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Old 26 Oct 14, 10:09 PM  
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Gunna
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East Coast Road Trip - Day 16 - Hersheypark

Day 16 - 24th August 2014 - Hersheypark

We had no trouble getting Sam out of bed today as we were off to our final theme park of the trip and that boy loves his coasters. We headed down to breakfast and ran the gauntlet that was the soccer school girls who had taken over the breakfast room. We grabbed some drinks and toast and headed to some of the chairs in the lobby where it was quieter and we could enjoy a bit of peace. We were packed up and ready for off at 8.30am. Today we were heading off to 'Chocolate Town USA' Hershey and the towns park set up by the founder of Hershey's chocolate, Milton Hershey. Before we set off I had read up on Milton and his history. Quite a man and someone who did a lot for the town, his workers and children in particular. He had put a lot back into the town and developed and built a lot of the buildings, schools and hospital and his trust still does a lot of good and charitable work to this day. The drive was about an hour and we parked up and took the short walk to the entrance.




It was a lovely sunny day and we are soon through the bag check and into the park. The park was not your typical theme park with areas designed around certain themes like at Disney. It was very much a traditional American amusement park. It was set into zones but not themed but had a great vibe overall and we all really liked it. To compare it to somewhere here it was a bit like Blackpool Pleasure Beach but without the lovely windy weather we always seem to get there. The rides all tended to be intertwined with each other with tracks crossing over and under different rides. We headed past the statue of Milton Hershey and headed over to the first ride Sam wanted to do Skyrush.




The queue was small and me and Sam are soon on and sitting in the back row. The safety bar was more of a lap bar which held you in over the top of your legs. The thing with this one was that it was firmly positioned on your thighs and for both of us didn't press into our waist or hold us in at this place. The ride set off and climbed the lift hill at a great pace. The first drop was huge and the coaster set off at break neck speed. It was very fast and smooth and normally something we both would of loved. The problem was the restraints and every time we went over a hill we were lifting out of our seats and Sam didn't feel safe, even though we were. We were both glad when it finished and Sam vowed never to go on it again. The only thing was that he was now nervous about going any of the other coasters and one guy made a point of telling him that some of the others were even worse which didn't help. I said to Sam not to worry and try some of the smaller rides to get his ride confidence back so Sam and his mum went on the swinging chairs and we all had a ride on the Falcon.





Sam seemed to have settled back down now and we headed back to the 'Hollow' area and we both rode on the flume ride which was similar at the end to Dudley Do right and dropped and then went over a hill with a final splash down. Sam was keen to try another coaster now so we headed over to the Great Bear, an inverted coaster like Nemesis at Alton Towers. We both loved this one and after this Sam and Kik have a go on the race cars. I have a trip on one of the older rides the Kisses observation Tower, a bit of nostalgia and gave more on the history of Hershey and Miltons influence.




It had started to pick up with crowds now but we were still able to get a lot done. There was a very wide choice of rides which certainly made the crowds spread out so the queues never seemed too bad. Sam was up for another coaster so we headed over to Stormrunner, a launch coaster with a large hill like Stealth at Thorpe Park followed by a fair few inversions. This was amazing a really great ride and a huge adrenalin rush. Kik had been speaking to some of the locals while waiting for us who asked where she was from and when she said England they said they could tell as she looked 'classy'. If they had seen Sam and me they may of thought differently.




Hunger had started now so we headed over to Nathans hotdogs and all had hotdogs, mine with chilli and cheese, with a portions of loaded fries to share which were pilled high with bacon and ranch dressing and these were delicious. We let our lunch settle by watching the rock show which was good if a bit cheesy in a High School Musical way. In the middle of the park in an area called the 'Boardwalk' they have a water park with wave pool, slides and some rides. We had left our swimming gear behind but it was heaving here due to the good weather. The queue for the big splash boat type ride was nearly two hours as was the queue for Fahrenheit so we gave both of these rides a miss.



Sam was keen now to go on one of the wooden coasters so we headed into the queue for the Wildcat which looked okay and not too bad. This ride was rough, really rough and fast and it clattered around at a great pace. My teeth were rattling around in my head and we both knew we had been thrown around by the Wildcat.



