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Also this issue: Icepack |
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July 25-31, 2002
naked city
 Saved ferris: A â70s-era Ferris wheel is just one of the attractions at Hershey Park. Photo By: Alex Richmond |
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Anyone who has grown up in or around Pennsylvania should have an idyllic childhood memory of visiting Hershey Park. I never ended my love affair with the brown stuff, so Hershey, Pa., still calls to me. Dare I go back? Is it possible to return to the land of chocolate as an adult and still have an amazing time?
Of course. We're just a little taller now. And for a girly weekend getaway, you really can't beat Hershey. Amusement park rides and lots and lots of chocolate? Perfect. Add to the mix a world-class hotel with a spa and chocolate martinis, and it'll be hard to leave.
My friend Melanie and I made the 90-mile drive to Hershey in good time, zipping past acres of dairy farms and roadside vegetable stands, eager to ride the rides, lounge around at the hotel and eat chocolate until we burst.
Never mind the fact that Melanie is allergic. She doesn't care, and never says no to anything chocolate. "The hives go away after a bit," she says. That stoic, pragmatic attitude is useful at an amusement park, particularly when you ride the rides until you almost barf.
Hershey Park has an innocent quality to it, more so than most amusement parks, attracting more teens in church groups than teens roaming around in packs looking for people in wet clothes to make fun of (the $39.95 cost of admission may have something to do with that). And, there are tons and tons of little kids around. The giant strolling Reese's Cup character was surrounded by a clamoring mass of little ones. I hovered nearby until the Cup waved me in with his gloved hand to take a picture. I emphatically deny ever whispering in his ear all the ways in which he could be eaten. Not in front of the kids, anyway.
The rides at Hershey Park are fun -- all 60 of them. There are the two beautiful '70s-era Ferris wheels, classics like the Scrambler, the Tilt-a-Whirl and Whack-a-Mole booths. One ride that's new and noteworthy is the Roller Soaker, which debuted this year and is touted as being the world's first interactive water-coaster.
Riders are suspended in cars and zipped along 1,300 feet of steel track. While people wait in line, they can use handy nearby mounted water cannons to soak riders as they fly by -- but look out. Each rider is equipped with four gallons of water, to drop on people on the ground whenever the mood strikes. Look out, below!
After you've ridden all the rides you can stand, make your spent and dizzy way over to Chocolate World for the (free!) chocolate-making tour. You sit in a little car and follow the journey a cocoa bean takes from tree to bar (or kiss) form. A booming voice outlines the step-by-step process and talks about Milton Hershey's numerous contributions to society (besides the chocolate empire and hotels, he founded a school for orphan boys). At the end of the ride is the satisfying and obvious conclusion that "Chocolate Makes People Happy," in this case depicted by Vegas-style lights and color photos of Hershey products being enjoyed by many different types of people. (Computer programmers! Chicks in black leather jackets! They all love chocolate, see!) Plus, you get a free Hershey bar.
The freebie won't stop you from buying too much candy at the gift shop, conveniently located at the end of the free ride. We bought about nine pounds of chocolate before staggering off to the Hotel Hershey.
Driving up to the Hotel Hershey is a luxurious experience in itself. The place is an impressive mix of the hotels in Dirty Dancing and The Shining.
Massive koi ponds, pine forests, rose gardens and golf courses surround the estate. After checking in, you're asked "with almonds, without or Special Dark?" A full-sized Hershey bar is handed over with your room key. Then there's the Hershey Kisses on your pillow and the cocoa-bean body scrub and soap in the shower. The spa selections are also chocolate-infused -- you can get a chocolate-bean body polish, soak in a whipped cocoa bath, or have a chocolate fondue wrap. Unfortunately the spa had no appointments that fit our time constraints -- and on weekends, the spa is already booked through October. The hotel recommends you make your spa appointments up to eight weeks in advance. No matter -- we relaxed with the pool, hot tub and room service.
Like any good family hotel, the Hotel Hershey has a full summer activities schedule. Melanie and I couldn't resist bingo, where we played for -- guess what? -- chocolate. After we each won more chocolate, we headed off to the Iberian Lounge (the one designated kid-free zone in perhaps all of Hershey) to sample the chocolate martinis ($8). We were practically alone in the bar, except for the guy drinking his non-chocolate martini who felt the need to tell us about his "villas" in Switzerland and New Orleans. Congratulations, rich guy. We got some beers and pretzels and went outside to feed the koi before heading off to bed.
The next day, we woke up with a chocolate hangover and binged on Swedish Fish. While Hershey Park is an idyllic way to relive the best and sweetest parts of your childhood, the Hershey Hotel is a sumptuous adult extravagance. It's a perfect weekend getaway, for kids of any age.
