We spent our first day in Hershey, Pennsylvania at HersheyPark–specifically, at Chocolate World. We wound up staying there for more than five hours, and our adventures there were always delightful and often educational.
I should mention that we stayed at Hershey Inn & Suites, a brand new (opened a month ago!) property that joins the massive Hershey Lodge and the stately and expensive Hotel Hershey as a company-owned and -operated resort. The rooms are lovely, the cocoa infused shower gel and shampoo are fun, and the service–as throughout Hershey–is excellent. There are free shuttle buses to bring you from any of the three hotels to HersheyPark and I was surprised that the drivers give you a little informational “tour” as you make your way.
Now, Chocolate World. The centerpiece is what’s billed as the largest candy store in the world, and I am certain that must be true: all of the brands are represented with unique packaging, sizes, and sometimes flavors (strawberry kisses, for example); plus requisite t-shirts, mugs, games, and chotchkes for each. We thought we’d probably buy some stuff, but as you’ll see, that turned out not to be necessary.
We bought Summer Bundles that included four events plus a meal voucher and a dessert voucher. The former are used in the Chocolate World Food Court, which features family-friendly choices like pizza, sandwiches, salads, chicken tenders, and the like; Arthur had a yogurt parfait topped with Hershey goodies. The food court also is home to an ice cream stand, a milkshake stand, a cookie stand, a place where they make Reese’s cups with mixins: I wished I was the much-younger me who could have sampled some of these goodies (especially something called Melted Hot Chocolate, which I am curous about). Our dessert vouchers were usable at the Bakery, where you can buy glorious decorated cakes and cupcakes. We got a giant cookie apiece, which were delcious but probably too rich for our digestive systems.
As for the events–so much fun! (And so much chocolate!). We started with the Chocolate Experience, which is definitely geared toward smaller fry. It’s a semi-interactive film that is an animated train ride through various areas of Chocolate World. On our trip we went to Kisses Valley, Reese’s Ridge, and Kit Kat Land (those names may not be strictly correct, but you get the idea). At the end of the trip we were each given a little packet of goodies.
Next we went to Hershey Unwrapped, a course in chocolate candy tasting that uses wine tasting as its model. We were given boxes of candy that we sampled during the class; we were instructed (always playfully) to look at the candy, then smell it, then feels its texture, then listen as you broke off a piece to bite, and then finally to taste it. We learned about the different taste sensations available for chocolate as well: fruity, spicy, nutty, dairy, etc.
Following this was my personal favorite of the day (possibly of the whole trip!): Create Your Own Chocolate Bar. We each got clothed in hair nets and aprons and then proceeded to design our own candy bars using prompts on a series of computer screens. My candy was milk chocolate with white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and cookie pieces, coated with more milk chocolate and then with sprinkles added on top. You watch as your candy is created, more or less the same as if it were in an actual candy factory. Fascinating! Best of all was designing a personalized label (see the picture above) and then watching the candy bar get boxed and wrapped. It’s a great big piece of candy, too!
We ended the day at Chocolate World with a 75-minute trolley ride through Hershey. Our tour guide, Kevin, and our driver, Jeff, did a wonderful job pointing out many landmarks throughout the trip and recounting the history of Milton Hershey’s life. We left with a deep understanding of Mr. Hershey’s philosophy–one that I find very compelling–of giving back to the community by endowing a complete educational system from elementary school through college, including a branch of Penn State University that houses a medical center. Jeff was himself a graduate of the Hershey schools and told the group that it was the most important experience of his life.
There’s a lot of information about the Hershey Foundation and schools here.
The trolley tour, in line with everything else at Chocolate World, yielded a tidy batch of free candy loot. We still haven’t finished eating all of the free Hershey chocolate we got during our day there. (And we’re gifting our personally created candy bars to my niece Sarah; for the record, Arthur’s concoction was dark chocolate with heath toffee pieces and white chocolate pieces covered in milk chocolate with sprinkles on top. He opted for a more standard Hershey-bar look for his wrapper (but it says Arthur on it).
