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December 13, 2015 - 1:09 a.m.
"christmas in hershey, the sweetest place on earth"

Hey Journal!

Wow! We had a totally packed and extremely long day but it was really fun and we all had a great time!!

We got up at 8:30 this morning and everyone got dressed and ready for a FUN FILLED DAY at HERSHEYPARK! We headed out to breakfast which was at the "gatehouse." (Basically the main lobby of the hotel.)

It wasn't very crowded and we got a table in the corner and then got our food. I had eggs, sausage, and then got up to make myself a waffle! They had two waffle machines and I was really chocked that nobody else was using them. Usually the waffle maker is a big draw at any complimentary hotel breakfast!

Connor and Cameron had a good breakfast... They had pancake with brown sugar. Cameron also had cereal and a muffin.

When we were done with breakfast we went back to the hotel room and finished getting ready. Connor and Cameron brushed their teeth and then we figured out what we needed to bring with us and headed out!

We had to make a little detour on the way to the park...we stopped at Giant to buy tickets! They were $15 at Giant as opposed to $18 at the park. $$ Dan went inside while we waited in the car and it took him a while because there was an old woman in front of him buying a MoneyGram!

With tickets in hand we headed to Chocolate World! We found a nice, close parking spot and headed inside. Our first stop was the tour! There was no line at all so we hopped right on. I love that tour! The ride is great, the song is so catchy... loved it!

When we got off, they were giving out free Kit Kats. The guy who was handing them out was a mess, though... Connor, Cameron, Me, and Dan were in line in that order and he gave one to Connor, then to me, then to Cameron, then to Connor again, then to Dan, and then to me again. It was really confusing but we got free Kits Kats so nothing else matters!

We perused the Chocolate World items and checked out the variety of chocolates for sale. Then we went on the ride again. This time there was about a 5 minute wait. Then we got more free Kit Kats!

We left Chocolate World and wanted to head to the actual park parking lot. We could have parked there to begin with but it all worked out fine. We asked for direction as we left and the girl gave us a little printed paper that had all the instructions. It basically took us on a 10 minute drive to a place we could have walked to in less than 1 minute. Seriously. We basically drove to the other side of the park, got on a highway, got off, and then came back in the entrance!

The parking lot was starting to fill up but we still got a close spot. We arrived at 12:00 and made our way over to the entrance. We went to the spot to check their heights! Connor was a Hershey's Bar and Cameron was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! We took pictures by the height-measurer thing and got some good ones!

There was a long line of people waiting to go in. We went to the bathroom beforehand and then just as we were coming out of the bathroom they opened the gates and we went in!

Our first stop was Sooper Dooper Looper! There was really no line at all. They had one car running so we had to wait for two runs, but other than that it wasn't bad. I didn't know how Connor and Cameron were going to do on an upside down roller coaster but THEY LOVED IT. It was the best ride we went on all day, actually. I wish we could have gone again but, as you'll find out about later, the lines got too long.

Our next stop was the Reese's X-Treme Cup Challenge. We had to shoot the little things on the wall. Dan won, followed by me, Connor, and then Cameron. It went in age order!

We decided to walk back towards Wildcat and on the way we stopped so I could ride The Claw! Connor didn't want to go on it and Cameron was too small. It's actually one of my favorite rides ever. I love it. I think it's more intense than Sooper Dooper Looper, but strangely it's listed as less intense on the park map! There was no line, so I lucked out.

Next up, Cameron wanted to go on the Frontier Flyers. We did that and then headed over to Wildcat. Connor and I were going to do that while Dan and Cameron went on the slide. The line was way too long, though. They were only running one car and it would have taken an hour.

Instead, we went on The Whip! It was so strange. It's this old fashioned car ride that WHIPS you around the curves. It's loud and crazy. When we were done, Cameron and Dan rode it and then we went to the Music Express. It's basically the same as the one in Adventureland but I think the one at Adventureland goes faster and is a little more out of control!

It was 1:50 when we got off of the Music Express so we hurried over to the Music Box Theater to see the 2:00 show.

