Hey guys and gals, i am thinking of taking the family on a trip to Hershey Pa. this summer, has anyone been there? i am looking for some input on the area before i commit to the wife. How long of a drive, and what the hell is there to do in Hershey Pa. anyway! is there any striper fishing in the area? hehehe

You can take the fugde packing tour at the Hershey Plant.:laughs: Bassmaster has been there a few times I think.;)

Its a long drive down that Hershey Highway :hihi:


I've been there, and its a blast.

:laughs: I get scared when someone mentions the word Hershey!:bshake: Damn...my sneakers are untied again?:laughs: Nothing but Nestle for this cowboy!;)

I took my daughter 3 years ago.
you can go tour the Hershey's Chocolate World
Hershey Amusement Park
tour the Indian Echo Caverns (cool)

Hampton Inn is a good place to stay and don't miss out on the Breakfasts at Hershey's Pantry right next door.

If you are going PA, you definitly need to check out the new Cabel's in Hamberg off RT.78. Lots and Lots of fishing stuff:D For the kids they have an aqurarium and stuffed animals.

Listen to Bazza, Cabela's in Hamburg is awesome. It has just about every thing and any thing you could want in an outdoors store. And to answer "what the hell there's to do in Hershey Pa." You can either go to the amusement park, or do the other local pass time, count the tumble weeds go by :D . Also if you're into the Civil War and don't mind a two hour car ride, Gettysburg isn't too far.

Not much there and no stripers. I have been there 3 times. I played college hockey there, my team played Lebanon Valley at The Hershey Bears arena. There is a couple bars that will sell you six packs as they close on the Chocolate Highway(Main Street).

Hershey park not to big and Hershey's Chocolate Factory are the only entertainment.

Third on Bazza's. Take RT 78 and stop at cabela's. Went there with the wife in Nov of 03. Good time. We then shot down to the Amish country. It is a long drive with one stop in Hamburg and some traffic in NYC took us 7-8 hours. There is a decent family restaurant right near the park called the Red Robin. About a 15-20 minute drive from Hersey is Harrisburg. They have an IMAX there is you are looking for an evening activity.

Its about 8 hours or so. I think its a grteat area. You will want to do hershey stuff like Mike mentioned then go down to lancaster county where the Amish people are. great places to eat in lancaster are miller's for breakfast and Plain and Fancy farm for dinner. Both reasonable and both excellent food.

I like the suggestion to look into some of the civil war stuff too if you hav ethe time.

Took the Trek with the Fam in 2003 it was about a 7hr. drive but well worth it!
We brought our Pop-up Camper & stayed @ a Camp ground located 3 1/2 miles from the Park.it was A Very clean place it offered a free AC Shuttle bus that took you to the Park every 15Min.
The Campgrounds had Three pools All three were fenced in together,One Oylimpic sized A med. sized & one circular pool for the Kidies they also sported three Life guards on Duty.:happy:

The campground was $340 for the week and I think a three day pass @ the Park was $550(for the Fam).There are a ton of rides.Good one's ta boot!!!!!!

We have been talking about doing it again this summer,but it has been a toss up,the wife has been doing some research on OBX now that place looks awesome!!Plus you can fish!!!Some of the house's that you rent are Freakin incredable!they'll offer three master suites We have been thinking of renting one of those house;s and go with three other Familys.most of them offer heated pools pool tables fooseball tables dartsboards chit load of T.V.'s with VCR's /DVD players I mean there loaded Soup 2 Nuts. for short money.

The kids talk about Hershey Park all the time,they & tell us that they want to go again.We had a really good time.
People say it's a poor man's Disiney trip,I'd say it's better.
My .02

I just watched Travel channel this past weekend,Hershey Park was labled as North Americas Cleanest & Greenest park!

If you haven't been then you should go it's a really good time.

I would agree with Saltheart. Hershey is a nice getaway, I liked the smaller crowds and cleanliness of the place. We've done a couple long weekends there and you can definitely find things to do, but that whole central PA area has alot to offer. Experience Lancaster. A day or two at Gettysburg is time well spent. I know you specifically asked about Hershey and it's more of a haul for you, but if you're just planning a family vacation you might want to consider a little further south, Colonial Williamsburg or my in-laws rave about Busch Gardens.

