I love ice cream. It's my comfort food, my happy food, celebration food, and summer treat. So, when I had the opportunity to visit the Turkey Hill Experience with my family last weekend I was pretty excited. Our nephews were visiting from Erie, so a quick trip to Lancaster made the perfect sweet treat ending to their visit on their way home. We were all pretty excited to make our own ice cream, but I had no idea how many options we would have to create our very our treats. We opted for the Triple Scoop (see below for package options) which included all three main attrations, the self-guided tour, Taste Lab (my personal favorite), and Tea Discovery.
We began our visit at the Taste Lab which I would say is a must do if you're planning a trip. Here, you're given a choice of a vanilla or chocolate base and a variety of extracts to create a main flavor. I chose coffee with a hint of maple. 
Next is the most exciting part, for both the kids and adults in the room.... inclusions! The Taste Lab walls are lined with all sorts of sweet treats to add to your ice cream; candy, sprinkles, gummies, nuts; you name it, you can find it for the perfect accompaniment. Watching my nephews eyes light up with possibilities was definitely a highlight of our visit. 
Finally, you top off your masterpiece with a sauce (or two) to create a perfect "flavor swirl". I chose caramel to complete my coffee, maple, peanut butter cup, chocolate chunk. pecan creation and I'm thinking it should probably be released as Turkey Hill's 73rd flavor, even if it's just a limited edition "Caffeine Crush". It was a work of art and I'm not ashamed to say I ate it ALLLL up!
Next, we moved on to the self guided tour portion. I was pleasantly surprised to see there really was something for everyone on the tour. Plenty of factoids, information, and even a video for adults and teens who may be interested in the processes behind the scenes of the Turkey Hill factory. Interactive quizzes for older kids (adults too!). Tons for younger kids and even toddlers; old milk trucks for the kids to pretend on, two cows to "milk", even a slide. Not to mention the free samples of ice cream and ice tea products; which, of course, are for everyone. There are also tons of photo opportunities for great family pictures along with the fun Turkey Hill paper hats to complete the look.
We ended our day with the Tea Discovery which began with a brief, but very informative history of tea. What followed next was similar to a wine tasting as our guide walked us through each sample, instructing us to smell, swirl, and taste each flavor. Surprisingly, my daughter (almost three) did very well. She patiently waited for each flavor and was, of course, quick to inform which ones she approved of and which did not suit her tastes. While we enjoyed this experience, you may want to skip if your crew is on the younger side and wouldn't appreciate (or sit through) this experience. 
Overall, we had a fantastic day full of family memories, new experiences, and tons of sugar! If you are planning on taking a trip to Lancaster to visit the Turkey Hill Experience I would highly recommend going for it. Before you go, there are a few things to consider:
1). There are three package options.
You will have your choice of one, two, or three "scoop" options. One scoop is the self guided tour only. There is plenty to do and would make for an entertaining afternoon for your family, absolutely. However, if you're going to make the trip, I'd highly recommend opting for at least the double scoop which will give you the option of experiencing either the Taste Lab or Tea Discovery. The Taste Lab, in my opinion, is a must do; for our group it was what all the kids were talking about long after we left. Finally, if you want to have the whole experience, there is the triple scoop. This was the option we took and I'm glad we did. Along with ice cream, we received a real educational experience, not to mention the bonus points of being the "cool" aunt who took them
2). You will get A LOT of ice cream and tea.
Whether you want to fill up the kids beforehand so they don't eat too much sugar, or you want to eat light beforehand to save room for all that sweet goodness. Plan accordingly for what works best for your family.
3). Parking
There isn't a ton of extra parking; granted, we visited on a Saturday, so I'm sure on an off-peak time parking would not be a concern. If visiting at a peak time, you may want to leave extra time for parking and getting into the building.
4). Taste Lab and Tea Discovery experiences are held at specific times. When booking your tickets, plan accordingly.
We did the Taste Lab at 11:15 and the Tea Discovery at 12:30. For us, there was plenty of time in between because we had younger kids excited to move from one activity station to the next. For those groups who will want to read all of the available information, watch the videos, and really spend time in the self-guided portion, you may want to leave a little extra time. Also, we arrived on site just before the start of our tour. Next time, I would arrive earlier and spend some time in the self-guided portion before we went to the Taste Lab to give the kids time to get some of their "jibber-willies" out.
So, now I'm sure you're craving some ice cream, but if you'd also like to plan your own visit to the Turkey Hill Experience, visit their website and snag your tickets today!
