Hersheypark Christmas Candylane is the holiday event at Hersheypark. It features holiday décor and special events through Hersheypark and the resorts.
Hersheypark is a must do if you live within 4-6 hours of Hershey, PA. It is a great park to visit year round but there is something special about a holiday visit.
Hershey Chocolate World and Hersheypark offer seasonal activities for guests to enjoy. They are within walking distance to each other and have lots of holiday fun!!
The Hersheypark Christmas Candylane event is an great family holiday tradition that you and your family will love year after year.
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Dates 2022
- November 11th, 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th,
- December: Open everyday except for December 25th.
- January 1st
How much does Hersheypark cost at Christmas?
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane tickets range from $44.95-$74.95 and you can find discounted tickets on their website.
Things to Do at Hersheypark Christmas Candylane
Most guests want to know what can you do at Hersheypark at Christmas time. Are all attractions open during Hersheypark Christmas Candylane?
All attractions are not open during the event but there are a lot that do run through the holiday season.
There are over 45 rides and attractions open to guests of all ages. Check here for open attractions.
There are also seasonal attractions that are special for the holiday season. They are:
- Noel-A light show synchronized to Christmas music. (My favorite!!)
- Guests can walk around the park and experience over 5 million lights.
- Visit Santa and Santa’s Reindeer Stables-All 9 live reindeer including Rudolph
- Explore Hershey Chocolatetown and the Kisses Fountain decorated for the season.
- TREEville at the Boardwalk- A festive tree trail telling the story of The Sweetest Place on Earth
Hersheypark Sweet Lights
Hersheypark Sweet Lights is a drive thru light attraction through 2 miles of holiday displays. This is located close to Hersheypark but not at Hersheypark.
Hershey Sweet Lights is a ticketed attraction separate from your admission to Hersheypark Candylane. Guests can purchase tickets as a bundle here.
If you don’t want to drive the tour you can purchase tickets for the trolley tour that starts at Hersheys Chocolate World. Learn more here.
Where to Stay for Christmas at Hersheypark
If you want to feel immersed in the Hershey world you can stay on-site at one of the three Hershey resorts: Hotel Hershey, Hershey Lodge, and Hershey Campgrounds.
The resorts typically have activities during the holidays like letters to Santa and character meet and greets.
Hershey Chocolate World During Christmas
Hershey Chocolate World is located at the same parking complex as Hersheypark. It is a very large store with bake shops, a free factory tour, and paid activities to enjoy.
During the holidays they have specialty treats as well as photos with Santa and cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus.
Guests can also view the Hershey’s Holiday shop decorated with candy. It is free to walk around Hershey Chocolate World and is worth including in your visit.
Is Hersheypark Christmas Worth It
Yes! A visit to Hersheypark at Christmas time is worth it. They decorated the park beautifully and it is an awesome event.
Weekend Itinerary for Holidays at Hersheypark
I like to share how we plan our visit to Hersheypark for the holidays to make it easy to plan.
Day 1: Hersheypark Christmas Candylane Special Events
We left our home in Rochester around 12 after the kids morning activities, and started our drive to Hershey. The 4 hour drive had us arriving at dinner time.
We surprised the kids with this visit, and had lunches packed in the car and ready to go. The drive takes you through some really pretty parts of Pennsylvania.
We have driven it so many times! If you need to stop for snacks or bathroom breaks I suggest stopping at a Sheetz.
They are clean, have a gas station, and many snack options. It’s also a half way point for us and a good time for a stretch.
We arrived around dusk, checked into our hotel and started our way to the park.
Hershey has different options for accommodations and we have stayed at the resort and off-site accommodations.
Read more in our post about the Hersheypark Hotels.
Our plan was to explore Hershey Chocolate World and then we had tickets from Hershey Sweet Light on the trolley. The trolley takes you through a guided tour of miles of holiday lights.
You can drive this yourself but we opted for the tickets so we could relax and enjoy the lights. It is spectacular!!
They sing songs and the lights are incredible. We all loved it and you receive a sweet treat during your ride!!
After visiting Hershey Chocolate World and the trolley tour we made our way to experience Hersheypark at Christmas.
One of the things I really love is you can enter the park the day before your actual purchase tickets. Guests can enter the park 2.5 hours before closing!!
We had tickets for Sunday but were able to enter the park at 7:30 on Saturday night. This was a really cool perk and all I had to do was show our Sunday tickets.
Always check the website for times and to confirm but this “preview night” is typical.
Saturday night we watched Noel and visited Santa and his reindeer. We also went on a few rides.
Not all Hersheypark attractions are open. Please check the website. A lot are open and we were not lacking for things to do. Our favorites were:
- Laff Trakk (Indoor Dark Rollercoaster decorated with lights for the season. This also had the longest line. If you want to ride it arrive early or at the end of the night. (42 inches to ride)
- Kissing Tower-A tower that lifts up and rotates. Gorgeous views of the town and park.
- Reese’s Cupfusion
- Monorail-This takes you around the park and it was a nice way to see everything from a different view. It is a great attraction to rest your feet and see the lights from above.
The park has a really cute way of checking height. They are set up by candy character. So you could be a Kiss or a Reese or a Twizzler. My kids were Kisses (36′-42), Resses (42′-48), and Hershey (48′-54′).
Outside the park there are places to check their height by standing next to a statue of the character. Learn more in this article about Hersheypark ride height.
We stayed until 10:00pm close at the park. It was so beautiful walking around and seeing the lights all over the park.
Remember to dress for the season. We wore hats, gloves, and winter coats. When the sun goes down the temperature will drop!
We were having so much fun that we went back in to Hershey Chocolate World and took a few rides on the Factory Tour.
At around 10:45pm we left the park!! It was a packed day but we had so much fun!!
Day 2: Hersheypark
Sunday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. It was typical bagels, cereal, yogurt, and a few hot choices. My kids love hotel breakfast so they were very happy. I love coffee…so I was happy too!!
Then we packed up, checked out and were first in line to enter the park!! I am an early person.
I always arrive at theme parks before opening. This was no different.
The employees were so nice and they let my kids be the one to open the gates. They still talk about how they opened the park!!
On Sunday we spent the day riding attractions again and riding some that we missed the day before. Most of the holiday activities are in the evening so we used this time to ride attractions.
If you only have one day you may want to do rides first and then start exploring all the Christmas activities at the park.
Hersheypark Christmas Candylane is a great place to celebrate the holidays and enjoy time together as a family. We really enjoyed this holiday event in Hershey, PA.
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