Family Trip to PA, Part 6

As we left the park, we decided to head next door to Chocolate World.

 We got there just in time for the next showing of a 4D movie.  While we waited on it to start, we enjoyed being in the art gallery; these were some of our favorite pictures.  The host also asked questions to get audience participation.  He asked if any of the kids had ever won any awards.  Mia was beside herself as she tried to get his attention.  Thankfully, he walked over and let her say "Soccer and gymnastics."  She was so proud of herself!

 Ready for the movie.  They enjoyed helping the Hershey characters solve the mystery and figure out that it was Von Sour who was trying to sneak into the chocolate factory and ruin the chocolate.

 They also loved that they gave us a free mini Hershey bar upon exiting the theatre!  After the movie, we headed into the food court where we relaxed and enjoyed dinner.  When that was over, it was time to head upstairs to make our own chocolate bars!

 Since you're entering a food processing area, you have to wear the appropriate gear.

 You first decide what type of chocolate bar you want, and then you get to pick three fillings.  The options included things like sprinkles, chocolate chips, butterscotch toffee filings, coconut and almonds.  After you make your selections, you go through the line where (thanks to some awesome technology), you get to watch the machines prepare your personal candy bar.

 After the fillings are put in, you see the bars get a chocolate bath.

 After the bath, while the chocolate is going through the cooling process, it's time to design your own box cover.

 The production screen shows you exactly when your bar is coming out of the cooler and will be ready to put into your box.

 Seeing the bars put into the box is pretty cool.

 The workers wrap them up at the end and verifies you're picking up the right bar.  This was so cool to do!

 Our boxes.

 After making our bars, we headed back downstairs where the girls learned how kisses get boxed up.  Here they are shaking their containers to fill the spaces.

 We took a "quick" spin through the gift shop and decided it was time to head on back to the hotel.  The girls couldn't wait to try a few bites of their bars when we got back!  We all agreed they were delicious!

This was such a fun day!



Family Trip to PA, Part 5

On Wednesday morning, we enjoyed a delicious buffet at the hotel.  The hot chocolate was wonderful!  As we walked out from breakfast, there was man holding and talking about falcons which was pretty cool to see.  As we started to walk away, who should walk into the restaurant lobby but Reece!  It was fun to meet a character; what a great way to get us in the mood for Hershey Park!

 We arrived at the park right as it opened.

 We decided to head to the back of the park and make our way forward.  Well, there was just too much fun to stuff to do on the way to the back!  We all loved the Boardwalk / Amusement Park feel here.  There were tons of great rides for the girls.  The loved this little ladybug roller coaster.

 Not too surprising, they both loved the swings too.  Look at the face of pure joy on Mia!

 Fun on the ferris wheel!

 A lovely view from the top.

 A scenic shot and then the girls walked a few steps over where they were very excited to see the big log flume splash.

 Ready to ride the carousel!

We made lots of new friends on this trip!

 The girls enjoyed driving their own rides.

 Loving the hot air balloon ride.

Ready to motorcycle around.

 They LOVED this fishing game.  Inside each fish was a little chip, and you got a different size stuffed fish depending on what color chip you found.

 Very excited about their prizes.

 The kids' adventure rides.  It cracked us up to see them hold their hands up on the mini pirate ship; they were so brave!  They made a new friend as they spun themselves dizzy on the little teacup-like ride.

 Mia said the Frog Hopper was one of her favorite rides.  It was just like Blast Off at Sesame Place.  She loved how it bounced everyone up and down.

 Flying around.

 Mia and I raced Lily down the Fun Slide.  It's not exactly the fast potato sack slide I remembered from the fair growing up, but we gave it our best...Lily won!

 Mia and I rode the Flying Eagles.  She loved controlling us and making us go side to side and up and down.

 Mia got a kick out of this Spiderman hat.

 The girls enjoyed flying us around in the starships.

This is a Google image of the girls' very favorite ride: Music Express.  It's an old amusement park / fair ride, and they couldn't get enough of it.  We rode it multiple times in a row as there was little line.  By the end, they were getting very brave and holding their hands up as we spun in a big circle and rode up and down on the track.  It was awesome to see the sheer happiness and excitement on their faces!

 We all had a great time watching the seal and sea lion show.  They were so cute and did lots of fun tricks for us!

These are really just the highlights of the fun we had at the park.  It was overcast but there was no humidity, so it was great to be out and walking around.  We rode lots of other rides too like the monorail, ski lift, chocolate versus peanut butter laser ride and many additional kids' rides.  I just narrowed down the pictures a lot!  By this point, it was coming up on 6PM, and everyone was getting tired and hungry, so we decided to head out of the park for the evening.