Is it me or does the winter make you want to hibernate? Well my family and I were determined to make the best of the start of the cold season and so we booked two short get aways for the end of November.
Hershey, Pennsylvania is known as The Sweetest Place On Earth!
My family & I, along with my nephew and Ryan’s best friends family headed there for an overnight stay at the Hershey Lodge for a day/night of rides, lights and…. well – chocolate of course.
The ride up is a little less than 3 hours from North Jersey and thanks to Mazda, we drove in style and comfort in a 2018 CX-9. This test drive came at the perfect time since we are in the market for a new SUV. The Mazda CX-9 is a mid-size, three-row crossover SUV that caters to families with seating for seven. The destination possibilities are endless thanks to CX-9’s all-weather capability from its optional predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive and class- leading fuel-ef ciency. CX-9 provides a premium driving and passenger experience, courtesy of an award-winning SKYACTIV-G 2.5T engine that delivers excellent performance in everyday driving scenarios and an interior cabin that is pleasing to the sight and touch. This SUV was one of the top safety picks and all the safety features are amazing! Another one of our favorite features is the 3rd row option which is perfect for a growing family.
As soon as we arrived in town we headed to
Hershey Park! During the holiday season they transform the park into a Christmas dream filled with lights for their Christmas Candylane event. Theres more than 50 rides open, including 6 coasters, lights, live entertainment and even Santa and his reindeers make an appearance.
After Hershey Park, you are going to want to head on over to
Hershey’s Chocolate World where the fun continues. One of my favorite things to do while there is creating your own candy bar. It’s so awesome to see it created right in front of your eyes and you even get to create the wrapper! At Chocolate World you can also catch a 4D movie, go on a tour of the place and do chocolate tasting. By the time we were done the kids were starving so we had to skip the Hershey Sweet Lights but if visiting during the Holidays – it’s a MUST!
We headed back to the Hershey Lodge and checked in. Our room was in the area with the pull up parking which I thought was super convenient.
We settled in and headed to the Bears Den for some yummy comfort food. Once everyone’s bellies were filled we grabbed some board games and headed to the lobby to hang around the fireplace. During the holidays Hershey Lodge is decorated so beautifully and everyone really is in the Christmas spirit. There were a ton of people in the lobby hanging out in their pjs and just having a great time.
The next morning before checking out we spent an hour at the indoor pool complex. All of the kids had the best time and I loved that there was something to do for all of them considering the difference in all their ages (2-14 years old)
Hershey was the perfect destination for a short one night staycation for the kids (& adults). Everyone had the best time and I’m already looking forward to our next visit. When the weather warms up we will be able to take advantage of their outdoor pool complex, mini golf and the basketball/tennis courts.
