For most kids, you just can't beat a holiday centered on chocolate and other candy. Add to that a giant game of dress-up and it's easy to see why Halloween is so appealing to your grandchildren.

Want to make it extra special? Take your grandchildren trick-or-treating at Hersheypark amusement park in Hershey, Penn., east of Harrisburg. The entire city is involved in our Halloween festivities, says Mindy Bianca, Hershey's Public Relations Director. For two weekends, the "Sweetest Place on Earth" shows off its scary side as visitors explore Hersheypark in the Dark, the theme park's Halloween event.

The park's major attractions are open for the festivities, including 10 roller coasters for thrill seekers, over two dozen kiddie rides, and a Kissing Tower which glides upward to 250 feet and allows a view of the entire park. Fall weather forces closure of the park's noted water rides, but you wouldn't want to get soaked down in your costumes anyway.

Bring your grand-ghouls and boys to Chocolate World to begin their trick-or-treating. Of course, it's all treats, because the Hershey people are the experts when it comes to candy. The children can bag even more goodies in Treatville, a faux neighborhood set up in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park. While you're there, don't miss a ride on the Frontier Flyers. You can let your grandkids steer your swinging vehicle through the sky using the moveable fin. Then again, if your grandchildren are anything like my grandson Bryan, you may want to take control yourself.

Coaster Catalogue

All the candy-fun doesn't disguise the real appeal of Hersheypark; the rides are as thrilling as a tour of a haunted house. Coaster lovers of all ages can skip the candy collection and head straight to the roller coasters. You probably won't have time to ride them all, but here are some of our favorites:

The Great Bear: if your grandchildren are tall enough, they'll shriek like banshees on this looping inverted steel coaster. Experience the immelman, a loop that turns you out at the top, then drops you down. My stomach dropped with it.

I confess, I'm a traditionalist, so I always head straight to the wooden coasters, and those at Hershey are delicious. If you want old-fashioned thrills, check out the Comet, an original coaster with a 96-foot drop built in 1946. For a more modern take, challenge the grandchildren to ride on the Lightening Racer, the country's first wooden racing and dueling roller coaster.

Speaking of nostalgia, I like to take the kids on the SuperDooperLooper for old time's sake. When I was a kid, this was state-of-the-art, the first looped coaster on the East Coast. Sure, it's a bit tame in comparison to today's thrill machines, but it's still one of my family's favorites.

The Storm Runner is a newer (2004) entry, a launched steel coaster that catapults from zero to 72 mph in two seconds. It also interacts with three other rides, including the Trailblazer coaster.

Between coaster rides, your family can enjoy a variety of amusements, including the new Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge or the more traditional Tilt-A-Whirl or Whip. Little ones may bypass the rides altogether, preferring to line up to hug a live Hershey Kiss, Peppermint Pattie or package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (which are in costume all year long).

Creatures of the Night

After the kids have been howling like werewolves on the coasters, you may want to slow things down a bit. One idea: take them to ZooAmerica, where they can check out the real "Creatures of the Night" in their own special event. ZooAmerica is a just a few footsteps away from the park's Minetown section, and it's a real treat for your pocketbook, because it's included in your admission cost. If you want to skip the rides and go straight to ZooAmerica, reduced-price tickets are available.

Arm your costumed grandkids with flashlights and allow them to explore the secret nocturnal life that happens when zoos are usually closed. Bats, of course, are the stars of the show, so be sure to flash the light overhead to watch them fly. Other nocturnal animals — including hoot owls, badgers and boa constrictors — all show up for the Halloween parade.

Got Grown Up Grandkids?

Don't be spooked by the fast rides or all the kids revved up on chocolate. There are grown-up events during Halloween in Hershey which will bewitch you and the grandkids who are no longer into dressing up in sheets or tiaras. At the Hershey Hotel, you can rub elbows with the master of mystery, Edgar Allan Poe (or, in keeping with the masquerade theme, a reasonable facsimile thereof). David Keltz appears as the dark writer at an afternoon Tea with Poe, or an adults-only Midnight Reception with Poe at 10 p.m.

No matter what the ages of your grandchildren, they'll savor a visit to Hershey, the sweet town that takes a walk on the dark side at Halloween.