Philly ATOTers: best kid amusement park: Sesame Place, Hershey Park, other?

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glenn1

glenn1

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Sep 6, 2000
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Considering taking our munchkin there while visiting relatives in the area. So which is the best Philadelphia area amusement park for our almost 5 y.o. daughter (and potentially a couple cousins a couple years older)? I remember going to Sesame Place as a kid but hear horror stories about the lines and it also seems to be the most expensive park. Hershey Park gets mixed but mostly positive reviews and we could do the Hershey chocolate factory tour stuff also. Dorney Park and Dutch Wonderland are options as well but I've never been to either.

So what says ATOT? TIA for any feedback.
 
ultimatebob

ultimatebob

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Jul 1, 2001
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Drive another hour and go to Knoebels in Elysburg. It's way more family friendly than Dorney or Hershey.

Knoebels is biggest free parking/free admission amusement park in the country. They also have some really cool old school wooden roller coasters, lots of kiddie rides, and good food.
 
Perknose

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
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Oct 9, 1999
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The Franklin Museum. Seriously. Especially if they still have the walk through heart.

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Yup! :biggrin:

Also, take them to see all the preserved biological oddities of the Mutter Museum & gross 'em out! They'll love you for it and they'll never, ever forget the experience! :D

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I'm a big believer in treating kids as the wannabe adults they are instead of feeding them kandy-koated kiddie krap-ola.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

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Over the years, we've been to dozens of theme parks. I don't think the kids have forgotten Sesame Place from when they were little. I think I'd give that a big thumbs up over bigger kid theme parks. It's like an entire park dedicated to serving that age, with the ability for parents to ride the rides with the kids.

My recommendation though: look at videos of the parks - at a glance, I see some videos that parents have put together of their kids, nearly 30 minutes of footage at Sesame Place. I'm sure similar videos exist for Hershey Park. Lines depend a lot on the time of the season, day of the week, weather, etc. E.g., when I had season passes for Six Flags for the family, there were times we'd go and have a 15 minute wait for a particular roller coaster. There were other days when they wouldn't even make us get out of the seat - we could just ride it again.
 
Newbian

Newbian

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Aug 24, 2008
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From what I recall of hershey park, mind you it's been 10-12 years since I was there last, it was more for a teen+ area as a lot of the best rides are decent roller coasters.

I am sure there were some smaller kiddy ones but it isn't the focus for that young of a kid.
 
ControlD

ControlD

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Apr 25, 2005
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Newbian said:
From what I recall of hershey park, mind you it's been 10-12 years since I was there last, it was more for a teen+ area as a lot of the best rides are decent roller coasters.

I am sure there were some smaller kiddy ones but it isn't the focus for that young of a kid.
Click to expand...

That was pretty much our take on it too. We stopped in Hershey on the way to DC last year. The park has lots of roller coasters, some county fair types of games, and a water park area. We had a pretty decent time, but as far as rides go, there isn't a whole lot for younger kids. It worked out OK for us because I can't do more than a couple of coasters before I get sick, so my daughter and I hit the games while my wife got her coaster fix satisfied.

The worst part of the whole thing was dealing with the Jersey people. Got to see a couple of actual group fights, one of which was over a waffle iron in the hotel before we even left for the park. Another was in the park over who got to play the giant claw machine next. I thought that stuff was just made for TV but I guess people actually act that way. We'll stick to Cedar Point or Kings Island from now on I think.
 
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Vdubchaos

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Nov 11, 2009
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Hershey is probably the best park I've ever taken my family to. It's designed to handle LOTS of people without feeling overcrowded (could've been the day we went on, but parking lot was rather full).

It never felt like we were in the herd though. It was clean and I didn't notice too many people "I would rather not be around" there.

:cool:
 
CraKaJaX

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
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The last time I was at Hershey was probably ~8 years ago but I remember it being a blast. Lots of coasters then and even more now if the kids are into them. Not sure when you're planning the trip, but they also have the water park there which is pretty good as well. And then of course the factory tour is fun and kid friendly - make a giant hershey bar with your name engraved in it.
 
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