Hersheypark

Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park situated in Hershey, Derry Township, Pennsylvania, United States, about 15 miles east of Harrisburg, and 95 miles west of Philadelphia. Founded in 1905 by Milton S. Hershey, as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company, as of 2012, the park is wholly and privately owned by Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company. The park has won several awards, including the IAAPA Applause Award. The park opened its first roller coaster in 1923, the The Wild Cat, an early Philadelphia Toboggan Company coaster. In 1970, Hershey Park began a redevelopment plan which made the park into the new Hersheypark. The 1970s brought the first looping roller coaster on the East Coast, as well as a 330 foot tall observation tower, the Kissing Tower. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the park rapidly expanded. Between 1991 and 2008, the park added eight roller coasters and a water park. As of 2011, the park's area covers over 110 acres, containing over 60 rides and attractions. The park contains a waterpark called The Boardwalk at Hersheypark, and a zoo called ZOOAMERICA - North American Wildlife Park. Adjacent is Hershey's Chocolate World, a visitors' center that is open to the public and that contains shops, restaurants, and a chocolate factory-themed ride.