hours), take the tour ride (free), buy some crap, and get out. The hoarding masses will thank you for your front parking spot as you leave.