All of what everyone has said and I will add that there is an arena within the confines of Hershey Park that has some big acts. I just missed (by one day!) seeing Don Henly play there about 6 years ago. If you decide to go take a look at who might be playing that week...

Spinn

Hershey Park (http://www.hersheypa.com/attractions/hersheypark/) is a great amusement park. I would say it is of the same caliber as the Disney properties for cleanliness and friendliness. Definitely worth a visit, it's about a 7 or 8 hour drive from New England, so I would go for at least a 3 night stay, 2 full days is plenty to do the different tours and the park.

I've been down there twice in recent years with my wife and kids. The first time, we stayed at the Hershey Lodge (http://www.hersheypa.com/accommodations/hershey_lodge/about/index.html), which was nice but pretty expensive. Most recently, we stayed 8 miles north of town at the Comfort Suites (http://www3.choicehotels.com/ires/en-us/html/HotelInfo?sid=Unq$.DVnk2g19ig.3&hotel=PA295) in Grantville. The hotel was nice, but we decided that it was too far away from Hershey.

If I were going again (and probably will in '06) I would look at the Spring Hill Suites (http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=HARSH), Comfort Inn (http://www3.choicehotels.com/ires/en-us/html/HotelInfo?sid=Unq$.DVnk2g19ig.3&hotel=PA107) or Days Inn (http://www.daysinn.com/DaysInn/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=06452&brandInfo=DI) in Hershey.

Check the schedules for concerts and minor league baseball games in the area too and you may find even more fun things to do.

Here are some PICS of the place & the name of the Campground was High Medow.

5/0

Sky shot

Last pic

hey hawaii(5\0) nice shots:D

Originally posted by milo
hey hawaii(5\0) nice shots:D
Thanks I took those from some ride it was pretty cool you go strait up 330' @ the top the whole thing slowly turns so you can see everything.......Ya know.Even Hawaii;)

My Kids loved it there, in fact when i was scanning through the PICS my Daughter saw what I was doing,she looked @ me & asked when are we going?

Soon I hope.

thanks guys for the reply,s thanks for the pics,,, 5/0 and mike,,, i think its a go for the trip,,, 7 to 8 hrs in the campa is going to be a challenge,,, see you guys at the fund raiser event

there is also one of the largest "free admission" amuesment parks about an hour an half drive from hershey park.knoeboles grove is a very nice family oriented park with free parking,and admission.lot's of rides,water slides and swimming,and a pretty cool coal mining museum.you could easily kill a day there.and there are lakes with landlocked stripers in the area:)

guzz

There's a Bass Pro Shops too, down the road from Cabelas in Harrisburg. It's about an hour away I think.

We're thinking about making a trek here too, theres a Sesame Place amusment park a few hours away my wife is thihking about taking my daughter to. Seeing Elmo in person will blow here mind.

Originally posted by guzzby
there is also one of the largest "free admission" amuesment parks about an hour an half drive from hershey park.knoeboles grove is a very nice family oriented park with free parking,and admission.lot's of rides,water slides and swimming,and a pretty cool coal mining museum.you could easily kill a day there.and there are lakes with landlocked stripers in the area:)

guzz

Ya that place WAS cool....I think it is closed now;) ;) Plus it is way too crowded;) ;) Shhhhhhh...don't tell anyone about it!

As long as people are mentioning side trips from Hersey like Sesame Place which I think the one mentioned is close to Philly in Neshaminy, PA. Anyway, if you're near Philadelphia it's a pretty easy city to navigate and I'd really recommend stopping down at the historic district. A couple hours is probably all you need. There's the mint which is sort of cool, Independence Hall, of course the Liberty bell is sort of inspiring. It's pretty well kept and usually not too crowded. Track down a world famous cheese steak and don't forget to embarrass your kids by getting a tri-corn hat and wearing it wherever you go.

If your kid(s) are Sesame-aged then Sesame Place is well worth the visit. It is closer to Philly if I remember correctly. There were a lot of water based activities there. We went when my daughter was three and were "at the gates" when the place opened and she got to walk down the main street holding Elmos hand. Priceless! Too bad they hafta grow up!