I love roller coasters and it’s a necessity to visit an amusement park every summer. This summer Joe and I went to Hershey Park and on the ride home we compiled a list of tips to get the most out of your visit.
We were able to borrow a car from my parents (thanks Lady and Papa!) and stayed for 2 nights. To give you an idea of our amusement park style, we enjoy roller coasters and water rides, and prioritized getting to the front of each line as quickly as possible. We didn’t see any shows or play any games.
Ready to jump in to it? Let’s go.
Where to stay
The hotel prices were outlandish. We stayed on Thursday and Friday night and headed home after a full day in the park on Saturday. I used Hilton points to get the cost down and we stayed at Tru by Hilton in Hershey. It was a 5 minute drive to the park and is a newer hotel, which was nice. It’s basic, but offers a free breakfast and parking.
If you want to go all out, you can stay at Hotel Hershey. On the first night Joe and I got dinner at The Circular and it was incredible. The food was delicious, the service was amazing (they put your napkin on your lap for you!), and they thoughtfully gave us dessert to celebrate our engagement.
Tickets to buy
We got a two day park pass and unlimited fast track for roller coasters. The two day park pass gives you a “preview” the night before your first full day visit where you can enter the park for free a few hours before closing. We headed over after our delicious meal and were able to park for free by showing that we had already purchased a parking pass for the next day.
It’s a good opportunity to get a lay of the land and try rides that don’t have a long line. We did two coasters then called it a night in the park and headed over to Chocolate World. There’s a wonderful ride about how chocolate is made and we liked doing that to round out our evening.
We found that the unlimited fast track (riding the same ride multiple times in one day, versus just once in a day) was not worth it since we were visiting for two days. If you can only go one day, get the unlimited, but otherwise you can save the extra charge and go with the standard fast track for coasters.
Park schedule
Morning: Ideally you should be parked and walking over to the main gates a half hour before the park opens. Put your sunscreen on while you’re waiting to get into the park.
Print your tickets before hand and make a beeline to the water park.
Get a locker (and if there’s a line, keep walking because there are multiple locker areas in the water park) immediately and head to Breakers Edge water coaster because that line fills up fast.
After that you can head to the other water rides and enjoy minimal wait times since most people don’t head to the water park until later in the day when it’s warmer.
Afternoon: Dry off and change, and leave everything behind in the locker except your wallet (that includes cell phones!).
Redeem your fast track wristband in the water park area (lines are longer at the fast track station at the front gate) and then get lunch. We really enjoyed the smoke house and recommend the brisket!
Hit up the coasters. Our favorites were Storm Runner and Great Bear. If you have fast track, wait for a seat in the front row. It’s worth the extra time.
If you need a break/chill rides, check out the monorail and the kissing tower.
We felt we’d seen enough the first day, mostly due to our fast track, that we left around dinner time. We ordered Chinese food and ate in our hotel room.
Day 2: On day 2 we had the same schedule, but left the park around 4:30. We went over to Chocolate World to get gifts for the family (couldn’t buy them any sooner otherwise they would have melted!).
When you’re ready to check out, go to the back of Chocolate World near the food for a very short line versus the front of the store.
Miscellaneous
Water is expensive and there are not places to refill. And lines are long at most counter spots if you want to ask for complimentary water, so just be prepared to pay for bottled water. Work it into your vacation budget.
Ice cream portions are HUGE at Simply Chocolate!
Paying for premium parking is not worth it.
There’s a lot of available seating throughout the park, which was much appreciated.
If you buy the meal tickets, the few restaurants that accept it get very crowded. We only ate lunch in the park each day.
We had a great time and loved disconnecting for the weekend!
Have you ever visited Hershey Park or have plans to go? Any tips you would add?
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