There’s nothing like a good theme park, and I’ve had some great times from local ones to the magic of a trip to Orlando for Walt Disney World. As a New Jersey native, I recently crossed state lines for a few days at HersheyPark, my first time in that particular venue in well over a decade. I didn’t know what to expect, but had an absolute blast. What’s more, there were three ways that the chocolate-y destination actually beat my most recent trip to Disney. Let’s break it all down.
I’m admittedly not a hardcore theme park junkie, so I went into both Hershey and Disney World with an open mind. While I could have spent my entire trip in the latter park at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, I was shocked by how chill and low-stakes HersheyPark ended up feeling. Let’s break it all down.
The 3 Ways Hershey Beat Disney World (For Me)
I recently went to HersheyPark with some family, complete with a four (and a half) year old. I expected the wild crowds of Disney World, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, it was an easy-breezy few days, where I was able to easily get refreshments, walk around the park, pose with characters, and even walk right onto attractions without having to wait on a line. Hershey does indeed have a Fast Track option that lets you skip the line like Disney’s Lightning Lane, but it wasn’t necessary when I went.
I will admit that my days at HersheyPark were in the middle of the week, so that might be a contributing factor to the lack of crowds. But even on its busiest day, I can’t imagine the park being anywhere near as crazy as Rope Drop at Disney.
There’s another aspect of my time at Hershey that I thought stood above my time at Disney World. Namely, you can buy alcohol and take it with you as you walk around the park. This was a lovely surprise after my last trip to Disney, as booze is only permitted in EPCOT and certain select restaurants in the other parks. I spent a few days walking around Hershey with the aforementioned four-year-old, and being able to enjoy a nice cold beer as he rode the Trailblazer ride for the eighth time was a game changer.
The third point of victory over Disney is the fact that one ticket to HersheyPark gave you full access to the park, including its water park attractions. There’s no need for a park hopper or shuttles; you just needed to bring a bathing suit and enjoy the various attractions at The Boardwalk.
The entire trip felt like a much lower-stakes situation, where one could easily go on rides and get refreshments without having to program it onto an application and follow a strict schedule. So I found myself much more relaxed than at Disney World, which is a huge (expensive) undertaking. Maybe I’m comparing apples to oranges, but it felt like a whole new way to experience a Theme Park.
