How Much Fun Can An Adult Have at Hershey’s Chocolate World?
{this post was supported by hershey’s chocolate world but the experience and opinions are 100% my own}
if you are ever within a 598 mile radius of hershey’s chocolate world and you love sugar…you must go there! make sure you eat a salad for lunch because you will be ingesting a lot of chocolate and i found this helps to balance it out. or at least eat candy corn for fake vegetables’ sake!
my husband was speaking at a conference in pennsylvania this past weekend (more on that later because there were some pretty great things about it but my mind/blood is racing with sugar so it must be addressed) and last time we were near-ish hershey’s chocolate world, it did not fit in. this time, no excuses because chocolate is a food group to me. we made the scenic drive to hershey, pennsylvania and saw a variety of cows/donkeys/farms along the way which was quite charming.
i was stupidly excited when i saw that i was able to capture this blindfolded donkey! i further cracked myself up thinking that he was waiting for his turn to play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. hardy-har-har!
disclaimer: i took way too many photos so did my best to select my favorites to capture the experience! if you are related to me, you will probably be forced to look at them all.
to be honest…i was sort of expecting a chocolate-themed chuck-e-cheese type attraction and i have to say how wrong i (thankfully) was. everything was updated, clean and smelled delicious! turns out adults can have A LOT of fun at hershey’s chocolate world! actually, we probably have more fun than kids because we have more money and can eat whatever we want.
the prices are surprisingly affordable and we did not do the trolley works so i cannot speak to that!
here’s how i would plan your day here:
1) take the FREE 15 minute tour first where you learn about the process from cacao bean to a hershey’s bar! you get on a moving sleigh ride (don’t worry it’s not scary…i could even handle it and i hate any type of amusement rides) and it takes you through a real/simulated piece of how the factory works. we actually did this last but i’d recommend starting with it!
there are parts that become a little overstimulating because you are listening to the process through the speakers in your sleigh but then cows are singing and you can hear other sleighs. if we did this first i would have had less chocolate in me and it probably would have been slightly less overwhelming! ps. free chocolate at the end!
2) hershey’s chocolate tasting adventure
this one was fantastic! first you walk into a very orderly classroom where you learn all about the cacao plant (and if you’ve seen portlandia’s bit on the ‘cacao’ plant you will inevitably laugh out loud the first few times the instructor uses it).
you get a bag full of assorted chocolate, a tasting chart and a little bottle of water to cleanse your pallet between tastes! i sort of felt a little tipsy at the end but that was just my brain associating it with all my wine tastings.
facts for you because who doesn’t love learning?! the cacao bean was found in 1200 BC and then the aztecs and mayans first used it for making a delicious drink they purposefully made frothy because they thought the froth would renew the mind and the sweet liquid would renew the body!
the regular hershey’s bar takes 7-10 days to create (mr. hershey was the first to use milk in chocolate) and that fancy handmade chocolate by scharffen berger (now owned by hershey but they still produce it) takes a full 30 days! also that bliss dark chocolate has a red wine aftertaste and it’s delicious and probably my favorite of these!
anytime there is chocolate in my mouth this inevitably happens. if you’ve been around me…you know this to be factual. the 14 people behind my husband when i turned to smile at him sure thought that i was weird. again…FREE WHOLE chocolate bar at the end in addition to your samplings!
3) go see hershey’s great chocolate factory mystery in 4D!
at first when you enter you may be surrounded by lots of kids and photoshopped pictures of life-size candy bars in settings around the world-but don’t let this fool you because IT WAS AWESOME!
i kid you not, because you can’t see each others’ eyes with those bad boys on- i figured i could look wherever i wanted. the camera reveals all.
you help solve a mystery (which for a fleeting second i considered a career change to becoming a detective. seriously.) and it was way cooler than i thought it would be! it’s highly interactive and engages ALL of your senses. i’m going to leave it at that because i want you to be surprised when you go…totally worth it. and more FREE chocolate at the end!
