Conference moira::parenting

    Cheryl,
    
    I would not go to Sesame Place this time of year.  I didn't even
    realize it was open.  It is costly for the day.  The park is nice when
    it is warm. We went this year in July when it was 100 degrees in
    Philadelphia that day.  I would say it is 90% a water park.  It
    consists of different water slides, wade pools and sprinkler type
    things.  It is great in the warm weather.  They allow you to bring in
    your own food too!!!  This was nice.  
    
    I also want to note for others that have never been that it is GREAT to
    go in there and not worry about your belongings.  You can leave your
    things and not worry about things being stolen.  I liked that fact that
    most children are 10 and under in the park so there are not older kids
    pushes and using vulgar language.
    
    We had a great time.

I agree that this is not a good time of year for Sesame Place.  I'm almost
positive that it's closed for the season and probably won't open again until
next spring.  The phone number is (215) 757-1100.  It might be worth a call
to check.

There are a lot of water activities there, but I think that 90% is a bit
high -- I'd guess more like 50%.  I've taken my nephews there each summer 
for the past three years, and we generally spend about half the day in 
bathing suits and the other half in clothes.  Besides the water stuff, there
are also all sorts of jumping, climbing, sliding activities, mazes, balls
pits, shows, sand toys, computer/arcade area, the Sesame Street shops, and
an inside area with a shadow room, funny mirrors, and science experiment 
types of things.

On this summer's trip we found that there is a whole new land -- Twiddlebug
Land.  The twiddlebugs are the little guys that hang out in Ernie's flower
box, and the land is designed so that *you* are the twiddlebugs.  Everything
is oversized so that you feel small.  There is a sand pail tipped over to
make a slide, a giant turntable, a giant watering can that sprinkles you 
with water, and my nephews' personal favorite, a little railroad track which
you travel around in kid-propelled cars made of match-boxes.

					Tracy

    Your right Tracy I guess 90% is a bit high.  All we did that day
    though except for stopping for our picnic, was stay in our bathing
    suits.  It was soooooo HOT. I was very pleased that there were as many
    attractions with water as there were.
    
     We never went near the arcades.  The only thing I remember doing that 
    wasn't a water related activity was to climb that big huge net by the 
    picnic tables.
    
    Donna

    I called them - they are closed until April 30.  Perhaps we can make it
    down there next year.  Thanks!

				cheryl

I have a 5 yr. old and an 18 month old and am looking for someplace other than
storyland to go to this summer. Although Storyland is great!

My youngest loves to watch Sesame St.  Would she be old enough to enjoy the park?

Does anyone know how much is costs?  

Thanks for any info

Kirsten

    We are also interested in going to Sesame Place.
    
    However, we are in a quandary about when to go.  We want to go early
    enough in the season that it's not too crowded, but late enough that 
    it's not too cold to take advantage of the water activities.
    
    Does mid-June seem like a good time?
    
    Also, is it significantly less crowded during the week than it is on
    a weekend day?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Leslie

    Leslie,
    
    We have been to Sesame Place in late May and early June.  Both times
    the temperatures were in the 80's, definetly warm enough to take
    advantage of the water activities.
    
    Both times we went were on weekends and yes, it was crowded, but
    the park is so well organized it doesn't matter.  I believe they 
    close the entrance when they reach their capacity, so arrive early.
    
    The first time we went our children were 2 and 4, and last year they
    were 3 and 5.  We had a great time and will probably return again this
    year.  There are no mechanical rides (it is not like an amusement
    park), there are all kinds of activities, shows and play areas for all
    ages.  There are always characters walking around and posing for
    pictures.
    
    It costs about $20.00 per person.  You can get a discount card
    from employee activities - it's the one for Busch Gardens which
    owns Sesame Place. 
    
    Jill
    

    Kirsten--
    
    When we went to Sesame Place, Caileigh was 2 1/2 and Paige was 8
    months.  We were with a family with children 5 and 6.  All four kids
    had a terrific time.  If I remember correctly, there were some play
    areas designated for only the under-two set.  
    
    We went the day after Labor Day and had a gorgeous warm and sunny day.
    It was crowded, but not unbearable.  We plan to go back this year
    before Caileigh (now 7) gets too old to enjoy it.
    
