Tag Archives: Chocolate

Hershey Chocolate House 2015

One of our family traditions is visiting Hershey’s Chocolate World over the holidays to take the free chocolate tour, gawk at the huge holiday chocolate house, and generally overdose on cocoa. We visited very early this year while the house was still under construction. This bad boy is being decked out with over a ton of chocolate!Chocolate House_3 Chocolate House_4 Chocolate House_5

"Building supplies"

“Building supplies”

Unfortunately, we never made it back again to see the final build. We’ll have to settle for some Instagram pics and a time-lapse video of construction. I like to imagine that they let the Hersheypark’s ZooAmerica animals feast on the chocolate after deconstruction, but I’m sure it goes against their diets.

 See pictures of the 2012 and 2013 chocolate houses.

Hershey’s Chocolate World Candy House

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Although my family had just been to Chocolate World for Hershey’s S’mores Campfire Party, December brings the Christmas candy house, yet another incentive to visit the sweetest place on earth.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t initially blown away when I first spotted the house. I’ve been blown away year after year by candy masterpieces, and at first glance, this design appeared much simpler than in previous years. It appeared to be basically a big rectangular box without columns or dormers.

It wasn’t until I got much closer that I noticed all of the intricate details, and when I began inspecting it up close I realized that the inside was fully decorated!The windows are not very large, so it is really impressive and sneaky that they made the effort to fully deck out the interior.

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Some of my favorite details include Santa’s mailbox, the candy walkway, and the front door made from panels of huge chocolate bars. Oh, and if you like Twizzlers, expect to be tickled pink.

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You really have to get up close to truly appreciate all of the details and work that went into this chocolate home, so visit Hershey’s Chocolate World and see for yourself!  Admission into Chocolate World  and Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour is free.

Other winter attractions to check out while in Hershey include Christmas Candylane, Hershey Sweet Lights, and the Hershey Derry Township annual train exhibit.

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Just Enough Fun

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My family had a blast at Hershey’s Chocolate World last weekend. We went for the S’mores Campfire Party, an outdoor event held every fall at Hershey’s Chocolate World. This year it lasts from October 15-November 3rd. It’s chock full of fun activities like live music, scary stories, and of course, a bonfire for making s’mores. Best of all, admission is free (s’mores kits cost $3, which also includes hot cocoa or chocolate milk).

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During the entertainment, the kids had front row seats atop hay bales, while camp chairs were scattered about for parents. My kids loved making the s’mores, although to our surprise, they didn’t want to eat any their hard work! Instead, they ate the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate individually.

IMG_3826Inside Chocolate World there were even more activities, including the free Trick-Or-Treat Adventure. Children 12 and under receive a candy bag and have to make their way around to a few scattered stations. Costumes were encouraged, but not required, which was great because we hadn’t come prepared anyway.

Of course, no trip to Chocolate World is complete without taking the tour ride at least once. This has become one of their absolute favorite things to do. My son is such a Chocolate World fanatic that he randomly yells “Chocolate World!” whenever he gets excited, in place of more standard cries of joy, like “hooray” or “yippee”.

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Upon exiting the tour, we came around behind the cookie shop (another one of our ritual stops) which overlooks the kitchen area. While peeking down into the magical cookie baking area I noticed an infographic intended for employees.

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With some closer inspection, and with the help of my camera zoom, I saw that it was a guide to coating cupcakes with sprinkles. “Too much fun, not enough fun, and just enough fun.” My wife and I thought this was pretty cool, even though we strongly disagreed with the general premise of the poster. I mean, how can you possibly have too much fun when it comes to a cupcake!? Can you guess which one my kids wanted to eat?