Discovering a world of chocolate on a recent accessible trip

As if we hadn’t had a busy enough summer with all of our bowling trips and arcade outings, we decided to plan another day of fun-filled activities last week. My boyfriend, Frankie, and I loaded up the car and headed to Hershey, Pennsylvania, with my two kids, Cayden, 6, and Kyree, 18 months.

Thankfully, the town — created for workers at a chocolate factory — is only 45 minutes from us, so the drive wasn’t bad at all.

We met up there with my mom, older sister, and two of my younger siblings. Once the whole crew was together, we took all of the kids to the Hershey Story Museum and Hershey’s Chocolate World. Both places amazed us all, adults included!

I was a bit nervous about the two locations’ accessibility, but it turns out they’re both extremely accessible and disability friendly. Because of his infantile-onset Pompe disease and not being able to walk, Cayden relies on his wheelchair to get around. But we were able to navigate him through each building easily, which was a relief.

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Accessible attractions

Cayden Camacho shows off his new Hershey’s hat and a stuffed Twizzler during a recent trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania, home of the iconic chocolate brand. (Photo by Keara Engle)

At the Hershey Story Museum, we went through several rooms and learned how the Hershey Company started. To access them, we had to go to the building’s second floor. There is a beautiful staircase to walk up, but that wouldn’t work for Cayden, obviously. The workers there quickly directed us to an elevator, and our entire group rode up to the second floor.

All of the children enjoyed the museum. They even had a scavenger hunt, which all of the kids worked hard to complete. In the end, each kid got a sticker for finding every item in the hunt during the visit to the museum. Cayden beamed with pride while showing off his sticker!

When we finished at the museum, we headed to Hershey’s Chocolate World, where we all wanted to do some shopping, of course. It’s like entering candy heaven. Cayden shopped around and picked out a stuffed Twizzler and a new hat. He was excited to wear his hat and kept it on for the rest of the day.

Once the shopping was done, we headed for the ride where visitors get to see the entire process of making Hershey’s chocolate candy. Because Cayden had to remain in his wheelchair, we had to ride on one of the handicapped-accessible carts, but it wasn’t a big deal. In fact, it made things easier because we got to bypass the long line and hop right on.

The employees operating the ride did a phenomenal job with our entire family. The ride doesn’t stop moving, and the platform rotates as you walk, making things a bit tricky. Because of this, employees must push a wheelchair, and the person in it, into the handicapped cart.

We were all able to get on and off the ride with ease. It can be a bit nerve-racking to trust a stranger with your child and their very expensive wheelchair, but the employees went above and beyond and quickly demonstrated that there was nothing to worry about.

Exhausted from our long day, we headed back home. Cayden talked about the trip for days, which made me happy. I’m glad I got to see him enjoy himself, and I’m grateful for all of the employees we encountered that day. They all did a great job accommodating Cayden and his wheelchair, and it’s safe to say they made his day.

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