On January 1, 2019, the main entrance of Hersheypark was used for its last time. Within a few days, the demolition of the 45 year old Tudor Castle began. Shortly thereafter, the remainder of the former Tudor Square region of the park was razed.
Springtime to Halloween
By April, a temporary entrance was set up between the park’s Hospitality Services building and the former Sky Ride building. The path ran from the newly rebuilt Tram Circle, crossing Spring Creek using an old Park Boulevard bridge, then making a sharp right, crossing the creek a second time, and then ending at the temporary entrance plaza.
The path was surrounded by fencing which blocked views of the Chocolatetown construction site. The fencing had signage installed on it. The signage was split into several sections – welcoming guests to the park, historical facts about the park, images of Hershey’s Chocolatetown, teases of the new roller coaster being built in Hershey’s Chocolatetown, and more welcoming signage near the entrance plaza.
The entrance plaza was made of a canvas tent approximately 75 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The plaza was built overtop where a stairway and ramp had been, connecting the former park region Rhineland’s lower and upper areas.
The Hersheypark wordmark color used on the canvas of the tent is called Munsell Maroon.
Candylane 2019 to Spring-Summer 2020
For Hersheypark’s 37th Christmas Candylane, the park relocated the temporary entrance from the future Hershey’s Chocolatetown, to Pioneer Frontier, in the center of the park. The entrance utilized Gate 6B. Tram Circle was relocated from it’s Hershey’s Chocolatetown location to a parking lot circle outside the temporary entrance area.
Hershey’s Chocolatetown was slated to open on Memorial Day weekend 2020. The Candylane temporary entrance was slated to be used until the new main gate would be available for use, either Memorial Day weekend or one of the weekends preceding it. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in the United States in March 2020, Hersheypark was unable to operate during Springtime in the Park, or May and June of the Summer season, so any plans to utilize this temporary main gate were scrapped.
The last day the Candylane temporary entrance was used was January 1, 2020.
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