Hershey’s Chocolate World Opens at New York-New York, Takes Advantage of Slowest News Day, Ever

Hershey’s Chocolate World has opened at New York-New York in Las Vegas, and could not have done so at a better time.

Due to an utter lack of competing news, the new candy store received nationwide news coverage on its opening day despite the fact it’s, you know, a candy store.

Hershey's Chocolate World
Gird your loins and feast your eyes, let’s all get some thunder thighs.™

The amount of news coverage was remarkable, especially since the store is essentially a clone of the successful M&M’s World, just across the street, but without the cute mascots.

Hershey's Chocolate World
Question: If you have hundreds of the world’s largest of something, is it the world’s largest?

Just about every aspect of Hershey’s Chocolate World has a been-there-done-that feeling, including the store’s personalized candy bar wrappers. Chocolate World lets customers add their photos to wrappers, M&M’s World lets customers put custom messages on M&M’s.

Hershey's Chocolate World
People love these. Of course, many of those same people went to public schools.

Hershey’s Chocolate World Las Vegas covers two floors (M&Ms World has four floors), although the top floor feels like a bit of an afterthought, and is mainly there to capture the foot traffic entering New York-New York by way of the bridge from MGM Grand.

The first floor of Hershey’s Chocolate World features a massive wall of chocolate Kisses (M&M’s World’s second floor features a massive wall of M&M’s, starting to see a pattern here?).

Hershey's wall of kisses
Katie Couric is having an episode right about now.

Two aspects of Hershey’s Chocolate World would typically make the store remarkable, a sculpture of the Statue of Liberty made from 800 pounds of milk chocolate and an Empire State Building built with 1,800 chocolate bars. We say “would typically” because, well, it’s Las Vegas. In Las Vegas you have to take it up a notch. It’s the law.

Hershey's Chocolate Lady Liberty
Chocolate sculptures in a desert. What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, the light is right behind the torch. Thank you for noticing!

Beyond its Hershey’s temptations, the store offers other brands in the Hershey’s empire, including Jolly Rancher, Reese’s, Bubble Yum and Twizzlers. Twizzlers, of course, are to Red Vines as Hershey’s Chocolate World is to M&M’s World, if you get our drift.

Jolly Rancher candles
Credit where it’s due: The Jolly Rancher-scented candles are epic.

A stand-out at Hershey’s Chocolate World is the variety of baked items. We did not personally try the S’mores cupcakes, but we predict more than 1.2 trillion will be sold. And that’s just to celebrity journalist Robin Leach alone.

S'mores cupcake
Even the S’mores cupcake thought that joke was a little mean.

While Hershey’s Chocolate World may have more than its fair share of meh, it’s part of an impressive transformation at New York-New York and the adjacent Monte Carlo. Lots of new shops, restaurants and, gasp, open spaces have made this stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard a must-see for your next visit.

Hershey's Chocolate World
The house that child labor built. Allegedly.

In the meantime, we’ve put together a low-cal photo gallery of Hershey’s Chocolate World to satisfy your cravings. For looking at photos of chocolate. Or something.

Hershey's Chocolate World