Thrill Ride: The Transformation of Hersheypark

by John R. Haddad

More than an amusement park linked to a chocolate empire, Hershey Park in its early years was an extension of industrialist Milton Hershey’s paternalistic capitalism. Hershey sought to avoid the labor strife seen in other industries by giving his workers a better deal. He provided employees with affordable homes, free schools, utility subsidies, and municipal services as well as amenities including a theater, library, and amusement park. In exchange, he expected hard work, loyalty, and no strikes.

Eventually the Hershey Company faced intense market pressure from its competitor Mars and discontinued the services and amenities the community had come to expect. By the 1960s, the park had become so run-down that Hershey officials decided it needed a redesign, and they refashioned it into a Disney-style theme park. What had been an old-fashioned, pay-as-you-go amusement park for chocolate workers, their families, and the community would become a major mid-Atlantic attraction.

Haddad’s engaging and accessible social history explores how this remodel of the park strategically used symbols of the past and future to help the Hershey community cope with change. The new park guided patrons from depictions of the Old World through subsequent eras, culminating in a space exemplifying modernity, with colossal steel structures and sophisticated thrill rides.

Drawing on deep archival work and personal interviews, Haddad charts how memory and feelings are tied to locations and how people respond when change threatens those locations.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2025

Reviews

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book I now have lots of respect for Milton S. Hershey. Though most of the book centers around the changes made at Hersheypark over the years, the first part told of how M. S. Hershey started his chocolate factory and all that he did for his employees. He made sure they could have affordable homes, gave subsidies on their utility bills and constructed places for them to enjoy, such as a theater, a library and more. He also gave the town Hershy Park which was, at first, mostly a picnic place with a couple of rides, a band shell and a ballroom. Entering the park was free and the rides cost very little.
The townspeople loved having that amenity, so it was no surprise that a while after Hershey's death and the new heads of his corporation decided to redo the park, the people were vehemently against the changes.
The book shows how places resonate with people and how erasing the structures of those memories can cause quite a resistance. It also highlights all the planning that goes into creating a place where people will want to visit time and time again.

[Roxie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book had some real gems in it, I found myself thinking this is why I don't read nonfiction far too often. The author is a professor, so I believe publishing is a required part of the gig, but the narrative felt sooo academic and dry at times, not to mention repetitive and padded with unnecessary global/cultural context. Some of the deep dives on German ancestry, crafting trends, and economic conditions could have been summarized a lot more in favor of sticking closer to the development of the park itself. With a name like Thrill Ride, I thought the arc of the book would continue farther than the introduction of sooperdooperLooper, but its focus really didn't expand much beyond the late 1970s. There were a lot of interesting tidbits and anecdotes along the way, and I did love the origin stories on beloved parts of the park that are so nostalgic for me, but returning over and over again to how much Hershey community members despised THE FENCE...okay, the point has been made.

[Megan Kyburz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but much more. This gave a history of all things Hershey including the chocolate factory, Milton and more. I was looking for more info on rides, but it covered a lot. I enjoyed it.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a decent account of Hershey and the park in the 1970s but it could of been better. Overall interesting read.