The Hershey Company announced on May 13, 2026 the launch of Hershey’s Chocolate World’s summer 2026 programming, running from Memorial Day through Labor Day, timed to America’s 250th birthday celebrations and the FIFA World Cup 26 host city proximity advantage. The summer activation includes a refreshed Chocolate Tour Ride with an Americana overlay, the first new trolley in over 20 years, a Summer Bonus Bundle at $49.95 per person (saving over 30%), and a lineup of new seasonal treats and beverages available at the Hershey, Pennsylvania location. Laura Renaud, Senior Marketing Manager at The Hershey Company, is the spokesperson. Hershey’s Chocolate World was founded in 1973 and is the only place to experience Hershey’s beloved brands including Hershey’s, Kisses, Reese’s, and KIT KAT year-round using all five senses.
The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is one of the leading snack companies in North America with over $11 billion in net sales, a portfolio of over 80 iconic brands sold in approximately 85 countries, and approximately 18,000 full-time employees worldwide.
The Summer 2026 Activation: Four Distinct Programs
Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Bar Tour Ride Refresh (May 22 through September 7) overlays an Americana theme on the existing free Chocolate Tour Ride, including a reimagined version of the original “Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Bar” theme song and updated Americana-inspired décor. The Tour Ride is the flagship free attraction at Hershey’s Chocolate World and has been in operation since the attraction’s founding. The Americana overlay is a seasonal cosmetic refresh rather than a structural redesign, using the America 250th anniversary cultural moment as the creative hook.
Summer Family Trolley (Now through Labor Day) is the most capital-intensive of the four programs. The trolley features fully upgraded mechanics and returns after what the announcement describes as its first bell-ringing in 20 years. The ride takes guests through Hershey with storytelling bringing Milton Hershey’s story to life through characters, sweet treats, and a sing-along. A new trolley at a theme park attraction represents a physical asset investment, not just programming spend.
Breakfast with Hersh and Friends (June 20, 21, 27, and 28, 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.) is a new ticketed character dining experience at $39.95 for adults and $25.95 for children. It is described as the first and only time all seven Hershey’s brand characters, Hersh, The Great American Chocolate Bar, Reese, Kiss, Twizz, JOLLY RANCHER, ICE BREAKER, and KIT KAT, will appear together. The experience includes a hot breakfast buffet, character parade, DJ-led dance party, Hershey’s Kisses scavenger hunt, photo opportunities, and 20% off coupon for on-site shopping.
Summer Bonus Bundle (Available now, redeemable June 1 through 28) includes Create Your Own Candy Bar, Hershey’s Great Candy Expedition, Hershey’s Unwrapped, and one sweet treat voucher for $49.95 per person, representing over 30% savings versus purchasing experiences individually.
The Seasonal Food and Beverage Program: Ingredient Notes
The seasonal treat and beverage lineup is the most sourcing-specific element of the announcement for Source86’s audience. All items are available at the Pennsylvania flagship location and, where noted, at the Times Square (TSQ) location.
Hershey’s S’mores Pie features house-made chocolate ganache in a graham cracker crust, topped with whipped cream, mini marshmallows, graham crumbs, chocolate chips, and a Hershey’s chocolate pip. The ganache requires dark chocolate or Hershey’s chocolate at a cream-to-chocolate ratio producing a smooth, pourable-to-set ganache. The graham cracker crust requires graham cracker crumbs and butter or shortening at the pressed crust specification. The mini marshmallows are a standard confectionery gelatin-and-sugar product. The Hershey’s chocolate pip is a Hershey’s brand chocolate piece, likely a Hershey’s Kiss or Kiss-sized chocolate piece, used as the finishing decoration.
Classic Cheesecake Inspired by Hershey’s Nuggets features creamy cheesecake with a swirl of strawberry preserves over a graham cracker crust, finished with whipped cream, fresh strawberries, and Hershey’s White Crème Strawberry Nuggets. The cheesecake base requires cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla at the specification for a New York-style cheesecake. The strawberry preserves require a strawberry fruit preserve or jam at a Brix and pH suitable for swirling into a baked cheesecake without breaking the cheese matrix. The Hershey’s White Crème Strawberry Nuggets are a licensed Hershey’s product used as the signature topping element.
Red, White, and Berry Parfait features layers of yogurt with strawberry and blueberry purées, topped with fresh berries and served with granola. This is the most ingredient-transparent item in the lineup: yogurt base, strawberry and blueberry purée systems, fresh berry garnish, and granola. The patriotic red, white, and blue color system (strawberry red, yogurt white, blueberry blue) is the America 250th visual connection. For food service ingredient suppliers, the purée and fresh berry inputs are standard summer seasonal inputs.
Cotton Candy Milkshake Inspired by Bubble Yum (PA and TSQ) uses vanilla ice cream blended with cotton candy flavor, topped with whipped cream and real cotton candy. The cotton candy flavor requires a natural or artificial cotton candy flavor compound, typically a blend of vanilla, strawberry, and sugar-based flavor notes. The real cotton candy topping is a spun sugar confection requiring a cotton candy machine operation at the attraction.
Espresso Milkshake by Hershey’s Nuggets (PA and TSQ) uses coffee ice cream blended with milk and La Colombe cold brew, topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and Hershey’s Café Espresso Nuggets. The La Colombe co-brand is a named third-party coffee brand, adding a premium cold brew coffee input to the shake formulation.
