Where to go with young kids besides Disney parks? (yes, I did ask that)

[ryan840]

How are water parks with toddlers/preschooler? I'd worry about keeping him in the water and sun all day... We opted to pass up Typhoon Lagoon this year (much to hubby's dismay) because of that.

 

[polly p]

What about Hershey Park in Pa. We go every year and the kids love it.

 

[ryan840]

If I head to Sesame Place, I'll stop there, although I'm sure it'll take a crane to get me home! (Desperate chocoholic!)

 

[Briarprincess]

I'm with Java on Sesame Place... It's mainly water attractions with a few "rides" and the crowds are horrible. But it would make a good day trip. There is a hotel RIGHT across the street, with a mall there too.
In addition to Hershey, go to Dorney Park out near Allentown. They even have "Camp Snoopy" which is neat, plus Wild Water Kingdom which is a water park that is attached. You could do two days at Hershey, two at Dorney, one at Sesame Place and then any extra things (there's a bunch of other cool things in the area.)

If you need any more ideas, PM me.

 

[JoyG]

Ok, haven't been to Disney yet, but we did do Sesame Place last summer. May I suggest the character breakfast??? It was really the best part of our trip. We got there early (good parking spot) and the breakfast was held outside under a shaded picnic area. It was great. Not too crowded and lots of interaction. My son got a picture with ALL the characters at once. It was priceless. Food was ok, we were just there for the characters. Also, it was the ONLY time I saw characters (except in the parade) all day. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Trevose, which is not the closest Red Roof Inn to Sesame Place (there's one closer) but it was like half the price and it was still only 10 minutes from the park...well worth the price difference in my opinion. Also, it's been recently renovated...looks great. I agree that this park was too crowded, lines were long and we didn't go on many rides. We spent most of our time in shows (those were fun) and the little kid water pools. The one water ride we did go one, Big Birds Rambling or Lazy River (something like that) was traumatizing to my 4 year olds and 18m old. They HATED going under the waterfalls and were so scared they tried to climb out of our innertube, so be forewarned.

 

[ryan840]

So compared to WDW, just how crowded is Sesame Place? I suppose you can't really go any time of year due to the weather...

BTW Briarprincess, I fell in love with Moulin Rouge the second Ewan opened his mouth!! (I was already in love with him of course , but I never heard him sing!!! I ask my husband all the timehow he's going to get him to sing to me on my birthday! Just had to get that out of my system...

 

[ryan840]

OK, I have to go to Sesame Place next year. Is anyone willing to help me plan my trip? I think we will drive, (it's about 10 hours and hubby will drive through the night so we can all sleep ) so our first day we will just stay at the hotel and relax. I figure the second day, we'll hit Sesame Place for the first of our two days there, and that's all I've got so far. I need help with finding any discounts, what hotels/cities to stay in (I don't mind staying a few miles away to save money, we need to keep it to a minimum) and help with planning the rest of our trip. Here are the places we hope to see- can they each be done in a day, or two in one day? We'd like to go to Ocean City, Hershey Park, the Philly (?) Aquarium, the Please Touch Museum, the Philadelphia Zoo and Dorney Park, if possible. I have no idea how much these places cost, the distance between them, or how long to spend at each, that's why I'm looking for help. I think about 8.5 days total would be good- (leave on a Friday night and return the following Saturday night), and we have no particular month in mind, although I was thinking of August, for my son and husband's birthdays. Thanks to everyone in advance! Oh, if anyone knows a message board that can help me out more, let me know!

 

[Jan]

sesame place sounds fun. never heard of that, now i will think about that a little more. but, for us, it is mexico, mexico, mexico. playa del carmen. they have great kids clubs and beautiful beaches - and are affordable. while i am thrilled about our disney trip this summer, i was so depressed we were going to miss out on our annual treck to mexico, we said "heck with it - lets do both". our DD3 and DD6 do great in mexico and as they get older there will be more and more that we can do.

 

[ryan840]

I think Mexico would be a lot of fun, but I dont know how it would be with two kids under three. I think we'll definately go there one day, along with Jamaica, the Bahamas, and other paradises, but we'll wait until our kids are a little older so we can think about a babysitter and a night on our own.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you want low-key and inexpensive, try St. Louis (yes, I said St. Louis). St. Louis has more free/low-price family attractions than any other city in the US except for DC. The zoo, the Mo. Botanical Garden, the Arch, the City Museum, The Magic House, the Science Center, Grant's Farm, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Forest Park, the Butterfly House and Carousel, and a lot more I can't think of at the moment.

For the grownups, there are also several pro sports teams, a number of fine museums, two beautiful cathedrals, an excellent cultural offerings, lots of great restaurants, several casinos, and of course, the A-B brewery tour.

