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Originally Posted by NJGIRL
Natile sorry you didn't enjoy your trip. The last time we were there was about 5 years ago and have to say we like Hershey Park and think it's a very clean, enjoyable park. We also enjoy Busch Gardens in Williamsburg (it's a beautiful park) and even have been to the Wonderland Park in Canada, which was fun. I try not to compare the parks because they are totally different animals. Hershey IMO is an amusement park and Disney is a theme park. You go to Hershey or Great Adventure for the rides, not so much for the atmosphere. At least that's what we do.
Good reminder & I think you're quite right. And just to follow up my previous comments, we do enjoy one local amusement park, Holiday World in Santa Claus, It is a really nice, clean park that we visit & thoroghly enjoy every year. They have a fantastic water park, free soft drink & sunscreen & decent attractions! One thing that I have noticed time after time though is that the ride attendants are completely disengaged! They're just there, doing or not doing their jobs. So yes, I agree, I'm sure there are many nice amusement parks out there that offer a great time! And we can't always go to WDW, but I admit, IMHO, I'm very spoiled to all the things that Disney does so right that we take for granted until we're visiting someplace & "feel" the lacking of that complete magical experience. But at the same time, we do enjoy trying new experiences, & you never know if you're going to like something until you try it!
Shari
-"There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow..."
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We've been to Hershey several times...All I can is that I am a self described Disney snob. Disney does things at such a high bar that everything else pales in comparison...IMO.
Here are a few general other park experiences:
Sea World...Most of the employees did not speak or understand English, and the ones that did weren't interested in communicating either.
Shamu show was extremely sub par. 7 minutes of nothing because the trainers can't get in the water with the whales. What's the point??
Six Flags Great Adventure... Went last year, as our girls are thrill ride seekers, was NOT expecting much honestly. Hadn't been in a long time. Was pleasantly surprised. Flowers and hanging baskets around the park were magnificent. Park looked nice. It was crowded so I had to pay $52 bucks a kid extra to get them a "flash Pass" so they could basically cut in line. Kids had a great day. They rated it a 10 for thrill rides. Not Disney, but beings I did not have great expectations I wasn't disappointed.
Dollywood...WOW, that place looked like it needed a fresh coat of paint. We're not in Disney anymore, Toto!
Dorney Park/Wildwater Kingdom...Not bad. Clean, nice, and I really liked how the waterpark was situated. Some thought went into it.
Hershey Park...Honestly have never found it dirty. I hate how they have the waterpark crammed in there. IT's AWFUL. Not well thought out at all.
Workers have no sense of humor, or anything.
The only other place that I think compares fairly well to Disney is Great Wolf Lodge. They must have sent management teams over to WDW to look and learn. They are a close second.
Bottom line, is you can search high and low, and say all you want about Disney...Hands down they are the BEST!!!
Julie
Next Up:
Summer 2018... WE ARE BACK!!!
2 families
4 teenagers and Larry
Taking on the parks!
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I couldn't agree more - about other parks not even coming close to Disney! We were just at Cedar Point last weekend and I pretty much just go there for my kids. Food is ridiculous and gross, park is dirty, rides on top of rides - just not a nice place. I miss Disney so much after every time I go somewhere else - I just haven't found anything that compares for me. I'm hoping we can hold onto Disney for as long as possible - though with the kids getting older I am fearing it will come to an end soon. Can't wait for the next trip - I'm dying to start booking it but waiting to see the airfare I saw a couple weeks ago. It's coming down from the prices it was last week, but not quite where it was before. Wish Southwest would release their fares through the end of the year too - supposedly next week!
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Ditto! I took DH there last May as a quick weekend surprise trip and boy-oh-boy were we disappointed! It was AWFUL. I remember it being much more fun and vibrant! It was smelly and looked run down and the food was quite expensive!! We won't be going back anytime soon. It left us feeling quite sad!!
"Is there a 12 step program for this Mouse addiction?"
Next Trips:
11/18-11/29 Destination D:Amazing Adventures!! GF for two nights then Caribbean Beach with free dining...
