Hersheypark For The Special Needs Mom
We love amusement parks and chocolate so we decided to visit Hersheypark Amusement Park. I mean, it combines two of our favorite things!
We did have one bad experience with a ride operator, but overall we were not disappointed by Hersheypark or Hershey’s Chocolate World. We did file a complaint and shared our concerns.
In response we received the usual canned email thanking us for our feedback, apologizing for our experience, stating employees do go through vigorous training to meet guest’s needs, and they will look into what happened.
I do hope this is not just lip service and that Hersheypark will indeed do better.
Despite this, we still recommend it as a fun family getaway including for families with children with special needs.
Family fun at Hershey’s Chocolate World
Where Is Hershey Park?
Hersheypark is located in the eastern United States in Hershey, PA. The town is super cute and you're quickly surrounded by pretty countryside.
The park’s official address is…
100 Hersheypark Dr.
Hershey, PA 17033
According to Google Maps…
Hersheypark is about 4 hours and 48 minutes or 312 miles from Erie, PA
Hersheypark is about 1 hour 57 minutes or 90 miles from Philadelphia, PA
Hersheypark is about 2 hours 26 minutes or 132 miles from Washington, DC
Hersheypark is about 7 hours 9 minutes or 483 miles from Cincinnati, OH
Hersheypark is about 2 hours 44 minutes or 160 miles from New York, NY
Hersheypark is about 1 hour 30 minutes or 90 miles from Baltimore, MD
Hotels Near Hershey Park
There are lots of hotels near Hersheypark in which to stay when you visit. We stayed at a Hampton Inn.
It was nice with a pool and fitness room. It also served a hot breakfast which is always a good thing for the Mathe crew! I hate having to figure out where we’re going to eat breakfast in the mornings!
Hersheypark has three official resorts. The Hershey Lodge which has a fun indoor pool complex, the Hotel Hershey which is a historic hotel known for its service and amenities, and the Hersheypark Camping Resort which offers RV, cabin, and camping sites.
When you stay at one of the Hersheypark resorts you do get perks such as extra hours and shuttle service to the park.
We went in early April. It was the second weekend Hersheypark had opened so we decided not to stay at one of the Hersheypark resorts because although definitely busy, it wasn’t super crowded.
If we were to go during the summer I do think we would choose to stay at one of the resorts for the extra perks.
Hersheypark Parking
Yes, you do have to pay for parking at Hersheypark. If you buy a parking voucher online you do get a discount. A general parking voucher is $20 online/$25 in person.
You can choose to purchase a preferred parking voucher which allows you to park in the lot that is closest to the main gate. The cost of this depends on the day you go. The price ranges from $35-$55.
Hersheypark does offer parking areas for ADA/handicap accessible vehicles.
Mama Bears take note, while there is a shuttle for those staying at the Hersheypark resorts there is no shuttle for those who park in the regular parking lot. It can be a bit of a hike too, so if this is going to be an issue for your family you may want to consider the preferred parking voucher.
Hersheypark Tickets
When you buy tickets to Hersheypark they are valid any operating day until 1/1/2024. This is nice if you like some wiggle room with your vacation plans. Always check prices online but these are the prices for the beginning of the 2023 season.
Hersheypark Admission Tickets
Hersheypark offers a 1-day and 2-day ticket option for those 3 and up.
1-day Ticket: $84.95 Online Price: $56.99
2-day Ticket: $120 Online Price: $88
Hersheypark Season Passes
Hersheypark has several options for season passes. The Full Size pass gives you unlimited visits all year, free parking, 1-hour early access, some discounts, and access to exclusive events.
The King Size pass includes all of the perks of a Full Size pass along with a free all-year drink plan, and the opportunity to be the first one to ride new rides such as Wildcat’s Revenge.
The Bite Size pass allows for unlimited visits to the park all year long and 50% off general parking when purchased in advance. You do not get 1-hour early access or access to special events.
Full Size pass: $210 Online Price: $185
King Size pass: $245 Online Price: $235
Bite Size pass: $170 Online Price: $160
Hersheypark Ticket Add-ons
Hersheypark’s fast track pass is similar to Universal’s fast pass. There is a separate and speedier line for a lot of the popular rides. There are two fast track options. One allows you to skip the regular line once per day while the fast track unlimited allows you to skip the regular line all day long!
The fast track pass is in addition to the cost of your regular ticket. The cost of the fast track depends on the day you are there.
Fast Track pass: $50-$150
Fast Track Unlimited pass: $70-$199
There are additional ticket add-ons you can check out for your stay such as a photo pass and meal plan. We did not take part in either of these.
Hersheypark Disability Pass
Hersheypark does offer an attraction accessibility program for guests with disabilities. You can obtain your accessibility pass at Accessibility Services to the right of the entrance.
