The craziness of the holidays can make it hard to schedule in some real quality family time. I'm terrible at planning holiday outings because I often get caught up in the craziness of the season and our weekends fill up FAST in December with family birthday events, decorating, tree hunting, and more. So we took one of our last unbooked free weekends for a little family field trip to experience Hershey Park's Christmas attractions.
We're excited to share some tips and tricks for visiting the park during the season and share all of the different attractions you will be sure to not want to miss.
Ticket Savings Tips
- If you purchase your tickets online before you arrive your will save up to 35% on your admission (1 day discount ends 11/27).
- Get in the night before your purchased visit day for FREE - Just present your ticket at the main entrance 2.5 hours before closing the night before your visit and enjoy a fun-filled evening! Most daily tickets qualify for this offer. Admission at 7:30pm for 10pm closings or 6:30pm for 9pm closings.
- There is LOTS to fill your visits with! Book consecutive day tickets for even bigger savings and MORE fun! Packages for 2 or 3 day visits are available to reserve online.
- Thinking of staying over? Book a local hotel or stay at one of Hershey's signature lodging options - Hershey Lodge or The Hotel Hershey you can bundle your trip include your stay, tickets and additional attractions
- Chocolate World attractions, the tour here is free but they've added some additional offerings that are paid. These are available in a bundle pack at a pretty decent discount.
Making the Most of your Visit!
- This isn't rocket science but chances are its not going to be a balmy 50 degrees when you visit, so bundle up, the walk from the parking lot is pretty long (they do have shuttles you can use). Dress the kids in layers, pack mittens, hats and scarves, we definitely should have had more for our kids to wear (it was REALLY cold!).
- Schedule some indoor activities interspersed throughout the day to break up the cold if it is especially chilly.
- Plan your day based on what you specifically want to do. We didn't do this well and missed out on doing a few things the kids really would have loved. So grab a brochure (pictured below) and check the show times, character visits and other schedules so you can make the most of your day.
- There is also an interactive app that may be helpful during your visit! You can download it here.
- If you can plan to do more than one day! There is really a TON of stuff to see and experience and its easy to spend two full days exploring.
Sweet Lights . Hershey Park . Chocolate World
Hershey Sweet Lights are a beautifully decorated path of seasonally themed lighted decor. Travel in the cozy warmth of your own car as you drive through a winding path of holiday glow. Tune your vehicle's radio to their station and watch as lights dance along with the music!
These are open to visitors every night from November 10th- January 1st. Check out a preview of the experience! Here's a short video of our visit to the Sweet Lights. *If you present your admission ticket at guest services at Hershey Park you can get Sweet Light admission for one car for just $18.15 (+ tax) and some change. Note: Admission tickets to Sweet Lights is less Monday-Thursday!
These are open to visitors every night from November 10th- January 1st. Check out a preview of the experience! Here's a short video of our visit to the Sweet Lights. *If you present your admission ticket at guest services at Hershey Park you can get Sweet Light admission for one car for just $18.15 (+ tax) and some change. Note: Admission tickets to Sweet Lights is less Monday-Thursday!
Hershey Park is decked out in hundreds of thousands of festive holiday lights, decor and offers incredible themed food, drinks and treats everyone will love. Its the amazingness of Hershey Park with a holiday twist. Experience 50 of their awesome rides plus additional attractions and entertainment including visits with Santa.
Their evening light show inside of the park - NOEL. After dark this display if 200,000 dancing lights synchronized to your favorite Christmas music goes off nightly at starting at 5 PM with show times every half hour.
Ice skating near Santa's Reindeer Stables. For just $3 per skate rental (personal skates are not allowed) you can skate inside the park! While you are skating you can visit with Santa's reindeer (Roudolph too!) who are housed right nearby!
Music Box Christmas: An Enchanted Journey
We had the chance to see this from the front row, thanks to some friends we tagged along with who showed us the ropes while there for the first time! My children were mesmerized.
The production was impressive to say the least. The performers were talented, the music was lovely and familiar and the dancing was great as well. The show is offered a number of times throughout the day, if you visit definitely try to make plans to see it. You can see the full schedule with dates and times here.
We had the chance to see this from the front row, thanks to some friends we tagged along with who showed us the ropes while there for the first time! My children were mesmerized.
The production was impressive to say the least. The performers were talented, the music was lovely and familiar and the dancing was great as well. The show is offered a number of times throughout the day, if you visit definitely try to make plans to see it. You can see the full schedule with dates and times here.
We found that once we arrived there were even more activities and entertainment than we were able to read about online. Character experiences, storytime and the "Our Friends From the Sea" show were all great surprises. What is a more time honored holiday tradition than making Christmas cookies!?! Visit the Cookie workshop in Hershey Park at Kissing Tower Hill to buy a cookie and take part in dressing it for the season and catch a cozy storytime!
Before you go don't miss everything Hershey's at Chocolate World! Their Free Chocolate Tour includes a full history on Hershey's, interactive displays, and a chocolate treat to finish it off!
Additional attractions in the facility include a chocolate tasting experience, a 4-D Theater, gift and coffee/cocoa shop and a create your own candy bar experience. These attractions are tickets and can be purchased in a bundle for a discount.
You can also grab tickets for the Hershey Trolley Works Tours at Chocolate World! Trolley Works even has a special Sweet Lights Tour!
We (sadly) weren't able to squeeze an a visit here on this trip (see exhausted 5 year old below), but promise to come back and give it a full review soon!
Don't be fooled by my kids' faces (I made the mistake of waiting to take these until the end of the day and 2.0 was super tired and chilly).... We had a great time visiting Hershey Park and the Sweet Lights!
We hope you'll consider checking it out and making it part of your family's holiday experience this year!
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