Sesame Place on a Budget - Part 3 (Final tips - Lockers, parking etc.)

Deciding to take a family vacation can be an expensive ordeal when you factor in hotel, meals, tickets etc. However, there are many things that one can do to keep things in control and within a budget! This series - Sesame Place on a Budget - will discuss how your family can visit Sesame Place while being budget conscious. Part 1 talks about how to save on tickets and hotels. Part 2 talks about what food to save on and what food to splurge on! Lastly, Part 3 will talk about saving on parking, lockers, and souvenirs!

When you get to Sesame Place, you need to have a place to store your items.  It will either be in your car or in a locker.  You can carry around a backpack in the park, but when it is time to go on the water rides (and remember about 60% or more of the park is water rides), then you need to know what to do with your items!  Plan ahead!  Towels and shoes will be left in the little free cubbies when you go on a water ride (but they are very small - enough to shove a towel and two shoes).  Buy a waterproof storage necklace ahead of time (they are expensive in the park).  This is where you will store your money and keys!  Lockers are incredibly expensive - over $18/day.  You can come and go all day long when you use it, but I have a different suggestion.  Skip the locker, pay the extra $3 for Preferred Parking and get to the park early to park up close!

When you arrive at Sesame Place, there are three parking options to choose from:  General Parking - $15/day, Preferred Parking - $18/day or VIP Parking - $25/day.  The preferred parking is a nice lot on the same side as the amusement park (as opposed to across the street).  Each day we arrived 1/2 hour before the park opened so that we could get situated.  We got fantastic parking right up front and also adjacent to the lawn (which really helped for walking back to our car to have a picnic lunch).  We would set the blanket down right on the grass next to our car.  Next to the preferred parking lot and on the way up to the gate, there are also tables and chairs that you can use too!  You cannot bring large coolers into the park, so I really suggest paying for the Preferred.  Then you can park right next to the little stretch of lawn and go back to your car for lunch everyday and also run right outside to get towels etc. when you are doing your water rides. 

The lockers are right up front and near the front gate area (and so are a good portion of waterslides).  If  you park in Preferred parking and get there early, you will only have a little bit further to go to get your belongings (as opposed to spending $18 a day on a locker)!  Consider it as spending $3 on a locker to get the Preferred parking (since you would be spending $15 on general parking anyway)!  Remember you do need to get to the park at least 20-30 minutes before opening though to get a great parking space (or earlier for special events/holiday weeks) If you go to Part 1, a reader suggestion also talks about setting your towels up ahead of time at the Count's Splash Area.

Lastly, there are some final tips for Sesame that are not based on budget, but rather on safety.  First, we color coordinated our kids outfits.  They girls wore bright yellow tshirts and madras shorts from Children's Place.  The boy wore a similarly bright colored yellow Sponge Bob shirt.  We were going to do red, white, and blue for the second day but changed our mind.  We had heard several lost children announcements throughout the day as it was very busy.  Since it was so easy to spot our kids, we decided to wear the yellow again and used the hotel laundry that night to wash for use again the next day.  The only thing I would do differently, is to get the parents similar bright colored shirts, so that the kids could also find us if needed.  Second, we kept a mini first aid kit (don't forget the bandaids), wipes, mini tissues, and hand sanitizer in our backpack. 

I would love to hear any tips that you have!  Please comment below!

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