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That's a shame to hear Hershey is turning into that kind of theme park. I remember going there when I was younger and after the tour receiving a bunch of the chocolate miniatures. Then I remember going a couple years later and they gave out some gross candy bar that I guess either bombed in the tests or at the market. Do they even give out candy at the end now? If so I must be down to 1 Hershey kiss.
I also think the gift shop there is over priced, I can get the same stuff here for half the cost.
I do remember the park being clean and people being friendly, but if that changed I cant see making the trip.
We have an amusement park here in Pittsburgh, named Kennywood. The same thing is happening here. With the new ownership, things just aren't the way they were. I just had a co-worker tell me today, in order to cut back expenses they changed the hot dog that is in the corndogs there. She said she will never eat another one, it was just plain nasty.
I know we all get mad at Disney for changing something, refurbing something while we are there, or taking something away, BUT the one thing they do is go above and beyond to keep their guests happy !!
Love my Pittsburgh Penguins and Penn State Nittany Lions !!!!
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Originally Posted by BraddyB
Do they even give out candy at the end now? If so I must be down to 1 Hershey kiss.
Less that a kiss. We got one piece of a Hershey's "Drops" candy. Their competition to M&M's. It was insulting, and they were the almond kind. Why give out something with nuts which is something many people have an allergy to?
Natalie
INTERCOT Staff: Disneyland Resort-California, The Water Cooler
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Maybe we all expect too much from the other parks. I was at Dollywood last month, and it did not look like it needed a paint job to me. Just got back from Six Flags-Great Adventure(NJ), had a great time. Friendly staff with smiles. The biggest complaint I had was that the Granny food place had no hours of operation posted. Also check with AAA about the tickets. The AAA ticket sold in the Washington,D.C offices for the Great Adventure park gets you into both the park and the Wild Safari for only $36 total.
First visit 1976
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I not really one to defend Hershey Park but I live close and have been going to Hershey on a regular basis all my life.
I think Hershey Park is over priced and the food prices are outrageous. I feel the park "jumped the shark" when they added the water park and decided to raise the price to cover the price of two parks in one. The water park is not well planned out. We had to wait 40 minutes in line to enter a kiddie water play area when my DS was around 3 yrs old. They left the kids play ~ 10 minutes and blew the whistle to get out. Not fun!!
Food has always been pricey @ HP as long I can remember. We had sticker shock 2 summers ago after Disney. We had free tickets to the park that trip.
I do have fond memories growing up going to HP and riding the Trailblazer, Comet , and Super Duper Looper. The park h always been clean and the park attendants are freindly.
I don't think you can compare Disney to either Hershey Park, Busch Gardens, or Cedar Point.
It is like comparing a total immersion experience to a simple amusment park.
I do like Chocolate World. It is free. We just don't go during the summer. If you do go, make sure you get a Chocolate Milk Shake in the Food Court. We just went to Chocolate World in the the end of April. We rode the Chocolate ride several times, saw the 3D movie and had Milk Shakes. We had a wonderful time.
If you do go to Hershey, make sure you go to the Hershey Gardens. We have a tradition going to the Hershey Gardens over Memorial Day Weekend...the first weekend the Butterfly pavillion opens up.
-next trip 6/16 BLT...can't wait
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Thanks for this trip report! I've often wondered what a visit there would be like. Sounds like a pass for us. It's true that you can't expect any other park to be like Disney, but I agree on the price comparison thing. We feel we get so much value for our money at Disney that we can't help but compare! I could write similar things about the year we went to the Wisconsin Dells. Ugh! Tacky, overpriced, miserable employees, etc. We looked at what we spent there for 4 days and could have easily had a full week at Disney for that amount!
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Glad to hear Dollywood looked good! We went quite some time ago.
Food is ALWAYS overpriced at these places. There is no way around it. In Disney we do the meal plan, so I don't pack anything. When we went to Great Adventure last summer, we had a lovely picnic lunch in the parking lot, and bought dinner in the park. I try to split the difference.
Julie
Next Up:
Summer 2018... WE ARE BACK!!!
2 families
4 teenagers and Larry
Taking on the parks!
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