Author: Kyle Sweigert

Chocolatetown Opening Day!

Published: 3 July 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Hersheypark, Uncategorized

On Tuesday, June 30th, Hersheypark invited a number of select media outlets to the park Hersheypark’s newest area, Chocolatetown and their 15th Coaster, Candymonium. We’re excited to be able to share with you all of the details about this new section of Hersheypark!

The new gate entrance is significantly wider and will be able to accommodate a larger number of people on busy summer mornings. Ticketing services, Guest services, Chocolatetown Treats, Hershey Supply Company, Wheel Chair Rentals, and restrooms, all can be found outside of the front gate.

The gate itself is wide and spacious. There are ten rows with two scanners in each row.

The first thing you’ll see as you walk through the gate is Hersheypark’s fifteenth Roller Coaster, Candymonium! Directly inside the gate is the ride’s last big turn around the soon to be completed Hershey Kiss fountain.

On the left, you’ll see Hershey’s century-old Carousel. The Carousel has been undergoing a multi-year restoration and we think it looks better than ever in its new home in Chocolatetown!

As you walk past the carousel, you’ll see on the left a brand new Starbucks! We’re very excited to have this great addition at the front of the park.

Across from Starbucks are lockers and restrooms. HP Collections and HyperDeck are parallel to the lockers and restrooms.

No matter where you are in Chocolatetown the main thing you’ll see is Hersheypark’s 15th roller coaster, Candymonium. The coaster winds throughout Chocolatetown.

One of the best parts of Chocolatetown is Candymonium’s station. Hersheypark did such a great job with this station. It’s detailed brickwork, theming and lighting all come together to make what we think is the park’s nicest Roller Coaster Station.

Hersheypark also did a great job with the area around Candymonium. The new entrance sign looks fantastic!

Candymonium itself is a great addition to the park. It is Hersheypark’s 15th rollercoaster and is also the fastest, tallest, longest coaster in the park. It was designed by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It stands 210 feet tall and reaches a speed of 76 mph. Lastly, the coaster is 4,636 feet for a total ride duration of 2 minutes and 26 seconds. Hersheypark is calling it their sweetest coaster and we think riders would agree!

The coaster offers plenty of what people within the industry call airtime.(moments where riders experience negative g-force)

The panoramic turn around the kiss fountain also offers great views of Candymonium and the thrills on the rider’s faces!

Hersheypark also added a gift shop named the Hersheypark Supply Co. for guests on the way out of the park. It’s located directly next to the gate and is accessible from both inside and outside of the park.

Arriving in 2021 will be the Hersheypark’s first full-service restaurant and bar, The Chocolatier at Hersheypark! The Sweeterie Confectionary Kitchen and Milton’s Ice Cream Parlor will also be arriving in 2021. We’re looking forward to these delicious additions to Chocolatetown! They’ll be added next to and above the Hersheypark Supply Co.

Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed our coverage leading up to and including the opening of Hersheypark’s Chocolatetown! Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our Youtube channel as we’ll be publishing a video on Hersheypark’s 101-year-old Carousel along with more content about the other new things that can be found around Hersheypark for the 2020 season!

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Final Hershey’s Chocolatetown Construction Update

Published: 27 June 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Hersheypark

We know it’s only been a few days since our last Chocolatetown update, but we promise you’re not going to want to miss this one! Make sure to look at all 60 pictures and the youtube video also!

Upon arriving we noticed the construction site was still very busy. Dirt was being moved and shrubbery was going in all over the property!

Hersheypark has taken down the fences and opened parts of Chocolatetown! Now we can get closer to the gate than ever before

The first thing we noticed was the new sign that had been put in. We think it looks great!

With the fence out of the way, we now have access to take closer, better pictures than ever before.

The bathrooms were open as well! Check out this cool infographic about Hershey’s Ice Palace! Also note, we made sure no one was in the bathroom before taking pictures 🙂

We love this Chocolatetown graphic!

Work on the new parking lot is nearing its end also!

Shifting towards the gate, we learned a really awesome fact about one of the mainstays of Chocolatetown.

One of the employees from the park took a few minutes to explain to me what I was seeing in front of the gate. This area is the park’s way of commemorating different points in Milton Hershey’s life and sharing that history with their guests. It is split up into four different groups: Sweet Beginnings, The Greatest Gifts, Monuments for the Ages, and The Legacy Lives on. We think this will be one of our favorite parts of Chocolatetown!

Each position points towards the physical location in Hershey, similar to a compass. The one I was able to take a picture of was pointing to Hotel Hershey. It had some information on the hotel and also had the date the hotel opened! We love that the park is taking time to show Hershey’s history!

We went back a little later in the day and were able to capture the rest of the points in this area. This is such a great idea for the park!

Here’s a look inside of the main new building where The Chocolatier Restaurant, Bar + Patio, Milton’s Ice Cream Parlor, and The Sweeterie Confectionery Kitchen will be located. Lots of work is still being done in this area.

Next, we’ll take a closer look at the front gate. Here you can see the new entry system. Also, note that Hersheypark is using the Evolv security system. This system looks to be a safe, but also a quick and painless way to ensure secure entry to the park. Here’s a link about Evolv’s system to learn more. https://evolvtechnology.com/products/evolv-express/

Next, we took a walk over to Chocolateworld to see what progress was made. Take a look at the Candymonium signs. We think they look great!

You can also see the vehicle drop off area leading into Chocolatetown and the Kiss fountain in the next photos. Both look like there’s still some work to be done. Hopefully, the Kiss fountain is ready for the opening of the park!

Lastly, we’ll leave you with some random pictures of greenery going in and some wide-angle shots.

