Hersheypark Happy!

On Thursday morning we left the house at 7:40 to drive to Hersheypark. We first went on the free ride in Chocolate World where they show you how they make their chocolates. Nadia says the best part is that they give each person a small piece of candy at the end. That morning they were giving out Hershey bars (small ones). We then walked to the entrance gates about 10 minutes after the park had opened. The gates were mobbed. I have never seen it so packed, but the good news is that actually the crowd level was very reasonable that day. The majority of those in attendance came via school buses (from PA, NY, MD, etc.). This meant that #1 the kiddie rides were practically empty the entire day. Oliver usually could just get on the ride immediately. Some ride operators were sitting there doing nothing at various points in the day, and sometimes Oliver was the only child on a ride. It also meant #2 that the park really cleared out around 4pm as many of the kids had gotten back on their buses. Even the "bigger" rides had no wait in the evening. For example, we rode the flume and didn't even get off but just stayed on a second time, and we could have stayed on a third time in a row if we had wanted to. We also just walked right on to the Super Duper Looper rollercoaster with zero wait. Earlier in the day we had waited for some of the bigger rides, especially the brand new roller coaster "Laff Track." At least the majority of the lines for that ride were inside an air conditioned building, and they had mirrors along the way that distorted your body, which also helped to pass the time.

It was really hot that day, and I only found out on Wednesday that the water slides and wave pool weren't opening until May 28 even though the rest of the park had been open for a few weeks. None of the shows were running yet either. I didn't really care about missing the shows, but on such a hot day it would have been nice to go down a few water slides. Thankfully the two water rides not in the water park were operating (ex. the flume), and three of us chose to get soaked on the other one. Nadia kept going in the splash zone near the ride while we were eating lunch. She definitely got soaked more than the rest of us. The temperature cooled off a bit later in the day, which was also greatly appreciated. Considering our home school tickets cost less than half of a normal ticket, I'd say we definitely got our money's worth even though the water part wasn't open.

Nadia was a "Hershey bar" for the first time (minimum of 48 inches) which meant she could ride several rides she couldn't in the past including the bumper cars, the claw (which was one of her three most favorite rides at the park), and a few roller coasters she hadn't been able to ride before. She actually only rode two new roller coasters yesterday  - the Wildcat (which Ian couldn't ride yet) and the Laff Track (which Ian also rode). That means the next time we go there will still be some new rides for her even though I imagine she'll still be a "Hershey bar" next year. Ian was a "PB cup" which meant he was able to ride five roller coasters - 3 for the first time. His favorite was the Super Duper Looper. It was his first time going upside down on a roller coaster. Oliver was a "Hershey Kiss" for the first time, which was much better than being a "Miniature" because they are very limited in what they can ride. He was able to ride two kiddie roller coasters, the flume, tea cups (first time he could ride them at this park), and many kiddie rides.

The park was open until 8pm that day. The kids would have been in favor of staying until it closed, but the adults were ready to leave before that. As it was, we ate a VERY late dinner. Oliver actually fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the parking lot, which was unfortunate because he hadn't gone to the bathroom lately. I had to wake him up when we stopped at McDonald's for dinner not that much later, and he didn't go back asleep. If I hadn't awakened him, he would have slept the whole way home. Lesson learned. Have him go potty before putting him in the stroller. We tucked the kids in bed a little before 9pm, which was later than usual for all of them, but it would have been even later than that if we had stayed until the park closed. All in all I think we all had a fabulous day! I would definitely go in May again in the future. If we had waited until May 31 to go we could have gone on the water slides and such also, but the kids can do water slides at other parks so actually if I had to do it over again I think I would have picked last Friday when the temps were in the 70's (much more pleasant out), but we survived the heat and had a great day.

As usual, I took quite a few pictures. I haven't finished sorting through them yet because I was busy today with taking the kids to gym class, buying paint, going to the library, going to the grocery store, cooking dinner, doing laundry, doing the dishes, and painting the kitchen and family room. Whew. I hope to finish painting those rooms tomorrow and also finish going through the pictures from Hershey. I kept the paint the same color so I am not taking "after" pictures, but let me tell you it is a big improvement already. I shouldn't have waited this long to do this project. It cost me less than $30 and what a difference it makes! I am very pleased, but now I really do want to get new flooring in that room. We shall see about that.... I do realize that if we spend less money then it lengthens the amount of time before I need to start making money, but I have wanted to replace that flooring for almost eight years, and it certainly looks worse now than it did eight years ago. For right now I will start with painting walls, since that's very cheap.