I remember doing the Chocolate Factory Tour Ride when I was younger and visited Hershey Park. As it turns out, they were remodeling the ride while we were in Hershey last month (Grand Opening is May 14). I honestly thought that's all there was to Hershey's Chocolate World. Boy, was I wrong!

I was told about a Create Your Own Candy Bar, a 4D Chocolate Mystery, and a Chocolate Tasting Experience. We received tickets for each and selected our schedule.

Create Your Own Candy Bar

The first thing we did in Chocolate World was Create Your Own Candy Bar.

When we walked in, we were given hair nets and aprons. Charlie had no interest in either, but they said he could skip the apron and just do the hair net, so we'll call that a win. There are combination lockers available to store your bags, coats, and anything else you may be lugging around.

After the hair net and apron argument, I wasn't so sure this was going to work out well with our little ones. But, when the first step to making your own chocolate bar is picking what you want in your chocolate bar… what kid wouldn't want to participate?

Charlie loves all things chocolate! He happily zapped his ticket to start making his selections! Charlie chose a milk chocolate bar, chocolate cookie bits, pretzel bits, chocolate chips, and sprinkles on top!

From here, we were able to really check out the process! We saw the chocolate bar (of our choosing) drop down, fill up with our selected inclusions, then the whole thing was covered in chocolate!

While we were waiting for things to move along, we were able to create our own label for our special candy bars! You can even check the timing of your candy bar to see how much longer until you're all set!

Of course, we all loved following our own candy bars through the process! The boys were very entertained (thus, well-behaved)!

Chocolate Tasting Experience

This is probably the one I was most excited about. I mean, it's tasting chocolate! This is also the part of our Chocolate World experience I was most fearful of bringing the boys along with us.

Owen had very little interest in sitting still, but he enjoyed snacking on some Hershey's Kisses while sitting on Daddy's lap. Charlie, sitting between Tom and I, was awesome during the entire experience! He listened to the speaker and honestly tried to follow the proper tasting procedure. He was super cute trying to listen to the chocolate as it broke.

I really enjoyed tasting the different chocolates and then selecting which flavors we picked up from each piece. It really was a very cool experience.

Charlie tried the raw cacao and his response was hilarious! He wound up drinking half his bottle of water almost immediately.

When you've completed the Chocolate Tasting Experience, you receive a certificate of your completion!

4D Chocolate Mystery

By now, the boys were getting a little tired and cranky, because that's how little kids are. We entered the 4D Chocolate Mystery area a little early and were in the waiting area a little longer than ideal for the boys.

Before we were let into the theater, one of the employees asked questions from the crowd. The questions were about sports, musical instruments that kids play, and that kind of stuff.

Once we were inside the theater and the show started, the boys were angels. Honestly, the movie was super cool. There are strobe lights, misting, and the smell of chocolate throughout the mystery movie. And those kids that answered questions in the waiting area? They used their names and info in the movie. Very cool!

Other Features

Inside Hershey's Chocolate World, you'll also find a bakery, a large gift shop, a food court, a jungle, and more! I love how much you can find to do in just this one building. It's so much more than the Chocolate Tour that I thought!