3 Best Sights in Pennsylvania, USA

A self-proclaimed "Kingdom for Kids," this 44-acre amusement park features rides and activities suited for families with younger children. Most rides, such as the roller coaster, merry-go-round, and giant slide, are quite tame. The adjacent water park (no separate admission), Duke's Lagoon, is open weekends, Memorial Day through Labor Day. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the park is open for its "Dutch Winter Wonderland," with holiday-themed rides and a light show. The Cartoon Network Hotel is next door; hotel guests get special park admission discounts and early access to the park and rides.

This 33,000-square-foot space, one of 14 Discovery Centers in the United States, is chock-full of all things LEGO, including a kid-sized race car that was made with more than 100,000 LEGO bricks. Miniland Philadelphia contains 50 of the city’s iconic landmarks brought to life with nearly 1½ million LEGO bricks—Independence Hall, Boathouse Row (with crew boats you can race), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Lincoln Financial Field, just to name a few. Other highlights include the interactive LEGO Ninjago Training Camp; a LEGO 4-D Cinema; a LEGO-themed pirate ship play area called Pirate Adventure Island; the LEGO Meet & Greet in the Build Challenge area, where kids can “meet” their favorite characters (weekends only); and Imagination Express, an interactive ride through a LEGO world.  Note that adults must be accompanied by a child 17 or under to visit the attractions except on occasional adult nights (check website). 

Aimed squarely at young kids and their families, this water and theme park based on the popular children's show Sesame Street provides fun places for children to crawl, climb, and jump; float, slide, and splash; and meet, greet, and perhaps hug the ageless Big Bird and his friends. Though there are dry-land activities, the highlights of the park—especially on a hot summer day—are the water rides, including the Rambling River, the interactive Count's Splash Castle, and rides at Big Bird's Beach. (Water attractions are open seasonally.) As befits a park for preteens, the rides in Elmo's World and the roller coasters—Vapor Trail and Oscar’s Wacky Taxi—are modest by theme-park standards, but they've got enough excitement for young riders. Other favorites are the daily, and nightly, parades and shows; Sesame Neighborhood, a replica of the TV street; and pricey meals with characters like Elmo and Grover. Sesame Place Philadelphia is the world's first theme park to be a Certified Autism Center; see website for information. The park's gift shop is large.  Buy tickets online in advance for substantial savings. Check ahead in case any rides or attractions are closed, and note that food is expensive and can be uneven in quality (see website FAQs for info on bringing water). No cash is accepted at the park, but you can buy a debit card at no cost.