It's been cool to see Hershey Park evolve over the years, but I feel like it's lost what made it great - it used to be affordable and manageable. In the 90s, my parents could give me 20$ and drop me off with my friends for the day and I'd be good. One year we even got season passes and I think they were $60/person. I also worked there one summer and met my now husband. You could easily get on every ride in one visit. Now it feels like Hershey is trying to be the Disney of PA and it's just so expensive. The season passes have tiers now! We get discounted tickets through church or our kids' schools' fundraisers and go during the week to try and maximize our time, but it still feels over-crowded and the long waits make it difficult to get on many rides. I get that the park has expanded and improved a lot, and I understand why prices would increase, but I miss being able to just go to Hershey and not have to worry about spending an arm and a leg or feel pressured to try and ride everything to get our money's worth - it now costs 25$ just to park! That place has a lot of great memories for me and it makes me sad that my kids probably won't experience similarly. sigh Sorry, rant over lol I'll go yell at some clouds now.
lumberj73 t1_jadkk1c wrote
Reply to Three Pennsylvania amusement parks named among best in the U.S. (Kennywood, Knoebels, and Hersheypark) by zorionek0
It's been cool to see Hershey Park evolve over the years, but I feel like it's lost what made it great - it used to be affordable and manageable. In the 90s, my parents could give me 20$ and drop me off with my friends for the day and I'd be good. One year we even got season passes and I think they were $60/person. I also worked there one summer and met my now husband. You could easily get on every ride in one visit. Now it feels like Hershey is trying to be the Disney of PA and it's just so expensive. The season passes have tiers now! We get discounted tickets through church or our kids' schools' fundraisers and go during the week to try and maximize our time, but it still feels over-crowded and the long waits make it difficult to get on many rides. I get that the park has expanded and improved a lot, and I understand why prices would increase, but I miss being able to just go to Hershey and not have to worry about spending an arm and a leg or feel pressured to try and ride everything to get our money's worth - it now costs 25$ just to park! That place has a lot of great memories for me and it makes me sad that my kids probably won't experience similarly. sigh Sorry, rant over lol I'll go yell at some clouds now.