    Tracy
    

Hi

I started receiving all kinds of info on Sesame Place and the area this week.  

We're definately interested in going this summer, either the first or last
week in July.

Could anyone recommend a hotel to stay at.  I've gotten quite a bit on info 
on them, but there are so many to choose from.  I'ld like to stay someplace
that has a pool and a restaurant.

Also, any suggestions on other things to do while there would be appreciated.

Thanks for your input

Kirsten

Hi Kirsten.

I've taken my nephews to Sesame Place each summer for the past three
years.  We've always stayed at the same place -- the Sheraton Inn Northeast.
It's a nice hotel and is quite a bit north of downtown Philadelphia so you
don't get caught up in the city traffic or anything.  It's about a 15 minute
drive from there to Sesame Place.  

The hotel does have a restaurant but I've never eaten there.  We usually
grab breakfast at the Burger King which is right outside of the park instead.
There are also lots of kid-accepting food places right near the hotel;
Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, etc.  These places suit my nephews 
better than do sit-down-and-wait-for-the-food restaurants.

There is a nice pool there which my nephews loved.  It's covered with a
glass dome which really echos when you talk or make train sounds :-), and 
there are places in it where you can be all the way across the pool from
someone yet still hear them when they whisper.  Staying up late and doing
nighttime swimming is always a hit of our vacations.  Shhh... don't tell
their parents!

Anyway, here's the info about the hotel:
   Sheraton Inn Northeast
   9461 Roosevelt Blvd   
   Philadelphia, PA
   (215) 671-9600
Last year the charge was $68 night including tax with a AAA discount.
I remember comparing this place to some others which are right outside
the park and this was the best value.  Also, I looked into some of the
Sesame Place packages that other places offered and they didn't seem
worth it to me.

Have a great trip!

                                              Tracy

Tracy

Thanks alot for the info!  Do you know if Digital offers discount cards for
Sesame Place?

Kirsten

    
    Digital does not offer discount cards.  I just asked yesterday.  My daughter
    (Allison, age 3) and I will probably be going the last week in July.
    It looks like fun.  Not sure where we're going to stay.  But, I have
    relatives in the area.
                

    I was told that Digital does indirectly provide discount cards. 
    Apparently, Digital offers discounts to Bush Gardens, and Sesame
    Place is affiliated with Bush Gardens.
    
    However, I haven't been able to get Employee Activities to send me any
    information (they said they would).
    
    Can anyone else confirm or deny this?  Do you know what the discounts
    are?
    
    Thanks a lot,
    
    Leslie

  I received a discount card from personnel in ZKO.  It was probably over a year
ago.  The card is called Anheuser-Busch Theme Parks CLub.  It offers a 15%
discount on up to 6 admissions at an Anheuser-Busch theme park.  Sesame Place
is listed as one of the theme parks.

Even if Digital doesn't, there may be other possible sources for discount 
coupons.  If you belong to an auto club, if you are going to rent a car in 
the area, some hotel chains, some restaurants in the ares, are all 
possibilities.

Clay

I'm pretty sure we used our AAA card to get an
admission discount there last summer.

    Watch for the "Sea World" coupons that run periodically in the Sunday
    coupon pages.  It says Sea World in large letters, but the small print
    says it's good at any Anheuser-Busch park, including Sesame Place.  You
    can save up to $18 ($3/person for up to six people).
    
    -Tracy
    

We just visited Sesame Place on July 11.  It was a fun park.  Admission was 
$20.95 for children and adults. Kids 2 and under are free. There is a discount 
for adults over 55.  We used a $3 discount/admission coupon that was in Turtle
magazine (and also Humpty-Dumpty magazine) for Busch parks.  Parking cost $4,
but our hotel (Sheraton Bucks County) offered free shuttle busses to and from
the park every half hour. I would NOT recommend staying at the Sheraton, though.
The price was high and the service was terrible.  You could buy a 2nd-day
admission ticket for $12.95 if you wanted to spend 2 days there.

Inside the park, you can rent lockers for $7 (small) and $9 (large) but you 
get $3 back when you turn your key in at the end of the day.  I'd recommend 
getting the large if you bring in a video camera.

