Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat…
I’ve had that song running through my head ever since July 25th, when my sister, Tami, and I took our girls, Nora (age 17 months) and Riley (age 6) to Sesame Place, in Longhorne, PA, to celebrate Christmas in July. The festivities were to announce their upcoming holiday season, A Very Furry Christmas. This winter, starting the day after Thanksgiving and running through Christmas, Sesame Place will be open on weekends with exciting new holiday themed shows and parade, visits with Santa Claus and, of course, your favorite Sesame Street furry friends, all while the park is decked out in Christmas decor! They will also be open the whole week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve for even more holiday fun.
Our day at Sesame Place was awesome! First, we were greeted by a children’s choir singing Christmas carols and, believe it or not, snow! My niece was beyond excited to see snowflakes in the air in the middle of summer. We picked up our tickets and headed through the front gates. The park was decorated like a shopping mall at Christmas time, with trees and lights and garland everywhere! It was quite a winter wonderland.
After a meet and greet and a holiday cookie exchange with other bloggers, the four of us headed out to explore the park. This was the first trip to Sesame Place for all of us so we were excited to explore and play. We started out at Count’s Splash Castle, a fun interactive water play area. Tami & Riley had a blast on the water slides while Nora & I splashed and played down on the lower levels. After awhile we answered the 42 year old question, “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?” Turns out it is right there at Sesame Place!! We were hanging out on Sesame Street, taking photos on those famous steps, when who should come strolling up but Bert and Ernie! We got a few photos with our new old friends and then headed out to take a spin on Big Bird’s Ramblin’ River. This was the highlight for me! Nora and I shared a tube while my sister & Riley floated along on their own. I could have spent hours floating along with my little girl splashing away on top of me. Such fun and a great way to beat the heat.
Since it was almost nap time, we decided to grab lunch rather than watch the holiday themed parade, expecting that we’d catch the evening parade before leaving the park that evening. Nora had other plans though and fell asleep while we were picking out our entrees. Sesame Place does a great job with offering a variety of healthy food options like fresh fruit, salads, and pizza with whole wheat crust, in addition to kids favorites like hot dogs, chicken fingers and mac and cheese. For Christmas in July, they offered a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings, which is what Tami and I feasted on. Yum! Riley enjoyed a hot dog with fries and grapes and Nora slept through her lunch of macaroni and cheese and apple slices. (Don’t worry, we took her meal with us so she could eat later.)
One of the best bargains at the park we found were the large souvenir cups. When purchased in the gift shops they run $7.99, but if you purchase a meal in one of the restaurants, like we did, you can can upgrade your drink cup to the large souvenir cup for just $1.99. (And if the character options offered at the restaurant of your choice don’t match that of your child’s liking, we learned you can run your unused restaurant cup and sales receipt out to one of the stores and switch it out with the character of your choice. This trick saved the day when the 6 year old had her heart set on the purple Abby Cadabby cup but only Elmo and Count were offered at the restaurants.)
Not long after lunch, the rain came. And with the rain came lightening and closed rides. Riley played in the Nets and Climbs area which remained open and gave us a little shelter from the rain. We also took the rain as a sign that it was time to see a show and headed over to see Abby Cadabby’s Treasure Hunt. Sesame Place offers a “Sunny Day Guarantee,” giving a pass to return on another day if it rains for over an hour. When the rain lasted over an hour, the park cleared out quite a bit and when the rain let up enough for the rides to reopen, the lines were gone. We decided that since we were already soaked, we’d stick with the water rides, and only hit a few of the dry rides throughout the day. We were thrilled to find that every water ride allowed little Nora to ride along with us. Riley later found that every dry ride let her ride too. Such a welcome change from typical parks that have their thrill rides like roller coasters catered to adults.
Another highlight of the day was finding that even though it was raining, the Sesame Street characters were out signing autographs and taking photos! We had a chance to meet not just Bert and Ernie, but Grover, Zoe, Oscar the Grouch, and Count too! We never did come across Elmo or Big Bird, but had a chance to see them through a window where they were dining with guests who took advantage of the Sesame Place Up-Close Dining experience, which is absolutely something we will do next time we visit!
And that follow up visit will be very soon because even though we stayed all day, long after the rides reopened, the staff encouraged us to pick up a Sunny Day pass on our way out of the park that evening. The evening parade was not happening due to the slick parade route, so they wanted to make sure we had a chance to see the parade on another day. Yay!
Since it’s just a 90 minute drive from my front door on Staten Island, I know we’ll be making more trips to Sesame Place. The friendly staff, fun rides and shows, and awesome character interactions make it a great family destination for kids of all ages! We’re even considering purchasing a season pass because if you buy the 2012 season pass now, at the 2011 rates, you get to use it at the park for the rest of the 2011 season as well! Quite a deal!
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