Hersheypark feels like a small family owned
park… With a number of large, steel thrill coasters. There’s some genuine
backbone to the place which evokes an old fashioned, caring company that puts
their heart before, or at least in line with, their head. Hersheypark originally
opened as a leisure park for employees and families of the Hershey Chocolate
Company, which is the most wonderful thought in itself. Whilst the reality
today is business, the illusion carried on by the park’s accumulated history is
magical.
It’s a weird place, certainly not what I
expected it to be and far from a perfect park. In fact, despite how much I
truly love the place, there are very few obvious positive points to make. It’s
pleasantness rests mostly on the atmosphere. It’s very much an amusement park,
not a theme park, which surprised me on my first visit. This “family theme
park” is dominated by some very large, unthemed roller coasters, and they pay
particular interest to dressing them in strings of lights like a classic amusement
park of the golden era. Yet somehow, the park feels big budget too, and not
just because of it’s high entrance fee and expensive ride hardware. Like a nice
Blackpool Pleasure Beach, nice in that it’s clean and friendly and appropriate
for contemporary audiences. The
huge rides are cluttered and dance over your head and each other and every path
in such a way to really make you feel apart of the place and the carnival fun
it promotes. At night, the place truly comes alive. It all feels very honest,
very authentic, very friendly and nostalgic.