Milton S. Hershey, the creator of the famous Hershey's chocolate, fulfilled his dream in 1907 when he opened Hershey Park in his town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Sweetest Place on Earth, as a form of recreation for his employees at the chocolate factories. Complete with picnic groves, canoe docks, a playground and bandstand to entertain his employees, Milton wasn't satisfied yet and soon added the first major ride to Hershey Park, a carousel, soon followed by a train ride to take passengers to the end of the park and back.

The park didn't go onto the map for major thrillrides though until the golden age of the rollercoaster arrived in the 1920's and prompted Hershey to construct it's first thrillride ever - the Joy Ride. A wooden wonder of it's era, the Joy Ride attracted swarming crowds to ride and set a record attendance level with Hershey Park boasting to have the longest, most dropping coaster in the country. But it wasn't until 1946 that Hershey Park recieved a new coaster. Replacing the Joy Ride, which was then known as the Wild Cat, the Comet would become one of the world's most famous wooden coasters right after opening.

But with the competition once again heating up for park's accross the country, in 1977 the park went under a major renovation. Fences were built around the park and a new pay one price admission began. But most notable was Sooperdooperlooper, the East's first looping coaster. Then the 1990's saw major additions for the 'new' Hersheypark including the world's tallest water ride, the Wildcat, one of America's best wooden twisters along with Midway America, a completely new theme area, Great Bear a unique inverted coaster, and newest of them all, Lightning Racer, Hersheypark's newest woodie and the planet's first racing and dueling coaster. 2002 brought another coaster to Hersheypark, Roller Soaker, a suspended family coaster relying heavily on water to deliver its thrills.

And with every year, you can be sure to expect the Sweetest Place on Earth to get only more and more sweeter.