4. end with creating your very own hershey bar!
this is a must. i realize it’s almost $15 but it’s absolutely worth it. not only do you get to wear really sexy hair and facial nets but you get to pick your own ingredients and watch your chocolate bar being created!
yes, we know we are matching. it was only slightly planned. he kind of looks like santa and i’m not complaining.
here’s a tip…it’s very important to hold onto your ticket that has your name it on throughout the entire process. no one told us this and i misplaced mine for a solid 3 minutes at the end to retrieve my chocolate bar and it was awkward. it’s how you will track your candy bar and how the computers flash your name on the screen, which makes you feel very special.
you can choose between milk/dark/white chocolate bar as a base and then be prepared knowing the top layer will be a creamy milk chocolate. they let you pick up to 3 toppings/fun ingredients! i am on a salty/sweet kick (and have been for the last 10 years) so i opted for pretzel bits and butter toffee crunch on a white chocolate bar.
the bars come out and then you watch your own precious chocolate bar get filled with your selected filling. the hubs opted for a toffee and rice crispy filling on milk chocolate.
this was my favorite part…the enrober! it covers all the chocolate bars in melty, creamy, delicious chocolate. my husband and i spent the whole time talking about how we would like to shrink down and be able to lay on the chocolate bar like a raft and go under it.
while you wait for your chocolate bar to go through the cooling chamber, you get to design the label! you aren’t allowed to change your name or spell anything but they had a few cute selections of making it personalized.
my husband affectionately said i was the sexiest lunch lady he’s ever seen. thank you boo.
my design up close and what the bar looks like in the fancy tin they give you! you also have an option to add sprinkles to the top of your chocolate bar and when you have the decision in front of you…the answer is always yes.
i am already devising ways to use this tin so i don’t look like a hoarder and just keeping things because i can. i’m thinking it can be for storing crafts or a candy tin.
last night at about 10pm i started questioning whether or not it was really my chocolate bar. even though my name was on the bar in 2 places, i still tend to get paranoid about these things so i had to do the taste test to see the insides (it’s part of being a detective people). it was mine and probably the best creation that’s been made!
make sure you pace yourself with your chocolate intake so you can indulge in a one of a kind milkshakes! i said i didn’t want one and would just have a bite or two of my husband’s kitkat milkshake…i accidentally ate about 1/3 of it (if you ask him, he will exaggerate and say i ate more than half of it). it was beyond good.another tip-if you are in and out in under 3 hours, parking is free! it’s also free if you go to at least 3 attractions otherwise it’s $12 so be conscious of your time. we did all of this in just under 3 hours so we were good and didn’t feel rushed.
we even had time to check out the very overwhelming (mainly because i wanted everything) gift store filled with crazy mixes of candy, candles, baking goods and unique things you can only get there! like these:we had a truly fantastic time there and i was exactly like a kid in a candy store (har har) running around with way too much sugar in my blood and excitement in my brain!
we both highly recommend this tourist attraction if you are anywhere near hershey, PA! as it says in there “everyday deserves a kiss” (and my husband was sweet and surprised me some hershey kisses-the ‘hugs’ variety of white/milk chocolate. it’s part of my love language)
the new wifestyle: never stop exploring like a child and it’s even more fun when you do it with your spouse!
questions:
1) have you been to hershey’s chocolate world before? favorite part? if not, what would be the thing you HAVE to do?
2) favorite hershey’s product? (mine is probably anything reese’s and my husband’s is a kitkat)
3) when you’re traveling, do you like hitting the tourists’ attractions?
debra
May 19, 2014 at 9:23 am
1. Let’s see…..we have been to Chocolate World about 10 times. They were in the middle of remodeling when we were there in January.
2. My favorite Hershey product besides the chocolate martini is the York Peppermint Patty.
3. Love hitting attractions, museums and antique shops! If you missed the Milton Hershey Museum, you have to go back! Family reunion?
chelsea
May 19, 2014 at 12:59 pm
10 times!!!! that’s amazing and great that you still find new things you like to do there! i thought it had been recently updated so thanks for the details on it being worked on in january. um chocolate martini…i missed that! i’m assuming you’ve also visited York, PA too then debra 🙂 family reunion sounds in order because we missed that other museum and we need to go to the chocolate spa for sure!