Hersheypark Rides by Height: The Complete 2026 Guide to Candy Categories

Where to Get Measured for Your Wristband

Official measuring stations sit near the front of the park, along Founder's Way, ahead of the ride entrances. Staff measure each child with shoes on and hand out a color-coded wristband matching the category. That wristband is the point: it stops the disappointment of walking up to a coaster only to be turned away, and it speeds up boarding because operators can spot the band from the line. Pick one pair of shoes for the whole day. Swapping sneakers for sandals at lunch can shift a borderline child out of the bracket the morning wristband already covers.

Hershey's Miniatures and Kisses: Rides for the Littles

Hershey's Miniatures covers any guest under 36 inches and unlocks 28 kiddie rides and family attractions. Hershey's Kisses covers 36 to 42 inches and adds enough rides to bring the running total to 41, including two roller coasters. Most of these rides cluster around Founder's Way and Kissing Tower Hill.

• Carrousel: a 107-year-old ride in Hershey's Chocolatetown with moving horses, stationary horses, and a chariot for any family member.
• Convoy: a slow-moving caravan of trucks that delivers riders to the Kissing Tower Hill area.
• Traffic Jam: motorized cars, buses, and motorcycles circling at low speed in Founder's Way.
• Cocoa Cruiser: the park's entry-level steel coaster, a two-minute lap built for first-time riders.
• Reese's Cupfusion: an interactive dark ride open from Hershey's Kisses height and up.
• Trailblazer: the park's second-oldest coaster, with a helix that circles four times through Pioneer Country.

Reese's and Hershey's: Rides for Tweens and First Coasters

The Reese's category spans 42 to 48 inches and opens 56 attractions total, including entry-level access to Comet and sooperdooperLooper. The Hershey's category spans 48 to 54 inches and opens 65 attractions, adding the park's bigger thrill coasters and its newest attraction.

• Comet: the park's oldest coaster, turning 80 in 2026, known for airtime over its bunny hills.
• sooperdooperLooper: the first modern looping coaster built on the East Coast.
• Laff Trakk: the first indoor, spinning, glow-coaster in the United States.
• Hershey Triple Tower: the first choose-your-thrill triple tower built in the United States.
• Lightning Racer: a double-track wooden coaster with a staggered lift and a built-in racing element.
• Twizzlers Twisted Gravity: opened in 2025, the world's tallest Screamin' Swing, rising 137 feet at speeds up to 68 mph over Spring Creek in The Hollow.

Twizzlers and Jolly Rancher: The High-Thrill Coasters

Twizzlers spans 54 to 60 inches and Jolly Rancher covers 60 inches and up. Together these two brackets unlock more than 50 must-do rides and coasters, the park's full lineup of high-thrill attractions.

• Candymonium: the tallest, longest, and fastest coaster at Hersheypark, spread across seven acres in Chocolatetown.
• Fahrenheit: a 121-foot lift hill leading into a 97-degree drop.
• Great Bear: an inverted steel coaster that lifts 90 feet before a course of loops, corkscrews, and a zero-g roll.
• Skyrush: 200 feet of lift into a 75-mph descent, with five zero-G airtime hills on winged-seat trains.
• Storm Runner: the East Coast's only remaining hydraulic launch coaster, hitting 0-72 mph in two seconds.
• Wildcat's Revenge: a 140-foot hill, 62-mph top speed, an 82-degree drop, four inversions, and the World's Largest Underflip.

The Boardwalk Water Park Height Requirements

The Boardwalk At Hersheypark runs its own height rules, separate from the candy wristband chart used on the dry side of the park. Coastline Plunge, which includes the Hydro, Pipeline, Riptide, Surge, Vortex, and Whirlwind slides, along with Breakers Edge Water Coaster, posts inch cutoffs at each slide entrance rather than at the wristband station. Check the official Hersheypark ride guide for the exact cutoff before getting in line. Whitecap Racer, a mat-racing slide with a double-looping tunnel, opens to riders at Reese's height and above, and it runs seasonally from Memorial Day through Labor Day, weather permitting. Life jacket rules around Bayside Pier - Inlet & Island typically apply to younger swimmers regardless of candy category, so confirm current requirements at the entrance if your child is still in Miniatures or Kisses.

Rider Switch and Accessibility for Mixed-Height Families

When siblings land in different height brackets, the Rider Switch program lets one parent wait with the shorter child while the other rides, then swap without a second wait in the standby line. Guests with different needs can also ask about the Ride Accessibility Program at guest services before starting a route. Building that swap into your morning is part of any solid Hersheypark day strategy, since it keeps both kids moving instead of one sitting out entirely.

What to Do If Your Child Is In-Between Heights

If a child measures a half-inch under a bracket, snug sneakers are the only adjustment inside the rules, since shoes are part of the official measurement. Sandals and slip-ons can cost a fraction of an inch that sneakers keep. For a child staying in Miniatures for this visit, build a full day around the Chocolate Tour at Hershey's Chocolate World, which carries no height requirement, plus the animal exhibits and gardens next door.

Planning Your Route to Beat the Crowds

Families whose kids sit in Reese's or Hershey's height should start in Midway America rather than the main gate, since morning crowds bottleneck at Founder's Way first. Save Chocolatetown's Candymonium and the other Jolly Rancher-height coasters for mid-morning, once the front-of-park lines thin. For families whose kids can access every bracket, a low-stress start is still Hershey Gardens and ZooAmerica before the coasters open, since neither carries a height requirement. Check the Hersheypark App for real-time wait times sorted by area, so you're not walking across the park toward a line your child's wristband can't use anyway.

Mistakes to Avoid When Measuring for Hersheypark Rides

A few repeat mistakes cost families time on an otherwise plannable day.

• Measuring at the ride entrance instead of the official station, which means finding out you're short only after standing in line.
• Forgetting that some rides in a bracket still require a responsible rider, a taller companion seated next to a smaller child.
• Skipping the Hersheypark App, which filters real-time wait times so you're not guessing which line matches your wristband.
• Changing footwear mid-day after the morning measurement, which can shift a borderline child out of their assigned bracket.

When a Taller Companion Is Required

A candy-category wristband does not always mean a child can ride alone. Some attraction signs distinguish between riding independently and riding with a supervising companion.

Check the posted restriction before joining a line. Cocoa Cruiser may admit a shorter eligible child only with a qualifying companion. Larger coasters, including Comet, can also apply different rules to accompanied and unaccompanied riders.

Hersheypark defines the required companion through each attraction’s operating rules. The companion must meet that ride’s requirements and be able to help the child follow loading and safety instructions.

• Confirm that the adult or older sibling qualifies before entering the queue.
• Ask the entrance attendant when the sign lists separate accompanied and unaccompanied minimums.
• Use Rider Switch when one adult must remain with a child who cannot board.

This distinction matters most for families with children near the Kisses, Reese’s, or Hershey’s boundaries. Plan rides by both wristband category and companion status.