Hershey Park: "It's not Disney"
Disclaimer: Okay, so technically, this is NOT a Disney trip report. But, it sort of is, in a roundabout way. Stay with me.
We spent Memorial Day weekend in Hershey, PA. This was a first trip for DH and the kids. I had been there twice when I was a kid, so, like 25 years ago, approximately. I have fond memories of Hershey Park. I was excited to see how much it's grown (online) since I was there last, and figured we'd have a great time there as a quick weekend getaway closer to home. Plus, our older son LOVES chocolate, and particularly Reese's PB cups, so it was a given that we'd have to visit eventually. :)
Anyway, I am not going to go into great detail about this trip. Instead, I wanted to mention that Hershey Park is a sad, sad place and although we had fun overall, the experience left a LOT to be desired. I went there assuming it would be an experience somewhere between a Disney park and Six Flags. Sadly, I feel like Six Flags is a better experience. We saw ONE employee smile over a 2 day period of time. ONE. Exactly ONE employee engaged us in a friendly manner (the same one who smiled)...and over 75% of what he discussed with us was about Disney World, ironically. He was an older gentleman who helped us locate lockers/changing rooms at the water park area. He noticed DS's Mickey Epcot hat and launched into a discussion about how he would be at WDW for the third time in a year, since he has annual passes and is a DVC member, etc. He was nice. He was the only one. EVERY SINGLE ride operator looked dejected, stone faced, or downright miserable. No one talked. No one engaged the kids. They were like robots and it was really blatantly obvious that these people do NOT love their jobs, or even pretend to. The place was run down, and I know it's mostly off the shelf rides, but even those were just downright OLD and rusty, noisy, and the exposed electrical cords, push pedals to operate the rides and metal folding chairs that the ride operators plunked themselves down in while they pushed that pedal were all just...I don't even know what to say about it all.
We went for the kids. The kids had a good time, although some of the faces that my older son made on the rides were just priceless. He is not the best at emotional responses (he has Autism), but the look on his face many times was just "This is LAME!". The water park area was a huge hit with the kids, although the management of the lazy river was ridiculous. I waited in line for an HOUR to enter the lazy river. An H-O-U-R, in the blazing hot sun, with NOTHING to cool us down while we waited. Ironically, there were water canons all around the area, but not one drop of water fell on us while we waited. And, we waited because the lifeguards were not making anyone get out, AND you needed to ride in a tube, so you couldn't get in until you had one to sit in. Just bad on them for that setup.
To add insult to it all, the food was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. I will never understand the comments about WDW food being pricey. My DH paid $26 for two burgers and fries for him and my younger DS (NO KIDS MEALS ANYWHERE!). I paid $16 for 2 slices of bad pizza and a side salad. So, yeah, $42 for some pretty awful food. For perspective, we had an excellent dinner the night before at Houlihans and our bill came to $43, and DH ordered an alcoholic drink.
I don't even want to discuss the madhouse that they called Chocolate World. We basically rode the Chocolate Tour ride, shopped a bit (almost losing our kids several times in the process) and left. It was SO hot in there...I guess they don't think using A/C when it's 90 degrees outside is necessary. Plus, there were huge lines for everything and the prices for the "attractions" were ridiculous. Price gouging was in full effect, and none of it was appealing at those prices. I was appalled at how much everything cost, for what it was.
The reason I posted this here is that DH, of all people, spent the entire two days saying stuff like "I miss Disney", "I wish we were at Disney", "This is not like Disney", and my favorite "God Bless You, Disney, for doing theme parks right."
DH has never been a "fanboy" of Disney. It's always been me. He goes along with me and he has a good time, but he never really talks about how much he loves Disney parks and all that (again, that's me). :blush: Hearing him all weekend, though, was sort of a sigh of relief for me. He is the one always saying stuff like "there are other places to go that aren't Disney (Land) (World). Let's go somewhere else next time." Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.
I chose to go to Hershey Park because I honestly thought it would be an enjoyable time. However, I have to say, after having spent a grand total of $1000 for 2 days (we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express for 2 nights @ $170/night) for this weekend, I think we are DONE "trying new places" when it comes to amusement/theme parks.
The town of Hershey is a sad shell of what is used to be. I remember it being such a vibrant and fun town, but now that the factory is shut down, it's just like every other economically depressed "small town" in America. And, the clientele who surrounded us at the park seemed to be a collection of America's most poorly behaved adults. I saw more parents being utterly awful to their kids, and just being utterly awful in general, that it really made me feel sad.
My DH said it best when he said "Now I know what I'm paying for when I go to Disney parks. I am paying for the appearance, even if it's an act, that it's a Happy place, and that the employees want to be there, and that they want to help people and be nice. I don't care if it's really how they feel, but at least I leave convinced that that is the case. I am willing to pay more because they provide a better experience, and when you really think about it, it doesn't cost that much more. It's worth it."
So, next time you feel like you had a "less than stellar" time at a Disney park, just pause for a minute, and put it into perspective. Disney really does "do it right", at least 95% of the time. :mickey:
