Monday, January 14, 2019

Hersheypark Shares New Maps & Images of 2020 Chocolatetown Project + Heavy Work Begins


© Hersheypark
To coincide with the official groundbreaking on the massive Chocolatetown expansion at Hersheypark, the property has also updated their website to give us new views of the $150 million addition.

Set to open in 2020, the project is so large that the park has already started construction on it.  It seems the theme park will be using a temporary entrance during the 2019 season as the current one will be demolished by then.

The above aerial image shows the entire Chocolatetown expansion, and you can also make your way through the area and see what will be built using the park's new interactive map.

© Hersheypark
Another bonus from the new images that have been added are some additional views of the new roller coaster that will anchor Chocolatetown.  What is expected to be a B&M hyper coaster, themed to Hershey's candies, will feature brown track and silver supports.  A major part of the coaster, a helix near the end of the ride, will surround a giant fountain in the middle of the park entrance plaza.

© Hersheypark
Images of Chocolatetown from afar show the entire layout of the coaster, which is very much in line with many of the other B&M hypers out there.  The ride will have a steep first drop (expected to be above 200 feet) a huge air-time hill, a hammerhead turn around, then many smaller hills, a helix or two and then the brakes.

© Aaron Bond via Facebook
Hersheypark just had the groundbreaking for Chocolatetown recently, and since then has started major demolition work inside the former entrance area.  Work had already begun previously, but now things have kicked into high gear.

Browsing some Hersheypark fans groups on Facebook reveals plenty of photos of the work.  Looks like most of the buildings are going to be quickly smashed to bits.  Above is a photo from a gallery on Hersheypark Connoissuers, and here is another aerial gallery (drone footage, not posting here as I can't be sure they were taken legally).

© Hersheypark
One last thing I wanted to mention.  If you're still curious about how the new entrance will fit over the existing one, then make sure to scroll down on the new map page the park debuted.  It has several images, like the one above, showing just how the park's entrance facilities will change in 2020.  Pretty neat to play around with!


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