The Sweet Taste of Hersheypark

7/26/2010

My parents and I decided to spend a one-night vacation in Pennsylvania. We left the house at 7:30a, and drove about four hours to the Comfort Suites in Grantville, PA. Our room was in the midst of being cleaned, so we had a bite to eat in the lobby. My cell phone started to ring at that point, and I saw it was from the Hampton Inn & Suites, the one I applied to back in New York. I took a deep breath and answered the phone….then I just about dropped the phone when the assistant manager said to me, “I would like to go ahead and offer you the job.” AAAAAH!!! While on the phone, I was facing the window, away from my parents, standing on the opposite end of the room. I whipped around and gave them the thumbs-up. After speaking to him, I ran over and hugged them. They are so happy for me. That right there was a sign that this day would be AMAZING. And I do want to add that I had a dream the previous night that I would get a call from Hampton Inn. Strange! Before long, our room was ready, so we put all our stuff down, got ready, and headed to the park.

It’s only a 15-minute drive from the hotel; we got there around 1:45p and got my mom’s wheelchair. They only had manual ones; since it was late in the day, they were out of ECV’s. #FAIL! We actually entered the park and started our day around 2p. First, Dad went on SooperDooperLooper. I think it’s the loop that intimidates me, but I just cannot fathom the thought of going on that ride. I know I will someday, but I just can’t. Mom and I waited by the nearby Whack-a-Mole, happily watching kids play. When he returned, we went to Coal Cracker. Dad and I went on that. That’s my favorite ride there!! It’s almost the equivalent of Splash Mountain in WDW, minus the furry creatures and smoothness of the drop. Only my socks were soaking wet, which is what happened last time. But because Dad was in the back, his shirt and shorts were drenched. Haha! We then went to game called Goblet Toss, where you have to get the balls in colored cups. I was trying to win a minion!! When I saw they had minions, I just about had an attack. But unfortunately, although all three of us tried, I couldn’t get one. Oh well and moving on.

Next was the Kissing Tower, which I call “The Mothership.” It’s a huge pole with a circular seating device that slowly rotates up the pole, giving you a birds-eye view of everything. It was gorgeous! We all went on that one. Then Dad and I went on Twin Turnpike, which is similar to the Indy Speedway in Tomorrowland at MK, only a much shorter ride. Dad really relaxed me when he said, “Think of this as your road test.” Thanks, Dad! I responded with, “Oh, is there parallel parking included?” I actually did a great job fake-driving!

Mom and I went to the Garden Grille place to just sit in the air conditioning for a while, while Dad rode the leg-hanging, corkscrew & loop-crazy rollercoaster, Great Bear. We were going to do Trailblazer next, but the line was too long, so we went to Subway instead. Dad didn’t want Subway, so we went to the Boardwalk area next, where he had a Nathans hot dog. I absolutely love the Boardwalk area. They do a great job with the Atlantic City vibe; piped-in seagull sounds, water rides, and the Boardwalk-esque games. So I went to the changing room and put on my bathing suit with capris over it. We headed to Midway America next for some shopping. Mom called the front of the park and they had ECV’s in, so they brought her one. Yay! We all then went on another one of my favorite rides, The Whip! Mom and I rode together, and Dad hopped in the other one. We had a wonderful time on that.

I was planning on doing Tidal Force, but the line was ridiculously long, so we stood in the ‘splash zone’ area. Dad and I got pretty drenched! That was awesome. We headed out of that area then to ride Trailblazer. We were able to hop right on that time. It’s SO much like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Except I prefer BTMR, of course. Next was Dry Gulch Railroad, an easy train ride. The breeze felt wonderful. We took the Monorail around the park after that for another cooling-off adventure. God gave us such a beautiful sunset to end such a beautiful day!

When we got off of the Monorail, I hopped onto the Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge, which I’m assuming is similar to Buzz’s ride in Tomorrowland at MK. You shoot at targets as your ride moves along a track and there are two attached vehicles, peanut butter vs. chocolate. I think I got about 25,000 points. Go me! Our team still lost, unfortunately LOL. We did some shopping then; Mom got some chocolate-nut fudge & Dad got a couple of collectible pins. Hmmm I wonder where Hershey got the idea for pin collecting/trading?? I will have to ponder this question for a while. We then returned to the hotel. An awesome day!!

7/27/2010:

We checked out of our hotel and headed to Chocolate World. We went on the ride, then shopped. I bought an adorable baby pink shirt that says “Kisses” with one Hershey Kiss made out of multi-colored flowers. I also bought a Hershey plush squeak toy for my dog, Daisie. While Mom had a bite to eat, Dad and I went on the ride again. We made ghetto poses for the picture they snap at the end LOL. We met up with Mom, then made the 4-hour car ride home. ‘Twas a lovely mini-vacation!!