Hershey Chocolate World

 

At Hershey World, we did it ALL!  You name it -- we did it.  Create Your Own Candy Bar? 4D Chocolate Mystery?  Chocolate Tasting Experience? You got it!  Needless to say, the whole outing was a smashing success with the kids.  If you ask Alex and Jane, Hershey was their hands down favorite part of the whole road trip.  Hahaha.

The 4D experience was pretty cool.  Alex and Jane LOVED it.  Isaac -- not so much.  Hahaha.

Even though the majority of the activities cost cash money to enjoy, I thought it was well worth it for our vacation experience.  Would I ever do it again -- take the whole family and pay for every single extra add-on?  Probably not.  Or at least not anytime soon.  Hahaha.  Especially since the FREE portion of Hershey Chocolate World -- the Chocolate Tour -- was plenty fun and interesting on it's own.  But for a once-in-a-lifetime east coast road trip, it was the perfect way to enjoy the pit stop!

  
I personally thought the taste-testing experience was pretty cool.  It was interesting to learn about the distinct flavors that make up different kinds of chocolate -- and it didn't hurt that we got to sample some chocolate in the process.  Haha.  The kids thought the dark chocolate was disgusting and the cocoa nibs even more so.  I actually thought the cocoa nibs were kind of tasty, and didn't mind the dark chocolate all that much.  All in all, though, I probably would not make a very good "palateer," because I certainly wasn't able to nail down the specific flavors and aromas of each piece.  Oh well!  I guess I'll just stick to my day job.  Hahaha.

If the kids had to choose their favorite thing they did at Chocolate World, however, I think they would all pick the "Create Your Own Candy Bar."  While donning an apron and hairnet, everyone had the chance to create their dream bar from start to finish.  With options of dark, milk and white chocolate bases to choose from, and various mix-ins that could be added (such as cookie bits, chocolate chips, and toffee pieces), we each created our favorite combo and then watched as it rolled out in front of us on the assembly line.  

The final step in the candy-bar-making-process was to design the label and wait while the chocolate bars cooled and were then packaged in a keepsake tin wrapped in our individual artwork.  It was pretty awesome.  :)  The line for this was pretty slow-moving and it took awhile for all of us to get through, but honestly, the only hard thing about it was trying to keep Isaac from wreaking havoc on the room (and our ear drums).  Hahahaha.  If we ever came back to Hershey, I think the kids would definitely want to do this one again.

  
Our final destination for the day was the Trolley tour around the city of Hershey, Pennsylvania.  I'm pretty sure the kids could have done without this add-on -- and the older ones especially thought it was a little hokey -- but I enjoyed the ride.  :)  The tour guides put on a show as they told the history of the town, the factory, and the man, that was Hershey.  There was singing and costume changes and free candy, and I thought it was a nice way to end our visit.  

Of course, we weren't completely done at Chocolate World until the kids were able to shop the Hershey store and pick out some candy and some souvenirs (insert eye roll), but thankfully, they finished up rather quickly and then we were on our way.  In a lot of ways, I wish we would have ended the road trip on the high of this double-the-fun day of Crayola in the morning and Hershey in the afternoon, but we still had one more destination to get to before we called it quits.   Stay tuned for the LAST installment of the Summer Road Trip 2017 recaps.  Washington, D.C. we're coming for you!  Hahaha.