Slightly Off Topic: Sesame Place

[LaurenLC]

just had to tell u that your daughter is beautiful..

Awwww thanks... We like her


Thank you everyone for all the great advice! I think we're going to do one full day and then see how it goes. If we want to go back the next day we can, or we can try to go back another day in our trip to PA. If anyone has any other suggestions I really appreciate them!

 

[AllieV]

We're going in June and doing two half-days and staying over. It's a 50 mile drive, so we'll drive mid-moring, hit Sesame Place for a few hours, then the next morning before we drive home hit it again.

 

[LaurenLC]

Long time no post.... I had a question for the Sesame Place experts out there.... Is the Abby's Magic Queue or Unlimited Queue worth the cost? We're going on Monday and I'm not sure if I should spend the money. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[Lstar311]

Well as of today I'd say definitely not. It has not been crowded at Sesame Place at all. Today we walked right on all the rides or just had to wait through one ride. But, this week school's are getting out so it will be getting more crowded. I guess it depends on your original question. If you are just going for one day you might want to consider it. How much is it just for a day? I've only seen it in conjunction w/ season passes.

 

[AllieV]

I didn't see it offered, so maybe it's an add-on to a season pass as pp mentioned. We caught one line early and had no wait, but another character was loooong so we skipped it (might have been abbey). There is also a character meet/greet with pictures that's set up like a ride with a roof (yeah, shade) and formal line corals. This went quick day 1 (big bird on one side, elmo on the other). The next day, Abbey was there and it was way too long to wait. I guess she's popular. You might be better off scheduling the character lunch.

 

[LaurenLC]

Well as of today I'd say definitely not. It has not been crowded at Sesame Place at all. Today we walked right on all the rides or just had to wait through one ride. But, this week school's are getting out so it will be getting more crowded. I guess it depends on your original question. If you are just going for one day you might want to consider it. How much is it just for a day? I've only seen it in conjunction w/ season passes.

I didn't see it offered, so maybe it's an add-on to a season pass as pp mentioned. We caught one line early and had no wait, but another character was loooong so we skipped it (might have been abbey). There is also a character meet/greet with pictures that's set up like a ride with a roof (yeah, shade) and formal line corals. This went quick day 1 (big bird on one side, elmo on the other). The next day, Abbey was there and it was way too long to wait. I guess she's popular. You might be better off scheduling the character lunch.

It's offered....

For $15 per person
Abby's Magic Queue allows you the opportunity to bypass the lines at certain attractions. Each pass allows a one-time bypass at Flyin' Fish, Peek-a-Bug, Blast Off!, Big Birds Balloon Race, Grover's World Twirl, Sunny Day Carousel, Cloud Chaser, Vapor Trail, the Elmo's World Live! Show, and unlimited line bypass at Big Bird's Rambling River (weather permitting). Guests on the river can ride continually without exiting. *1 per person is required.

For $30 per person
Abby's Unlimited Magic Queue allows you the opportunity to bypass the lines at certain attractions. Each pass allows the bearer UNLIMITED line bypass at Elmo’s World Live! Show, Flyin' Fish, Peek-a-Bug, Blast-Off, Big Bird's Balloon Race, Grover's World Twirl, Sunny Day Carousel, Cloud Chaser, Vapor Trail, and Big Bird’s Rambling River (weather permitting). Guests on the river can ride continually without exiting. *1 per person is required.

We're going for one day (Monday) and doing the Elmo and Friends Lunch. I just don't know if we need the 'line jumping' pass.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

Not to high-jack you thread Lauren but we are heading to Sesame Place in July as well. I was wondering if the character dining was worth the money? Dutch Wonderland seems cool too, not sure who mentioned it but thanks!

 

[AllieV]

Oh, the front-of-line pass, sorry. I did read about these but since we were going so early in the season, didn't look it over too hard. I thought it would be a cool feature in the craziness of summer, though. If it's one parent, one kid, that not too expensive, but I would get the unlimited one.

 

[AllieV]

Regarding your question of an unused day on a ticket -- they use biometrics, so only the same person can use all the days.

Was wondering if you'd gone yet and if the Abbey Queue was worth it. I may brave it again for the 7/25 Christmas thing they have going on, but I thought the $15 might be worth it to avoid the lines once. We probably wouldn't do the rides more than once anyway.