Ah, the Music Box Theater! It brought back all the great memories of how we met and befriended JDH all those years ago. I was sad she wasn't still there. I'd like to see her again some day!

The show was good... it was about this elf-looking guy named Carl who was trying to pair his Christmas tree up with the perfect family. There were some good songs and we all enjoyed it. Connor was really really paying attention, too!

When it was over, Dan said he was getting hungry. I was, too.... we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast except for a few free Kit Kat bars! I guess they really hold you over!

Before getting something to eat we decided to hop on the Monorail because the line wasn't too bad. They had three different monorails running at the same time so the line moved quickly! We had this old guy as our driver and he was pretty cool.

Next up, we decided to go look for food. We didn't know where we wanted to eat and the guide map was useless because it just named the restaurants without any information about what type of food they served.

After a little bit of wandering around we went to a place in Founder's Way and got chicken fingers, fries, and connor got a hamburger with bacon. Cameron got a kids Mac and Cheese!

I was REALLY cold after we ate... I don't know why-- I think the sun was starting to go down and so it was cooling off a little but I think the main reason may have been because I drank cold soda.

Anyway, as soon as we were done eating we went to the car and got our jackets. I put on a hoodie and my jacket and we sat in the car for about 5 minutes. While we were in the car, Dan told Connor and Cameron that we had 3 hours left (in the park) and Connor thought he meant that we had to sit in the car for THREE HOURS before going back in!

We had gotten our hands stamped on the way out and then Dan stopped at the guest service area to buy a discounted ticket to Sweet Lights! We had planned on going there tonight after the park and by buying the ticket in the park we saved 6 dollars!

While we were in the car, Connor asked if we could press a penny at one of those machines and we told him he could. As soon as we got back in, we went right to the machine and Connor put the coins in. He turned the handle for a LONG time and nothing came out. The wheel went around several times and still -- nothing.

We were going to abandon it but I was a little irritated and Dan went inside to tell them it was broken. The girl said she would call someone so we went outside to stand there and wait. We waited for about 5 minute sand the whole time Connor and Cameron kept turning the handle. I even took my phone out and used the flashlight to look inside to see if we could see where the penny had gone! We couldn't!

After waiting a while we were getting annoyed and wanted to get to a ride. Dan went inside to tell the girl we were leaving and to ask for our 51 cents back! He couldn't find her. This whole time, they kept turning the handle. Then, all of a sudden, Cameron said it got too hard to turn and she couldn't do it anymore. Connor tried, and he was having a hard time as well. He told me that all of a sudden it got really weird. I was JUST about to reach over and try when Connor got it to go and a pressed penny popped out of the bottom!!

I guess we just didn't turn it enough! Obviously you have to do it for 10 minutes straight... ridiculous! It came out with the wrong pressing but at this point... it didn't matter. The one he wanted was a ride that was closed and this one was of another ride that was also closed! Same difference!

With our Penny problem solved, we made our way to the back of the park near the Kissing Tower. Cameron REALLY wanted to ride the cars and as much as I HATE that attraction we waited on line for about 45 minutes for it. I never understand the appeal of this ride to kids. There's always a long line for it...even at Disney World. It's so pointless -- you can't actually drive the car, it's on a stupid track, all you do is press the gas and the car goes. That's it! Go Karts make so much more sense... at least you control where they go! Meanwhile, there were two teenage girls in front of us on line... how did they think it was worth it to wait that long for this?!

The setup of this ride is also terrible because the fumes from the exhaust get trapped under this overhang and you smell the exhaust the whole time you're waiting. It's like they're slowly trying to kill you.

Anyway, once we got off and I was able to breathe fresh air again we got on line for the Kissing Tower! The line was crazy long but it went pretty fast. We had to wait about 20 minutes. While we were on line Connor and Cameron went over to meet the the kiss. Later, I got to meet the kiss as well. The costume is so weird but that's what makes it a good photo!

