December 7th, 2009

Sesame Place (Langhorne, PA)

I grew up in New Jersey (Please. No more NJ jokes. I’ve suffered a lifetime’s worth. Yes, I know what it smells like. Thank you.), about an hour away from Sesame Place.  My parents used to take me and my brother there –I still can remember having a blast there. It was the stuff of good childhood memories.

So, it was with this enthusiasm that we arrived at Sesame Place on a Saturday morning. Sesame Place! With my own family! Hip hip hooray!

I saw a map of the park which had so many fun water attractions – from slides to shoots to water playgrounds to OOH lazy rivers –and knew Elise, at least, would love it.

We got there and immediately faced the first choice: pay $15 per vehicle for “general” parking or $18 for “preferred.” We chose to slum it as the general parking lot was just across the street from the entrance.  (There’s also VIP parking for $25. Yeah, right.)

Tickets ain’t cheap.  It’s like over $50/person! What is this, Disney? The 2-day option is basically the same price so if you have 2 days, that would definitely be the way to go. At least they don’t charge for children under 2.

We rented a locker right away –ANOTHER $20, $5 of that a deposit for the key—to keep our change of clothes and other personal effects safe while on all the water rides. 

Overall, there are a good number of water rides that would be great if our kids were a little older (they are 20 months and 4 ). Elise was too chicken to go on many, although we did do the lazy river ride where The Husband and I just floated on inner tubes while each holding a kid. (Even that included more tears than anticipated.) The Count’s Castle is this crazy huge water play structure which looked SO FUN but as soon as the first bucket of water came pouring down at us, Elise grabbed my leg and started crying hysterically. So much for that.

Lunch was, surprise, completely overpriced. You could only purchase things in the form of combo meals which included fries and a drink. We’re talking $10 a head. And that’s not including caviar and lobster rolls.  Even the children’s meals were $8 (boasting souvenir cups and plates). But, the kids did enjoy their chicken fingers, fries, and pizza immensely.

Other families brought lunches in coolers and had picnics off park grounds or brought snacks in the small-sized coolers you are allowed to bring in.

We didn’t find there were that many attractions geared for kids under 5, I guess not as many as I imagined given the age set that Sesame Street is geared toward. Elise still had a great time. She loved the small roller coaster. Luke probably didn’t get that much out of it—he cried/protested half the lazy river from the inhumanity of being stuffed in a life vest—lthough he did get psyched when we got to get pictures with Zoe. (Who knew he even cared? )

By noon, the park was packed and lines for most rides got a bit long for my taste.

Other gripes: I was disappointed with the public bathrooms.  The Women’s room had only two changing tables – there are like a thousand babies there! I had to do a cramped diaper change in a stall –non-handicapped, mind you—forcing me to throw Luke’s horrid diaper into the sanitary napkin disposal. (I’m sorry to anyone following us in that stall. They made me do it.)  Also, you’d think Sesame Place was built on the African plain – it seemed hotter than the actual temperature, with the sun just beating down on us, sapping all of our energy.

Despite the gripes, I do think there were some quality family memories made and Elise, at least, will have fond memories from our trip. I think they’ll only enjoy it as they get a little bit older, but maybe we’ll try for a weekday.