6/8 Sesame Place - Long time coming.

**Leo C** · #1 06-08-2008, 07:26 PM

I finally made it to the closest park/credit to my house - Sesame Place. The weather was brutally hot, just like rest of the Northeast this weekend. It's a kiddie ride waterpark located just north of Philly in Langhorne, PA, owned by Anheiser Busch. When I was in preschool I went on a class trip, my mom forgot to give me my swimsuit so I was traumatized with this place. This park was really grown from that simple waterpark setting in the 80s to have a lazy river and more modern water attractions today. The park today also has an Elmo's World with a handful of new flat rides, a Sesame Street area, show arenas, the (Grover's) Vapor Trail Vekoma family coaster that was added in 1998. It's an expensive park to attend if you don't have a family/younger siblings that it's catered to and you just want the credit. I was last there in like 1996 when my sister was young enough. This was before the coaster but with the great waterpark additions. I loved the lifeguards then as a middle schooler but today I see they're just high school girls since I'm older.

Today my college alumni association had an event at the park. $25 for admission and a buffet was a killer price considering the best deals I could get for this park before was in the $30 range. At the front of the park is Vapor Trail, the Vekoma family coaster. It's built onto the slope of the land. Bucks County PA has gentle rolling hills. The coaster ran two trains, which allowed walkups all day. This coaster features a right turn uphill helix then a left turn downward helix under the lift. The following final helix was a right downward helix before the train did a s turn like turnaround to the final brakes. The speakers on the brake run emitted a funny Grover saying "Hey Momma" at the ride's end. I could have stayed on for multiple rerides but the walk around the queue is very short. I don't mind the exercise. It was the only coaster in the park. I had multiple rides throughout the train in the middle, center, front, and rear. The rear seat has a great pop of air of the lift hill. The family genre is what Vekoma should stick to. Their roughness that I can't really tolerate with their inverting coasters could manage just right on the family level. If this coaster was on level ground all the helixes would hug the ground. This fun coaster would be even more fun.

Since I had time before the catered picnic I went to Elmo's world. I rode a Zamperla Rockin Tug called Peek a Bug, a Dumbo-Two Fish, One Fish like Flyin' Fish ride featuring Elmo's face on all the cars. I also did the Elmo's Blast Off two sided Frog Hopper ride. Looking at the cargo net obstacle course overhead structure next door brought chills of the past trauma I had as a preschooler for a few seconds. I walked underneath it and rode the Big Bird's Balloon Race ride on the other side. I tried to take pics of the neighboring Vapor Trail from this ride. After this flat I walked by the new carousel with Muppet like faces on the horses, through the rest of the waterpark, the Sesame Street set, past the Rubber Ducky family tube slide to catering area. Hearing all the Sesame Street songs brought back great memories of the show. Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Elmo appeared for the kids at lunch. I ended my day with at least two more walk on rides on Vapor Trail. Leaving this place I wondered why Busch couldn't have done this with their old Seaworld Ohio property. Too expensive? They could have kept that Happy Harbor structure and did the Cedar Fair waterpark transformation work. Now they want to move the Sesame Street characters throughout the Seaworld chain. I know this place was a good location in relation to New York City and the show's production. Great park, Busch.

**Leo C** · #2 06-08-2008, 09:23 PM

Looking at the SFGAM Spacely Sprockets and the SFKK Rollerskater POVs this coaster at least has an extra helix I believe over those models. The layout between those two and this is a little different.