Before we even got there, we got our parking pass for the day, a letter with detailed instructions, and our name tags in the mail. Score one for logistics! They also answered my questions about peanuts in any of the foods or contamination. In case you’re wondering, just steer clear of the muffins and pancake topping goodies.

We got there at 7:30am. Breakfast with Santa was due to start at 8am. Other people were early like us, and they opened the doors. I was so thankful for this, because man did I have to pee. I don’t recommend having our morning tea or coffee before leaving the house if you’re driving in from outer areas. Anyway, you pay when you get there, which is awesome. We had an illness on Thanksgiving, so I was hoping we wouldn’t have to cancel on our day, but if we did, we weren’t going to be out the money since we hadn’t paid yet.

After you pay, you follow the signs, and an elf directs you to your assigned table (score 2 for logistics!). You are then free to move about and get your breakfast. There were two hot buffets set up on each end of the seating area, with the pancakes and drinks in the middle (3 for logistics). Our table also had a container of cookie ornaments for each child to decorate, a Bingo card, and some Kisses as the centerpiece.

After Santa arrived, and we were done eating, we were free to go see Santa, and take our own pictures, at our leisure (score 1/2 for logistics, I’ll explain later).

After some Bingo, and giving everyone a chance to eat, we lined up to go ride the first ride of the day on the Chocolate Tour ride. This is where things moved a little slower. We had to wait a bit for people, but not too long. I understand we had to do this as a group.

After the ride, we were then treated to the 3D show. This is where it fell apart. Of course we had to wait for everyone for this. Since some people were still seeing Santa, and then got to the ride late, those of us who had gotten to breakfast on time (the letter said 7:45am), had to wait for the scragglers. My opinion is they should’ve been moved along with the group and then they could see Santa after the 3D show. He wasn’t going anywhere.

During the intro to the 3D show, there was information on Milton Hershey and the company. It was a lot of the information we had heard when we took the trolley ride. I’m not sure how many people had been there before, or heard the information before, but there was a group of adults behind us talking loudly that were very rude. I expected the kids to talk some and the wee ones to make noise, but the adults should know better.

The 3D show was really cool. I only made it about halfway through before my sensory issues got me. It’s not something I will do again. The snow got my arm wet when it came out of the ceiling. There were a few times I got a few drops of water on my arm as well. The general 3D part triggered my motion sickness, and I got a headache and nausea. By the time we walked out of there, I was so beyond done, and at that point Chocolate World was open and there was at least one bus load of people there.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. This was a WAY better experiences than our past ones at Wegmans. As long as we live here, and as long as the boys want to do breakfast with Santa, we will go to Chocolate World. Our food was hot, and everything flowed as smoothly as could be expected. They run so many of them leading up to Christmas that the group was kept pretty small. I will just sit out the 3D show from now on, and they’ll go with Dad.

From the bottle:

A cheerful creation to warm your heart and enlighten your tongue. Fermented and aged with spciy yeast, this ruby red beer delivers subtle cherries and enticing aromas.

When I asked my husband what his take on the beer was he said “Honey and cherries!” (that’s on the bottle) Yes, I live with a smartass. It obviously tastes good or it wouldn’t be one of the beers he talks about all year long. I guess I should know better than to try to get him to articulate his thoughts during a football game too.

Obviously other people in central PA have the same love for Troegs’ Mad Elf Ale because once it gets around that it’s in stores, it becomes like trying to find a Wii those first couple years they hit stores – very elusive. This is another one of those seasonal beers that we stock up on while it’s available, and then hoard, I mean save it to savor in our basement where it’s cool and dark – perfect for storing beer.

*If you’d like more on Troegs, I made some cupcakes using their Javahead stoudt beer.

Do you have a favorite seasonal beer?

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The Star Wars Shop for costumes:

There was also a section where they showed various advertising campaigns where you could make your own candy bar wrapper, and e-mail it to yourself or someone else. A picture of Aaron trying to use one of the wrapper makers, and a wrapper I made:

Some pictures from our day:

*Neither Hershey nor Blue Star Museums sponsored this trip. We took it on our own volition. Hershey doesn’t even know who I am, although it’d be awesome if they did.