You also should take them to Chicago; between the Children's Museum, Shedd, Lincoln Park Zoo, and Science and Industry, they will have a ball. Even the L will be fun for a kid who doesn't normally ride trains. I also find that little ones just enjoy the pulse of a busy city like Chicago; they get wide-eyed just watching all the people.

 

[JoyG]

Sesame Place sells a ticket that is buy one day get a second day free, so actually it's a two day pass.

Or you could buy the one day pass...for the same price!!

Anyway, the trick is they won't let you use discount coupons for the two day pass, the discounts are only good on the single day admission.

I found coupons for $8 off each ticket if I went during the week on Ebay (they were originally from Burger King in the PA area). I decided after reading that I didn't want to do Sesame in 2 days, no matter how good of a deal it was, so I used the $8 coupons off single day passes for the family.

Again, I found that the hotel in Trevose was a better deal than the one next to the park. We had breakfast in the park with the characters, went back to our car for lunch (it's not that far if you park up close to the gate), and had dinner outside the parks after we left.

 

[scillacc]

For years we went to Sesame Place. We loved it, is it crowded? Absolutely! Is there anywhere with kids that isn't? please let me know!. I find that if you stay away from going on a weekend it's better. Tues and Weds appear to be much less crowded just about anywhere you go. I liked Sesame place because they were very lenient about bringing in coolers and packing your own lunches. We NEVER purchased food there other then maybe popcorn, which with really young kids isn't such a good idea. Hershey Park is great fun too. They have a WONDERFUL little kids area, even have a dolphin show. Very kid friendly and extremely safe. Their hotels are fairly pricey at Hershey so plan on staying about 30 minutes away. Philadelphia has alot for kids and the Philly Zoo- the oldest in the US is fantastic. A whole day for that. Bring food there too, it's welcome and fine. They have camel rides, elephant rides and you can rent swan boats there. Also you can feed the Lorikeets, cute birds and they have photographers to take your picture. The King of Prussia Mall, second largest, next to Mall of America is north by about 30 minutes from the Zoo and Philly. Alot of fun for mom!!. Lancaster is neat and wait, I forgot there is Dutch Wonderland, a young kids only amusement park. Lots of fun for that too.
Here are some links
http://www.dutchwonderland.com/
http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/
http://www.padutchcountry.com/
http://www.hersheypa.com/
http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/ great place for young kids
http://www.njaquarium.org/index2.php3 reopening in May 2005

 

[java]

OK if you are going..... I also wanted to mention the Dutch Wonderland- supposed to be great for little kids very close to Hershey. The places you are talking about hitting are kind of in a giant triangle. Think of it as Hershey/Dutch wonderland one corner. Dorney park/Crayola factory another corner and ocean city- a whole other corner (way out there) There is another very family friendly affordable amusement park in PA(Knoebel's) it is between hershey and Dorney(North of both of them) If you go to Sesame Place(don't do it about 20 minutes north of that is New Hope PA a cute town(Gershner's exotic ice cream must do and Peddlers Village- a really fun indoor play place(giggleberry mountain) We live in this area and I would think you could do the places on your list with the exception of Ocean City(unless you really want to drive) Another very fun water park in PA is Camelbeach(on Camelback mountain) They have a great kids section. One year we did a money saving trip and hit Sesameplace went over to Hershey then up to Camelbeach(it took us a week just to do that)

 

[java]

[. The King of Prussia Mall, second largest, next to Mall of America is north by about 30 minutes from the Zoo and Philly. Alot of fun for mom!!. [/QUOTE]

I have never been to this one. I think I have to try it. I just checked their website and it sounds like they have every store I would be interested in! About how far is it from wher 611 meets 295(i think that is the road that leads to the PA twy)

 

[scillacc]

It's Huge, it's two big malls connecting each other. They have everything, Harry and David, Williams Sonoma, a restaurant called The Cheesecake Factory, Urban Outfitters, Nordstroms, Sears, penneys, you name it, they have it, also a Disney store!.
http://www.kingofprussiamall.com/
It's about 15 minutes from the PA Turnpike and 476. Very easy to get to.

 

[java]

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY Be still my heart. Now I have to go. Love that restaurant for fast lunch. thanks

 

[ryan840]

I typed up a nice big reply earlier, and now, as I'm reading new posts, it's nowhere to be seen!!!! What happened? This has happened to me like three or four times now!

 

[McKelly]

For those of you who are familiar with the Lancaster, Hershey area, has anyone ventured over to Gettysburg to the Boyds Bear Factory? I was wondering if that was worth a drive over if we are staying in Lancaster?

 

[step4now]

I typed up a nice big reply earlier, and now, as I'm reading new posts, it's nowhere to be seen!!!! What happened? This has happened to me like three or four times now!

Dunno, but you can go to the Technical Support thread and get help there...here's a link:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=43

 

[ryan840]

Dunno, but you can go to the Technical Support thread and get help there...here's a link:

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=43

Thanks for the link. I did post a thread there, and it's gone unanswered.