Off-Season
No lines galore on some weekdays
Best time to go
April
October
September
Shoulder Season
Go early in the summer season
Okay time to go
May
Early June
December
Peak Season
Fast Track Pass will save your life
Worst time to go
Late June
July
Early August

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  1. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Way too many people. No shade. Nowhere to sit. Confusing. Most poorly organized amusement park I’ve ever been to. So sad we wasted our time and money being crowded into this place. And their website is terrible gif getting information and the fast passes are a fortune – more than universal ! Which is a much much much better experience and actually worth the money.

  2. 3.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    As a season pass holder for 2 years I can teel you to go in winter or early spring and the water park is worth it although you cant do the rest of the park unless you leave the water park in like30 minutes you can probably ride some rides I also recommend going to hyperdeck in the front of the park or in the dome arcade

  3. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    I’ve been going to Hersheypark since I was a handheld infant. Yes, there were days back then when the park was crowded, but I’ve NEVER seen waits as bad as some of the days I’ve seen the past 2ish years. There are days when the shortest waits in the park for any non-kiddie ride are 30+ mins. It’s honestly infuriating to me as an enthusiast to see my home park become this miserable.

    My hypothesis as to why Hershey is the way it is now is as follows. Hersheypark has a world-class coaster line-up, and they know it. They also know that they are by far the biggest, nicest park that services the DMV area (Dorney and Knoebles are great, just a tad small, and SFA is… a park). Because of this, they are more than willing to cram thousands of people through their gates daily, but fail to realize that their frankly miserable operations can’t handle the swarms. Stacking, 3+ minute dispatches, and loose article related scuffles are CONSTANT. Hershey is a great park no doubt, but it’s going downhill, fast.

  4. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Way too crowded wait times are horrible. Sad but I feel like I completely wasted my money. Don’t think I will be back.

  5. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Have never witnessed anything like this in my life. When I went on summer weekends even 10 years ago it was reasonable… today lightning racer has an over two hour wait, something is wrong. Might as well just burn a $100 in front of your eyes.

  6. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Went on a Monday try to avoid the crowd. Wrong answer, lines were horrible after 12pm. By 3pm forget about it…..on a Monday.

  7. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    This park was completely over capacity, wasn’t able to enjoy any of the rides and the lines were super long nearly 1 hr and 30 min wait. I don’t think it’s fair that people couldn’t enjoy the park and paid so much to be there. It seems that this park is ripping people off for money. I strongly do not suggest going here especially if you hate really big crowds lines were so long for food I never seen a park like this it’s a lovely place but they need better control of the population of people. It’s a shame to feel like a lose of time

  8. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Lines for major coasters (such as The Great Bear) were completely full. Line went out all the way across the street into the arcade area. Average wait times were 130 minutes.

  9. 1.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    Like the park but if you want to ride more than 4 or 5 larger rides during the day you have to buy fast track. It is not uncommon to se 1.5 to 2 hr lines. As a kid I don’t ever recall wait times like this ever at any of the parks I went to.

  10. 3.0
    Light Crowds?

    Short Lines?

    As a former employee – and season pass holder for over 10 years – I can tell you that the best times to go are during weekdays. As soon as July 4th rolls around it’s almost always full. Weekdays are usually good in July and August, but it gets busy beyond belief toward the later part of the week. A typical Saturday in July and August can attract upwards of 30,000 people so just don’t bother then. Sunday’s in June are usually pretty decent if you cannot make it in during the week.

    When looking for rides, most people stop immediately at the front of the park. Candymonium, Comet, Great Bear are usually super busy to start. Farenheit, which is smack in the middle, is ALWAYS busy. The back of the park that houses the Wild Cat, Wild Mouse, Lightning Racer is usually always dead. The busiest rides for some odd reason are the Reese’s Cup Challenge and Laugh House. Laugh House is fun, but not sure if it’s worth a near two hour wait.

    The biggest issue the park has now is that they will not reopen to normal hours from 2019. Normal hours were from 10am to 10pm, and you could get a good amount of rides done without worrying about lines. Even with passes, it feels like my wife and I have to make determined efforts on what we want to ride and focus on those. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

    The “water park” is not worth it at all. It’s a small, jumbled mess that’s hard to navigate. And, again, with the condensed operating times, it’s almost not worth it to try to do the water park and the rest of the park in one day. Pick your battles. Dorney Park is not too much further away and has much better water attractions in my opinion.

    Food service can be confusing as well, but that’s because there is literally no line control for anything. Food itself is what it is, and the pricing you’re paying isn’t great. But, there are a decent amount of options all around.

    Hopefully someone finds this information useful and you can plan accordingly. These tips have helped me keep my sanity for the 20 years I’ve been associated with the Park in some form or fashion, so I hope they can be helpful to you.

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