Once there, you complete a questionnaire regarding your child’s disability. A picture of the guest with the disability is taken and a pass is printed out with their picture, the rides you can ride based on your answers, and how many are in the party.
Accessibility pass at Hersheypark
With the accessibility pass the guest with the disability is allowed to use the Fast Track pass entrance along with three other guests in the party for a total of 4.
If there isn’t a Fast Track pass entrance then you look for the accessibility sign which was usually at the ride’s exit.
We are a family of five. The Hersheypark employee could clearly see we were a family of five and did not allow for all of us to be included on the accessibility pass.
We ended up buying fast track passes for the rest of us since we weren’t sure which rides Max would be ok going on. Obviously, in order to use the accessibility pass the individual with the disability needs to ride the ride.
Max surprised us and rode most of the thrill rides and enjoyed it. We likely would’ve been ok with one fast track pass. Honestly though, for us it was worth the cost of the extra passes so we didn’t have to stress about whether or not Max would go on the ride.
I also appreciated the fact Hersheypark gives you a ziploc bag in which to carry your accessibility pass in case it rains or for the rides where you may become wet.
Hershey Park Map and Hershey Park App
I definitely recommend downloading the Hersheypark app.
Both Hubby and I used it a lot to check wait times and navigate the park.
The park map is part of the app but if you really want to download the park map you can do so here.
Hershey Park Rides
Hershey Park Height Requirements
Hersheypark has a clever way to let guests know how tall they need to be in order to ride certain rides.
They use Hershey candies to place guests in height categories. Their marketing team gets a gold star!
When you first enter the park there’s an official height checking station at guest services. You can have your height checked at any guest services location and if desired you can ask them to print out a bracelet with height category. The height categories are the following…
Miniatures: Under 36 inches.
Kisses: 36-42 inches.
Reese's: 42-48 inches.
Hershey's: 48- 54 inches.
Twizzlers: 54-60 inches.
Jolly Ranchers: 60 inches and taller.
Hershey Park Roller Coasters
I was impressed by the thrills offered at Hersheypark. It really does have some super fun roller coasters!
Candymonium was our favorite and probably the most thrilling roller coaster. According to the Hersheypark website it’s the tallest, fastest, and longest coaster there. It was the first one we did and Max, although a little nervous, did great. In fact, as we were pulling back in to get off the coaster Max said “That was fun! What’s next?”
In addition to Candymonium, Max went on Great Bear, Jolly Rancher Remix, Lightning Racer, Skyrush, and Laff Trakk.
Lightning Racer is a wooden roller coaster. It was a rough ride and the loud noise as the coaster pulled you up was hard for Max to deal with. Next visit we’ll definitely skip this one for him.
Jolly Rancher Remix is fun because you go backward as well as forward however there’s really loud music. Max had to cover his ears because of this.
I enjoyed Laff Trakk which is an indoor coaster. It’s dark and there’s a lot of fluorescent/bright colors from black lights so take note if your child would not do well with this.
Great Bear and Skyrush are definitely more for the thrill seekers. Max did fine on these.
After doing all of these roller coasters Max was spent. Fahrenheit and Storm Runner are definitely more thrilling coasters and although he could’ve done them after doing coasters like Candymonium we were all thrilled out.
Wild Mouse looked really fun but we ran out of time. Trailblazer and Sooperdooperlooper are family friendly coasters but with the combination of running out of time and having already satisfied the need for thrills we ended up not going on them.
Hershey Park Family Friendly Rides
There are lots of family friendly rides in which to choose! We rode the Carousel, Ferris Wheel, Pirate ship, Reese’s Cupfusion, Scrambler, Music Express, The Claw, and Wave Swinger.
Reese’s Cupfusion was a lot of fun. You're an agent in training protecting the Crystal Cup from intruders. Our family enjoyed the competition of trying to be the highest scoring family member.
The Pirate Ship and Wave Swinger are Max favorites wherever we go.
The Scrambler at Hersheypark
Hershey Park Rides For Little Ones
There are a lot of kid-friendly rides for those with young ones. Given our kids are older we didn’t go on these but I did see smaller versions of the Pirate Ship and Wave Swinger for little ones.
Hershey Park ZooAmerica
When you buy a Hersheypark ticket you also get access to ZooAmerica. ZooAmerica is an 11 acre zoo featuring animals found in North America. We only had one day at Hersheypark so unfortunately we did not visit ZooAmerica.
Hershey Park Water Park
In addition to access to ZooAmerica when you purchase Hersheypark tickets you also gain admission to The Boardwalk Water Park
The water park has a lazy river, water slides, water coaster, and other fun things such as a sprayground.
The water park is open from Memorial day to Labor day so we were not able to explore it since we went in April.