We hope you enjoyed reading! Keep it locked here with All-American Thrills as we’ll have all the coverage from the opening of Chocolatetown, first rides on Candymonium and the opening of Hersheypark for the 2020 season!

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June Chocolatetown Construction Update

Published: 22 June 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Uncategorized

It’s been a little while since we’ve had a Chocolatetown construction update. The last time we visited Candymonium had just started testing. Now over a month later, Chocolatetown is coming together in preparation for Hersheypark’s opening for the 2020 season on Friday, July 3rd! The first thing we saw was the Hersheypark sign was going up on the front gate!

Since our last update construction crews have added new signage all around Chocolatetown.

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Stencil work on the pavement is also being completed.

Here are a few more looks at the front gate. If you look closely it looks like metal detectors and gate check-in systems are being installed. Also, you can see crews are working on laying pavement in the background.

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Check back with All American Thrills often throughout the next week as we cover all of the Chocolatetown construction at Hersheypark. Also, the first rides on Candymonium will be happening on June 29th and 30th. We’ll have all the coverage you’ll need right here so sign up to get notified when we post!

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Candymonium’s First Test Runs!

Published: 6 May 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Uncategorized

Take a look at Hersheypark’s fifteenth roller coaster Candymonium running some of its first test laps!

Crews working in the station working with the coaster
Emergency brake testing!
A different view of Hersheypark’s Carousel in its new home!

Thanks for taking the time to watch the video and read the post! Make sure to like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/allamericanthrills and subscribe to our Youtube channel!

Chocolatetown February Construction Update

Published: 2 March 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Hersheypark

Hersheypark is moving right along with Chocolatetown construction. In today’s update, we see the front construction fence moved, Candymonium’s station, the carousel being assembled in its new location, and a few other items.

First, we’ll take a look at the new front gate. The fence was moved allowing new and improved views of the gate and the buildings in the area.

Next, let’s take a look at Candymonium. The coaster looks like it is almost ready to test! Hopefully, we’ll see some test runs in the next week or two.

Finally, we noticed while shooting that the Carousel is going in. As of now, it’s just the Canopy and frame but sure enough, it’s there. The new carousel building and the surrounding area look great!

Thanks for reading! Remember to follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our Youtube channel!

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Reeses Cupfusion Behind the Scenes

Published: 29 February 2020
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Hersheypark

Through the American Coaster Enthusiast’s annual East Coaster Tour, All American Thrills was given the unique opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour of Hersheypark’s newest attraction, Reeses Cupfusion.

Hersheypark opened Reeses Cupfusion (referred to as RCF from now on) on May 25th, 2019. If you haven’t experienced RCF in person yet, I left Sally’s Reeses Cupfusion Mission Detail video as well as our on-ride video directly below. Be sure to check both of these out so you can follow along with the rest of the post!

From here on out we’re going to take you through different sections of the ride photo by photo. If there are neat or interesting things we know about the ride we’ll be sure to include them with the photos.

  • RCF uses the same track and car system from Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge.
  • Here is an example of one of the many targets you’ll see throughout the ride.
As you can see it has many of the same hills and valleys that Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge did.

RCF Uses a unique gaming system that is seen in a number of other Sally Dark Ride rides across the country. This is the first implementation of such a game system at Hersheypark. As you’ll see in the next pictures, RCF uses multiple screens, projectors and tracking systems to make the game system really come to life.

  • Here’s two of the many sensors which monitor for the lasers from the players stun guns.

The system uses the lasers from the player’s stun guns to track points. Points can be accrued by aiming at physical targets found throughout the ride and the many interactive characters found on the screens. The game then tabulates scores based on each player’s individual performance.

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Many of the scenes have collaborative targets that you and another rider can target together. Powering up these targets will unlock hidden targets in the scene for extra bonus points. For the veteran riders out there, do you know what these hidden targets are or where they can be unlocked at? Leave a comment below if you know!

Next, let’s take a look at the maintenance bays for RCF. Here ride operators can transfer cars on and off of the tracks either for storage or repairs.

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Hersheypark did change out some track. At the end of the Reeses Xtreme Cup Challenge, there were large hills in this ending section of the ride. Now, this section has been made entirely flat and is the finale of the ride. We won’t spoil the finale for you but here are some pictures.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully, you enjoyed the post and learned some new things about RCF! To stay up to date with All American Thrills, like us on Facebook and Subscribe to us on our Youtube channel!

Chocolatetown Construction Update February 18, 2019

Published: 18 February 2019
Written by Kyle Sweigert
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Categories: Hersheypark

Today we visited Hersheypark to see the progress on their new front gate expansion, set to open in 2020!

Here’s the eventual site of the new tram circle

More work being done on what appears to be a temporary building. It most likely will be a ticketing building but I’d like to think it’s entirely for kettle corn.

In the distance you can see a bridge being built next to Skyrush. Currently, we think that bridge will allow entry to the rest of the park from the expansion. Behind the bridge is a new building going up.

We were greeted by some wildlife while taking pictures.

Here’s some pictures from the other side of the construction on Park Boulevard. Some of the pictures were shot through trees for context.

It appears that Hospitality Services, Hersheypark Supply Co. Kettle Corn, and others will be left in place for at least the 2019 season.

Removing old rubble and debris.

Here’s fencing that will go up for the 2019 season to allow construction to continue throughout the entire year.

Lots of work left to be done in a really short period of time! Springtime in the Park starts on April 6th.

Let us know your thoughts on the expansion in the comments below. While you’re at it check out our other content on our Youtube page, make sure to click subscribe! Also, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for reading!

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