 

[DopeyDame]

We were there yesterday and it was crowded, but not crazy. I think the longest line we waited in was less than 10 minutes (although we didn't do the roller coaster or the big water slides and I didn't really notice their lines one way or the other.) No need for the front of the line pass at all yesterday. The one time I thought "Ugh - this crowd is annoying!" was in the Counts pool - it was really busy and tons of running and splashing, but that's to be expected.
I did notice as we were walking in, just 15 minutes after park opening, that all of the character meals for the day were sold out, so if you decide to do that, be sure to book in advance.

 

[jaspal271002]

Hi Superwendy

we are staying for 7 nights in nyc. planning to take my 7 year old daughter for some entertaintment (she likes the fantasy world / magic kingdom types).

am looking at sesame place (1 night), hershey (1 night) and dutch wonderland.

do you have any other suggestions.

many thanks
jaspal

Hi Lauren,

One day is enough for sure. There's lots of fun water stuff like slides, splash areas, lazy river. There's a cute roller coaster and small rides too. There are also playground type areas too. I grew up going to Sesame Place... and now my kids love it...it's so fun! I'm guessing you'll be in the Philly area. If you would like input on other fun places for little ones feel free to PM me!

 

[PWammy]

I'd say 2 days also, and break up your water and regular attraction days.

 

[GoldieLocks5]

I wouldn't want to do Sesame Place 2 days in a row - we go once in the spring and once end of summer each year- and that is perfect for us and our kids. It's fun, but it's NO Disney

 

[AllieV]

we are staying for 7 nights in nyc. planning to take my 7 year old daughter for some entertaintment (she likes the fantasy world / magic kingdom types).

do you have any other suggestions.

If you have some time leftover, stop in the town of West Orange, where there is a fabulous zoo. They just built a big building in it to house sea lions and they have a touch tanks there. They also have pony rides, an aviary where you can feed birds, a train ride, and carousel as well as other cool stuff. One cool thing is the treetop aerial course with zipline. Next door to it is a mini golf and an indoor ice skating rink. Nothing unusual there but you could make a day of the area and only park your car once.

 

[chimilady]

I was just there yesterday and I would say 2 days for sure, especially if you're coming around in the summer when the water park stuff will be open. By the time you factor in the 3 shows, eating, rides, that's just the dry side of the park. If you want to do water, that's another day.

 

[shelbyf31]

We went to Sesame Place every year for the last 5 years. The kids loved it. I would recommend two days. That way you can take your time. It can be crowded at times.

 

[jadelane1]

We live about 20 min away and have had season passes in the past. I would say 1 day. There is no reason that you couldn't get everything done. We now go here and there because it is so close and are able to do everything the kids want and more. I personally don't care for the park that much and find it rather small but after doing Disney no park seems that great.

 

[chimilady]

We live about 20 min away and have had season passes in the past. I would say 1 day. There is no reason that you couldn't get everything done. We now go here and there because it is so close and are able to do everything the kids want and more. I personally don't care for the park that much and find it rather small but after doing Disney no park seems that great.

Really? You could get done all of the water park stuff and the shows in one day? I've had a season pass now for 2 years and I still can't do it. Sesame is no Disney of course, but you need to appreciate it for what it is. I could barely get all of the dry side done this past Sunday, as the lines were insane.

 

[AllieV]

I went for the first time this season over the memorial day weekend on Sunday. It was nice weather. Not too bad of a crowd in the morning but by 1pm it was packed. We had to skip some rides. The a.m. was about 1 or 2 ride length wait. After lunch it went to 5 ride length wait. For the first time, I saw the advantage of the Abby's Magic Queue.

My question to those who've done it (the $15 one) -- how do they know you've done a ride? is it a card that gets scanned? Is it little cards for each ride that they collect? I'm asking because there are some he can go on by himself (the swings) and I'm wondering if I can give him my pass so he can go on twice. I dislike the swings but he loves them.

Thanks.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you have some time leftover, stop in the town of West Orange, where there is a fabulous zoo. They just built a big building in it to house sea lions and they have a touch tanks there. They also have pony rides, an aviary where you can feed birds, a train ride, and carousel as well as other cool stuff. One cool thing is the treetop aerial course with zipline. Next door to it is a mini golf and an indoor ice skating rink. Nothing unusual there but you could make a day of the area and only park your car once.

I've been going here for about 40 years, and they really have done a nice job improving Turtle Back Zoo (we used to call it the last refuge for injured geese). Unfortunately, Sandy destroyed the really cool aerial course (at least the last time I checked). Not all of my 10 year olds' friends were even tall enough for it (mine were). I love the butterfly exibit.