Copious Commercialism - trip post 4

On Sunday we drove about 90 minutes to the Hershey's Chocolate World attraction. We took a chocolate tour, riding in a cart on a track through a mock-up of a chocolate production line, complete with singing cows (gotta have milk for milk chocolate). The website describes the tour as "fun and informative", but wasn't really much of either. We did get free chocolate at the end though. We also saw the "Really Big 3D Show" which had the kids oohing and aahing. I don't recall ever seeing a 3D movie, so even I was captivated. Plus there was more free chocolate as we left the theater. Simon nixed the trolley ride as being too expensive, so that left eating and shopping. We did a little of both.

Here's Boo holding a 5-lb chocolate bar (not one of our purchases):


And here we are exiting the 3D movie, modeling our funny glasses:



On Tuesday we headed out to Sesame Place, an Anheuser-Busch Adventure Park. The kids were just about the right age for this, as some of the attractions had a 3-year minimum age, and others a 7-year maximum age. We made it about six hours before Boo started falling apart. Overall a fun day, but we spent about $300 on parking, admission, food, and trinkets. Ugh!

I think the "Vapor Trail" roller coaster was their favorite ride (they went with Simon while I held the bags and took pictures). Hard to tell, but Norman's head is in front of the pole, right behind the people waving, and Simon (in a white shirt) and Boo are in the car behind him.



Boo decided it looked too scary, but Norman went on the "Sky Splash" with Simon. You get in a tube-raft at the top of the stairs (six stories up), and ride it down the twisty slide on the right, ending with a splash in the pool on the left. They were waiting in line when I took this picture.


Nearby was "Slimey's Chutes", another innertube water slide, but geared for younger children. They enjoyed this so much that they waited in line twice in a row. Norman went down by himself, while Boo shared a double tube with Simon.



Boo wanted to ride the "Sunny Day Carousel" after lunch, so I joined her while Simon and Norman took the pictures. Yes, I only do wimpy rides, and yes, they made me fasten my seatbelt.


Near the carousel was "Sesame Neighborhood", where we stumbled upon several characters posing for pictures. Prairie Dawn was there, and also Ernie & Bert, but Boo chose to wait in line for Cookie Monster (Norman had no interest). Here she is meeting the big blue furry guy.



We then ambled across the park to "Ernie's Bed Bounce". It's basically a bigger version of the inflatables at Pump-It-Up that the kids love so much.



Then our day took a bad turn. The kids saw "Nets 'n' Climbs", and ran up the stairs to start at the very top -- three stories high. Norman must not be afraid of heights because he crawled through the tunnel and scampered away like Spiderman.


Boo got scared while in the tunnel, but instead of turning around she eventually soldiered on. Perhaps it was pressure from the folks behind.


She made it part-way across the first net area before bursting into tears and refusing to budge. She really, really wanted to do it but apparently shares my fear of heights. Norman scrambled in and guided her back through the tunnel. What a nice big brother!


After that, we all tried the nets lower down (I even made it to where they are in this picture). I'm not sure if it was caused by fear or failure, but Boo kept on sobbing.


She continued crying through "Cookie Mountain", but eventually pulled herself together for "Monster Maze" plus another go at "Ernie's Bed Bounce" and "Vapor Trail". We hit the gift shop (where Boo insisted on a large Snuffleupagus) then hit the road. Snuffie must have cheered Boo up, because she was all smiles on the way out.