Our Sesame Place experience

JillAly

Others were so helpful to me in planning our trip so I thought I'd pass along the things that we found helpful in case anyone else is planning a trip.

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard.  It was 2 minutes from the park and they had a free shuttle every 1/2 hour.  Not having to pay for parking - or wait in line to park - was a huge plus.  It dropped us off at the entrance to the park so we didn't even have to walk far. 

The hotel itself was really kid friendly- when I asked for extra pillows in case my daughter fell off the bed, they delivered bed rails - that was a great bonus.  The only negative was there was no place for the kids to run around and play - I thought such a kid friendly hotel (Nick Jr on the TV in a sitting area, Elmo pictures, etc) would have a little play area.  The pool was also really small.  They do have small refridgerators in the rooms which was helpful - and a convenience store down the road so we could buy milk and other things for the kids and not have to buy it at the hotel (almost $3 for a soda at the hotel!).  They also allow you to order in food to the hotel from a restaurant and eat it in their dining area- and they'll give you silverware, napkins, etc. That was great after a long day at the park so we didn't have to drag the kids to a restaurant- or have to eat in our room.

The park itself - I took a 2 year old and an almost 5 year old.  My 5 year old went on everything and really got a lot out of the park- and he was definitely the right age for it.  My 2 year old?  There were a handful of things for her- enough to make her happy but still make me feel like $50 was a big price for what she could do - but I will say that all the water rides scared her so we lost 1/2 the park because she wouldn't do those rides.  There is a wading pool they can walk into, a carousel, teacup spinners, a "river" where they can float down and a few other things- but she spent a large part of the day waiting for my son to go down the ones she couldn't go on. 

The things I highly recommend are the Abby pass which lets you skip the lines - and there were lines for everything!  My 2 year old loved the Breakfast with the characters - so even though the food was terrible, watching all the kids squeal over Elmo and friends made it worth it.  It really is a great photo op with each character if you want a picture with each one (although Cookie Monster didn't make an appearance at ours).  They even had a backdrop for Elmo so it looks like your'e on Sesame Street with him.

My other recommendation is bring your own lunch and drinks.  Buy as little as possible.  It is crazy expensive - which wouldn't be so bad if the food was good but it was dreadful.  It was dreadful by amusement park standards - not regular restaurant standards. 

And if you go in August- bring hats and sunblock - it was sooooo hot!  Hope this helps!  Enjoy it if you go.

Jason&Erin82507

We went on Aug 4th and stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn, which also has a shuttle. The hotel was awesome! Indoor pool, 2 bedrooms (so grandma had her own) but I wasn't too thrilled with the park. This may seem strange, but I feel like there really werent that many rides. Also, the day we went, it was over crowded and so it was a mob scene everytime a character came out for photos (not that the park can control that, Id just rather go somewhere less hectic)....There is a "kiddie" amusement park 20 mins from me called "Land of Make Believe" which is much, much better. We went to Sesame Place for the experience, but probably won't go back.

JillAly

We didn't even see any characters walking around the park.  If we hadn't done the breakfast, the only characters we would have seen would have been the ones in the little theater when they were on the stage.  I'm sure they would have been mobbed if they were walking around - there were crowds everywhere. 

I agree it was very hectic.  I was told we were "lucky" because it rained several times during the days we were there so a lot of the crowd left.  I can't even imagine how crowded it would be if it hadn't rained!  It would pour and then go back to 95 degrees too- the rain never helped it get cooler!

For anyone reading- I totally agree that there are better parks if you want to go on a lot of rides.  But my kids haven't stopped talking about Elmo and the other characters and walking around with their Sesame Street stuffed dolls so to me it was worth the price- but only because we did the character breakfast- without that, I would felt it was no different than any other park (since we didn't see any characters in the park).