Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Named Top 10 Best Theme Park Holiday Event in 2022

The votes are in. Hersheypark Christmas Candylane is once again named a winner in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice travel award contest for Best Theme Park Holiday Event in 2022!

For a second consecutive year, Christmas Candylane was voted #8 overall,  securing a coveted spot as one of the top 10 best theme park holiday events in the country. The 121-acre Hersheypark ranked above all other nominated Pennsylvania amusement parks. Thank you to all who voted for us!

Twenty nominees were chosen by a panel of relevant experts which include a combination of editors from USA TODAY; editors from 10Best.com; relevant expert contributors; and sources for both these media and other Gannett properties. 

Plan a Visit Through January 1

For nearly 40 years, Christmas Candylane has been a tradition for thousands of families in the mid-Atlantic region. The holiday attraction offers many only-in-Hershey experiences to get into the holiday spirit. 

In celebration of the season, Hersheypark has decked all regions of the 121-acre amusement park with 5 million dazzling lights - the most in Pennsylvania - including a guest-favorite light show that can't be missed. Guests can sip a signature hot chocolate while watching NOEL with 250,000 dancing lights synchronized to holiday music in The Hollow region every half hour beginning nightly at 5.

To further sweeten a trip to Christmas Candylane, more than 45 rides are open, weather and maintenance permitting, with unique opportunities to see the lights from Dry Gulch Railroad or a gondola-style ride over Spring Creek with the NOEL lights glistening off the water. Some rides like the Ferris Wheel, Candymonium hypercoaster, sooperdooperLooper and Jolly Rancher Remix reimagined boomerang coaster are lit up and running with holiday light packages. Plus, the indoor, spinning, glowing Laff Trakk coaster is decorated for the season with a large neon tree in the center.

Of course, a visit wouldn't be complete without putting in one last good word with Santa. An interactive experience and photo opportunity with the big man himself is available through Dec. 24. But the magic of a holiday visit doesn't end there. Hersheypark is the ONLY place in the Northeast where guests can get an up-close look at all nine of Santa's reindeer, including Rudolph, during all hours of operation through January 1. Trained reindeer helpers from ZooAmerica are available to answer any guest questions and share fun facts. 

Christmas Candylane is open every day through Jan. 1, 2023 (closed Christmas Day), so there's still plenty of time to make sweet family memories this holiday season. We hope to see you there. Happy holidays!