Sesame Place or Dutch Wonderland?

[daisy1234]

I am thinking of doing a quick geta way in June...Where would you go with 2 little ones 3 and 6? I was thinkin S. Place or Lancaster? Maybe willow Valley? WE are in near Lehigh Valley...Early June meid week...also where would you stay near Sesame place?

 

[christa112]

IMO Sesame Place is not worth the $. We went last summer and were very very disappointed. My friend was telling me how much she loved it and so we decided to take a drive while we were visiting family in NJ. We are a family of 5 and it cost us over $200 to walk through the gate, not including parking, food and drink. The water slides smelled like urine!!!

Total Rip OFF!!!!

 

[lisaross]

My kids love both - Dutch Wonderland has lots to do all around it, so if you want to stay 1 or 2 nights there is lots of other things. As for Sesame Place my kids love it and when we went we'd stay in a motel near by and get the tickets where you can go 2 days - and that is what we'd do. I don't think there is much else around there. If you want Water go to Sesame - Dutch is dry rides!

lisa

ps Willow Valley is a great Resort my friend stayed there! We also usually just stay at a motel near Dutch - there are so so many.

I am thinking of doing a quick geta way in June...Where would you go with 2 little ones 3 and 6? I was thinkin S. Place or Lancaster? Maybe willow Valley? WE are in near Lehigh Valley...Early June meid week...also where would you stay near Sesame place?

 

[jillmomto3]

Knobeles in Elysburg is always nice for the kids, they have a great kids area, and free parking, no admission.
Jill

 

[thegroovypad]

We live about 20 min. from Sesame and an hour and a half from Dutch Wonderland, I think. Anyway, they are both a complete rip off. Neither of them are worth the money. However, I would choose Sesame over Dutch Wonderland any day.

 

[marcyinPA]

We went to Sesame Place about 6 years ago and didn't like it at all. The water was cloudy and the people were "rough" (and that's putting it nicely!) Lots of parents screaming and cursing at their kids...not a great atmosphere! We never went back.

Haven't been to Dutch Wonderland in probably 11 years, but I believe it's owned by Hershey now. It was a cute park back then and good for the younger set.

If you are in the Lehigh Valley, I have the second the idea of trying Knoebels. Very clean park, free admission and parking, inexpensive ride prices if you buy the tickets. You can get all day ride passes during the week. Great kiddie rides! You can pack a picnic, or buy food there (great food and reasonable prices!) They also have a pool area, which we've never been to , but looks fun. I'm not sure about where to stay, because we've always gone in a day, but it's not far from Bloomsburg, and there are hotels in the area.

have fun wherever you go!

 

[java]

Sesame place is a dump. Dirty and nothing like the commercials they show- The water is gross. My kids wouldn't go in it was that dirty. Just all around a disappointment. And too bad because it is within an hour of where we live but I won't go back again. It was that gross.

Dutch Wonderland was ok. Not wow you great- but ok. In the area near wonderland is The Strasburg Railway- they do a Thomas week that is fun if your kids are into Thomas. Also Hershey is about 30 minutes west of all that.

I could get to begging people to not go to Sesame Place. I had a friend not listen and went anyway- how bad could it be. She left within the first hour she was there and asked for her money back it was that bad.

Oh and I would vote Knoebel's too! We are going to head there the next nice weekend. The kids love it there.

 

[abs730]

I live about 30-35 minutes from Dutch Wonderland and for little ones it is great. My son who is three can go on most of the rides himself and it great because there is usually no wait in line especially if you can go before the third week in June when kids get out of school. There is also a great water park connected that is confined that you can sit and watch the kids get wet. We started taking my son when he was 17 months and at that time he could even ride some of the rides by himself, we just had to go on and buckle him and then go back in to unbuckle. It is owned by Hershey now so you can not take any food in-they used to let you pack coolers and had a nice picnic area, not anymore.
I have never heard great things about Sesame and as for Knobels-spelled wrong. I have always heard great things about it, but heard it could be trashy.
But Hersheypark is always a great alternative they have a kids section as well. It is about an hour from me and we frequenlty go there just for a day trip because chocolate world is free and it is a nice easy trip when it is too hot to be outside.

 

[T. Lynn]

I highly recommend Knoebels. Check out their website at: www.knoebels.com

We started taking DD when she was 2 and have gone every year since. If they are fairly young, you can do the Bargain nights on Wednesday & Friday night from 6-10. It's only 8.50 and basically includes only the kiddie rides (no coasters). This is what we did until DD wanted roller coasters.

Here is a motel not far from the park: http://www.glosserinn.com/


PS - Dutch Wonderland does have a water section if that's a factor. Be aware that Hershey park is very hilly. We took DD last year for the day (she's now 8) and she complained because it took forever to get to each section and was too hilly.

 

[drcmk]

I live about 30 minutes from Sesame. Five and six years ago we had season passes and enjoyed going very much. I would NOT go now. The place has always had problems, but we stopped going when it became too dirty, too crowded and the customer service fell off considerably.