We got the kids ready to go on the trolley and boarded. After a seat change because of pleas of “No, I want to sit with Daddy/Mommy,” we were loaded and off. Our driver and conductor were a great pair. You could tell they really enjoy their jobs. If they don’t, no one was any the wiser.

Along the way we heard about Milton Hershey’s life and stopped at important spots around town. One such spot was the house where Milton Hershey grew up. We also got to see parts of the Milton S. Hershey school. The auditorium was closed for repairs, but was said to be due to open later this month to the public again.

It was interesting to hear about a man who founded what we all know as the successful Hershey Company now. Milton Hershey had been bankrupt a few times before he found success. His first success was in caramels. It was in Europe that he learned about chocolate.

Later when Milton Hershey married and the couple subsequently found that they couldn’t have children, they opened a school for orphaned boys. Why only boys? Well, this was because they found that orphaned girls were much more likely to be adopted because they were seen as useful around the house. Milton and his wife took in some of these boys and started what we know as the Milton S. Hershey school today. The school is now coed, but students still must demonstrate need. The school is still 100% tuition free. Every time you attend any of the Hershey Entertainment attractions or buy the candies, you are directly contributing to the school. I don’t know about you, but that makes me think a little differently about the prices we pay on Hershey goods.

There was much more we learned on the trolley ride as it’s about an hour, but I don’t want to spoil it all for you if you decide to go. I will say that it’s worth it.

When we got back to Chocolate World, the line to the ride there was too long, so we decided to get what chocolate we wanted to purchase and head out for lunch. You can eat there, but it was crowded, so we opted for another option in town. This summer, Chocolate World will be opening a section to make your own candy bar. We look forward to going back to try that out. Zach expressed an interest in making that his birthday outing this year.

Why do we like to go to Chocolate World so much? Other than all the yummy chocolate you can purchase, parking is free for TWO HOURS. The ride inside Chocolate World is free and you get samples at the end. If you choose to ride the trolley or do the 3-D movie, make sure to take in your parking ticket to get stamped, or save your receipt. If you’re there longer than the two hours on your parking ticket, they will add the time you’re off doing those things. That was a big factor in why we went on the trolley ride. We knew we wouldn’t lose an hour of our parking time by going. Other than the chocolate we buy *coughcaseofcaramelloscough*, Chocolate World can be an inexpensive outing for the whole family.

I called our pediatrician’s office and let them know they needed to call and set up the appointment. They called me back about an hour later to say that it was in JULY. Um, it’s only April now. We have to wait another THREE AND A HALF MONTHS for his appointment.

What really pisses me off about the whole situation is that I wanted to talk to a nurse in the specialist’s office. I have some questions leading up to our appointment. They completely shut me, the minor patient’s mother, out of the loop. I’m not some hysterical mother. I’ve done my research, and I have some questions so that we get the most out of our appointment when we FINALLY get to go.

The hospital at Hershey already has one strike against them. They’ve shut the patient out of the process. I can’t see how that will lead to effective health care. I’ve heard they’re good, but so far, I’m not impressed.

Again, I can’t stress enough how SLOW health care can be. I took Aaron to the doctor THREE WEEKS ago with belly aches, diarrhea and vomiting that had already been persisting for about FOUR WEEKS, and had finally gotten to the point where it couldn’t be explained away by a virus. We’re already SEVEN WEEKS (almost TWO MONTHS) into this journey and we have another THREE AND A HALF MONTHS to go – minimum. And this is for a THREE YEAR OLD CHILD with a persistent mother.

I’m going to hit up some of my fellow milspouses for this one. I think they all deserve an Easter basket of their own, even if virtual. Hey ladies, at least these ones won’t tempt you with goodies you may be avoiding right now, right?

-Army Wife 101
-Pink Chandelier
-Household6Diva
-Sarah Ruth Today

And YOU! If you’d like to help get the blog total to $5,000, by all means, jump in a put up a post.

HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

* Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
* Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
* Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
* Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
* Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. (This is important. Your post doesn’t count if you dont’ go leave your link.) You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
* Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
* Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.

*I received no compensation to do this post. I did it because it’s for a good cause. I received my basket from being a contributor over at Girly Gazette. Kadi put us all on her list. Thanks Kadi!