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Hershey Chocolate World Chocolate Tour receives major upgrade


Hershey’s Chocolate World Chocolate Tour has recently undergone major technological upgrades to better serve a new generation of Hershey chocolate fans.

“Chocolate World has been part of the Central Pennsylvania community for 42 years, and the tour ride has always been a central component of that, so we are really excited to update the ride and bring a fresh story to a new generation that is coming to visit,” Vice President of The Hershey Experience Suzanne Jones said.

The tour, which has been in service since 1973, has elements of an amusement park ride as guests are taken via carts on rails through Hershey’s milk chocolate making process using a variety of visual and sound effects. Previous renovations to the tour occurred in 1988, 1998 and 2006, according to a news release issued by The Hershey Company.

“There is the great message on the simple ingredients that The Hershey Company uses to make their iconic milk chocolate, and that story comes through very clearly now,” Jones said. “They’ll also see the characters and the process in a way we weren’t able to present them before because the technology is so new.”

While the attraction has undergone some major upgrades, care was taken to preserve the aspects of the tour that fans love most.

“Many of the guests have seen it dozens of times, and they have a real love for it, so we were very careful that we didn’t lose any elements people would miss and took pains to enhance what was already there,” Ty Granaroli, creative director for the company who did the design work for the attraction, Granaroli Design and Entertainment, said.

The new tour involves enhanced sets that feature the latest projection mapping and holographic imaging effects, new narration, a new theme song and 13 state-of-the-art animated figures.

“The three dimensional figures were designed by Hershey, and the actual design of the robots was done by a company called Garner Holt Productions based out of Riverside, Calif., who also work for the Walt Disney Company,” Mark Thomas, producer with On Track Themes, the company that created the 3-D designs of the tour’s animated cows, said.

As for the cows, there are now more of them than on the previous tour, and they, along with the candy characters, comprise the majority of the animatronics.

“Our fans have helped us name those cows,” Jones explained. “We’ve had over 10,000 fans participate in an online survey to help us pick the names which are Mocha, Caramel, Strawbella, Blossom and Cocoa.”

There is one more cow left to be named by fans, Jones said, and its name will be based on the spicy, nutty flavors that contribute to the chocolate making process.

In addition to the animatronics, the use of holographic effects are the other major enhancement to the tour.

“You’re going to see things like video mapping of some of the machines. So instead of just telling you what they do, you’ll be able to look inside them and see how they work, which is a really different experience,” Granaroli said.

General Manager of Chocolate World Steve Balliet feels the redesigned attraction will provide guests with a whole new experience.

“The new technology brings this story to life like never before,” Balliet said. “For us, it’s about introducing the next generation to our brand and bringing it to life in a really fun and ‘edutaining’ way.”

Some guests who have had the chance to go on the revised tour seem to like the changes.

“I’ve been on the tour before many years ago,” Vicki Hummel, of Lebanon, who went through the tour with her 3-year-old granddaughter, Taylor Blouch, said. “Hershey did a great job. It is a lot more animated and it definitely kept our attention the whole time.”

“We come here a lot,” Colleen Sanders said. “We have a 2-year-old, Allie, and this is her favorite thing to do. The digital effects were neat, and I thought it was cool that the characters narrate now as you go along through the tour.”

While the renovated tour is open to the public now, the official grand opening will be conducted May 14.