OUR HERSHEYPARK SEASON PASS EXPERIENCE- PART 1

My family lives less than an hour from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Over the years, we have known many families in our area who have purchased season passes to Hersheypark, a nationally recognized amusement park owned by the Hershey family of companies. We often heard from season passholders that they’re a real bargain, and that they pay for themselves after only a few visits. In 2025, my family climbed on the bandwagon and bought season passes for the four of us. As an accounting and spreadsheet guy, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to record and track several data points in an attempt to quantify just how much of a bargain season passes really are.

WHY 2025?
Two major factors made 2025 the year that my wife and I decided to spring for season passes. First, our youngest child was finally tall enough to ride all of the adult rides in the park. No more kiddie rides for this family! We could finally go full-throttle on whatever struck our fancy on any given trip to the park. Second, I changed jobs late in 2024, and using the season passes for sporadic single vacation days my first summer on the job was helpful.

That’s right, while some people purchase season passes in addition to whatever their summer plans contain, Hersheypark season passes literally were my family’s summer vacation. Our children each got to do a week-long sleepaway camp, but as far as family vacation time, Chocolatetown, USA was our sole destination. Living less than an hour away made this feasible as well.

PASSES AND PERKS
At the time of our purchase, Hersheypark offered four tiers of season passes: Bite Size, Full Size, King Size, and Giant Size. Each step up provides additional perks for the passholder. Here are my thoughts on each tier:

Bite Size passes are appealing if you’ve got little kids. You get access to the park for the entire operating season, including spring dates, Hersheypark in the Dark in the fall, and Christmas Candylane in November and December. It also includes entry to ZooAmerica as well (you can access ZooAmerica for free with your Hersheypark ticket, but this perk could be used for days in the spring and fall when ZooAmerica is open and the amusement park is not). Beyond this, the perks are minimal- 50% off on parking, and a 5% discount on food. No adult in their right mind should opt for a Bite Size pass. These are best suited exclusively for the little ones.

Full Size passes are where the real perks kick in. At this level, you get free parking and access to the season passholder lot close to the main entrance to the park. The discount on merchandise, food, and games goes up to 15%, and you get Sweet Start early access- one hour before general admission ticketholders get in. There’s two caveats here- first, the main gates open to all ticket holders an hour before the posted opening time for the park, giving everyone access to the Carousel and the Candymonium roller coaster. Full Size and higher season passholders can access two screened entry points beyond these limitations.

Second, the whole park isn’t available during Sweet Start. Only Founders Way and The Hollow open up at this time. It gives you plenty of time to knock out a few thrill or family rides before the masses storm in, but eight coasters and the water park are not accessible yet. Be advised- crowds of Sweet Starters form at the rope drop points for the rest of the park. The Full Size pass also gets you access to monthly rewards through the park app and automatic entry in the summer loyalty challenge, where you rack up points for various combinations of visiting the park, which earns you even more rewards to cash in on later in the year.

King Size passes offer a few subtle but valuable perks. At this level, you get a free drink plan and a season passholder cup for said free beverage (you must wait at least 10 minutes between cup fills). This alone can lead to some not insignificant savings. You also get a free hot beverage plan for during Christmas Candylane in November and December (think the best tasing hot chocolate you’ve ever had, on endless repeat). You also get two free Hersheypark tickets, allowing you to bring friends. This level also gifts you the joy of a season passholder cinch bag (because what family doesn’t need another umpteenth cinch bag lying around the house?).

Giant Size passes are the most expensive, and their perks cater to the Hersheypark diehards. A single-use Fast Track (line jumper) wristband and discounts on single-day multi-use and full-season Fast Track passes make this tier appealing to those who want to get the most out of every visit and skip waiting in lines. The Giant Pass also comes with three free park tickets, a few snack vouchers and access to a Giant Passholder lounge. We didn’t purchase this tier pass, so I cannot attest to the fabulousness of the lounge.

WHERE WE LANDED
After analyzing all the perks and weighing the cost of each tier, my family split the difference. My wife and I each got a King Size pass, while our two children each got a Full Size pass. The Fast Track perks of the Giant Size pass weren’t enticing enough for two reasons. One, we knew we’d visit the park enough times that shelling out more money for multiple line skips felt unnecessary. Two, the lounge wasn’t a draw for us because our intent was to ride the rides, not sit around like one-percenters. And really, unless everyone in your family is going to get a Giant Size pass, what’s the point of the line skips and lounge? The price point was much too steep for our summer budget.

Full Size passes are great for kids who will visit the park with a parent. They get enough of the perks to maximize the fun of rewards, the loyalty program, and Sweet Start. Unless you have a child who is old enough and responsible enough to visit the park on their own, there’s no need to spring for more than a Full Size pass.

For parents, the King Size pass makes a lot of sense. You score a few free tickets in case your kids want to bring a friend once or twice (or use them on grandma and grandpa), and you get the drink plans. Naturally, we cheated this a little bit and let our kids share one of the all-year cups while my wife and I shared the other (one of us just had to use our pass to refill the kids’ cup). This means my wife and I both got cinch bags, which we probably used once and then stuffed them in the hall closet with the rest of the lesser cinch bags we’ve accumulated over the years.

THE COST
We registered for our season passes in October of 2024. Since there was no finance charge, I signed up for the installment payment plan. Nothing beats spreading the hurt out over multiple months! Season passes are discounted early on, and the discount amount decreases the longer you wait to buy. If you know you want to spring for season passes, register as early as possible. You can pay up front too if you want, but the installment plan made my budget spreadsheet happier.

Our King Size passes cost $231 a piece, and the Full Size passes for the kids were $179 apiece. I’m sure the price increases incrementally each year, so I cannot vouch for current pricing. This left the damage as the following:

2 King Size passes @ $231 = $462

2 Full Size passes @ $179 = $358

TOTAL SEASON PASS COST: $820


BONUS
My family also purchased the two-meals-a-day dining plan for the operating season (aka spring and summer, but not fall or winter). I’ll break down the specifics of how we maximized the value of these plans in Part 3. Hersheypark also offers one-meal-a-day plans, but we got the two-meal plans, as we intended to stay from open to close as much as possible.

4 two-meals-a-day plans @ $142.03 = $568.12

TOTAL SEASON PASS AND MEAL PLAN COST: $1,388.12


Up Next: Season Pass Value Extraction