After this we headed to the back of the park to try some of our last few rides of the day. Sam and Kik went on the whip and loved it. Arms in the air and whooping all the way round. They both said it was a shame that Blackpool removed their version of this ride. Sam and me head onto another wooden coaster - Lightening Racer - a dual racing coaster and we were both nervous after the Wildcat. This was amazing. Fast with lots of dips, drops and turns and a lot smoother than the other one we went on. Even better that our side won too. Sorry to the birthday boy who got a shout out riding in the other car, snooze you loose!




We walked past the big wheel and off towards the parks exit to get the last few rides in. Sam and Kik had a ride on the Growler but I sat our as not keen on really spinny rides and I got sat near a family who were arguing about food and fried chicken. One of those arguments were you try not too but can't help but eavesdrop because its quite funny.




We were now in need of a snack and I knew what I wanted to try. I had spotted the Coldstone Creamery and wanted to try one. We all got a different version in a waffle cone and these were sooo good. They only had premade mixes but you could add various toppings and sauces on and these really hit the spot.



Sam had one more ride to try the last wooden coaster in the park - Comet - definitely finished with a good one and as we leave he wants to go on one of the fairground games. He heads over to the Plinko game and there is an American dad giving the attendant some grief. His son had a go and won a ride voucher but he wants a teddy. Although he had won a prize dads not happy as son REALLY wants the teddy and won't let it drop. Dad is shouting at the attendant how could he 'shatter a childs dreams!' and various other ways to try to get this soft toy so the attendant gives him a free go and this time he wins... light up flashing glasses. (We did smile to ourselves) So he heads off, glasses in hand and with a pet lip, dad is still not happy. Sam steps up and first go wins the teddy! He's over the moon but the kid is glaring daggers and Sam does the decent thing and not gloat to much although he would really love too!.




Its now time to leave the park. We grab some souvenirs just before we go. Even though its open until late, we had been there nearly 10 hours and wanted to stop by chocolate world to learn a bit more about Hersheys chocolate. I know a lot of British don't like it but I must admit I love the Reeces pieces, white chocolate kisses, Twizzlers and Jolly Ranchers so it was a must do to head in here.



Its free to go in and you can pay for some stuff - making chocolate bars, chocolate tasting, 3d films but we decide to do the free chocolate tour which was a bit like an Epcot style ride. Told you how chocolate was made, were in the USA they got the milk from and we were then entertained by singing cows! After the ride we head into the shop and spend maybe a bit too much on chocolate and other gifts, the choice was huge and very tempting. Sam did resist buying the massive bar too.




It was now time to go and we all said what a brilliant day this was. Sam admitted he had been a bit wary about it as he knew it wasn't like Disney and heavily themed but he said he thought it was awesome. It had a great feel to the place and we all loved the fact we'd had the chance to experience and visit a traditional American amusement park. We started the drive back to Gettysburg and stopped for food on the way home. We had passed a roadside diner called Bakers on the way there and dropped in here. Superb service and good food, the portions were massive. We had crab cakes, open turkey sandwiches and lasagne and for us all with drinks and tip came to less than $40, a real bargain. We are soon home after here and head of to our beds, shattered but buzzing after another great day.

Tomorrow - Gettysburg battlefields and arriving in New York.
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Old 28 Oct 14, 01:26 PM  
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orlandosgr8
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Another fantastic day, the park looks great
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Old 4 Nov 14, 10:49 PM  
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Gunna
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Originally Posted by orlandosgr8 View Post
Another fantastic day, the park looks great
It was a great place, totally different to Disney and Universal but a fantastic place to visit, really would recommend it
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Old 18 Nov 14, 04:27 PM  
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That park looks fantastic, great photos! Pussycat
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Old 2 Dec 14, 03:24 PM  
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The park looked like good fun
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Old 29 Mar 16, 01:07 AM  
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OB1LukeLucas
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The park looks great, I like all the wooden style coaster. Another fun day for you all.
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Old 12 Mar 20, 12:07 AM  
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Jesslydevie1
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Just reading this now as we are about to do a similar trip end of June ! Wow you pack so many things into one day I don’t think we will have your stamina 😁what a great trip it’s been so far .
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