As our trip to France in August looks more and more unlikely I am staring to look at alternatives. I briefly considered WDW but I have vowed never to return in September due to the heat so I think August would do me in. My boys will be 2.5 and 5.5.
We are within driving distance to a new Legoland in New York and Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. Legoland NY isn’t open yet, but has anyone been to another Legoland and Sesame Place that could compare the two? We have been to the Sesame section at SeaWorld in FL and I thought it was incredibly well done, but I think it’s much newer than what is in PA. Thanks!
We are frequent Sesame Place attendees. We had annual passes from 2016-2019.
The shows are awesome, the park is definitely aging but they are making new and positive changes every year. Park is easy to manage in a few days, though there is enough to do that we made a few visits every year (was a 2.5 hour drive for us). Watch your dates in September because much of the water rides begin to shut down in September and Halloween extras don’t start until October so there may be less to do than normal, depending on your dates.
It is a very small park - especially if you are Disney people. My kids (now 7 and 11) still ask to go but we have legoland annual passes this year. Haven’t been to any other legolands yet.
If I can help with any other questions re: Sesame, just let me know.
Thanks so much! This will probably be a last minute decision for us so please let me know how you like Legoland when you go! I think we are looking at the last week in August.
It sounds like you are local, but do you have any recommendations on hotels in PA? The Residence Inn seems like the best bet but it doesn’t get stellar reviews.
I have been to Sesame Place many, many times, but it has been over 8 years now.
In our past experiences, however, SP did a marvelous job adding new attractions on an annual basis, while shows were only changed about every three years. It’s hard to assess from their site right now, but in the past SP was always a solid 40% water park.
It is a very doable park with two full days. I have so many good memories.
Hotels in that area get expensive quickly. I wonder if it is because the season is so short. We traditionally visited the first full weekend of June from 2001 - 2008 and then again in 2011 and 2012, I believe. Our go-to was the Holiday Inn Express which was almost “next door” even though it cost more. It had a nice breakfast and we could RD without adding a long commute.
In our poorer years we would stay further out, but sometimes morning traffic would be significant.
** I realize my data is aging. But I still wanted to pipe in
We are actually not local to either. SP is 2.5 hour drive and Legoland is about an hour.
It really only takes (or took - not sure about this year’s prices) 3 days in park to be worth a season pass that includes parking.
We have stayed at several hotels around Sesame but to be honest, we have always stuck with Quality Inn and Suites - Capitol Area (right over the river from Trenton). Is right on route 1 (Highway) and 10 minutes to Sesame. Because we always had parking with our season pass, we saved so much money than staying at the hotels right there. It is a quality Inn… nothing exciting, includes breakfast. Have reasonable expectations and you will likely be happy with the stay for the money.
I’ll let you know when we go to Legoland. We are likely going to day trip Legoland as it is only an hour away from home.
