Hershey Park - Part 4

We had decided to go to the water park first the next day.  The hotel offered breakfast, so we got the kids in their swimsuits and headed over to the breakfast room.  We had considered letting the kids get in the pool that morning, because we brought 2 suits for them for this purpose, but since we slept until 8 (which is sleeping in to our kids!) we decided to forgo a trip to the pool that morning.  We then let the kids watch t.v. while we got our stuff packed up and sunscreen on. The park opened at 10 and we wanted to get the full benefit.

This picture was taken on the trolley from the parking lot.  Can you tell from Bella's face that it was already HOT!  We were thankful that we were going to be at the water park during the day.  I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to be at the non-water rides on this day!

The evening before, I wanted to try one of the new big roller coasters and Elias was still too short to go on it, so Josh took the kids on the monorail while I tried it out.  So as soon as we entered the park, the kids wanted me to go on the monorail with them, because they had loved it the evening before.  I can tell you that I was not a big fan of the monorail.  Remember how I said that if I am up high I like to to be going fast?  Well, not only was this thing moving very slow, there were no buckles for the kids and there was just one metal bracket holding us onto the pole above.  But I enjoyed sharing the experience with the kids - especially since they were enjoying telling me all about their trip the evening before and were the "experts".

After this ride, we went straight to the water park and rented a locker.  We don't have a single picture of the water park, because we didn't want to take our camera or phone into the water park.  We saw all these people with nifty waterproof pouches to hold electronics in and they were selling them in the gift shops, but we didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on them.  By the middle of the day, we sort of wished we would have just gotten them to begin with.  Not only did we not get any pictures, every time we separated, we had trouble finding one another. It was so hard to keep track of the kids on the water rides anyway because there were so many kids and so much water swooshing and splashing that we couldn't hear them or they us, so to not always be able to get in contact with Josh made it even more nerve racking! What did parents do at amusement parks before cell phones?

Josh, Elias, and I all wanted to try the "Tidal Force".  It is a log jammer ride, where you go up really high and then come flying down into the water and it splashes over you.  Bella did not want to try it, but we talked her into it.  Well, she got soaked and it really freaked her out, so she vowed to never go on it again.  Elias wanted to go on it again.  Since it was right beside the lockers, we'd decided that Josh or I would go on it again right before we left, but when we returned, the line was huge, so we only got to try it once.  Elias and Josh tried a surfing ride, which was really funny to watch, but they said it wasn't as fun to do.  Josh took the kids to the splash pad while I tried the "Roller Soaker".  It was a really long, hot wait in line and I barely got wet, let alone soaked and it was barely even a roller coaster.  Josh and Elias were supposed to go on it after me, but I told them not to waste their time.

We had planned to get lunch at the park that day.  I had $28 after we had paid for our locker.  I had thought I had brought more, but accidentally had left some in my pants pocket from the day before. I knew that it would probably take the full $28 to eat, but thought that would still be plenty.  I was so wrong!  We had to get really creative about how we bought our meals!  We did manage to get enough to eat, but we were definitely not stuffed, by any means! 

We spent a few more hours at the water park and then headed out of the water park right before dinner time.  We decided to ride a couple of the rides that were near the water park before we left, so that when we returned, we wouldn't have to go back to that side of the park.  That was when we went on Bella's favorite ride of the trip - the Ferris Wheel.  It was one of those circular ones that we were all able to sit in.  It was really fun for all of us to be able to ride together and see all of the park from above - but did I mention that it was HOT!

This is the only picture I have of the water park portion of our visit.  A man saw me taking the first picture and was nice enough to ask us if he could take a group shot of us.

We went to McDonald's for dinner. McDonald's hadn't tasted that good in a long time! After our day in the sun and heat on our feet, it felt so good to sit down in AC!  Plus, after our costly lunch, when the kids asked for an ice cream and it was only $2, I thought how cheap it was in comparison! We were planning on letting the kids get in the hotel pool for an hour before we went back to the park, but we had little time by the time we got back and they seemed content to just watch a little t.v. and rest for 30 minutes after they had changed their clothes.

We then headed back to the park to ride on the non-water rides again.  I thought Elias would want to go on more coasters, since he had been so excited about his experience on them the night before.  He also had said he wanted Josh to go on the Wild Mouse with him.  But after riding a few of the smaller rides and asking him if he wanted to go on any of the coasters, it became apparent that he was content to just stay on the smaller rides for the rest of the trip.

These driving rides were favorites of our kids as well.

We went up into the kissing tower that gives you a panoramic view of the park and the surrounding city.  While up over the park, we saw a boat ride that was like riding a log through a river and had two drop offs that seemed pretty mild.  We saw people leaving the ride and they didn't seem very wet, so we thought it would be fun.  Bella was leery after her experience on the Tidal Force, but finally was talked into trying it.  She did great and said it was fun.  Both kids said they wanted to go on it again.  Since there wasn't a line, the workers said we could, but at the last minute, Bella decided against a second trip.  Josh said that the picture on her face on those pictures they take during the rides looked like she was pretty scared!  The second time I went, I sat in front, where she'd been and I realized that the front seat was much scarier than the seats in the middle and back!  So I was proud of her for not being more scared.

By 9 p.m., I was getting a little bummed that I had only rode one coaster.  Josh is not a huge coaster fan - he could take them or leave them - so he said he would stay with the kids while I went on a couple coasters.  He had went on one at some point, while I stayed with the kids and said that was enough for him.  So I left, thinking I would get to ride 1, maybe 2 before the park closed.  But the lines were so short that I got to ride 3 and probably could have ridden another, but we had agreed to meet at 9:45, so we could be together before the park closed.  It made me feel like I got my money's worth out of my ticket!  Josh wanted to get some type of drink from a particular food vendor (can't remember what now), so he left and I actually had time to let the kids ride one more ride.  Then before we left, we let the kids buy one of those light up things from vendors that walk around the park.  That was the only souvenirs we bought.  (I am sort of anti-souvenirs.)

We went back to the hotel, showered and were in bed in less than an hour!  It was 11 p.m., so I thought the kids would be extremely grumpy the next day!