Our Day at Hershey Park and Theme Park travel tips

Okay,
so last time we talked, we were arriving at Hershey Park.

Before I tell you about the big coaster,
a few words of advice for amusement parks with kids.

1) Put all your kids in bright colored shirts. This makes them easy to find in crowds or if you get separated.

2) This is a great tip. Take a picture of each of your kids with your digital camera when you arrive at the park. This way, if someone gets separated or lost, you have a recent photo to show Security and you can accurately describe what your child was wearing.




3) Have them wear hats. Again, a great way to find them in a crowd and it also avoids scalp burn. Trust me, it happens. I wore a visor (STUPID!) and the crown of my head is sunburned!

4) Be there when the park opens. You get close parking and you can make your way to the high volume rides quickly and before they get crowded.

5) Work your way from the back of the park forward, the opposite of the crowd.

6) If there is a waterpark area, go there first and grab a couple of chairs by putting your towels on them. Then, when it is the heat of the day, you will have a place to sit and rest while the kids are in the pools.

So, we arrived at Hershey and took our pictures:

At Hershey, the ride heights are designated by candy. So, if you are a Twizzler, you can ride all rides for Twizzlers and below. Great marketing strategy, huh? lol

As soon as we entered the gates,
we made a beeline toward the waterpark area.
The point was to claim a couple of chairs
and leave our towels there so we wouldn't have to carry them around.

I was dismayed to see that a lot of people seemed to be doing the same thing.
I couldn't understand it.
Most people didn't think to do this!
Why was the crowd headed this way?

Rob smirked at me.
He was thinking that my idea wasn't so novel and bright.

Then, suddenly,
as I looked ahead,
I understood.

Before me was the most amazing rollercoaster
I had ever seen
and *that* was where people were running to-
Fahrenheit, the new coaster that had just opened that weekend.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to go.

I. Had. To. Go.

I assumed Kate would want to go with me
but she took one look and no go.

I was shocked when Chris said he wanted to go.
I didn't think he would be tall enough
and he has a fear of heights,
but he insisted he wanted to try it.

The boy was really tested while we waited.
And waited, and waited.

We waited just over an hour
for our turn.
Every now and again he would watch the coaster
make its climb,
people screaming in excitement and fear
and he would get worried. Very worried.

I would assure him that he could choose not to ride.
If he wanted to, I would call his dad and he could join the others,
who had, at this point, ridden several rides.

But he chose to hang in there.

Finally, it was our turn.
We were excited and definitely nervous.
The climb up was, quite frankly, unnerving.
Kind of terrifying!
You were so parallel to the ground
that you felt you might slip out of the restraints
and simply slide off the chair
and plummet down to the ground below.



The rest of the ride was totally awesome.
And I have to tell you,
it was the smoothest roller coaster I have ever been on in my life.
No head banging against the headrests,
no whiplash.
I wasn't even dizzy or motion sick.
It was just utter fabulousness!

I was so proud of Chris.
This was his first full scale, major,
upside-down-several-times kind of roller coaster
and he absolutely rocked it.
When we arrived back at the station,
he was wide eyed, exhilarated and laughing.


So if you go to Hershey,
follow my tips and
go ride Fahrenheit.

You'll be glad you did!