Time is flying by and when I blinked, our children are now 4 and almost-2 years old!
To celebrate our 4 year old’s birthday, we decided to head over to the Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA (about 1 hour drive from New Jersey). My wife was bit concerned about some negative reviews she read (i.e. rude people, rowdy teenagers, etc.) but because we decided to visit the park on Friday, we thought there would be less crowd to contend with
Date of visit / weather
Friday, May 27, 2011. Sunny, hot in the upper 80′s
Tickets
There was a special $20 off per person promo which came out to be cheaper than $5 off $50 ticket prices from AAA. Children under 2 do not have to pay so we paid for 3 tickets ($55.99-$20 = $35.99 per person; yes, the price is same for adults as for 4 year olds) plus $8 in sales tax for a grand total of for$ 115.98.
If you did not get to purchase tickets in advance, just make sure to stop off at WaWa convenience store. They had a bunch of $20 discount coupons by the cashier.
Parking
Curiously, Sesame Place’s map do not show parking locations (http://www.sesameplace.com/sesame2/park-info.aspx?id=park-map). So I drew up a crude version of where they are in relation to the gate/entrance.
Parking locations
If you have young children, I highly suggest paying $25 for the VIP parking spot (you can purchase it online). With two kids in tow, a stroller, small cooler and assortment of other stuff, having our minivan readily accessible was super-duper convenient! The spot was literally 30 feet or so away from the entrance so we planned on doing “dry” activities first, come back and change into our bathing suits for the remaining water activities.
Food
We brought a decent sized cooler packed with fresh fruits, yogurts, water, apple juice boxes and snacks, all nestled in a tub of ice. We originally thought about eating what we brought between activities but decided to eat at Elmo’s eatery because we were all getting very hot and could use the air conditioned air. So we dutifully ended up spending $41 dollars for 2 Elmo tray of chicken strips with fries, 1 small pizza with fries, 1 bottle of water and 2 bottles of small apple juice. It was a lot of money for greasy, crappy food, but we sure enjoyed the cold air while we ate! Just keep in mind that any snack bars and pavilions are all outside so if you want to cool off, you need to go to Elmo’s Eatery or Captain Ernie’s Bistro.
Another option is to leave the park all together and go “off campus”. There is Pizzaria Uno just outside the entrance, and a host of Wendys/McDonalds/Burger King nearby (Heck, there is a Home Depot and BJs across the street too!).
Other things to consider
Two main electronic pieces you may or may not have. If you have a digital camera, you want to protect it from water but at the same time, be able to take pictures on demand. Sesame Place sells hard, clam shell water proof case for $5.50 plus tax but I found it to be be very cumbersome as I needed to make sure I was in a dry spot before taking the camera out and take pictures. Instead, buy something like this: DicaPac WP410 160x105mm Small Zoom Alfa Waterproof Digital Camera Case with Optical Lens (Clear)
Also, you may or may now own a car with electronic key “fob” (you know, one of those remote entry keys). I could have rented a small locker and leave my sensitive electronic key but I opted to put it inside a zip lock bag and inside the clam shell case I bought at Sesame Place.
Ride Review – Vapor Trail
This is the only ride that my 2 year old could NOT get on. Of course, my 4 year old had a blast riding this mini roller coaster. He loved it so much that we ended up riding it 6 times! One word o
