Hersheypark is made up of seven themed areas, starting with Hershey's Chocolatetown, an area which spans from outside the main gate, to around the area of the former Sky Ride station. From there, it becomes Founder's Way, which leads to a junction where three sections – Kissing Tower Hill, The Hollow and Pioneer Frontier – meet and make up the central and southern end of the park, while two sections, Midway America and The Boardwalk, make up the northern end of the park.
Hershey's Chocolatetown On October 3, 2018, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts revealed its "biggest announcement ever" – a new section of the park called Hershey's Chocolatetown. It features
Candymonium, a
Bolliger & Mabillard hypercoaster; the Chocolatier themed restaurant, bar, and patio; the Sweeterie confectionery kitchen; as well as a 10,000 square foot flagship boutique store, Hersheypark Supply Co, Milton's Ice Cream Parlor, a 2,200-square-foot Starbucks store and a kettle corn location that is the largest in Hersheypark. Chocolatetown also features a unique Hershey's Kisses fountain. The project cost an estimated $150 million making this the largest capital expense in the park's history. The new area sits on of land previously unoccupied by Hersheypark. Along with the expansion, Hershey announced plans to introduce a new entrance to the park, which will lead directly to the new section. The park's Carrousel was relocated from Founder's Way to Chocolatetown. The expansion, along with the rest of the park, opened on July 3, 2020, after being delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The Chocolatier Restaurant, The Sweeterie, and Milton's Ice Cream Parlor were rescheduled to open in 2021. All three locations as well as the Hersheypark Supply Co. main gift shop are open year-round even when the park is closed. It is now the first area one encounters when entering the park. It replaced the former Tudor Square and Rhineland buildings that were built during the park's retheming in the 1970s. There are only a few remaining buildings from the Rhineland section towards the back of the area, where it becomes Founder's Way.
Founder's Way Founder's Way is the second themed area of Hersheypark. Prior to the opening of Hershey's Chocolatetown, it began outside of the main gate near Tram Circle and encompassed the former
Tudor Square (1973–2013) and
Rhineland (1973–2013) areas when they were merged with Founder's Circle and Music Box Way. Now a few buildings from Rhineland still remain, including a few gift shops, the now-empty former station of the Sky Ride, Nathan's, and Dispatch Pizzeria Express. began After the completion of Hershey's Chocolatetown, the rather steep hill in this area was leveled off. Going into the main circle of the area is a statue of Milton S. Hershey and a surrounding fountain, which honors the chocolate maker and founder of the park. The center of this circle is where the carousel used to be before being moved to Chocolatetown. The red, white, and blue pavilion that it used to be under still remains and is the middle of a circle that has a number of rides on the outside of the circle. From 1972 until 2004, this area was known as
Carousel Circle. In 2005, Carousel Circle became Founder's Circle, until 2013, when it was merged with Music Box Way, Rhineland and Tudor Square. The section of Founder's Way beyond Carousel circle is an area formerly themed as
Der Deitsch Platz. This is home to the 1906 Grille, a Get the Picture Souvenir Photo Stand, where guests can see and purchase pictures taken of them by park photographers throughout their day, as well as a Subway restaurant. The next section that was merged, formerly known as Music Box Way, is home to the Music Box Theater, the first enclosed theater stage in the park. It also includes rides such as the Fender Bender bumper cars, the Pirate, Reese's Cupfusion, as well as a number of kiddie rides. It is from this area that guests can access The Hollow, Pioneer Frontier, and a bridge leading to Kissing Tower Hill.
The Hollow This section was originally named "Comet Hollow" after the oldest operating coaster in the park,
Comet, and lies along Spring Creek. This is one of the oldest areas of Hersheypark; many rides have come and gone in this area. The park's first water ride, the Mill Chute installed in 1929, was alongside the creek where Great Bear runs today. The original location for the bumper cars, then called the Auto Skooters, is now the SooperDooperLooper Sandwich Stop. There were giant slides on the hill where the Hersheypark Amphitheater is located. A Streco turnpike ride was located underneath the high bridge that crossed Spring Creek to Minetown. In 1932 the Park installed a Traver Tumble Bug ride next to the Mill Chute. It was removed in 1981 to make room for the Wave Swinger. The park's carousel, before being moved to Carousel Circle in 1972, was located along the creek adjacent to the station of Comet. Before SooperDooperLooper came to Comet Hollow in 1977, a Himalaya ride was in that location, and before that, twin
Eli Bridge Ferris wheels. A whip, and a station for the Electric Railroad were also located in Comet Hollow at one time. One of Hersheypark's most significant floods occurred in 1972 as a result of
Hurricane Agnes. A number of rides were heavily damaged or destroyed as a result. These rides include the turnpike ride, the Mill Chute (which at the time of the flood was rethemed as the Lost River), and the giant slides. They were eventually replaced; the
Coal Cracker (1973) and Twin Turnpike (1975) were put on higher ground in Minetown, and the Merry Derry Dip Fun Slide was put in Midway America twenty-five years later in 1997. Today, The Hollow features three roller coasters,
Comet,
Skyrush and
SooperDooperLooper. It also houses the Wave Swinger, Tea Cups, and Sweet Swing rides. Almost all of
Great Bear's track courses through The Hollow. Beginning with the 2012 season and renovations being done to this area, the famous chocolate smell that was used in building materials was dampened due to concerns about safety. Additionally, the park changed the name of the once 'Comet Hollow' to the present name of 'The Hollow'.
