Have you ever been to Hersheys Chocolate World? I toured the Hershey factory when I was a kid, or so my parents tell me. I don’t remember it, and Hershey stopped allowing tours of the actual factory in 1973. By then the factory was overrun with over one million visitors every year. While we are staying in Harrisburg, I put visiting Hershey Chocolate World on my to do list.
So, on a beautiful Friday a couple of weeks ago, Tom and I drove the 15 miles to Hershey, PA. The first thing we noticed was THOUSANDS of people parking in fields around Hersheys Chocolate World and walking toward it. We didn’t know whether or not to park in one of these far away places so we kept going. Eventually we ended up in a very tightly packed parking lot next to Hersheys Chocolate World.
Turns out we decided to visit the same weekend as the Antique Auto Club of America’s Eastern Fall Meet. In case you didn’t know, this is the largest antique car show in the world with 9,000 flea market spaces and 1,500 antique show cars. The cars were everywhere and so were the people! If you like antique cars, this show on the second weekend in October is definitely something you want to visit! The exhibits covered acres of ground! Although Tom and I enjoy seeing antique autos in limited numbers, we had no desire to visit the car show. Instead, Tom squeezed the truck into the free Hershey parking and we headed to Hersheys Chocolate World.
Hersheys Chocolate World is located adjacent to Hersheypark. The part of the Chocolate World that we were most interested in was the Factory Tour. Unfortunately it is a ride through a virtual chocolate factory. Interesting enough but largely uninformative. Big on glitz and low on how it is actually done. The long walk to the ride had halls of information, but if you stopped to read it, people ran into you. The one time Tom and I would have enjoyed standing in line!
We took the Chocolate Tour, enjoying riding in the little car. We did not do any of the things you had to pay for such as the movie or create your own chocolate bar. Then we shopped at the biggest Hershey Chocolate store in the world!
I like chocolate, and I like Hersheys chocolates, especially Kisses and KitKats and Peanut Butter Cups and Twizzlers. I know Twizzlers aren’t chocolate but sometimes you need a little variety. The store had all of these in as many sizes and varieties as are offered. Right now they are selling Pumpkin KitKats – doesn’t appeal to me but there are probably some people who would love it. I especially like the variety of Kisses, and the store had all of them. White, dark, or milk chocolate. Filled with almonds or pretzel bits. Creme filled with coconut, caramel, vanilla, mint, and raspberry.
Tom is partial to Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. He likes the miniature ones which he keeps in the freezer until he eats them. Usually you only see the milk chocolate ones in stores, but the Hersheys Chocolate World store had white chocolate, dark chocolate, and peanut butter lovers. And all the candies we love were in a variety of sizes from a 5 lb Kiss to mini peanut butter cups for baking.
Tom and I bought a variety of candies. We stuck to the 5 for $20 section because we could mix and match peanut butter cups and Kisses. I wanted to get some of the HUGE bags of assorted chocolates for Trick or Treat (anyone need 20 pounds?) but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist them. Plus, we won’t be anywhere that kids are trick or treating. I also got a bag of Hersheys Caramel Apple – Hersheys chocolates filled with caramel and apple flavored cream. So far I have been able to limit myself to one a day. In this way, I hope to have some of the Kisses left to share with family when we get back to Ohio. Of course, I can always order more online, but the store had more than you can find online.
Tom and I also strolled through the food court, enjoying the smells from the Hersheys bakery. The cookies and other desserts looked delicious! They also had sandwich and ice cream choices. There was even popcorn drizzled with your favorite Hersheys candy flavors. We were able to resist because it was too early for lunch.
Although we were disappointed that we couldn’t take a tour of the real Hersheys factory, Tom and I enjoyed our visit to Hersheys Chocolate World. We might even have to visit the store again before we leave the area.