Sesame Place....

This past weekend a group of us went to Sesame Place. It was me, Jennie, Nicholas, Thomas, Alexis, my mom, my dad, and my sister.

Friday Night
The drive was unexpectedly quick. Only about 1.5 hours. We hit very little traffic. We took all of our stuff up to the rooms then headed out for dinner. After dinner, we hit the pool. Nicholas and Thomas spent the whole time jumping in, climbing out, then jumping in again. It's amazing how fearless Nicholas is. We had to keep within arm's distance of him since he'd jump in whether or not anyone was there to catch him.

Saturday
The park opened at 10:00am. That is a lot of time to kill when your kids are up by 7am. 10:00am is too late of an opening time in my opinion. The park was only a two minute ride from the hotel, so getting there was no problem. Basically all we had to do was follow the line of minivans to get there. We had planned to do the non-water rides in the morning, then hit the water in the afternoon when it got hotter. The plan worked. We took the boys on Big Bird's Balloon Race then to the Nets 'n' Climbs. This was my personal favorite. It's basically a 3 story high maze of nets and tunnels. Nicholas could have stayed on there all day. I got to crawl/climb around in/on it to keep up with Nick. We had to cut short the time on the nets to attent Elmo's World Live! The show was cute. The kids got to see Elmo live and in person and Elmo even rubbed Nicky's belly, so Nicky had a blast. After that Nicky and TJ played on Cookie Mountain. A big pyramid made of blue vinyl that the kids could climb up to the top and slide down. Over and over. Nick had no problem climbing all the way to the top, but Thomas had his own self-imposed limits and would only climb 3/4 of the way up then slide back down. After that we had some lunch, checked out the parade, then headed to the locker room to change into bathing suits. The first place we went to was Count's Fount. The water was about 12" deep and there were a couple of waterfalls that splashed down. That was fun for about 10 minutes. Then it was off to find another water activity for the boys. Big Bird's Rambling River? Teeny Tiny Tidal Wave? Ernie's Water Works? Sand Castle Beach? No, no, no, and no. The were all "too little" for Nicky. He wanted bigger, deeper water to play in. There was nothing there for him to swim in. Finally he agreed to go on Sky Splash. "Sky Splash, one of the most popular attractions at Sesame Place, allows up to six guests to ride together in a large raft-like tube. Riders glide under an array of whimsical oversized toys, such as an 8-foot Rubber Duckie, giant Tinker Toys and much more. Rising more than 6 stories, this exhilarating ride provides thrills and surprises every moment, taking riders from gentle “sky” ponds with whirlpool-like jet streams to accelerator slides with speeds up to 20 feet per second, culminating with a final plunge into a pool of water" Thomas wanted to go on also. So my sister, Nicky, TJ, and I got on line. An hour later, we rode down the slide in our tube. The ride was fun and Thomas laughed the whole way down. It was the first time all day that he really enjoyed himself, so the wait was definitely worth it. After that Nicky spent some time in Mumford's Water Maze. Another of Nicky's favorite attractions. After that, we had some ice cream, stopped in the gift shop and headed back to the hotel. Overall, a pleasant day. The boys had fun. The park was just o.k. Was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. Not enough stuff for the kids to do - especially for Alexis. If it weren't for the names of the rides and a picture or two here and there, you'd have never have known it was Sesame Place. I'm told Disneyworld is a whole lot better, and I'll be going there in October, so I'll have something to compare it to now.

To sum it up:

• The boys had a blast. Nicky was not afraid to try anything, but he was in his "big boy" mode and didn't want to go on any of the attractions that were too small. Thomas was his usual reserved self and took some time to warm up to things, but when he did, he enjoyed himself. Alexis had basically nothing to go on, but she had fun being wheeled around in the stroller and being held.
• Yes, I would go back again, but in a couple of years. Sesame Place is definitely not worthy of one of those places that you make an annual trip with the family to.
• Next time I would make it a day trip. It's a lot closer that I originally thought and you can do the whole park in one day. No need to sleep over and check out the park a second day.

Has anyone else ever been there? How long ago? What are your memories of the place?