How important is to stay ';on site'; at Christmas

Hi ...

Family of three. Planning our first trip to the East Coast for December - DC and New York and all the Christmas activities. Thinking of a stop in Hershey at the end of our trip - day after Christmas perhaps.

Husband is hesitant but I think our 13 year old might like it. Theme park is not a huge deal as we are WDW annual passholders and have been for ten years. 13 year old definitely not into ';kid'; things anymore.

How important is it to stay onsite? Does it add a lot to the ';feel'; of the trip. Does it make the park and factory easier to get to (shuttle, walking distance?). Are the hotels decked out for Christmas?

Thanks.

How important is to stay ';on site'; at Christmas

Staying close to HersheyPark in a place that offers a shuttle is obviously convenient. The Hotel Hershey is always decorated very nicely for the holidays. I%26#39;m sure the Hershey Lodge %26amp; Convention Center is as well. Both facilities offer a shuttle to the park. I think your 13 year old will enjoy the park. There are a good many kiddie rides open for CandyLane but there are rides for older kids and shows plus the lights and other decorations are great. Here are links to the holiday package rates:

http://www.hersheylodge.com/rates/holiday.php

www.thehotelhershey.com/rates/holiday.php

How important is to stay ';on site'; at Christmas

for us, staying at the hershey lodge adds to the whole holiday feel. Our kids are still young so the lodge is perfect. The lobby is beautiful with decorations and fireplace. We sit (me with a chocolate martini) and play uno or cards and it is very nice. there are some activities for the kids, not many, but some. The bears den offers very reasonably priced food and is kid-friendly. We have stayed 4 or 5 times now...losing track.

They also have a dinner show at the hotel. We haven%26#39;t done it yet but might next year.

I%26#39;m sure the hotel hershey is very nice, too. When the kids are older we may opt for that.

There are not any lodgings in Hershey that are really ';walking distance'; to Hersheypark, so it depends on how long you want it to take to get there. If you don%26#39;t want to drive once you get to Hershey, then you should stay at either the Hershey Lodge or the Hotel Hershey. Both will run shuttles to Hersheypark (and Chocolate World is right next to the park. Both the Hershey Lodge and the Hotel Hershey are pretty during Christmas and if you are willing to spend the money, I would certainly choose to stay there. If not, I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;re going to be ';missing out';.

You refered to Chocolate World as the ';factory';. Just in case you didn%26#39;t know (and so you%26#39;re not disappointed) the factory isn%26#39;t open to the public. Chocolate World is fun, but it%26#39;s a ride, not the real thing.

Another thing to do if you have time and your teen would like this sort of thing, there is a trolley ride that is fun. You can get tickets at Chocolate World.

Hope you have a good trip.

As for the factory,,,they used to have tours, but that was back in the late 70%26#39;s. Now the closet you can get is take the monorail ride and it loops by it above the parking lot. You can see it and smell it but you can not enter anymore. Sorry to dissapoint.

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