Philadelphia vacation

[dtr_angel]

We are planning a trip to Philly in July for our son's 2nd birthday. He loves Sesame Street right now so the purpose of the trip is to visit Sesame Place. Are there any other places/things to do in the Philly area or surrounding areas that are toddler friendly? Not interested in the beach but besides that, open to other suggestions.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

We went to Sesame Place last summer. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Trevose, PA. It was about a 12 minute drive to Sesame Place. I found it to be a very nice hotel. We booked under Sesame Promotion of Stay 2 nights get 1 night free. We stayed for 6 nights and it was under $1000 for 4. It included the Sesame fun card which gave you unlimited admission, hotel and a picture at 123 Smile.

We made the drive to Crayola experience which was a disappointment so I wouldn't recommend that. The other thing we did was Six Flags Great Adventure. There 2 huge kiddie sections that my newly turned 2 year old had a blast the entire day. Plus they have a really cool safari ride now. I think its better than the one at AK.

My sister did the Aquarium in NJ and enjoyed that. I also have heard good things about the zoo and the Please Touch Museum but we didn't make it to them.

 

[starwart]

We made the drive to Crayola experience which was a disappointment so I wouldn't recommend that.

Yes. Whatever you hear or whatever they say here. Avoid this place

 

[disny_luvr]

We took our boys to the Please Touch Museum when they were three-years-old and they loved it. I'd highly recommend it.

 

[fac]

have you considered priceline?

 

[PA Princess]

My one son loved trains at that age. It is not in Philadelphia, but about an hour away in Lancaster County is the Strasburg Railroad and the PA railroad museum - being able to climb all round on a life size train was heaven to my two little toddler sons. Another plus to Lancaster area is Dutch Wonderland (a great little park for little ones).

 

[eangel12]

Sesame Place is about 45+ minutes from Center City activities! Please Touch Museum is great, zoo, Adventure Aquarium are all great but I would do the 2 days at Sesame and then move down to a hotel in the city to do the other activities!

Please Touch and zoo are very close to each other so you could do that...and then aquarium is right over the bridge. Another place my kids love is Garden State Discovery Museum. They like it more than Please Touch!

We live in the area and do an activity each weekend. We really like Dutch Wonderland but it is a drive from our area. Hershey Park is fun too. We don't love Six Flags--we always find big groups of older kids that aren't very nice!!

 

[nycdisneygal]

We just did a weekend in philly proper after thanksgiving. We stayed at Hotel Palomar (love kimpton hotels!)
We walked to The Franklin Institute which is so great for kids! Your child will probably like Please touch museum which is near there.
We bought tokens for the bus/trolley and it was cheap and easy to get around that way!

 

[KJF]

I live in the area, so can't help w/ hotels. But I would also recommend the Please Touch Museum & the Philadelphia Zoo.

Depending on if you wanted to split up your trip, I would recommend spending a few nights in Lancaster. Dutch Wonderland is an awesome park for kids - Old time charm, not rushed feeling. One of our favorites. Right near there is Strasburg Railroad - you can do a train ride. Depending on the timing of the trip, they do Day out with Thomas there, which is a lot of fun. And all the Amish riding around in the buggies is fun for the kids. Hershey isn't far from there either - that's also a nice park.

 

[wiigirl]

We took our boys to the Please Touch Museum when they were three-years-old and they loved it. I'd highly recommend it.

 

[Lynne G]

I live in the area too, and had super grover passes this past year. Sesame Place is small, and in the Neshaminy Mall parking lot. There are several hotels in the area, and I would check for hotel and ticket packages to maybe save money. Sesame Place is about 1 hour north of Philadelphia. If you are going to the museums and zoo, (and the Please Touch Museum in Fairmount park, not far from the Zoo)I'd look for a hotel in the Fairmount Park area. Those hotels are not cheap though. You may want to check for a parking and stay package, as parking in town is expensive. Also, there is a trolley that goes from the zoo to all the museums on the Parkway. Go on the trolley website. There's also a philadelphia pass that is good for all attactions and the zoo, I just can't remember the name of it, but google for it. That may save you money too. Also, If you do want to go outside of Philly, and head west, Dutch Wonderland is a fun, small park. I'd stay a night out there too, as the drive from Philly is about 2 hours.

Have a great time.

Here's the website I was talking about: http://www.citypass.com/philadelphia?id=h2Ns9mJX

 

[Jeepin Dad]

Like others have said the Zoo, Strasburg Railroad, and Adventure Aquarium are great for kids. At that age one of my boys' favorite places to visit was Longwood Gardens (about 40 minutes outside of Philly), they loved the wide open spaces to run around in, climbing in the tree houses, playing hide and seek in the Topiary Garden and exploring in both the indoor and outdoor Children's Garden.

 

[miztressuz]

I live in the area too, and had super grover passes this past year. Sesame Place is small, and in the Neshaminy Mall parking lot.