Hershey’s Chocolate World
Hershey’s Chocolate World is located outside of the park and it’s completely free to enter. Here you’ll find all kinds of Hershey chocolate candy and merchandise. You can also buy food and sweet treats such as delicious milkshakes.
Hershey’s Chocolate Tour is a free ride that takes you through how they make their Hershey chocolate. At the end you’re given a free small Hershey chocolate bar! I enjoyed this ride and the cherry on the top was the employee handing out the free chocolate bars at the end was born with Down Syndrome!
There are other things you can do at Hershey’s Chocolate World that you do have to pay for such as creating your own chocolate bar , stuffing your cup, and Hershey’s Unwrapped which is a theater production and chocolate tasting wrapped into one attraction. Opening May 19th is a new attraction called Hershey’s Great Candy Expedition which according to the website is a cinematic train-themed adventure for the whole family that's literally out of this world - and YOU get to help choose its path.
Hershey’s Chocolate World
Hershey Park Tips And Tricks
I believe one of the reasons Max did so well with the roller coasters is because we watched YouTube videos of the rides prior to visiting several times.
We really took the time to prepare him for our visit to Hersheypark by marking it on the calendar, watching videos of the different rides, and talking about it.
We would ride 2-3 rides and then allow him to take a break to drink a lemonade, eat, or play some of the games there. He loved the basketball game and a sweet stranger won a prize for him by making a basket on his behalf.
Take advantage of the preview hours. We used these hours to get Max set up with his Accessibility pass as there was no line at that time. We also used this time to scope the park out and to ride a couple of the rides we really wanted to.
I highly recommend you download the app prior to going. We used it a lot to check wait times and navigate around the park so we were more efficient given we were only there for one day.
If we had gone when The Boardwalk Water Park was open I think we would’ve needed two days to really enjoy it all. Another day would’ve given us the opportunity to consider doing some of the paid attractions at Hershey’s Chocolate World too.
There are plenty of bathrooms throughout the park including some family bathrooms. I did not see any adult changing rooms nor did I see relief areas for service animals.
We loved the milkshakes at Simply Chocolate. They were definitely pricey at over $17 for a milkshake but they were basically a meal. We enjoyed them as a sweet treat at the end of a fun day at Hersheypark.
Although we ended up not getting one, the funnel cakes at Hersheypark looked amazing! They had some really unique types such as the strawberries and cream funnel cake and the Reese’s peanut butter cup funnel cake. Yum!
Hershey Park Overview For Those With Disabilities
While visiting Hersheypark we did see a few employees with disabilities working and that always warms my heart. Inclusion is so important and I was quite happy to see Hersheypark embracing hiring individuals with disabilities.
Hersheypark also has quiet areas located at Guest Services inside the Family Health and Services Center and Guest Services in the Kissing Tower Hill area. Luckily, we did not need to take advantage of these while there but it’s nice to have it as an option.
As noted in the beginning, we did have one poor experience with a ride operator. I will also say, in general, it did not appear getting riders on with accessibility passes was a priority for any of the rides.
To be fair, while observing the on boarding process for everyone, fast track lines and the general line I was not impressed.
It was not a very efficient process and did not work like a well oiled machine. I believe ride waits were longer because of this and when you have a kiddo with special needs we all know longer ride waits lead to melt downs which makes for an overall less wonderful experience for guests.
I would also like to see easily locatable adult changing stations. After our visit, I went on Hersheypark’s website and had to read the fine print where they say if you need an adult changing station to go to the Chocolatetown first aid station.
Finally, when giving an accessibility pass I do think it’s reasonable to have the pass include the total number in an immediate family rather than limiting it to the guest with a disability and three others.
All in all though, Hersheypark is a nice amusement park that strives to give you a lot for the price of your ticket. Where else do you have preview hours and gain access to a zoo and water park at no extra cost?
They also have rides for all ages and all thrill levels. Their branding is impressive too. I feel that’s one of their superpowers and would encourage them to lean into that even more.
We would like to go back at some point, likely when it’s warmer, to enjoy the water park in addition to trying out their new coaster opening in May called Wildcat’s Revenge.
I would also like to attend some of their paid attractions at Hershey’s Chocolate World we didn’t get to do our first visit.
So there you have it Mama Bears! I hope you found this post helpful so you can go out and rock this special life!
If you enjoyed this post then you may want to check out
A Guide To Dollywood For The Special Needs Mom
Visiting The Great Smoky Mountains For The Special Needs Mom
Dandelion Tribe Takeaway: Hersheypark is a fun amusement park giving you access to not only an amusement park but zoo and water park. If you love candy and amusement parks then you will definitely want to check it out.
Mama Bear Share: Have you gone to Hersheypark? What was your experience?
