As a parent I am all about experiences over material things. Which is why for my daughter’s second birthday I wanted to take her to Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA instead of having a birthday party. My second reason is because my parents took my siblings before I was born and I never went as a child. Thanks, Mom and Dad (we went many other places as I was growing up and I was in no way a deprived child, but it’s always been a running joke in the family since I’m the youngest).
Anyways, we planned to go before her birthday because children under two are free. Before I even bought tickets I found a Sesame Place fan page on Facebook. I read about other people’s experiences and tucked away those tips. After reading that we decided to go on a Thursday. I had read that weekdays are generally not as busy. In the spring there may be limited rides and shows on weekdays, but in the summer that wasn’t a problem.
Getting There
We decided to get there as close to when they open as possible, which was 10am. This meant leaving home around 8am for the two-hour drive. In all there were nine of us that went; my family of five, my parents, my sister, and my niece who is eleven days younger than Baby Girl. With all of us trying to meet in the morning we got on the road a little after 8. From Glen Burnie, MD to Langhorne, PA the drive was fairly uneventful. We hit a few spots of traffic from people commuting and road construction. However, we still made it there around 10:30.
One thing that was concerning to me when planning a day in the outdoors was weather. About a week before the trip, it was saying 90% chance of rain. Leading up to the big day the percentage gradually went down, but was always over 50%. After we got everyone there and in the park it did rain for all of 5 minutes. After that it was a beautiful, sunny, and hot day! It is important to note, though, that Sesame offers a Sunny Day Guarantee: if it rains continuously for over an hour while you are in the park you can get tickets to return another day!
Things To Do
Rides
There was so much to do and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. I’ll start by saying as long a child can walk they can ride the majority of the rides there. The park itself is broken into multiple areas with “The Street” being the main part where you walk in. We spent most of our time in Elmo’s World which was fitting. Baby Girl was fearless and did the Carousel, Teacups, and Flying Fish.
She could have down more, but we kept moving a lot. If I had any regret on this trip it would be that we didn’t stay longer. While she did an excellent job while we were there she was due for a nap once we got ready to leave. When we left I was already trying to think of when we would come back.
Shows
There are three different shows. I hear that while all the shows are great they can get pretty crowded. When you enter the park you can pick up a map that is printed with that day’s schedule. The only indoor show is Elmo The Musical, which is the one we did. We got there about ten minutes before the show started and there was a quite a line, but we were still in the main seating area. A helpful person gave me a tip that if we sat on the end of our row the characters would walk right past us down the aisle. It was awesome and Baby Girl loved it. The show was about 30 minutes and she was entertained the entire time.
Parade
Everyday there is a parade. During the summer there is one at 3pm and one later in the evening. We went to the one at 3 and planned to leave right after. The parade is very well-organized. There are dots on the ground marking the path of the parade down “The Street”. We passed through around 2:30 and saw people setting out towels and blankets so I set out our picnic blanket and left my dad to guard our spot. We then went to buy souvenirs and ice cream.
We got back to the parade route about ten minutes before it started. Over the loudspeaker you would hear different characters counting down the minutes until the parade started. It was amazing. There was singing, dancing, and the characters walked right past. I had to keep a hand on Baby Girl the entire time so she didn’t run out in the street. She loved it so much. It was a perfect ending to the day. I have heard, however, that if you are not planning to leave the lines are often the shortest during the parade. So that is something to consider.
Spending Money
There are many ways to spend money in any amusement park, and this is no difference. You have food, games, treats, and souvenirs. There were a few things we did to save money, which I will share in another post. But I will say many things were worth their cost. The food that we ate was good and filling, I got the southwest chicken salad at Cookie’s Cafe and I couldn’t finish it. My husband got brisket and enjoyed it. Everyone else got chicken tenders and said they were good. Like anywhere the souvenirs were overpriced, but to me it was worth it for a few key items.
All in all it was a great trip and we can’t wait to go back. I will follow this post up with some money-saving tips for visiting Sesame Place so be sure to be on the lookout for that. If you’ve been to Sesame please leave a comment to let us know about your experience. Or if you have specific questions about our visit comment with that and I will be sure to get back to you.
Martina