All season I’ve been promising my toddler that we’d go to Sesame Place for their Christmas celebration. While we’ve been to the park many times during the regular season, we’ve never seen it decked out for Christmastime. Well, last night the weather was mild and our day was open so we made it to A Very Furry Christmas… and it was definitely worth the trip!
Sesame Place is located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania — just outside Philadelphia, PA and Trenton, NJ. It’s a small theme park featuring everyone’s favorite characters from PBS’ show Sesame Street.
Since it’s mostly outdoors, the park closes every year after Labor Day, but it opens up on weekends in the Fall for a “Halloween Spooktacukar” and weekends (and weekdays during Christmas week) from around Thanksgiving to New Year’s for “A Very Furry Christmas.”
On the particular Friday we planned to go, the park hours were 4pm to 8pm. I was hesitant about the night hours (colder, darker, later) and considered going on a weekend afternoon instead. But since the forecast for the upcoming week was either freezing or rainy, I decided to go on Friday night. I must say, I’m glad we did! “A Very Furry Christmas” showcases millions of Christmas lights that just wouldn’t feel as cozy and festive in sunlight!
All the favorite spots in Sesame Place are transformed into a twinkling lightshow that I felt made the park prettier than usual!
Sesame Place, of course, has a replica of the famous spots on Sesame Street, including that nostalgic apartment building where all our furry friends live. And this heartwarming street was all sparkles for Christmas!
The decorations all around the park are just so pretty, and you’ll find plenty of photo ops… like when you have a seat with your Big Bird in Santa’s sleigh at the North “Pole!”
So the lights are pretty to look at, but what is there to do at “A Very Furry Christmas?” Here are a few great tips about what to do during your trip!
- The Furry Express is a great trackless train ride that is just at Sesame for Christmas. The train rides around the Twiddlebugs’ Village as we watch the them *try* to bake Christmas cookies through cute scenery and a narrated story in each car.
- The water rides at Sesame are obviously closed for winter, but the dry rides are open, many decorated for Christmas. The Sunny Day Carousel, our favorite, even changed up its music to the tunes of Christmas classics (played in carousel music), which was very cute!
- The indoor theatres which usually feature 20 minute musical character shows have Christmas themed shows at certain show times.
- You can visit with Santa in his workshop! (We didn’t meet him but the workshop was just adorable)
- Like during regular season, you can meet your favorite characters at photo spots throughout the park, but at “A Very Furry Christmas” the characters are dressed in their festive Christmas best, and a few more characters join the fun! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and his lady Clarice were sooooo cute…but Jack freaked out on line so I didn’t get my own picture!
Our fun, festive holiday trip culminated in a great Christmas parade with lots of characters, lights, and music. Try seeing this parade without getting, “Beep beep, beep beep, down Sesame Street” stuck in your head!
Food at Sesame Place is not my favorite, so I always advise not to go there on an empty stomach or without an alternate plan for a real meal. Snacks are good though, and they added wintery options to the menu. The Elmo shaped hot pretzels are a favorite of Jack and me, and hot chocolate was an added treat in place of ice cream…though Jack insisted that they should have still had ice cream! We planned to eat dinner at Chili’s across the street right before going to the park. There is also a Macaroni Grill next to that, a Red Robin a block from Sesame, and other restaurants in the Oxford Valley Mall about 3 blocks from the park.
Our evening at Sesame Place’s “A Very Furry Christmas” was enjoyable for kids and adults too. It was so nice to see all the families in the holiday spirit, being friendly to us and each other. If you’re in the Northeast, I recommend “A Very Furry Christmas” as a great holiday family outing. We had a very special day and I’m sure this will be a great childhood Christmas memory for Jack to cherish 😍
We wish you a Furry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Rudolph & parade pics courtesy of SesamePlace.com
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