Our Trip to Dorney Park, Sesame Place, & Playland’s Castaway Cove | The Adventuring Abbeys Vlog

It has been TEN YEARS since the last time we were at Dorney Park & so we were (obviously) due a trip back.
Dorney Park is significant because it’s where Derrick rode his very first “big” roller coaster (the wooden coaster: Thunderhawk). It’s also one of the first amusement parks we went to after we were first married – so lots of memories for us at Dorney!

After Dorney, we made our way over to Sesame Place. It’s funny: our kids don’t really “get” the whole appeal of the Sesame Place Park – we’ve tried to introduce them to the show & the characters & they just don’t love them (as much as they love PAW Patrol & Bluey). But, Sesame Place is technically our “home park” with our annual passes to the Busch Gardens/Sea World chain. So, since we were in the area, we decided to give Sesame Place another visit (we were there earlier this year) with the sole goal being to get on Oscar’s Wacky Taxi (which was closed when we were there this spring).

Our experience at Sesame Place in 2020 was rough (to say the least) and this visit redeemed A FEW aspects of that visit. Food is still challenging to find (and when you do find it, you’ll pay an astronomical amount for the most basic of food – Sesame Place food prices make Cedar Fair food prices look like you’re getting a great deal.) But at least we were able to find food easier this time around – also their water-fountains are back up & running (which helped tremendously because it was an extremely hot day). Their water park is also functioning more normally again – so all-around, we had a better experience (although, still not the BEST).

We left Sesame Place early in the afternoon (as the crowds were piling in & the sun was pounding down) to drive out to Ocean City, NJ. There are several boardwalk parks we’ve been wanting to check out & we finally made it to Playland’s Castaway Cove (home of Gale Force).

It was absolutely insane how that park went from dead as a doornail to so packed that we could hardly walk. Thankfully, we had done our research ahead of time, so we knew what rides we wanted to ride & how many tickets we needed to purchase. Overall, we had a great experience there!!

And because, what’s a blog post without photos – here are just a few (a mix of iPhone snaps & images taken with my “big” camera).

Dorney Park in Allentown, PA

So, funny story about the photo below:
I was in the middle of getting my camera out & set up for the day when I heard the coaster launching. Knowing that my settings weren’t quite right, I just put my camera up & snapped this photo. It showed up as almost completely dark on the back of my camera. I completely forgot about it until I got home & started going thru my images – I brought it into Lightroom & worked a little magic & was SHOCKED to see what I caught!! That’s Derrick in the back row waving to Braelynn!!

Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA

Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City, NJ

Notice: Derrick is in the front row on the end – this was his first ride on Gale Force and his face VERY accurately describes the drop off the top hat! It’s insane.

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