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View Full Version : Sesame Place -- LOVED it!



dd_ani
10-06-2003, 09:35 PM
We went to Sesame Place the week before Labor Day with dd (18 months) and it was great! Well worth the drive! The park is very family friendly and safe (I was worried about leaving the stroller before we got there, and it was not a problem). The water rides/activities were perfect for a variety of ages (the innertube ride (Rambling River?) was especially a lot of fun and a good "ride" for toddlers.

If you go, DEFINITELY do the character dinners. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but when you realize how much you will pay otherwise for fried food and how long you will wait in line, you can see the value! The food is decent, no wait to eat, all you can eat, and EVERY character will visit your little one at their own table. (Except Big Bird -- he is too tall to walk all over, I think. But he is right down by the desserts!) After overhearing someone else talking about how they waited in line for 2 hours to pay $20 for a hamburger, we signed up for our second night as well!

Stay at a hotel with a shuttle. You don't have to worry about or pay for parking (sure, you lose out on the excercize hiking from the parking lot since the shuttles drop you at the front gate) and they run frequently. We stayed at the Courtyard in Langhorne, but I think the Sharaton also had a shuttle.

On the downside, the week before Labor Day was a bit crowded, especially at the end of the week. Most of the staff had no idea what was going on and forgot to tell us little things like we had to get our ticket validated at guest services if we wanted to come back for a second day on the Elmo's Passport. Get there early for Elmo's World shows. Plan to arrive at the park itself either a bit before or a bit after the gates open, otherwise there can be quite a line. For military families, they do offer some discounts, but you need to get them in advance. Getting them in writing wouldn't hurt either, since I saw a couple of families waiting for a bit and having to explain the policies to guest services. (This while I was waiting in line for over 30 minutes to get a print out for our second dinner reservation. I did it from the hotel and we had no printer. Try to book in advance and print at home!)

Oh, and the parade. It was great -- the second time. The first night we sat on the sidewalk side of the street and got crowded out. I missed the entire thing. Sit on the side of the street right in front of the Sesame Street buildings and people won't be able to get behind you and crowd you out. Even better, get on the curb in front of the flowerbeds to the left of the Sesame Street fire house -- you can ONLY sit on the curb there, so you won't have anyone crushing in from behind.

All in all, a great trip and I definitely recommend it if you have an Elmo-crazed toddler. Besides, it is the most sippy cups you can find in a single location! :)

Michelle

JustMare
10-07-2003, 09:59 PM
Wow sounds like you had a great time!!

I remember going when I was young and my Mom said the place was filthy! Floating dirty diapers in the water rides! Glad to hear it's improved over the 20 years since I've been there! I had no idea they had character dinners and parades!

Do they have things for the younger crowd? DH wants to take DS there next summer. I'm thinking next Labor Day weekend sounds good, he'll be 7 months.

Is it worth staying two days or can the place be covered in one day?

Glad you had such a nice time!!

dd_ani
10-09-2003, 01:06 AM
There were a lot of people there with babies. Of course, they can't do a lot of the activities, but most of the water areas are very family oriented and some are reserved for just little kids and parents.

Labor Day weekend might be fairly crowded, which might make it harder to enjoy, especially with a really little one, but you never know, especially if the weather isn't really great.

He might enjoy the characters and some of the shows. He may not follow alot of it, but the colors and sounds might be entertaining if they aren't too loud. The characters at the dinner were particularly patient. DD, who refused to nap the first day, crashed at dinner and wouldn't wake up. So, a couple of the characters came back to our table after she woke up. (She actually woke up to a huge Ernie sitting next to her and she was delighted! I think she thought she was still dreaming!)

Two days is a pretty good amount to spend. Not so long that you were bored with everything, but not so short that you had to cram it all in. Plus, you can make 2 shorter days of it, or take a break midafternoon and come back for dinner. There are a lot of other things to do in the area as well. It is about 30 minutes to Philadelphia, and Amish country is right near by. You get 2 days with the Elmo's Passport, so if you got bored you could always have some back up plans. (We went to Philadelphia and had a great time. For older kids, Ride the Ducks is great -- although DD panicked when the car drove into the lake!)

If you like Sesame Street, you will have a good time too, just being there. One of the reasons we went was so that DH could see Cookie Monster in person :).

Hope that helps, and let me know if you have any other questions.

Michelle

cara1
03-01-2004, 05:31 PM
Just wondering if you used a Sesame Place vacation Package or did it yourself. I did the math, and it seems like I'd pay an extra $100 to do the "Vacation Package" rather than book the character dinner, breakfast, passports, and hotel myself.

mominma
03-02-2004, 05:16 PM
We have gone to Sesame Place the last 2 Summers. Both times we went the last week in August. The first year we went it was unseasonably cool, but it was nice because there were no lines for anything and my son could spend as much time with the characters as he wanted. Last Summer it was jam packed.

We never did the character breakfast or dinner, nor did we take a Sesame Vacation package. We did however stay in one of the partner hotels that give you comp. tickets to "Meet and Greet" a character. We are taking a break from going this year. I think my husband has had enough!

It is a cute place, but on a hot Summer day it gets really crowded.

Melissa
DS 9/00
DD 3/03

loewymartin
03-15-2004, 12:07 PM
When would be the best time to go? My folks are moving to Bethlehem, PA April 1st, so I told them we would all be going to Sesame Street Place :-) We can go whenever - I was thinking of June during the week when school-age kids would still be in school. Would that work, or is there a better time? Is a weekday better than a weekend day, or doesn't it matter?

And, do we buy tickets online ahead of time, or just do that at the park? Sounds like we should schedule a character dinner online...

Thanks for any advice!

Michelle - Mom to Alia born 5/16/02

KarenNYC
05-20-2004, 06:34 PM
I'd love to hear if any hotels in the area are better than others as we are thinking we will stay over. My son will be 16th months old and has been to Disney a few times already and has seen Sesame Live and LOVED it so we thought Sesame Place would be fun as he is a bit Elmo crazed.

Are any rides better than others etc...?

Any advice would be great!

Karen