I was shocked at how busy the park was at this point. I really would have liked to go on some more roller coasters and go back on Sooper Dooper Looper, but it was just too crowded and everything had an insane line. We wanted to go on Skyview before we left the park so we waited about 30 minutes for that. It's basically a ski lift to nowhere. We got on it and I was terrified.... I dunno, my feet were all sweaty and I just felt uneasy. I think what got me most scared was that Connor was small enough to just slip out of the bottom of it! I was having nightmares of him falling off and so I held on to him tight! lol

We left the park at exactly 9:00 and as we left we stopped at a few stores to get some souvenirs. Cameron picked out a stuffed kiss which she affectionately named Mrs. Kisses. She also got a cup with her name on it and a bracelet with her name on it!

Connor didn't get anything at that store but later found a stuffed dog he really wanted. We told him to wait and maybe get something else because the dog only had a little Hershey Bar around his neck...we figured he's like something MORE of a souvenir of Hershey.

As we continued walking out Connor was pouty and said he REALLY wanted the dog. Dan explained that if he got the dog he couldn't get anything else because it was pretty expensive. He said he really wanted it, so we went back and got it!

He LOVES it. He's very excited by how soft it is... he keeps talking about it.

We made our way to the car and this is where we had our little breakdown moment for the night. Cameron started crying because she wanted a dog, too. Then Dan told me to get a tissue for her while I was driving instead of getting it himself and we all just had a moment for like 5 minutes of insanity. Then it all snapped back together and we were good again. We went to Sweet Lights but it was PACKED. The sign said there was a 90 minute delay. UGH!

Instead, we went to Friendly's for dinner. Connor wanted to go there and it worked out well because we wanted something easy and relatively quick.

I got the grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup. It was good. Dan got the same but with Tomato soup. When it arrived, he started eating it and found a piece of paper in it! It turns out it was a little square-shaped sticker and "12/11" was written on it in blue pen!

Our waitress was very apologetic and she got Dan a chicken noodle soup as a replacement. She also didn't charge us for Dan's meal which was good! She wasn't the best waitress...she was a little bit of a mess... but I really liked her.

You know how sometimes you have a waitress who's not good but doesn't seem like they give a shit? That I hate. This one wasn't the best but she seemed like she was really trying and I liked her. Her name was Hannah.... at least that's what her name tag said. When she introduced herself I didn't think she said Hannah... but I couldn't actually make out what she said.

When it came time for dessert, our waitress mixed up our orders. I ordered a mint chocolate chip Conehead and Cameron got a chocolate Monster Mash. When it came, the ice cream was switched around. It was even weirder because she came back to the table to ask me what kind of ice cream I wanted because she "couldn't read [her] handwriting!"

She was going to remake them but we decided to just let it go! I switched the cone and the Reese's ears and we made it work! We were in a bit of a rush because Sweet Lights was only open until 11:00 and we didn't want to miss it...especially since we had already bought our ticket!

We got there around 10:50 and luckily the line was much shorter than it was the first time we tried to go. We had to take a detour through this dark and winding woodsy area... it was really dark and creepy!

Sweet Lights was really good. There were a lot of cars and it moved pretty slowly but that's good. Last year when we went to the Jones Beach Light Show it was so empty that we were able to breeze through so quickly but then you don't get to take the time to really appreciate the lights. This was perfect. We crawled through and had time to look at everything.

On the turn, we saw that we were very near to the end. There were literally about ten cars behind us and then nothing. It was completely empty which was kinda cool to see.

We also sang the entire 12 Days of Christmas song! They loved it, and so did we. It was so much fun. After that, we went up through the woods and they had more lights... it was very well done and really cool.

After that we were all pretty much exhausted and it was after 12:00! We headed back to the hotel and now we're all just getting ready for bed! What a day!

It was such a jam-packed day... we did so much and it was a LONG day, too! Both Connor and Cameron were excellent all day! They walked all over, didn't complain about anything, and were absolutely on their best behavior. We had lots of fun and they ONLY thing that could have made it better would have been if the park were less crowded (then we could have gone on some more rides!) Overall, everything worked out great and I'm really glad we made the trip!

Tomorrow our plan is to get up for breakfast, go in the pool, go to Chocolate World, and then hit the road and head home!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)