It's that time of year again, where I go on and on about our annual trip to Sesame Place.
Elmo fever started the minute we walked into the hotel. Elmo was plastered everywhere (Ironically, though, they did not carry the TV channel that has Sesame Street. Um, hello? What are we supposed to do when the kids are up at 5 am and the park doesn't open until 10???). And, in the mornings after breakfast, they had an air brush artist (read: 14 year old with an air brush thing and a stencil) to do temporary tattoo things on the kids. So, armed with our Elmo ta too, we headed out the door.
The very first thing we did when we walked into the park was hit the roller coaster...because Mini Me wanted to. Seriously. So, we went. She did not scream, but I have no idea if she liked it or not. I was holding on to her for dear life with my eyes closed. It really isn't a bad ride, it just took me a bit by surprise because it's a little more of a "thrill" ride than I was expecting at Sesame Place.
We hit a few more rides and such, but it started to get VERY crowded. It was in the mid-90's, local schools hadn't started yet, and half of their staffing had headed back to college. So, yeah. It would be nice if they could do a bit more crowd control. Some of the water rides/pools got shut down for various reasons (poop-EWWWWWW and an injury) so that didn't help matters any. There was certainly a bit of over stimulation and much whining most of the day. We certainly learned that a vacation like this with 2 kids is drastically different than with one. And, the last time we went, we spent most of the time in the pool or at the shows. This time, only 2 shows and most of the time on the rides...or, more accurately, waiting in line for the rides.
The potty was a huge issue because Mini Me is terrified of automatic flush toilets. And, loud noises. So, crowded public bathrooms are a nightmare for her. Which results in her crying, screaming and most importantly, not peeing. That's bad enough, but after waiting in line for a ride for 20 minutes, to have her say she needs to go, get out of line, refuse to go, get back in line, wait more, says she has to go, gets out of line, goes, gets back in line, then has to poop. LOL Hubby and Mini Me spent the better part of an hour and 4 different attempts to get on the bounce house. It was insane.
Day 2 started out much better. We had breakfast with Elmo and the gang. It's always a good time and worth every penny in our opinion. It was less crowded, got Sweet Pea out of the stroller more. Lines were shorter. Place was cleaner. We went to see the Elmo's World Live show and Sweet Pea got to be in the show!!! There's a part of the show, just like on TV, where Elmo talks to a baby, and Sweet Pea got to be the baby. SHE LOVED IT. Turns out, she is a HUGE Elmo fan, and really LOVES all of the characters. It was awesome and funny. On the other hand, I think it caused some hard feelings on Mini Me's part. I mean, she is really the whole reason we were there, and on several occasions, the characters barely acknowledged her after they saw how excited Sweet Pea was to see them. That sucked. Also, later in the afternoon, Season Pass members got to bring friends for free, so it got super busy again. Then we all started to melt down and so we went to the hotel for an early night in.
Although, the positive side of the day was really realizing how much money the season pass was saving us. When you buy the souvenir cups, not only do you get a discount on them, but you get discounted refills. In our case, most of the time, we had then refill with water, because it was free. That was awesome. Also, on meals and toys...huge discounts.
Day 3 was by far the best. Not only was it my birthday, but it was our favorite day at the park. After waiting in lines for 2 days, I was done. So, I sprang for the Magic Queue wrist bands for me and Mini Me. That got us line jumping privileges on all the dry rides and the lazy river. Also, I decided that instead of prying the exhausted children away from the park for a nice birthday dinner where they would cry, melt down, and drive me insane at a restaurant, that we would have dinner with the Street gang there at the park then catch the parade. It was a near perfect day. We were able to just hop on rides when we wanted, and Mini Me got first pick. She had wanted to get on a specific tea cup for 2 days, and finally since we could get on the rides first, she got it. Again, totally worth every penny in my opinion. We went on the Lazy river several times, the tea cups, the carousel, Ernie's Water Works, and met some characters. It was a great day without meltdowns.
Then we had dinner with the gang. It was going well. Even Sweet Pea who was beyond exhausted perked up because of the characters and was completely happy. Then, it happened. Mini Me said her tummy hurt. She got the look, and hubby got out of the way just in time before she spewed her hot dog. Ugh! Fortunately, it wasn't a huge mess and we contained it, cleaned up and all was good in a matter of minutes and on with the fun! (Really, what is with her and the puking on vacation? She hasn't puked this much in her entire life as she has this summer)
Then, we headed outside to watch the parade. It really was the perfect ending and a near perfect day.
*Pictures coming as soon as I get them uploaded*
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