Kissing Tower Hill Until the start of the 2014 season, this area of the park had been called Minetown, which had been officially opened in 1990 with the additions of Convoy, Red Baron, Flying Falcon and Dinosaur-Go-Round. All except Dinosaur-Go-Round, Red Baron, and Flying Falcon are still in the area; Dinosaur-Go-Round was moved to Founder's Circle for the 2007 season so the Frog Hoppers could be moved to its location to make room for the Boardwalk, and following the 2016 season, Red Baron was moved to Pioneer Frontier and Flying Falcon was removed completely to make room for Hershey Triple Tower. The section features many classic Hersheypark attractions, including the Sunoco Twin Turnpike, Coal Cracker flume ride,
Kissing Tower and
Great Bear. It is also home to the Overlook Arcade (formerly the Minetown Arcade), Overlook Food Court (formerly the Minetown Restaurant), Hersheypark Aquatheater and the Hersheypark entrance to ZooAmerica. The Overlook Food Court Restaurant is a cafeteria-style place, and for many years was the only area in the park where alcohol was served. Alcohol is now also served at various locations in Pioneer Frontier and Midway America.
Pioneer Frontier Pioneer Frontier is the southwestern-themed section of the park and includes four of the park's roller coasters:
Trailblazer (the second oldest in the park),
Jolly Rancher Remix,
Storm Runner, and
Fahrenheit. It also includes the Frontier Flyers, The Howler, Mini Scrambler, Livery Stables, and Red Baron. It also has its own food court which features a wide variety of restaurants. The section previously included the area up to and including Tidal Force until 2007 when Tidal Force and Canyon River Rapids were rezoned into the new Boardwalk. However, the southern end of the section was expanded at this time, encompassing the Pirate (swinging ship), The Claw, and the Dry Gulch Railroad, all rezoned from Music Box Way. Pioneer Frontier is also home to the Playdome Arcade (formerly the Double "R" Cade, the Frontier Meetinghouse, and a Cinema Vision), which was newly remodeled for the 2018 season.
Midway America Opened in 1996 as a homage to the classic midway fair, Midway America features four roller coasters, including
Wildcat's Revenge, a steel hybrid coaster which opened in 2023,
Lightning Racer (a dueling wooden roller coaster), and two steel coasters,
Laff Trakk, a glow in the dark spinning family indoor coaster situated directly across the pathway from the last coaster in this area,
Wild Mouse. The section also has Music Express, Merry Derry Dip Fun Slides, Ferris Wheel and three kiddies rides: Granny Bugs, Pony Parade, and Tiny Tracks.
The Boardwalk at Hersheypark The Boardwalk at Hersheypark, a water park, was officially opened in 2007 and featured five new water park attractions along with three already standing rides: Roller Soaker, Tidal Force, and Canyon River Rapids. Canyon River Rapids and Tidal Force were rezoned from Pioneer Frontier to the Boardwalk. In 2009, the Boardwalk received an expansion known as the Seaquel which replaced Canyon River Rapids with Intercoastal Waterway (a lazy river), the Shore (a wave pool) and cabanas. Roller Soaker was removed for the 2013 season; however, the station was left up. That same year, the area was renovated and taken up by a kiddie spray ground and some tables. For the 2018 season, Hersheypark announced that two new water attractions would be in this area: Breaker's Edge, a hydro-magnetic coaster slide that also counts as the park's 14th coaster, and Whitecap Racer, the longest mat racer slide in the world which features two sets of twisting enclosed tubes. Breaker's Edge uses the station that was formerly used by Roller Soaker. == Bus access ==