Suggestions needed for combining a Hershey/Sesame Place trip

[2Pirates2Princesses]

We are contemplating doing a combined Hershey/Sesame Place vacation this summer. Since they are only two hours away from eachother we can do both consecutively. I need suggestions on how to plan an itinerary for both parts of the trip, especially which one we should do first. We will most likely go Sun-Thurs (five nights) to avoid the weekend crowds at both parks. We are thinking of doing a three night package with Sesame since they are offering that "Buy 2 nights, Get 1 free" promotion with the free upgrade to a season pass. We will probably stay in the Hershey area for only two nights because the hotels in Hershey (and even the surrounding towns like Harrisburg, Hummelstown, and Grantville) are very expensive, especially for suites that accomodate a family of six. Our children will be 2, 4, 9, and 9 during the trip. We have been to Sesame Place before and we all love it. For Hershey we would like to do one day at Hershey Park (including the Boardwalk area), and maybe on our second day do Chocolate World and the Hershey Zoo America since each of those side attractions only require a couple hours. My 9 year olds are not thrill ride enthusiasts and we won't have any other adults with us, so we probably won't do a good percentage of the thrill rides/roller coasters at Hershey. Any tips/suggestions on how to plan a combined trip like this would be great. Thanks

 

[jamuth]

I think 3 nights at Sesame Place might be too long. It is a very small park with what I thought was a lot of water rides. My kids were 2 and 4 last year when I went and I felt like my 2 year old didn't have to do much. We quickly went thru all the rides and then he was just hanging out in the splash area. I guess you could just take your time and hang by the splash area all day. But i was quickly bored with that.
We also did Hershey which I liked but didn't love. It is nice that the kiddie rides are mixed throught out the park with the big rides. Could you stay in the Lancaster Area to save some money. I little bit of a commute.
Did you ever do DutchWonderland? Might be better for your age group. They also have a little water park. I think they have a Hershey combo they offer.
Have a fun vacation!!

 

[snoopy5386]

I agree that 3 days at sesame is a lot. But if you have been there before then you know what is there. I'd try to do one more day in Hershey or Lancaster. Are any of your kids into trains? There is steamtown and the strausburg railroad.

 

[CTmommyx3]

Is the crayola factory out that way? we want to do Sesame this summer and I thought the crayola place was on the way or not too far?

 

[amym2]

We stayed in a fantastic bed & breakfast near Lancaster, in Manheim, called Country Vistas. It was on a farm and the kids got to get the eggs and feed the animals- so much fun! The family was super nice and the rooms are designed for larger families.

I agree that Dutch Wonderland might be worth trying- we did that many, many years ago when our kids were little and they loved it!

 

[sunshineNJ]

I think 3 nights for Sesame Place is way too much. 1 or 2 would be enough. If you do Lancaster look into Dutch Wonderland amusement park. It's really cute and different. Also Willow Valley is a great family resort in Lancaster with Great indoor and outdoor pools with waterslides.

 

[ardig123]

I think that Hershey has a deal where you can go in the evening and purchase a ticket for the next day and be admitted into the park for free that evening. I would recommend doing that. Even if your kids are not big Thrill ride kids you would be surprised at how little you can get done in Hershey in one day...especially if you plan on visiting the Boardwalk. Also admission into the park includes admission into the zoo. So you would be better off doing the zoo while you are already in the park so you do not have to pay an extra admission. If you only wanted to do two days at hershey I would go the first day and visit chocolate world...then go purchase your ticket at HP in the evening and visit the zoo and maybe do a couple of rides. Then go the next morning and go immediately to the Boardwalk and get the water rides out of the way first...they get extremely busy. Then spend the rest of your day doing other rides at the themepark. By the way you can enter the zoo right from the themepark.

As others have mentioned I also think 3 days is way too long at Sesame Place. If you wanted to spend more time in Hershey the Hershey Gardens are also fun along with the new Hershey Museum. Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster is awesome for your age group...Hersheypark used to own Dutch Wonderland but they recently sold it. I would consider staying in the Lancaster/Manheim/Elizabethtown area and spending 3 days at Hershey/Lancaster. I used to live in Lancaster and now live in Hershey so let me know if you have any questions. There is so much to do in this area.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

We aren't really interested in the Lancaster area because it would be too long of a commute (30-45 min) to get back and forth to the Hershey attractions for the Hershey portion of our trip. For Sesame Place, we like the idea of the "Buy 2 nights Get 1 night free" deal because it would give us a third night's stay at a neighbor hotel for free and unlimited park admission. I guess if you compare Sesame Place to WDW, three days may seem too long for a small theme park like Sesame; but I like the idea of us being able to take our time with a relaxed, non-rushed pace and know that we will still be able to see and do everything available. We have one child on the severe end of the autism spectrum and another child that has issues with hyperactivity and anxiety, so being able to take our time at a smaller sized theme park is what we need right now. Thank you all for your suggestions .

 

[Minniemouse07]

We live smack in between both parks and have been to both multiple times.

I personally feel that more than one day in a row at EITHER park is too much time.

Our last trip to Hershey was during a very low crowd level day and the lines were long wherever we went (even for the smaller kiddie rides). Hershey Park is just not organized well and to be honest, if your kids aren't interested in the thrill rides I would scrap going to the park altogether and go to Dutch Wonderland instead.

Dutch Wonderland has MUCH less of a crowd level, and all the rides sound about the speed your kids are at.

If you stayed in the Lancaster area you could focus on DW and Strasburg railroad...then hop over to Hershey for an afternoon if you still want to do the zoo and Chocolate World. I also think Lancaster has a lot more family friendly options for hotels & dining.

A big heads up that the food $$ inside the park at Hershey are through the roof. Even more $$ than WDW. If you go to the park for the day I would either pack a lunch or leave and go to a local spot and come back. Our last trip had us playing over $60 for lunch (2A, 2C) at one of the HP counter service restaurants, and about the same for dinner (including tip & dessert) at Applebees just outside the park!

My only recommendation about Sesame Place would be to not assume that a weekday is a better day to visit. Weekends do have a higher percentage of families visiting, but weekdays in the summer see a HUGE influx of summer campers. IME we prefer the families on the weekends since the parents have slightly better supervision over their kids than the overworked camp counselors that are keeping track of 10-15 kids each!

Living so close to each park it always surprises me that other families go out of their way to travel here to experience them. Maybe it is because we are so close that we don't see them as all that exciting to warrant a "trip" to see them!

 

[Skyamese]

Haven't been to Hershey in ages, but we've done Sesame Place about 5x in the past 7 years. If you really want to spend a third night near Sesame Place, you might consider spending it at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. It's about an hour away from SP and it's a wonderful place for younger children and the 9 year olds will probably enjoy it as well.