The previous posters have done an adequate job describing the attraction so I'll try not to repeat that information. I did want to post that while the attraction is fun, it can get very expensive and not really worth the money in my opinion. Almost everything there has a substantial fee attached. We caught a break on the parking as there is no parking fee during the off season but I understand that there is usually a parking fee.

We started with the 3D movie. For myself, my 9yo and 4yo to see the 3D movie was approx 16.00 total. The show is about 30 minutes and my daughter declared it the best 3D show ever! The show was too much for my 4yo who became quite frightened by the special effects. There is a an unnecessary scene involving an evil spider that jumps out at you that just about put my poor son over the edge. I really didn't expect something quite so frightening in a Hershey show. We had even taken the advice of the usher to sit off to the side so the special effects weren't so intense but it was still a bit much for my son.

We moved on to the simulated tour ride which is free and both children enjoyed it so much we stayed on and rode it twice. The staff allowed us to do so as there was no line. You are photographed on the ride and have the option to purchase the photo as you exit the ride.

I was tipped off by a review on Trip Advisor to avoid paying for the "Factory Works" attraction and I am glad I listened. The sign at the entrance of "Factory Works" clearly states the free vs. the $9.95 option but when I opted for the free option the employee lost his smile and just tossed the free paper hats to my children. I am really glad we didn't pay for this as it really is nothing worth paying for! (If you pay the $9.95 per child it just involves taking some Kisses off a conveyor belt and putting them in your souvenir plastic box and they also give you an employee badge with your picture on it).

We didn't have time to do the Trolley but those tickets are $12.95 each.

We did make a personalized big Hershey bar with the kids picture on the label. That was fun and worth the $9.95 as it was a cute souvenir to take home.

I truly don't mind spending money to have fun but it did seem excessive at Hersheys Chocolate World. Everywhere you turned there was a subtantial fee. If you have a few children and chose to do everything offered here it could really add up to an unexpectedly expensive outing.

The rest of the place is a giant gift shop and we had fun browsing. If you want to take home a souvenir of your trip there is plenty of fun items to chose from.

Overall, we had fun but I don't think we would return.

Hershey's Chocolate World, a large building on the west side of the HersheyPark amusement complex in Hershey PA, presents a fun and somewhat free activity for visitors. It's worth budgeting 1 to 3 hours to take it in.

Chocolate World actually consists of five components. (1) Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour is a free, enclosed, Disney-like ride through a simulated factory that explains how Hershey chocolate products are manufactured. The tour ride ends with free admission to (2) Hershey Marketplace Shops, a huge gift and food court that features all kinds of chocolate and related candy products (many at premium prices) for consumption and display. Nearby are the (3) Hershey Factory Works, where for a fee visitors can create their own specialty Hershey candies, covered by custom wrappers printed with their photo. Across from it is the (4) Hershey Trolley Works, a fee-ticketed, motorized trolley tour through the town of Hershey. During the trip, costumed guides describe the town's history and the story of Milton Hershey, the company's founder. Trolley Works uses Chocolate World as its depot and ticket office. Finally, (5) Hershey's Really Big 3-D Show is a 250-seat movie theater. It presents a fee-ticketed children's animated film, featuring Hershey-branded characters in a story line with three-dimensional effects.

For those unfamiliar with how chocolate is made, the tour is entertaining and worthwhile. But those hoping to see the actual manufacture of Hershey products will be slightly disappointed. The tour is not the real thing. If that's what you want, become chummy with a Hershey employee. Once a year, on a Sunday in the spring, the company invites them, their families and selected friends to peek inside the plant. Maybe you can wrangle an invitation!

The tour begins as visitors walk up a curving ramp. A video, presented on high-definition screens that line the ramp walls, explains the conditions under which cocoa beans are grown and harvested. The ramp serves as a form of crowd and line control. At its end are ride cars constructed of molded fiberglass. Their bench seats are hard but roomy. No seat belts are used or required. Each car carries about six passengers. Passengers with disabilities can be accommodated.

Once inside the cars, a automated audio presentation takes over. The cars move slowly over a pre-set path, traveling past simulations and models showing how the beans are prepared, how cocoa products are blended with other ingredients, and how various Hershey products are then manufactured. The ride is geared toward youngsters; along the way they meet singing dairy cows, talking Hershey-branded treats, lighted and blinking factory controls, and a bull that's a photographer. Look up toward the ceiling the ride's end, and smile! Each car is digitally photographed, and occupants can buy prints (without obligation) as they exit into the Marketplace. The photos are clear and colorful souvenirs, but pricey; about $11 each. Don't forget your complimentary sample of Hershey's candy as you leave, handed out by attendants.

