All summer long we have enjoyed visiting Sesame Place using our season passes. What a great purchase (and one won from Philly Parent Circle!!) it has been. Now that the summer is over and the water rides at the park have closed, Sesame Place has been transformed into "The Count's Spooktacular!" Kids can dress in costume, the dry rides are all open, and there are many seasonal activities added. We took the kiddo last Saturday, the first day of the Halloween event, to continue celebrating his fifth birthday. He had a blast!
Right off the bat the kiddo noticed that the usual entranceway to the park was different. In place of Big Bird was the Count! There were lots of pumpkins, hay bales, and corn stalk decorating the park too. There was a "hayride" being offered in the VIP parking lot. The kiddo wanted to get on with things and head right into the park, so we skipped the hayride. Inside the entrance we were greeted by the count again, along with some fun pumpkins. Because of our season passes, we were able to stay late at the park for a two hour members only party. It was fun to be there at night (which comes so early these days!!) and see the park light up. Kids were able to go trick-or-treating at six spots around the park. There was an awesome dance party with Ernie and his rubber ducky in a dry wading pool, complete with bubbles, disco lights and loud music. My son loved it! We saw Ernie dressed up as his ducky and Burt dressed up as his pigeon, Bernice! We had the chance to catch the Neighborhood Street Party Parade which was also updated to include the Halloween Theme. It was fun seeing our favorite characters in costume. We viewed the parade from our favorite stoop on the street, 123 Sesame Street! It's a great place to get a higher view of the parade over the crowds and we didn't have to sit on a curb to see.
We explored two mazes in the park that were fun and not too scary! We saw the pumpkin patch, where people had left their decorated pumpkins. We were not able to get reservations for the character dinner, so we had dinner at Cookie's Cafe. The menu was even updated slightly to include some seasonal food. We are hoping to make it to one character dinner before the end of the month, since it was something we never did all summer.
We saw one of the Halloween shows at night, which was so much fun! It was a old-time radio show hosted by the Count and his friends. The kiddo was wiggling around so much that at one point he fell off his seat in between the bleachers. Thankfully there was a mom in front of him that grabbed him before he fell to hard. He was embarrassed and a bit shaken up but perked up immediately when Grover dressed as a giant pumpkin appeared behind us as part of the show!
We are going back to see the Spooktacular Sesame Place at least one more time before the end of the month with the kiddo's buddy. The next time we go I think the kid will dress in his Halloween costume too!