Day 3: Friday June 26, 2015
Somehow, despite the late night, I was awake by 6:30. I think my body was still on school time. Kim and Kathy started waking up shortly after. Pretty soon there were screeches from the shower. Clearly my warnings to listen for flushing toilets were not strong enough.
I think we were all in the car shortly before 9. We went to Dunkins right next to the park for a quick breakfast. I played it safe with a bagel and hash browns. Everyone else got breakfast sandwiches. They weren’t impressed. Kim had had the same sandwich the day before in CT, and said that this one was like a completely different sandwich.
Once we were finished eating, we drove over to the park. We ended up parking within a few rows of where we had parked the night before. The tram was waiting, so we hopped on that to get to the front of the park. It was about 9:45, so there was a decent sized line at the gate. The park would be opening at 10. The other 3 got in line while I went back to guest services.
I had been VERY impressed by the friendliness of the guest services person I’d dealt with the night before. The person I dealt with this morning was not quite so pleasant to deal with. But the paperwork got taken care of, and she led me through the side door into the park just a few minutes later. I got into the park just in time to see the Hershey Park band stroll by, on their way to entertain all those waiting in line.
Once we’d gotten a locker, it was time to go play. We started walking in the direction of ZooAmerica (which is also included in park admission), so that we could, theoretically, see the animals before it got too warm. But we also wanted to stop at rides along the way. First up was the Sidewinder for Hannah. We took some pictures while waiting for her.
Once Hannah was done with the Sidewinder, she went straight to the Storm Runner. The lines were so short! It was awesome! We were quickly coming to the conclusion that the week after, and in some cases, the week, that school lets out is the time to travel to places like this. I have a feeling we would have seen something different in about another week.
Once Hannah was done on the Storm Runner, which she declared her favorite so far, we truly headed for ZooAmerica. The access point for this was in the far corner of the park. ZooAmerica is actually across the street, so we had to have our hand stamped for re-entry, and then cross a covered bridge over the road to get to the zoo.
I think we spent about an hour wandering through the zoo. This zoo focuses on the different regions and animals of the US. It’s pretty small compared to zoos I’ve been to in the last year (San Antonio and Colorado Springs), but it’s nicely laid out and very clean. A lot of the animals seemed to be hiding, but we still saw a fair amount.
Once we were done exploring the zoo, we crossed back over to the park. It was getting hot, so the first thing on our agenda was the Coal Cracker, a log flume ride. All of us were willing to ride that one. We really got a sense here of how Hershey manages to maximize space. Their queue did just that.
The Coal Cracker was fun, and surprisingly long for a log flume ride. We all had a great time. After that, we sent Hannah off to ride the Great Bear, another big roller coaster. While she was riding, we started the picture taking process with the Hershey Kiss. After all, we were all wearing Hershey Kiss shirts!
When Hannah got back, we decided it was lunch time, so we went into the Gourmet Grille, which was right next to where we were. This was a quick service restaurant that had a little bit of everything. Kim and I decided we were willing to wait for hot entrees, and we got the grilled chicken quesadilla. Kathy and Hannah got pre-made wraps.
Kim and I were happy with our meals. Hannah seemed to scarf her sandwich down. Kathy was less impressed, because the lettuce had made the wrap soggy. No comment…
Once lunch was done, we went to get a group picture with the Hershey Kiss.
Once the picture taking was done, we got in the short line for the Kissing Tower. If you’ve been to Sea World, this is like their Sky Tower, except it’s only one level, and the windows are shaped like Hershey Kisses. And, as we found out, it’s much faster too. But, the views were good.
Once we returned to ground level, Hannah and I headed in the direction of Comet, a wooden roller coaster, while K-squared, headed back to ZooAmerica to see if they had any pins for sale. Apparently Kim has a canvas tote bag covered in pins from places she’s been.