We (two adults in our 50s) visited Chocolate World during January 2008. It was warm and comfortable inside, in contrast to the winter cold outside. This was our second visit; we had attended during the summer about 10 years earlier, when our children were in elementary school. The entire tour has since been refurbished. Our off-season visit was made enjoyable by smaller crowds, very short lines and, consequently, quicker service. We did not ride the trolley, see the movie, or pay for the Factory Works, although non-participants are allowed to mill around outside its machinery and watch others have their candies made. The trolleys are heated, but we did not deem the $12-$15 per person admission fee to be worth the price. The movie, at $4-$6 per person, may be worthwhile for those traveling with children age 12 or younger.

Parking during our visit was free. However, during HersheyPark's May-to-September peak season, a $6 parking fee is charged. Chocolate World is open year-round.

I remember going to Hershey when I was a kid (in the 60's) and have fond memories of the town smelling like chocolate, touring the actual factory and getting a full size Hershey bar at the end. Sad to say, it's not the case anymore.
Hershey has packaged the whole experience a la Disney. You go to the "Chocolate World" building; the Disney-style ride (free) takes you through the chocolate making process. During the ride you get to smell the chocolate aroma, albeit fake. At the end of the ride, we got a free bag of mini kisses. As you exit the ride, you come out in, you guessed it, in Disney style, into an enormous store. No factory direct prices here though; if you want a good price on chocolate, go to the nearby K-Mart! The ride was fun, but I don't think I'd make the drive again.

They offer a 3-D movie ($3.50 kids 12 & under, $5.50 adults), we waited about 20 minutes standing in the first room, then proceeded to a second room for 3-d glasses, where we waited another 10 minutes or so. The actual movie was entertaining but lasted only about 20 minutes. I have to say I felt ripped off, paying so much for such a short presentation.

we just got back from a much-anticipated trip to Hershey Chocolate World - somewhere I have always wanted to go. I had heard stories about "the whole town smelling like chocolate" and "street lights shaped like Hershey Kisses." Well, I didn't smell any chocolate except once inside, and I see a few street lights shaped like kisses, but this town wasn't as cute as I thought it would be. Once inside Chocolate World, I was slapped in the face with unabashed American commercialism. I have to admit I feel like a bit of a snob, as we had been to Switzerland earlier in the year and took a tour of the Callier chocolate factory. The town in Switzerland did indeed smell like chocolate, the tour was very educational (you could touch cocoa beans and smell different types of chocolate, for instance ), the chocolate was of the highest quality, and the best thing yet - the last room of the tour was tables and tables full of all different chocolates that you could sample to your heart's delight. WOW!! So, coming from this experience into Chocolate World, I seriously had to try to not roll my eyes. The entire place is a giant store where you can buy a bunch of crappy chocolate that you can get at 7-11 in all different shapes and sizes. The ride within the tour was pretty cute, and it was free to do, so that was worth it, but only lasted about 5 minutes. Once off the ride, you are handed a small, Halloween sized package of Kissables which my kids wouldn't even eat and then on to the photo area where you are pushed to buy a picture of yourself on the ride. You are then promptly dropped off into the enormous gift shop. There were several other things to do, all of which involved more crappy chocolate and all of which cost an arm and a leg to experience (make your own Hershey label, etc.). The one exception was the area where the kids could be "chocolate workers." They get their picture taken, a little worker hat, and they get to load a container full of Hershey kisses which they then put on a conveyer belt. The employees made this fun for the kids, but then some kids' parents paid the extra $9.99 to keep the small container of kisses, and other didn't (like us, ha!), so that was disappointing to the kids. We also bought some hot cocoa and a brownie from the snack bar (both of which tasted like crud and cost a lot). Ha, I realize I am sounding very snobby, and I am a huge chocolate lover, but I think that this place just epitomized American culture at its worst (during the whole ride, you hear "our job is to make you happy"). It wasn't worth the two hour drive over, and maybe the whole experience would have been better if we had followed up the tour with a trip to the Hershey themepark, but all in all, a disappointment.