Sesame Place is a cheaper alternative to Disney World.
Written: Jul 04 '03 (Updated Jul 04 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great day trip for kids and parents.
Cons: At $37.00 a ticket per person over 2 years old, it's expensive.
The Bottom Line: Sesame Place is a great place to visit with children and toddlers. And a even better place when they are Sesame Street fans!
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| tiffer0220's Full Review: Sesame Place |
Having lived in New Jersey most of my life, I've had my fair share of visits to Sesame Place through out the years. My last visit was just a few weeks ago when the kids and myself were up in Jersey and since the kids had never been to Sesame Place, we headed on out there.
Can you tell me how to get...how to get to Sesame Place
Sesame Place is located in Pennsylvania and is not very far from New York City - Northern New Jersey. As a matter of fact, the distance to Great Adventure from NYC is just about the same as it is to Sesame Place. The only reason why we opted to do Sesame instead of Great Adventure this year is Great Adventure is just too crowded and does not offer many things for 5 and 8 year old children, where Sesame is only for children of that age.
Sesame Place
Mickey has Disney World and Disney Land, Looney Tunes has Great Adventure so it's only fitting that Big Bird and Elmo have a theme park of their own. Sesame Place is not as big as Disney and does not offer as many rides as Great Adventure, but it does offer a day packed with fun, water rides, relaxation for parents, and plenty of things to spend your money on.
The park is on the small side when compared to the other 2 parks I've mentioned, and even though the park may get as crowded as the other 2, it's only crowded with parents and small children. The day we went, was the second nice day after 30 days of rain, so it's safe to say it was indeed very crowded. Although I cannot stand crowds, I have to say this was a much more pleasant crowd than the crowds I find at Great Adventure. The only teenagers you had to worry about here were the workers, where as in Great Adventure you have teens all over the place being rude, cursing, and doing whatever.
The park is equipped with 1 roller coaster, water rides and little pools. Some of the rides the kids were able to go on with me and only a few of the water rides like slippery slope where its a big water slide that takes you into a pool they could not on because they were not tall enough to go on alone. But my kids aren't very fond of water so they didn't need to do the big water tube rides. Instead they found other tube water rides that were more appealing to them. These were the rides that didn't go very fast and didn't empty you out into a big pool. Considering how scared they are of water, I was very impressed with the fact they wanted to go on and were able to find water rides that would appeal to them.
The kiddie pools offered here are only around a foot or less deep. There are lounge chairs on the sides of the pool where the parents can pull them up and practically sit in the water with the chair and relax if they don't have to be holding their childs hands. There are lifeguards at each of the pools, but it is not their responsibility to watch your child. There are also benches and foot lockers for you to place your shoes in if you are heading into the kid pools. We didn't bring a bag with us, so we just piled up our shoes and stuff and didn't even worry about anyone taking them when we weren't watching. Thats something I would never do in Great Adventure.
Aside from your water rides, theres also a water tunnel that the kids can climb through. It's in the shape of a maze and water guns lightly spray the kids as they are going through it. There is a regular wood maze for the kids to walk though and there is a tea cup ride for kids and parents. They also offer a large bounce house minus the house part of it for kids up to age 7. The highlight of my kids day was the huge cargo net that they could climb. I remember visiting years ago and I loved doing the cargo nets. The cargo nets are 3 stories high and the kids can climb up them, down them, or just jump into them from one of the landings.
The park has upgraded and added a roller coaster to its list of rides. The Vapor Trail is a roller coaster with a few steep hills and some wicked turns. They say children over the age of 3 can ride the roller coaster with an adult, but I wouldn't recommend it. I could barely hold onto my small 8 year old while on the ride and I couldn't even imagine going on with a 3 year old. But my 8 year old loved the roller coaster, especially since it didn't go upside down.
Also inside the park you can find quite a few places to eat both inside the air conditioned or outside. There are also plenty of kiosks that offer drinks and pop corn located through out the park. The food and drinks are expensive but they do offer a souvenir cup filled with a drink for around $7.00 but then refills are only $1.25. This is your best bet unless you plan on bringing in your own drinks. The problem with bringing in your own drinks is that there are no coolers allowed inside the park.
Through out the park, different sesame street characters can be seen walking around. You can stop to take pictures with them, or employees will take pictures of you with the characters and you can pay for the park to make these pictures up for you. Elmo and Big Bird couldn't be found walking around but that is because they have their own areas inside the park where the kids can go meet with them and have pictures taken with them. If you opt to have the park take the pictures for you, it costs $13.00 for a computer printed photo of your child with Elmo or Big Bird.
Lines
Even though the park was very crowded, the lines for the rides were not that bad. The most time we spent in line for a water ride was about 10 minutes, and yet the time we spent in the line to get our food was a good half hour.
Shows and Parades
There are 2 parades held daily that feature all of the Sesame Place characters and balloons. I didn't bother to watch the parade since my kids had no interest in it, and besides when the parade is, there are less lines on the rides.
There are also shows that are put on. Elmo has his own air conditioned theater and he puts on a live Elmos World show and uses child audience participation. Theres a Sesame Street Brass Band that can be seen and theres also a show that Big Bird puts on. The shows are not very long and the kids enjoy them.
Games
There is a small arcade and there is also a small area where you can play amusement park games and win prizes. Quite a few of these games you pay a set price and every child is a winner, and some of the other games, depending on the operator, will only let 1 family play at a time so that there is a winner in that family each time. I thought this was terrific and I was very impressed by it.
Overall Experience
We had a very pleasant time at Sesame Place last month. I was a little bit worried that my mother would have a problem being out in the heat and doing all that walking, but she did great. The park is not that big so she did not have to walk very long around the park.
I was a little upset over the price of $37.00 per person over the age of 2 years old. $37.00 for a 2 year old seems very high, I would think they would half price tickets for kids under 5 or something, but they don't. Still, it is cheaper than Disney World and it doesn't take 3 days to see the whole park and experience all of the rides.
If you are looking for a day trip that will offer water rides to cool down in and other things to do, I highly recommend Sesame Place when you have children 9 years old and younger. Even if they can't stand Sesame Street (like my 8 year old) they will still have a good time. And if they just love Sesame Street (like my 5 year old) then they will just be in heaven at Sesame Place.
Park Information
http://www.sesameplace.com
Open from May 10 to October 25
General Admission: $36.95* (plus tax)
Twilight Admission: $20.95 (plus tax)
Senior Admission: $33.95 (plus tax)
Kids under 2: Free
215-752-7070
There is a charge for parking and stroller - wheelchairs are available to rent for the day as well as lockers.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tiffer0220
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Member: Tiffany
Location: Florida
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