Sesame Place is small comparatively speaking, but it is NOT in the Neshaminy Mall parking lot. It is near the Oxford Valley mall on Oxford Valley Rd in Langhorne. Google Maps has a good aerial view to see the relation of the park to the mall.


I have not found a hotel in Philadelphia itself that was a good value, so I avoid them. (just my opinion) But you can find some decent hotels in the Trevose/Bensalem area and as pointed out already are only about 15 minutes from Sesame and about 40/50 minutes from downtown Philly. There's also regional rail stations in Trevose with free/cheap parking so you could take the train and not worry about city parking if budget trumps convenience. Septa does a transportation pass that's good for the regional rail, buses, and subways for a day. http://septa.org/fares/pass/independence.html
I think the children's fare rules apply to passes too, but I'm not sure. In general children under 4 are free when traveling with a fare paying adult (up to 2 kids).

I've heard good things about the Please Touch museum but can't think of much more for toddlers in the city. I think the Franklin Institute is awesome but not sure if there is enough there to appeal to only toddlers. We also stop by the Reading Terminal Market and/or Chinatown.

If you might be interested in other things in the Sesame Place area, there's a visitors site for Bucks County which might give options. http://www.visitbuckscounty.com/things-to-do/kids/

 

[ferrytale]

I live 5 min from Sesame Place & we're SP holders. Tip - Monday/Tues/Wed are typically the "slower" days, it's a lot smaller than Six Flags & WDW, but we love it. If your little one can hold out, try to stay until the park closes - a lot of the crowd thins out after the evening parade, but the park is still open & lines are usually a little better then.
I wouldn't do Franklin Institute with a 2yr old, it's great but more for older kids. Adventure Aquarium & the zoo are great! Have fun!

 

[Lynne G]

Sesame Place is small comparatively speaking, but it is NOT in the Neshaminy Mall parking lot. It is near the Oxford Valley mall on Oxford Valley Rd in Langhorne. Google Maps has a good aerial view to see the relation of the park to the mall.


Thanks for correcting me. We visit both mall complexes. The first time I went to Sesame Place, I missed the turn off and ended up in the Malll parking lot, and accessed Sesame Place from there. It is a great park for a toddler.

That's what I get for typing on an ipad.

 

[seashell724]

Why did a couple people say to avoid the Crayola museum. I saw it on tv and it looked amazing!

 

[jvorhis]

Why did a couple people say to avoid the Crayola museum. I saw it on tv and it looked amazing!

I don't know...We live about 20 minutes from there and go a few times a year. My girls are 4 and 10 and they both love it. I do think you need to have older kids who enjoy "art projects" and such. They did just remodel it and it is much nicer than it was.

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks for correcting me. We visit both mall complexes. The first time I went to Sesame Place, I missed the turn off and ended up in the Malll parking lot, and accessed Sesame Place from there. It is a great park for a toddler.

That's what I get for typing on an ipad.

np, i just didn't want people to get the impression that Sesame Place was like a carnival size. (which, incidentally, Neshaminy Mall does do a carnival in their parking lot each year)

location wise Sesame Place is in the middle of a bunch of retail locations ( thinking more about it, it does have malls/strip malls on all sides) so it does kinda seem like its 'in' a parking lot. but they have good enough cover that i can't imagine you see that from inside the park (i've never seen into the park when driving around it) it is just a little odd when you compare to six flags, or dorney park where they're more out in the 'land'. never thought of it before what an interesting location for a theme park.

 

[3boymthr]

I second Strasburg. DH took the boys there (each on their own - their special trip with dad and then to visit granny). Sometimes Thomas is there for "A Day out with Thomas" and that's when they'd go. If going to Strasburg DH stayed in the Red Caboose Motel with the Kids. Which they loved.

 

[tourguide81]

I see great deals for Philly hotels on groupon all the time. If I was doing stuff in Philly and Sesame Place I would stay at 2 places. No way would I trek from Langhorne or Trevose or Bensalem into Philly more than once, that sounds awful. If you want to experience a city, you kind of have to stay in the city not in a 2nd or 3rd ring suburb. We live in a first ring suburb and most days you'd have no idea how close we are. Even at only 1 mile from the border it takes us a a good 30+ minutes by train or subway to get to center city things, much less stuff like PTM or the Zoo.

So, I'd check groupon and find a deal that's within the city and walkable to both subway, train and the Phlash.

Maybe 2 nights by Sesame Place and then move.

Another fun thing to do would be to see a Phillies game if they're in town when you are. The Morris Arboretum is also great, smaller, closer & more affordable than Longwood - but no indoor greenhouses. The orchestra and other theaters do kids events and performances and from the spring through the fall there is a festival or something to do somewhere.

Certain Sundays are pay as you wish at the Art Museum, that's a great experience for kids even if they aren't older - my 2 year old had a blast the last time we went.