….how to get to Sesame Place?
Last weekend we took our first trip to Sesame Place. I haven’t been there since I was a kid myself
and with the exception of one area it is completely different from what I
remember. We went with my sister and her
family and had a BLAST!! At first A was
a bit hesitant about going on rides and preferred to walk around & scope
everything out. But once he got up the
courage to go on a few rides he loved it.
His favorite part was playing the carnival games. He played well and we are now the proud
owners of 5 new stuffed animals :-/
Sesame Place has water rides as well as dry rides, but the water was
cooooold and the weather a little windy so we didn’t spend too much time on the
water activities.
We stayed overnight so were able to spend a few hours in the park the
night before (when it was empty) and then the whole day on Saturday. On Saturday morning we had tickets to eat
breakfast with the characters. Both A and
my nephew were a bit afraid of the characters but we managed to get some pictures
and have a fun breakfast. The best part
of the weekend (and something we didn’t know when we planned the trip) was that
it was superhero weekend. How perfect
for us, right?! Super Why was there to
take pictures and of course my little superhero dressed up as one of his
favorite superheros all weekend and got his picture with Super Why and Princess Presto.
If you are planning a trip to Sesame anytime soon here are a few tips
that I recommend that we learned from our trip:
- If you decide to stay
overnight splurge for the little bit extra it is to stay in the hotel that
is across the street from the hotel (Sheraton Bucks County). It’s worth it to be able to go back
& forth during the day with the kids to take naps, etc. There’s also a hotel shuttle that will
take you to/from the park. (FYI they are building a new hotel that is in
the parking lot of the park. It’s
schedule to open in July/August 2012)
- Sign up for “Discovery Dollars” at the beginning of the day.
You use your credit card to link to a spending account and you are
issued a waterproof bracelet to wear all day. You then use the bar code on the
bracelet to scan all over the park to make purchases all day. This way you can lock up your belongings
in a locker & not worry about carrying them all day.
- DO the character
breakfast. The park doesn’t open
until 10 am. I don’t know about
you, but A is up at 6 am and there was no way I was going to be able to
entertain a 4 year old for 4 hours before the park opens - especially when he’s
looking out the window at the park. Breakfast is
at 8:45 and this gets you in early before the park opens
(score!!)
- DON’T bother with Preferred parking unless you have a season pass. I have a season pass so preferred
parking was free. However, the rear
of the preferred parking section is just as far as the regular parking lot
so there’s no difference for the extra $$ you’re paying for preferred.
- The park was much smaller
than I expected. My 4 year-old and
my almost 3 year-old nephew walked the entire time and didn’t need a
stroller. We packed our things in
backpacks and just went. Was so
much easier than trying to navigate with the stroller or worry about
parking it, etc. If you have
slightly older kids it may be easier to ditch the stroller (or at least
leave it in the car just in case).
- Line up early for the
parade. It’s awesome and worth it
to be front and center.
- Download the iphone/android app. You can even track where the characters
are within the park to find your favorites!
- Check out what’s in each of
the restaurants before you dine.
The food is just okay, but check on the map (or your app) for what
is served in each of the restaurants before you go. Some have a better selection than
others.
