on location: northeast ❖
randy mink
Happy product characters afford great photo ops at Hershey attractions.
cabulary words includes “woodsy,” “buttery,” “fruity” and other flavor notes. To the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” graduates are handed a Hershey’s University diploma and fullsize chocolate bar. Be sure to save lots of time for Chocolate World’s shop, which borders a “rainforest” of palms, banana plants and cacao trees under a glass roof. The store offers an overwhelming variety of bags and boxes of Hershey brands, including Reese’s, Kit Kat and Almond Joy. Pick up a Hershey’s or Reese’s logo pillow, plush product characters, cocoa bath products or the World’s Largest Kiss (44.8 ounces). There’s even a Tshirt whose chocolate scent is supposed to last seven washings. The food court
Chocolate Dreams Groups with a sweet tooth will find bliss in Hershey, Pennsylvania
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hocolate World…a tourist attraction whose very name sends my taste buds into ecstasy. Where else could I design my own candy bar and walk out the door holding a master’s degree in chocolate tasting? And, oh, the mega-gift shop—I was like a kid in, well, a candy store. The town of Hershey, established in the early 1900s, was built on chocolate. You’re reminded of its industrial heritage as you cruise down Chocolate and Cocoa avenues, where the street lights are shaped like Hershey’s Kisses. At Hershey’s Chocolate World the place to start is the Great American Chocolate Tour, a free, 10-minute ride through the company’s milk chocolatemaking magic. A virtual factory tour, the narrated tram trip follows the process from sorting cocoa beans to packaging candy. Along the way, you’ll meet singing LeisureGroupTravel.com
cows. Hershey uses 250,000 gallons of milk daily from thousands of cows on hundreds of area farms. Upon leaving the ride, everyone gets a product sample. Hershey’s Create Your Own Candy Bar ($9.95) is another Chocolate World experience. You won’t get your hands dirty, but you’ll have to sanitize them and don an apron and hairnet as you play factory worker. You design the candy bar and personalized wrapper by touching a computer screen, then walk along the assembly line to see it made. The half-hour Chocolate Tasting Adventure takes place in a classroom, where a lady in a white lab coat lectures from a podium and cuts away to videos of the wacky Dr. Livingston McNib collecting cacao pods in the rainforest. Students sample five chocolate products and try to pick up nuances in taste, appearance and smell. The list of vo-
See how candy is made on the virtual factory tour at Chocolate World.
has countless lunch choices, plus irresistible chocolaty baked goods. At The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue, groups can make candy in the Chocolate Lab, taste hot chocolate from around the world and learn the rags-to-riches story of entrepreneur and philanthropist Milton Hershey. Other options in Hershey include tours of the historic Hershey Hotel and Hershey Theatre, thrill rides at Hersheypark, ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park and Hershey Gardens. Contact: Hershey Groups, 877323-6903; hersheygroups.com. LGT April 2011 19