So, since we were actually in Langhorne this weekend to go hit Sesame Place, I thought I would touch back on the prior reviews and update them.  Part of this is because, as I go through more places, I find new things that I want to concentrate on… and partially because there’ve been some changes at Sesame.

For starters, you might look at my prior reviews – the trip we took to Sesame Place for their “A Very Furry Christmas”, and another review from last year.

Now, for starters – I was not compensated for this review.  My family has platinum season passes to the SeaWorld Entertainment parks.

Since last season, Sesame Place has done some significant changes.  Namely, the net area and the minor play areas beneath the nets have gone the way of the Furry Arms on Sesame Street, to be replaced by Cookie’s Monster Land.  I think this is a major upgrade, to be honest.  There are still nets – there’s a brand new Monster Clubhouse area that has a net area that is friendly to adults who have to chase their children through it – and there is still a small playground area for smaller children.  Most of the rides in this area, though, seem to be geared towards older kids who are getting dragged along by their younger siblings, and are faster, whippier rides than most of the rest in the park.  (They also repurposed Big Bird’s balloon race, but that ride has not been substantially altered except for the theming.)  The rest of the park is largely unmodified, which is just fine by us.  (I don’t count updating the show at the theater from “Elmo’s World Live” to “Elmo the Musical Live” as a major change. 😉 )

One thing that I notice I haven’t touched on, previously, are the bathrooms.  The bathrooms at Sesame Place do not feature blowers – they do have automated paper dispensers, of which the Monster was not quite sure after he had heard the noise they made.  There are, therefore, some sensory issues in the park to be aware of (and not just because of the automated toilets) for children who are inclined in that direction.  One downside, though, is that we did not see any family restrooms while wandering about, and my wife reported that there was quite the wait for a larger stall in the women’s room when she took R in there to change him.

We also learned this year that the RAP can be used in the water park.  Essentially, the three tabs on the bracelet given to the person requiring accommodation represent three water rides that a lifeguard will escort the party to the top of, bypassing the line.  I think that this is an excellent compromise between the way the water park is built and the need to offer some kind of accommodation, and I think we can – most of the time – cope with a limit of three access-friendly rides.  The Monster, for now, is more interested in the Lazy River (which doesn’t require one of these tabs) and Count’s Splash Castle, so we’ll see on a future trip if he’d like some of the other slides.

I still stand by the fact that I think Sesame Place is one of the parks that does disability access right.  We’ll be going back to Water Country USA in the coming weeks, so look forward to my report about there as well.