If you’re looking to a sweet place to visit to help get you into the holiday spirit, put Hersheypark Christmas Candylane on your wishlist.
We visited Hersheypark Christmas Candylane over the weekend, and despite the freezing temperatures, we had a great time! The festive offerings combined with the traditional Hershey family fun made for a wonderful weekend holiday getaway.
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane
On select days during the holiday season, Hersheypark hosts Christmas Candylane. The park is adorned with millions of lights and guests can enjoy seasonal offerings, including:
- Visits with Santa
- Santa’s Reindeer Stable
- Rudolph’s Skating Pond
- Holiday Shows
- “Noel” light show
On top of all the holiday fun, many of the park’s attractions can also be enjoyed, weather permitting. (Some rides were not operating during our visit due to the cold temperatures). Many of the attractions have been renamed to fit the holiday theme. A few even have added holiday touches.
The Laff Trakk indoor roller coaster has a cool Christmas overlay. The carousel plays christmas music as you ride. Both the outdoor Dry Gulch Railroad and Sunoco Classic Cars attractions have their tracks adorned with light displays. And for a unique view of some of the lights, the Skyview attraction literally takes you through the center of the lights for the NOEL light show!
Millions of Lights
To get into the spirit, Hersheypark decks out its trees, buildings, and even its attractions in over 4 million lights! It creates such a festive atmosphere, especially at night. There are christmas trees, characters, and even the 12 days of Christmas!
Santa and his Reindeer
No holiday season is complete without a visit to see Santa. In Hersheypark, you can visit with Santa at his candy cottage right up until Christmas Eve.
As for Santa’s famous team of reindeer, they can all be seen in their stables. You may even get to see a reindeer feeding. We don’t get to see many real live reindeer, so this was pretty cool. We didn’t see any with a red nose, however, so we weren’t sure which one was Rudolph.
Festive Entertainment
Your favorite holiday tunes play throughout the park. But that’s not all. Hersheypark puts on a live musical stage show called “Up On The Rooftop”. It’s a show for the whole family that features singing and dancing elves, reindeer, and even the big guy in red!
The show was fun. And it was indoors!
NOEL
At Hershey Park Christmas Candylane, “NOEL” stands for Nights Of Extraordinary Lights. Starting at 5pm, guests can watch an amazing light show in the Hollow, synchronized to Holiday music. There are 4 different shows that alternate every half hour.
Christmas Candylane 2019
Christmas Candylane at Hersheypark runs from November 15, 2019- January 1, 2020. Save 20% when you purchase your tickets online by November 24th.
Looking to make a weekend out of it? Hersheypark Christmas Candylane packages are available on select nights from November 15- December 30. Package includes 1-night accommodations at The Hotel Hershey® or Hershey Lodge resort and 1-day Hersheypark admission for the whole family, milk & cookie delivery, admission for 1 vehicle to Hershey Sweet Lights® attraction, & more!
For more details visit the Hersheypark website.
Added Fun
Everything we mentioned above is included with your ticket to Hersheypark Christmas Candylane. Here are some in-park and nearby add-ons to consider:
- Rent a pair of skates and glide around Rudolph’s pond, right inside the park.
- Splurge on a souvenir mug for all-you-can-drink hot chocolate throughout the day in the park.
- Have Breakfast or Lunch with Santa at Hershey’s Chocolate World, just outside the park.
- See the Hershey Sweet Lights just down the road. You can drive your own car through or take the Hershey Trolley.
- View the Christmas Tree Showcase at the nearby Hershey Gardens.
Conclusion
We booked this getaway pretty much on a whim. It was an affordable getaway since we were able to snag the last available cabin that still had heat and hot water at the Hershey Camping Resort. We enjoyed the park even though it was so cold that some of the rides weren’t operating and waiting in line was uncomfortable. We also didn’t see any characters inside the park, but got to see them at the lunch with Santa we booked the next day.
In hindsight, perhaps we should have splurged for the FastTrack Pass for the Christmas Classics rides. Given the fact we were squeezing both Hersheypark and the Hershey Sweet Lights into one night, that would have helped us maximize our time and we wouldn’t have missed out on some of those popular festive attractions.
I think we’ll do it again. It was fun, festive, and didn’t break the bank!
