Hershey Park Vs. Sesame Place

How funny that you asked this question now! I am currently on my laptop in my hotel room as my little one is napping. We have 3 kids: 8 yrs, 2.5 yrs, and 11 months.

This is our first time at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn in Lancaster, and words cannot describe how well it fits my family!!! And rates aren't even that bad. Around $125-$150 a night (2 queen beds).

Hotel has 3 pools, 2 mini golf courses, petting zoo, playground, lake with ducks, restaurant, game room, etc. I am so in love with this place! It's really like a resort at a hotel price. My kids are having so much fun.

There is also a FREE 2 hour tour bus ride of the Amish lands. Actual ride is only about 45 min, but there are 3 stops at different shops/farms. Animals to see, food to taste. I thought kids might not enjoy this as much as I would, in fact I was considering leaving them with my husband and going alone. But they were great! And had a blast!

Kitchen Kettle Village is also here. There are pony rides there, little tractor rides (my 8 yr old loved this, but he was a bit big for the ride), decorate your own gingerbread cookies, horse and buggy rides, and lots of free samples!

We have been to both Hershey and Sesame Place. Hershey is nice to just do the free factory tour with the little ones. Go around a few times on it, they will be happy. No need to pay their amusement park fees. We are planning on making Hershey as part of our trip now, as it's only about 40 minutes away from our hotel.

And Sesame Place is definitely an awesome water park for kids, but life is much calmer at this wonderful hotel! I really am in love with this place. In fact, we were planning on staying 2 days here and 2 in Hershey, but we've just extended our stay and will be here until Sunday. And no, I don't work for this place, I live in Queens.

Also, this hotel is 5 minutes from Dutch Wonderland. Not planning on doing that place, but it is nearby.

Okay, I've said plenty. Gonna go join my older kids in the pool.

Hi,T. i just went to seame place yeasterday and it had lots of sprinklers and i think that the both of them, will LOVE it.Plus there are water slides that kids and older can go on.

Go to Dutch Wonderland. We just went there and had a blast. Look it up online. It is in Lancaster. We stayed at the Host Lodge across the street from Dutch Wonderland. It was a beautiful hotel and we walked the park. You will not regret it!

Hi T.,
Actually with little ones, Hershey may be overwhelming. They definitely have rides for little ones, but you may want to look into Dutch Wonderland. We went there for the night before and the next full day. Slept over and then went to Sesame Place for the following day. The drive was an hour and a half. Dutch Wonderland is beautiful and really geared towards younger children. They have a water park that is made up of those sprinklers from the ground and tiny water slides. It looks like the best playground - just wet! You may want to go there last as you may not get your children out of there to check out the rest of the park. It's very clean and not crowded either. They have a website. Really nice place.
Good luck and have fun!
M.

we stayed at bird-in-hand last year too. While I liked it--lots of thing for kids to do, our room was near the pool area. Everything had a "humid" feel about it in the room. Sheets felt damp, mildewy smell, etc. Eventually I got used to it...I'm used to roughing it (camping) but it dampened our time there.
I def want to check out Dutch Wonderland...heard great things about it!

for more travel ideas with the kids check out my blog: www.mirabest.com
(Please Touch Museum, Jersey Shore guide, Mysctic, CT)

I just got back from Sesame Place yesterday with my 3 year old twins. We had a great time. They had a blast. The park was such a manageable size for toddlers. Nice variety of dry and wet rides.
I was wondering where to go for our first family vacation too. I heard Dutch Wonderland was a great place too. I heard Sesame can be a little crazy when the camps go there. I guess we beat them there because it was lots of fun and very clean. I'm sure you'll have fun wherever you go.

Hi. Hershey has a water park that has some fun sprinklers and slides for your little ones. However, it is usually croweded, so definitely have 1 parent for each child. There are also younger rides for the littles ones as well. My twins were almost 6 when we went and loved it. In the Amish country area, there is also another park - Dutch Wonderland. This is definitely geared towards the younger set. Now that mine are almost 8, I wouldn't go there, but it's just the right size for your almost 4 year old. I don't think there are any water rides or sprinklers, but you can check online. Have fun!
J.