Mixed Berry Mojito Inspired by Jolly Rancher is a cocktail using mint, berries, club soda, fruit purée, white rum, and Jolly Rancher freeze-dried pieces as a garnish. The freeze-dried Jolly Rancher garnish is a direct application of the freeze-dried candy format that Mars just announced for SKITTLES POP’d Creepy Crunch in its Halfway to Halloween announcement earlier this week: another data point confirming freeze-dried candy’s mainstream confectionery application moment.
The America 250th and FIFA World Cup 26 Geographic Positioning
The announcement makes two distinct strategic positioning arguments for summer 2026 attendance. The America 250th connection is built into the Tour Ride refresh, the Americana theming, and the Bells Across PA Liberty Bell display through December 2026. The FIFA World Cup 26 connection is explicit in the announcement: Hershey’s Chocolate World positions itself as “conveniently located within driving distance of major global soccer host cities like New York/New Jersey and Philadelphia (and just a short trip from Washington, D.C.),” suggesting it as a pit stop for World Cup traveling fans.
This geographic positioning argument is commercially interesting. Hershey, Pennsylvania is approximately 175 miles from New York City, 95 miles from Philadelphia, and 120 miles from Washington D.C. All three are FIFA World Cup 26 host cities. International soccer fans traveling between host cities via road would pass within reasonable driving distance of Hershey. The announcement is attempting to capture travel traffic from the World Cup itinerary, not just domestic tourism.
Why It Matters for Chocolate, Dairy, Graham Cracker, and Confectionery Seasonal Ingredient Suppliers
Hershey’s Chocolate World’s summer 2026 seasonal treat program creates a concentrated seasonal foodservice demand event for house-made chocolate ganache at the cream-to-chocolate ratio specification for a baked dessert application, graham cracker crumb inputs for crust applications across both the S’mores Pie and Classic Cheesecake, cream cheese at the cheesecake filling specification, fresh strawberry and blueberry inputs for the parfait and cheesecake applications, Hershey’s branded chocolate inputs including chocolate chips, chocolate pips, and Hershey’s Nuggets product lines as both recipe components and garnishes across multiple seasonal menu items. For chocolate and dairy ingredient suppliers serving The Hershey Company’s foodservice and attraction operations, the Hershey’s Chocolate World summer menu represents the highest-profile branded retail-to-foodservice ingredient integration in The Hershey Company’s consumer experience division.
The Cotton Candy Milkshake’s cotton candy flavor compound and real cotton candy garnish requirements, combined with the Espresso Milkshake’s La Colombe cold brew co-brand and the Jolly Rancher freeze-dried piece cocktail garnish, create three distinct specialty ingredient applications within a single seasonal beverage menu at an attraction that receives millions of visitors annually. For cotton candy flavor compound suppliers, cold brew coffee co-packers, and freeze-dried confectionery manufacturers serving themed attraction foodservice accounts, Hershey’s Chocolate World’s multi-brand seasonal beverage lineup is a visible application channel that amplifies the commercial legitimacy of each specialty ingredient format in a consumer-facing context.
FAQs
What is the Summer Bonus Bundle? Available now for purchase, redeemable June 1 through June 28 at Hershey’s Chocolate World. Includes Create Your Own Candy Bar, Hershey’s Great Candy Expedition, Hershey’s Unwrapped, and one sweet treat voucher. $49.95 per person, over 30% savings.
What is new this summer? Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Bar Tour Ride with Americana overlay (May 22 through September 7), the first new Summer Family Trolley in 20 years (now through Labor Day), Breakfast with Hersh and Friends character dining (June 20, 21, 27, 28), new seasonal treats and beverages, and a custom Liberty Bell on display through December 2026.
What is Breakfast with Hersh and Friends? A new ticketed character dining experience on four dates in June 2026 at $39.95 for adults and $25.95 for children. Features all seven Hershey’s brand characters together for the first time, a hot breakfast buffet, character parade, DJ-led dance party, and Kisses scavenger hunt.
Where is Hershey’s Chocolate World? Primarily Hershey, Pennsylvania, founded 1973. Also has a Times Square New York location for select programs.
How big is The Hershey Company? Over $11 billion in net sales, over 80 iconic brands, approximately 85 countries, approximately 18,000 employees worldwide.
About Source86
Hershey’s Chocolate World’s summer 2026 seasonal programming reflects active demand for dark chocolate and Hershey’s branded chocolate inputs for house-made ganache and dessert topping applications, graham cracker crumb inputs for crust and garnish applications across branded dessert formats, cream cheese and dairy inputs for cheesecake production at the attraction’s foodservice kitchen scale, fresh strawberry and blueberry purée and whole berry inputs for seasonal parfait and cheesecake applications, cotton candy flavor compound and spun sugar confection inputs for milkshake and beverage applications, La Colombe cold brew coffee inputs for a co-branded premium milkshake application, and Hershey’s Kisses, Nuggets, and branded confectionery piece inputs used as recipe components and decorative garnishes across the full seasonal treat lineup. At Source86, we connect confectionery manufacturers, branded foodservice operators, and ingredient buyers with trusted bulk and wholesale sourcing partners for chocolate and dairy inputs, fresh fruit purées, graham cracker and specialty baking ingredients, flavor compound systems for dessert and beverage applications, and the ingredient sourcing infrastructure that supports branded confectionery company foodservice and attraction programming at The Hershey Company’s scale.
Whether your production team sources dairy cream for a chocolate ganache application, fresh berry purée for a branded dessert program, or chocolate specialty inputs for a confectionery brand attraction foodservice menu, Source86 is your bridge to the right manufacturing and supply chain partners. Contact Source86 today to start your sourcing search.