The park was open from 9 - 8.  We got there shortly after 9.  We did many of
the "dry" activities first : Big Bird's walk, the giant 3-story climing 
structure, Ernie's bed-bouce, etc.  We walked down Sesame Street - this is
where you find the characters like Cookie Monster and Elmo. They do autographs
and pose for pictures.  Some activities wouldn't allow kids over 7 yrs. old.  
Some activities had 2 lines : one for under 7 and one for over 7 so the big 
kids and the little kids weren't mixed together.

We had an early lunch at 11:00 at the Food Factory (or something like that). 
They offer pizza, hot dogs, salad, and french fries. A sign stated that the 
place gets full 12-2 p.m.  Lunch was expensive : over $18 for 3 slices of pizza,
1 hot dog, 1 fries, and 4 Cokes. There are plenty of shaded picnic areas and 
you can bring in your own food. I saw alot of coolers on the picnic tables and 
no one seemed to bother them.  I wish I brought a cooler for drinks since my 
kids got thirsty quite often.

After lunch we changed into swim suits and did some water activities.  There are
about 4 wading pools, but they have themes, like the one in Twiddlebug land
where everything is oversized, or Big Bird's bird bath, with a giant birdbath
waterfall in the middle.  There are 2 water slides - a long twisty one and a
smaller straight one. I think there was a height restriction of 42" for these.
You land in 3 ft. of water but you go under. At the end are employees with big
rectangular floats that can be used to help catch the younger kids so they don't
go under water, if they want.  There were two raft/water slide rides.  One had
a ht. restriction of 42", but the other, which had a double-tube option, allowed
36+" tykes to ride with an adult.  There was also a "lazy-river" tube ride where
you just floated around in a big loop.  These rides had kind of long lines...
one line to wait for the inner tube, and one line to wait to go down.  Maybe
1/2 hour wait.  There was also a mini-inner tube ride for smaller kids under 5.

We had to go back to the hotel at 1:00 so our 3 yr. old could nap, and we 
reentered the park around 3:30.  It seemed very crowed then, although we saw
many families leaving about the time we were returning.  We did some more water
activities, since it was pretty hot. Then we took in a show "Big Bird Review"
which was cute, and saw the Alphabet Parade. The kids played in Twiddlebug Land
for awhile, and we tried the hands-on science exhibits at the Sesame Studios.
One more raft slide and then we called it quits.

Notes:

   Some of the activities are specifically geared for the preschooler, and some
are geared for older kids.  It's better if your kids are in the same age group.
Our 3 yr. old and our 6 yr. old were interested in different activies, although
luckily there was some overlap.

   Bring aqua shoes to the park! You can buy them at Bradlees for around $7.
It was a pain taking off our shoes, doing a water activity, drying off our feet
and retying everyone's shoes for every water activity.  The pavement was too
hot to go barefoot. With aqua shoes, you don't have to take them off when you
do the water activities.  Sesame Place offered them for sale for $15.

   Try to at least bring in your own drinks into the park if it's a warm day.
At $3 for a lemonade in a souvenir cup (which was the only thing sold at the
most convenient drink stands) you could go broke :-(

   Don't forget the sunblock!

All in all we had a great time.  The park was very clean and everyone was so
friendly.

� �ori �

	Where is Seseme Street?  Sounds like a lot of fun.

	Lynne

>>	Where is Seseme Street?  Sounds like a lot of fun.

Sesame Place (not Street) is in Langhorne, PA.  It's 15 miles or so north of
Philadelphia and it's a blast.  The last version of parenting had more
information about it.

      My three-year  old  daughter  and  I went to Sesame Place last
	Friday and had a blast.  We met my sister-in-law there.

      We drove  down  the  day  before  and  stayed  at the Marriott
	Courtyard on their Sesame Place plan.  They gave you a $4.95
	discount  on  the  tickets  (which you could buy there) plus
	breakfast  (the  $7.00  breakfast  buffet  -  good deal).  I
	believe the cost was $89.00.  It had a small indoor pool and
	jacuzzi.  The Marriott was about 15-20 minutes away from Sesame
	Place.   It's  right  off  the PA Turnpike.  The people were
	very  nice at the Marriott and they gave my daughter a small
	plastic Ernie figurine.

      Using the  advice from 618.18, we arrived a little after 9 am.
	We  attempted  do  the  dry activities first but my daughter
	really wanted to go into the water.  Since it was cloudy and
	there  was  a threat of rain, it was not crowded.  It turned
	out  to  be  a beautiful day and around 1 pm, it was crowded
	but not mobbed.  Several camps/daycares were there.

