PDA

View Full Version : Review of Sesame Place with some helpful tips...



KarenNYC
06-22-2004, 08:31 AM
Hey all,

I promised I'd give you a few highlights from our day trip to Sesame Place this past Friday and it was a blast! It was about 90 something degrees out and really swealtering but Ryan LOVED it. We made it to the park in just over 90 mins from Westchester and found the place easily doable in a day. The park opens at 10am and closes at 8pm during the main summer months.

The park itself is really small and is mostly water rides so bring several swim diapers, a change of clothes for your child and yourself, water shoes for yourself and your child and something to wear in and out of the water (a bathing suit and shorts or something that you can wear wet). Als, bring plenty of sunscreen and a towel or two. There are several live shows and I think that only Elmo's World is indoors so save that one for the middle of the day when you are desperate for air conditioning as there are very few places to go inside and get away from the heat.

Ryan, at 16 months, had plenty to do even if he could not go on most of the rides but for a non-walker (or even a walker that is not that confident) there is VERY little to do. Ryan loved the two live shows we saw (Elmo's World and Big Bird's Beach party) and he loved meeting the characters, who were very easily accessable and there were barely any lines to see them. We also saw the parade, which was at 2pm and it was hot as hell waiting for the parade and Ryan was not that into it (could have been the blistering heat).

Food is an issue. Bring plenty of snacks as the lines to at the two indoor "restaurants" are insane (plus the food is not that good anway). The gift shops were totally disapointing as they pretty much sold the selection of Sesame Stuff I have seen between BRU, TRU and Buy Buy Baby.

The one thing my DH had to say was that the ball pit scared the crap out of him - it smelled awful and was built on a trampoline so every step you took was like quick sand and you'd be covered in balls - fine for a tall child or an adult but DH freaked as Ryan kept getting sucked under and he was afraid he'd lose him.

On a final note, of course the fact that the place is populated with thousands of kids and who knows when and how often the equipment is cleaned means that your child is not immune to anything that may be going around. We went on Friday and by Sunday night Ryan developed a fever of 102 which shot up to 104 yesterday - the ped. said it was summer flu virus or some such thing and was not surprised when I said we were at Sesame on Friday - he said his wife calls those places "profit makers" for the peds.....

anyway, we thought it was fun and hope to get back this season. One final note, there is a mall next door which has tons of non-attached restaurants (bertucci's, Chilis, Applebees, Uno's, Chi-Chi's etc....) which I recommend doing for dinner before hitting the road as we had originally signed up for a dinner with the characters - which it turns out is OUTSIDE! No where do they mention this to you ahead of time and there was no way I could sit on a picnic bench outside to eat in that heat. The mostly refunded our money for dinner (gave us $30 out of $40 back). Anyway, have fun!

Karen

redhookmom
06-22-2004, 08:44 AM
Thanks for the great review. I think we will have to include SP in our summer plans!

mekiemom
06-26-2004, 01:45 AM
We had a great time! We brought our 2 year old and met my sister and her family there. Thanks to your review and many others we had some wonderful tips to go on.
We would highly recommend the breakfast with the characters, the kids had a ball posing with and hugging all of their favorite characters. We got to see Elmo, cookie, big bird, the count, and Zoe at breakfast. The food was fine, we didn't expect anything grand because we knew the price we paid was mainly for access to the characters. They served bacon, eggs, french toast sticks, muffins, mini-bagels, juice, milk etc. Plenty of food to choose from.
It also gives you some quiet time at the park before all of the crowds arrive. All of the characters visited the tables more than once. I was left at our table alone watching the strollers and diaper bags and cookie monster came over and sat down next to me until they came back. It was cute.
The Twiddlebug area wading pool was a little disappointing the day we went. It was filled with big kids splashing around and running over our kids. I expected that it was just an area for the little ones but I guess I was wrong. We didn't stay there for very long. We dried the kids off, changed them and headed to Elmo's world which was great (but remember to go there dry, it's chilly in the theater). We stayed in the dry area of the park for the remainder of the day and found plenty to do. We really had a great time overall and would go back again when the kids are a little older to enjoy some of the water rides.
Thanks again for everyones tips and advice, it helped us know what to expect.

Erika600
06-29-2004, 11:30 PM
Thanks for that review! It was great to see how your DS at 16 months liked it. My DS is 17.5 months old and I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough to do for a child his age. We were also thinking of staying over night. We're not that far away, so coming home isn't a problem, we were just looking to kinda feel like we "went away". But now I'm thinking maybe 1 day is plenty. We also thought we could do the 1 day at Sesame Place and then do the Please Touch museum in Philly the next day. Anyway, thanks again for that great review! It sure helped a lot! :)