Willow Valley and Dutch Wonderland are great for kids the age of yours. Willow Valley offers a short free bus trip that will take you to other area highlights. Consider also the Sturgis Pretzel house and Hersheypark. Hershey has roller coasters but also many little kid rides. You can get a deal by going after 5:00 pm.

 

[Mickeys.friend]

KNOEBELS...hands down the best amusement park for families in my opinion! It's clean...friendly, has great food (not just fast food fare) and NO ADMISSION! You can easily make a couple days out of it because of the water pools/slides and everything else!
However if you are set on going to Lancaster than why not go to the Hershey park website and get this years rates on their split stay ticket where you pay one price for a visit to Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland. Hershey is the only park that gives me that "tingly" feeling that Disney does when we enter! For a quick midweek stay check out the Milton Motel...it's down the road from Hershey ...nice people, clean and a cheap no frills friendly place to stay with free breakfast!
Enjoy your trip!!

LIZ

 

[treeface]

We were at Sesame Place three years ago, it was too cold for the water rides so don't know much about that. DS was 3, this was a one time visit, had fun, but wouldn't go back.

We spent two nights at Willow Valley and absolutely loved it. We'd love to go back, but just hasn't worked into our travel plans since.

Thought about Dutch Wonderland, but just relaxed at the resort instead and did some outlet shopping.

 

[Artist]

We live in Langhorne, PA. Home of Sesame Place.
My kids and DH get season passes (he's home all summer). I can honestly say it's great...during the week in June...and not great on weekends or Fridays or in late July and August.
So if you go on a weekday, in June, it's lovely- clean, not crowded, and fun for kids. The staff is a lot of high school and college kids, they perform best without the pressure of large crowds.
After about mid-July, lots of busses of people are there every day. The "maximum capacity" is when the parking lot is full...and when the park gets crowded, it gets really bad in there.
I don't bother with a season pass for myself, I'll pay admission for a day or two to go with them in June on a weekday.
But you'll never catch me there in July or August.
There are a few nice hotels very close to the park. And a Mall, Target, shopping centers, etc.

 

[2Blue1Pink]

We went to Sesame two years ago on a Saturday in August. I came home saying if someone gave me a free trip, including transportation plus spending money, I still would not go to Sesame again. IT WAS SO DIRTY...I have photos of my toddler daughter cowering near the edge of a dirty pool with a half inch of sludge sloshing against her ankles. It was also packed and expensive (and I acknowledge we were there at a peak time). The crowds for the parade were like 20 people deep to the street. There were lots of misbehaving parents and unsupervised kids too. My suggestion is to try somewhere else!!

 

[Minniemouse07]

For their ages...I would do a few days in Lancaster. Do DW for one day (we love that the kids can go on EVERYTHING there) and check out the Strasburg railroad on another.

We live between DW and SP (a bit closer to SP) and I heard on the radio today that they are giving out $25 gas cards to anyone staying 2 or more nights in the Lancaster area. So that may help sway your decision!

 

[WDWFromTheirEyes]

We are suppose to be down at Sesame Place in June. Now I am having second thoughts. If we got there right when they opened, do you think we would be okay?

 

[thegroovypad]

I find that Sesame Place is best from around 4 o'clock on. When we go we don't go until after 4. Before 4 is when all of the buses are there and there are lots of rude children/adults that come on the buses.
Yes, Sesame is extremely dirty but my kids love it. We just take hot showers as soon as we get home and we've never had any problems.

 

[Ashlander]

We took our kids to Sesame Place a couple of years ago and I will not be going back. The park was much smaller than I expected and not enough to do. We actually were rained on the first time so we went back in the middle of summer. It was absolutely insane the number of older kids that were there (10+).

 

[tazdev3225]

I have not gone to Sesame Place for 20 years and will never go there again. I live 15 minutes from there but would rather drive 2 hours to go to Hershey Park or however long it was to go to Knoebels. Lancaster area is great all around there are so many places to go and see. The buffet at Shady Maple alone makes it worth the trip.
I lost my DD when she was 3 at Sesame. I looked away from her for a second to check on DS and she was gone. I was there with a group from my church. When I went to the kiddie lost and found they told me to listen for alerts and come back and check and see if it was her. They would not page anyone from my group. The best suggestion was to go up on Big Birds catwalk and see if I spotted her. It is at least 8' off of the ground and surrounded by netting. I wanted to know if I should jump off if I saw her. Fortunately we found her about an hour later safe and sound, but when I think of what could have happened. My DD now has 2 kids of her own and knows I will never take them there.

 

[ShellChelle]

We had season passes to Sesame Place a few years ago, and went about half a dozen times (my kids were 8, 5, and 3 at the time). Without the water attractions, there's not much else to do. A few rides, but not worth the admission price.

However, the season passes were a great idea for our family at that time, because that year we drove to Florida and used the passes at both Sea World and Busch Gardens, Tampa. And, on the way home to PA, we used them again to gain admission to Busch Gardens, Williamsburg.

Dutch Wonderland is a good choice because it has both a water park and "dry" rides.

Knoebels has been a family favorite for years. It's a must-do attraction any time we are in the pocono mountains area.