Hersheypark in the Dark: What You Need to Know For a Scary Good Time
This post originally appeared on prepandshine.com
So I will soon be 40 and I’ve never been to an amusement park at night. As you can see from my Halloween Christmas tree, I LOVE Halloween. So when I had the opportunity to experience Hersheypark in the Dark, I jumped at the chance. Visiting Hershey Park in the Dark is a completely different way to experience the park with your family. This themed event starts a few weeks before Halloween and actually lasts through the weekend after Halloween.
We hit the road on a Saturday morning and arrived at Hershey Lodge right after lunchtime. This gave us just enough time to check-in and enjoy Hershey Water Works before going to the park. If you haven’t experienced the Water Works before, it’s a must. It’s the coolest hotel pool….it’s practically a water park.
After enjoying the 80 degrees at the Water Works, it was time to transition into fall weather. We washed off the chlorine and put on a few layers for the crisp fall weather. The kids can also wear a costume to the park if you’d like! Parents, please note that Hershey has some rules for adults who would like to go dressed up.
Right in front of Hershey Lodge is a free shuttle to the park that runs every 20-30 minutes. That means no parking fee at the park!
Tips for Visiting Hersheypark in the Dark
Tip #1 – Have dinner first.
Hersheypark in the Dark officially starts after 5pm. We arrived at about 5:30. However, the sun doesn’t go down until about 6:30. This is the perfect time to get dinner if you are with the littles ones. It’s also a big transition from day visitors to night visitors so it’s a good time to catch a good meal so you can enjoy candy later.
Tip #2 – Focus on the Halloween activities, and NOT on the rides.
If you are visiting Hershey Park for Halloween, chances are you’ve been to the park before. You’ve been on a lot of the rides. You go to experience Halloween! Ok so after you experience the Halloween activities you can go on the rides But first, here are some Halloween specific activities that are a must:
Halloween Lights
There will be Halloween lights all throughout the park. Stop and enjoy! I particularly loved the jack-o-lantern set up. It was accompanied by music and they lit up matching the music!
Spooky Band
Nothing sets the tone like some Halloween music throughout the park! Take a seat by the stage outside of Chick-fil-A and enjoy the spooky band.
Hershey Character Glow Dance Party
The Hershey characters are out and about like usual, but this time they are in costume! Be on the lookout for them during a very special dance party.
Treatville
If you have little ones, Treatville is the highlight of Hersheypark in the Dark. This is the area of the park that is transformed into a huge Halloween scene that the kids can trick-or-treat in. It sounds simple, but the different Halloween scenes are incredibly lively and realistic. The super cool characters are in full costume and hand out candy. Some even juggle candy!