I’m taking a short break for my annual dad-daughter getaway.  Our getaways usually involve going to some attraction in Southeast Pennsylvania where I grew up and then go to a Phillies.  This year, we chose Hershey’s Chocolate World as our attraction.

Hershey’s Chocolate World is a small (by Disney standards) area where guests can go and learn about Milton Hershey, the Hershey Corporation, and the chocolate-making process.  Chocolate World has five attractions along an expansive gift shop, dessert studio, and ice cream area which also sells coffee and hot cocoa.  The five attractions are:

• Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour (15 minutes)
• Hershey’s Create Your Own Candy Bar Attraction (45 minutes)
• Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4-D (30 minutes)
• Hershey’s Chocolate Tasting Adventure (20 minutes)
• Hershey’s Trolley Works (60 minutes)

Admission to Chocolate World is free.  The Great American Chocolate Tour is free as well.  The other four attractions have an admission fee.  The fee varies from $8 to $15 depending on the attraction.  You can also package the attractions.

• Happiness Experience (4-D Mystery & CYOCB): $20.95 adult; $18.95 child
• Chocolate Expert (Tasting & Trolley): $20.95 adult; $13.90 child
• Celebration Experience (Trolley, 4D Mystery, & CYOCB): $32.95 adult; $26.95 child
• Enthusiast Experience (everything): $39.95 adult; $29.95 child

We chose the Celebration Experience and started with the trolley tour.  The trolley tour takes guests around Hershey while enthusiastic tour guides tell the story of Milton Hershey and his family.  They give great background on how the Hershey Corporation was founded and how Milton Hershey did great things like the Milton Hershey School and funding public works projects himself during the Great Depression to keep the people of Hershey at work.  Guests get a free Hershey Kiss, Reese Peanut Cup, and mini Hershey bar on the tour.  If you want pictures, sit on the right side of the trolley.  That side has much better views of the buildings on the tour.

After the trolley tour, we had enough time to go on the free Great American Chocolate Tour.   This attraction is a stereotypical omni-mover style attraction.  The tour takes people for the nuts and bolts of how cocoa becomes Hershey’s chocolate with the help of singing cows: Gabby, Harmony, and Olympia.

Our chocolate tour ended just in time for our viewing of The Great Chocolate Mystery in 4-D.  This attraction is a combination of Monsters Laugh Floor, Stitch’s Great Escape, and Muppetvision 3-D.  It’s a 3-D show so you need special glasses.

The waiting area has an area with pictures of Hershey, Kiss, and Reese on various adventures.  While you are waiting, a cast member goes around asking questions mainly to children.  You enter the theater for the show.  Hershey comes on the screen and gives children, who were asked questions in the waiting area, different jobs like Head of Security, etc.  The mystery is something is sneaking into the Hershey factory.  The show continues with Hershey, Kiss or Reese asking interactive questions.  Blasts of air coming from under the seats and various scents mainly peanut butter and chocolate to create the 4-D effect.  Not to spoil the show, the mystery does get solved at the end and each guest gets a mini Hershey’s bar upon exit.

We finished our day with the Create Your Own Candy Bar experience.  This attraction starts with a “gowning up process” to simulate working in a factory.

 

 

The candy bar inclusions vary during the day.  Our choices were butterscotch chips, butter toffee crunch, chocolate crunch bits, crisp rice, pretzel bits, and chocolate chips.

You start with picking your type of chocolate bar: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate and then any inclusions.  You can choose up to three inclusions.  I chose pretzel bits and chocolate chips.  Guests move to the next station which is to watch your candy bar get picked up by the robot and then get filled with any inclusions.  It is topped with chocolate before the bar moves to the cooling station.

While the candy bar is in the cooling station, guests get to select wrapper for their candy bar.  After six minutes, the candy bar is ready to be wrapped and the box is laser inscribed and matched with their creator.

Overall, it was a fun experience at Chocolate World.  Guests can order tickets and experiences ahead of time which I highly recommend.  We chose a 9:45 trolley ride, an 11:00 4-D show and a noon CYOCB experience.  After going through the expansive gift shop and some lunch, we were done by 1:30 pm.  I would also recommend getting there early in the day.  Chocolate World opens at 9 am but gets more crowded as guest leave the adjacent Hershey Park.

I also got this nice touch from the Chocolate World twitter as I was tweeting my experiences during the day:

I like big organizations that see what is happening on the twitter feed from their guests and then respond to them.  Adds a little magic to the day especially when they are enjoying the sweetest place on Earth where the streets are lined with Hershey Kisses.

Remember to continue to tell your friends and family about the Dad For Disney Facebook group.

I can also be followed on twitter: @DadForDisney

Thanks for reading!