Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

Heading to SP on Saturday and after researching the hell out of it I have some questions...

1. Does anyone have any experience with parking in the adjacent shopping mall to save the $17 parking fee? I read mixed reviews about how far of a walk to the park it is.

2. Can you eat food you bring inside the park? I read somewhere that there are picnic tables in the parking lot but it also seems that people say they bring their own food in and eat it somewhere inside the park?

3. We plan on getting there when the gates open.. what are the "hot rides" that we should run to that might have long lines later?


Thanks so much! Feel free to share any other tips!

Re: Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

I parked in the $17 parking lot so I can't help you there. I am sure you can bring in some food, we brought my DS' lunch in because he is very picky about what he eats. Although they really didn't totally inspect the bag for it- it was in a small container. We went on the Cookie Monster's land rides first. I will say though that the park wasn't nearly as crowded than the last time we went, probably because the water rides are closed. Have fun!

Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

The do look in bags very briefly but I'm sure you can manage to bring in food. Probably not a big cooler or anything though. There are tables all over so I wouldn't worry about finding a place to eat. We parked in the $20 lot, got there early and parked right next to the picnic tables so we left a cooler in the car and went out there to eat.

I read about the mall idea but I don't even remember seeing it. If it's across the street I probably wouldn't do it just bc it's a super busy road.

As far as rides, the only thing we waited a decent amount of time for was the big river tube one. Everything else was a very short wait, especially in the morning.

Re: Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

We went 2 weekends ago. We parked in the $20 preferred lot. It's very close. I wouldn't park in the shopping center across the street. I wouldn't cross that road by myself, let alone with my kids in tow.

You can bring in a small soft cooler. We had one for my 20 month old with her milk and a few small snacks.

The new Cookie Monster rides get crowded quickly. We did the big roller coaster at the front of the park first thing since that gets a long ride too. The closer to Halloween, the longer the lines.

We always get there just as it opens, so parking has always been good. We haven't done the hay ride yet, because we leave it for last, and all the times we've been there, the kids are done by then.

Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

1. I have always parked in the $17 lot. The shopping mall is not terribly far but it is not close either. I honestly would not add to amount of walking you will do for the day to walk to and from the car.

2. There are restrictions on the size of cooler you can bring into the park. I do not think you will have a problem if you put a sandwich and some snacks in your bag.

3. There is not one ride in particular that you should go to first. We always go on Oscar's rockets first because my son loves that ride!

Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

I was just there this past sunday. INSANE crowd, insane. Perhaps because it rained on Saturday and everyone waited until Sunday to go.

That being said, it was a great time. We did the monster rock show first then hit cookie monster land. We left the hayride for last, I believe that ends at 3pm. We then went to another show and were done. We bought snacks for DS, no problem bringing those in (ever) and purchased a pretzel and popcorn to hold us over until our early dinner at 5pm when we left.

If you are travelling with another adult, I'd suggest going to the Chili's after you're done for a 2 for $20 meal and a $5 meal for DC. I can't rave enough about how great the service was there (it's across the road) and how filling it was. The lines at Cookie's and Elmo's cafe were insane, 30 mins wait time for cafeteria food- avoid.

Pay to park, it's not worth the haul with kids in tow to save $17. We are season pass members so I've been at least 4 times this year, this past weekend was the most crowded I've experienced.

Message edited 10/14/2014 3:28:25 PM.

Sesame Place Experts... some questions for you...

I parked at the mall. It was tops a 7 -10 min walk, but you have to cross a fairly large mall rd. Keep the kids in a stroller. I totally thought it was worth saving the money, I walk further from my parking garage at work. There's a traffic light if you park by Macy's, so just cross the with light. You'll see a ton of other people doing it.