DAILY VACATIONER: A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place

Sesame Street and the holiday season have always gone hand in hand for us at Daily Vacationer. Watching "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" is a cherished tradition, and we love every second from the beginning at the ice skating rink to the very end when Cookie Monster has devoured Gordon and Susan's Christmas tree. As a kid (and kind of as grown up too), we couldn't think of a better way to spend the holidays than with our friends on Sesame Street, so when we got the chance to head up to Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA to experience A Very Furry Christmas, you better believe we were thrilled!

Sesame Place is incredibly exciting during its regular season with loads of fun and attractions geared for different ages of children. There's so much to do in this fantastic location, and it seems like every year they come out with a new ride or expansion to the park. The waterpark sections were, of course, closed when we visited this December, but there was still tons to do, and since the amount of visitors were no where near the numbers in the summer, we could hop on and off anything around the park. Some of our favorites included Captain Cookie's High "C's" Adventure and Oscar's Rotten Rusty Rockets (great for even the most timid of the group), the views from the Count Around, and the Sunny Day Carousel. We had to give special marks to Vapor Trail for being the most thrilling ride we've ever seen at a children's theme park for very young kids (nothing like getting to do a real roller coaster with a three year old!).

For those of us who are, have been, or now have our own Sesame Street lovers, it's an absolute dream come true to walk past Mr. Hooper's Store, up the stairs of the apartment building next to Big Bird's nest, and get to meet beloved characters! We were too old ourselves for the Elmo phenomenon and the introduction of super popular Abby Cadabby, but we're not ashamed to admit that we took plenty of selfies with our personal favorites like Ernie and Bert, Grover, Count von Count, and Oscar the Grouch. Other characters we met or saw that day included Telly Monster, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Honker, Murray, Rosita, and Prairie Dawn. So much fun!

You don't just get fun photo ops with the Sesame Street characters, you also get to sing and dance all day with them during their various show and street parades. We were absolutely floored by the level of professionalism from the Sesame Place friends. Not only did they perform a bazillion different dance routines, songs, and scripts throughout the day, they also knew their stuff well enough to be able to improvise with it and continue to have spontaneous interactions with the audience and each other. While we loved the carefully choreographed dances ("backup" dancers during the parade: we are in awe of you as well), it was all the extras that made the characters really believable and fun.

There are so many different shows to choose from (we saw and loved A Sesame Street Christmas though it looked like the indoor Elmo the Musical was the most popular), and we highly recommend seeing as many as you can for more time with the characters. (Another great place to meet and greet Sesame Place Friends is to pay a little extra to Dine with Elmo & Friends - that experience got rave reviews from others we talked to that day). And whatever you do, DO NOT MISS THE STREET PARADE! It's a lively and magical show from beginning to end with floats, music, and fun It captures the excitement of Sesame Street like nothing else you will see that day.

During A Very Furry Christmas, the park has a ton of holiday extras to enjoy that make this season a great time to visit for both first time guests like ourselves and frequent Sesame Place visitors. More than 300 Christmas trees (including one giant one with its own light show) and millions of twinkling lights that get brighter and more amazing as the sun goes down shine all around the park (some in the shape of Sesame Street characters!). The Twiddlebugs Gingerbread Factory, an adorable interactive walk-through attraction, was located right next to the Reindeer Games where we got to meet Lightning, the reindeer from the movie "Elmo Saves Christmas". There's also Christmas Storytimes, meet and greets with Santa (Cookie Santa after Christmas), and the enchanting Furry Express train ride. Also look for festive and warming additions to the menus and food options around the park.

We loved our visit to A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place! It was pure magic for the little ones and nostalgic fun for the grown ups (when the characters burst into "Keep Christmas with You" during one of the shows, we just freaked out inside). The holiday cheer runs select days through January 1st with New Year's Eve Fireworks on December 31st. Tickets are discounted for the holiday season plus an extra 2016 visit is included for FREE! Now is also a great time to buy season passes for 2017 as they are being offered at their lowest price ever.