      My daughter's favorite activitives was the small tidal pool in
	Twiddlebug  land  and  the  Lazy river.  We went on the lazy
	river  three  times.  Only the last time did we have to wait
	about  20 minutes.   You could stay on for as long as you wanted.

      We attempted  the  water  slide first thing in the morning and
	there  was  a  5  minute  wait.  There was a dual inner tube
	connected.   The adult goes in the back and the child in the
	front.  Unfortunately, my daughter decided at the top of the
	slide  that  she  would prefer not to go down.  (ok, she was
	screaming,  please mommy, don't make me go down).  We walked
	down.   My  sister-in-law  went  in the single tube lane and
	thought  it  was fun.  I tried it by myself later in the day
	and there was a 20 minute wait.  Fun ride but not for a long 
    	wait.

      My daughter  liked Ernie's bed and but would have had a better
	time  if  she was with a friend.  There was also a small pit
	with  lots  of  balls  (like  Chuckie Cheese or McDonald's).
	Adults  go  in  with  their  kids.   It was too hard to move
	around  in, too deep.  It rather terrified my daughter and I
	had a very difficult time moving.

      The Alphabet parade was great.  My daughter loves parades.  We
	also  saw  all  the shows: a bird show with talking parrots,
	Sesame  Street in Jamaica (Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Elmo, etc)
	singing and dancing, Sesame Street Studios where they make a
	movie,  and  the  clubhose  -  two club members who sing and
	dance and bring people up from the audience to tell a story.

      Again, thanks  to  the  advice of Lori, we brought water shoes
	and  lunch.   We  avoided  the food factory totally.  We did
	succumb  and have to buy a $3.00 Lemonade (if you bring back
	the container, they refill for $1.50).

      We stayed  from  9  am  to  5 pm.  The more adventuresome your
	child  is,  the  better  time  they will have.  I think a 5
	is probably the perfect age.

Notes:
	Don't forget your towels.

	The  Red  Roof Inn is very close to Sesame Place.  We parked
	by sister-in-law's car there.  Looked like a nice place.

      Bringing lunch  was  a very good idea.  The lines for the food
	were  long.  There were picnic tables right outside the main
	entrance.   We  had  an  excellent  parking spot in front of
	them.   So, we just left the cooler in the car until we were
	ready for lunch.

      There was  also  an  "arcade"  type  outdoor  place that for 2
	tokens,  you could drive a remote controlled car or boat.  My
	daughter  loved  the  sprayer game.  For 2 tokens, you have a
	hose  that you shoot at a burning building scene and various
	things move.  You got 3 tokens for a $1.00.  

	It was really nice to have the extra adult there.  

	Marriott Courtyard	       215-830-0550

    Does anyone know what the cost is for 1996?  My mother-in-law lives in
    Trevose and just told us that admission is up to $60!  I find that hard
    to believe...especially since is was $21 in 1994.  
    
    
    Robin

    
    	I called the information # 215-752-7070 and for pricing
    information, the only thing they say is the park will open May 4th.
    
    	I tried some of the other voicemail options and I could not find
    any pricing information for 1996.  Maybe the rates aren't set yet.  
    $60 just doesn't seem right.

    I don't think the price of $60 is correct either.  That sounds like
    maybe $60 for the seasonal pass.
    
    I have to go past there tomorrow on the way to the doctor, I'll see if
    I can find out anything.  They are just getting ready for the opening
    stuff now, so it may still be a few weeks.
    
    Send me mail if you don't see a posting in the near future from me.
    
    Cheryl
    

    Hi All,
    
    Sorry I didn't get this info into the system earlier...sorta got
    delayed by the arrival of the newest family member.  8-D
    
    Here's the Sesame Place info for 1996:
    	Park Opens May 4th
    
    	Tickets are $22.95 for kids and adults (there is a senior rate too)
    	Second day tickets are $12.95
    
    	Admission after 4pm is $15.95
    
    	Parking is $4 per vehicle (unless you want to walk from the mall)
    
    	
    I forgot to ask about the season passes, but figured that it's only
    important if you are a local anyhow.
    
    They added a few new things again this year.
    
    Cheryl