Along the way to Comet, we passed the Sooper Dooper Looper, so I sent Hannah on that while I people watched. Kim and Kathy arrived just about the same time Hannah came off the ride. Kim had successfully found a pin.
Next we headed over to Comet, where Hannah and I only had to wait about 5 minutes to ride. There was some confusion on the loading platform, as there was no employee sorting people out. But even with that, we were on the roller coaster pretty quickly. This was another pretty intense, but fun, wooden coaster.
By the time we were done with Comet, we were ready for a break. We started walking toward the Boardwalk, stopping to ride the monorail along the way. The monorail provides a great view, and travels across the park, the zoo, and into town a bit, past the chocolate factory. But it travels 10 miles an hour, so it’s a very quick ride. We ended up riding twice in a row.
Once we were REALLY done, we headed over to our locker, and went to change into swimsuits. Once changed, it was off to the lazy river. It was a pretty typical lazy river. The water was nice and cool, and despite the kids that would hop out of their tubes and push through whenever the lifeguards weren’t looking (actually more like when they were between lifeguards), it was very relaxing, and exactly what we all needed. We all were really impressed too, by how attentive and on top of things the lifeguards were. We felt very safe.
After two laps in the lazy river, it was time for something else, so we walked over to the water slides. These slides are the kind I like, where you ride on tubes down the slide, so Hannah and I both headed for the stairs. I was really wishing that my Fitbit was waterproof because there were a LOT of stairs to climb to get to the top of the slide.
The slide was fun. Hannah went on again, while I searched for Kim and Kathy who had wandered off. We found a SMALL area of shade to wait for Hannah. Once she came down the slide again, it was time for the wave pool. Once again, we were very impressed by the lifeguard presence. I was also pleased to see a couple people who were even more glow in the dark white than I am. Kim had actually been able to pick me out in the crowd in the lazy river because of how bright white I am. I so need more sunshine…
When we got out of the wave pool, we walked over to Tidal Force. Tidal Force is one of those mega flume rides (like the Boston Tea Party at Canobie), where EVERYONE gets absolutely drenched. Hershey allows you to ride barefoot, in your swimsuit. Kathy and Hannah decided to go on. Kim decided not to, and I was kinda cold, so I didn’t want the drowned rat sensation, so I stuck with Kim. We watched Tidal Force.
About 10 minutes later, Hannah and Kathy came off the Tidal Force completely DRENCHED. They were both happy, though, so that was really what mattered. At that point, we decided to go back and get changed. We all agreed that whoever thought to put a waterpark in the middle of an amusement park and include it in park admission was brilliant!
Once the picture taking was done, it was time for a few more stores, and then most importantly, we stopped at Making Whoopie, where you get to customize your own whoopie pies. They had 12 different flavors of icing, and probably 6 different cake flavors. Decision making was EXTREMELY difficult. I got funfetti cake with orange creamsicle icing. Kathy and Kim got chocolate cake with orange creamsicle icing. Hannah got red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.
The rule was that no eating could happen until pictures were taken. Believe it or not, that was Kim’s rule, not mine. We took those pictures VERY quickly.
We got our Kit Kat upon exiting the ride, and decided to get some dinner in the food court. Chocolate World really has a great food court. Kim got a sandwich, I got chicken chili, and Kathy and Hannah split a loaded baked potato. All of us seemed happy with our meals. We then shopped a bit more, and made the decision that we were not going back into the park. We took a few more pictures while shopping.
Then it was time to admit that vacation was nearly over, and go back to the hotel to pack. We were going to try to leave semi early the next morning. Kim and I had decided on the drive to Connecticut to throw a detour to Crayola into the trip home the next day.
Once the packing was done, Kim and Kathy insisted that Hannah and I go over to the motel office to see the lobby. Under the premise of checking to see what time checkout was, we walked in, and immediately understood why Kim was saying that it would be perfect for a hair salon. Think pink and black floral wallpaper.
Eventually we collapsed into bed again, knowing that we’d be starting the trip home the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment