History
Hershey's Chocolate World was built as a replacement of the Hershey chocolate plant tour, which had reached its capacity and was no longer able to handle the large numbers of visitors per year. A large sign in front of the factory tells visitors to go to Hershey's Chocolate World for the chocolate-making tour. The newly-opened facility took inspiration from World's Fair pavilions.
In 1979, a mosaic from the original Hershey Creamery was moved to Chocolate World. It was placed next to the entrance of the ride, and lasted until 1999, when the retail area named Everything Hershey's was opened. Over the years, the tour ride has gone through several revisions and renovations, the first of which took place in 1978 to add a series of nostalgic shops to the building. On June 1, 1986, the visitor's center welcomed its 20 millionth visitor.
A $4.5 million update to the chocolate-making tour ride opened in 1988, featuring a curious robot for a host. In the mid-1990s, the ride saw numerous revisions on a small scale, including the removal of several show elements. The last renovation occurred in early 2006 when several scenes in the chocolate tour ride were replaced with singing, animatronic cows. Today, there are still portions of the ride that have changed very little from the 1978 updated version, including the sorting and cleaning, roll refining, and chocolate conch scenes.
The building features brownstone quarried out of Hummelstown, a neighboring town.
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