Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
October 3, 2023 – Hersheypark invited us to spend a day at the park during their Dark Nights Halloween celebrations. It was our first visit at this time of year since the park expansion, and what a day it was!
We spent the daylight hours riding many of the fantastic lineup of 14 roller coasters the park offers, with more than a few re-rides on Wildcat’s Revenge. And what a fantastic addition the RMC airtime machine is! We loved the original Wildcat, but the I-Box track conversion of the classic GCI woodie is breathtaking.
It wouldn’t be Halloween without Trick or Treating, and since Hershey is the sweetest place on earth, we took a break from riding to stroll through Treatville (located along the waterpark’s Boardwalk) and fill our bags with free candy as dusk settled in. It didn’t take long before fog started filling the three scare zones – Fallout Zone, Midway of Misery, and Darkstone’s Hallow – and dozens of spooky actors began roaming the walkways.
Before checking out any of the five haunted houses on offer – Haunted Coal Mine: Curse Of The Tommyknockers, Creatures Uncaged, The Descent: Catacombs Of Decay, Twisted Carnevil, and the all-new Auntie Mortem’s Abattoir – we got in another ride on Wildcat’s Revenge. After the thrilling ride in complete darkness, it was time to get in line for the haunts.
Unfortunately, we didn’t purchase Fast Track add-ons and the queues only got longer as the night went on. We managed to make it through The Descent, Twisted Carnevil, and Auntie Mortem’s, with plenty of screams, jump scares, and even some laughs, along the way. By now there wasn’t enough time left before closing to head back to the Hallow for the other two haunts, so we decided to ride Laff Trakk since we hadn’t earlier in the day. Much to our surprise, it was another ride completely in the dark, as the park is running the Maurer indoor spinning coaster without any lights on all day during the fall celebrations.
Hersheypark Halloween runs through October 29th, so there’s still plenty of time to plan a visit and get your haunt on!
Hersheypark’s Dark Nights website.