Transforming into Hersheypark Christmas Candylane

It’s that time of year. The time when you dust off all the Christmas decorations and start untangling all those hopelessly tangled strings of lights. At Hersheypark we transition to our holiday event the day after our Halloween event ends, November 2. So on November 3, it’s all elves on deck as we make the change from pumpkins to Christmas trees.

At Hersheypark Christmas Candylane, our Maintenance Team is responsible for the placement of more than 2 million lights which includes our 50-foot “Kissmass” tree with more than 150,000 lights that are synchronized to holiday music.

In addition, the Team begins the work to take the Park’s twelve roller coasters into the Service Center for the annual winter maintenance. In Hershey, the temperatures are just too cold for a coaster to run in the months of November and December. Most roller coasters require an outside temperature of about 38 degrees. Each of the 30 rides that are open for the holiday season must be inspected every day the Park is open to the public. The Maintenance Team handles that responsibility too.

But.. back to the lights and the 130 Christmas trees that are set up for Christmas Candylane.

A team of 75 employees put in approximately 8,000 hours as they transform the Park into a winter wonderland. Of course, in the spirit of the season, a number of Santa’s elves leave their desk jobs and volunteer their time to help the magic of the season come alive at Hersheypark.

Let’s hope Santa is watching!