PBS in the Park

Absolutely worth the visit, our 3 year old boy loved every minute despite the 90+ degree heat. We found the lines to be short and pretty quick, at least for meeting Alpha Pig, the giant inflated slide, and fire truck. We did get in the Alpha Pig line about 10 minutes ahead of his arrival, easy to do if you have a 2^nd adult to do the bulk of the waiting.
Outside of TV character stuff, our toddler got to sit on a real police motorcycle, sit behind the wheel of a real fire truck, run under the spray of a real fire hose, use bubble wands that actually worked darn well. Also saw numerous small animals like a baby alligator, lizard, hedgehog, guinea pig, giant turtle.
Can’t recommend it enough, honestly. We were there for 3 hours and saw ½ of it. Tons to see and do.

OK. It’s free. I should have known that you get what you pay for (especially when it’s open to the public) but I went b/​c I am a working mom who doesn’t get to do all the cool weekly fun mom shit that other moms get to do with their kiddos, so on weekends when there is a family event that is advertised as the best thing in town, I figure I’m an even worse mom than normal if I don’t go. I certainly don’t want my kids to be THOSE kids who don’t get to do cool kid-​friendly shit. So, I convinced my hubby to take us down to PBS in the Park even against my better judgement b/​c it SAID that there were guaranteed meet and greets with the likes of Curious George, Super Grover and Super Why. I was sad to see two hour lines for EVERYTHING from the meet ‘n greets to the blow up bounce house (which we have at home — yes, I have one — don’t judge). The point is that everything with a short line was something you had to pay for and between the sales people hocking their insurance and home protection devices to the Colts Fan Club that was $ 75/​per kid to sign up for, there was NOTHING worth standing in line that long for. We threw a football and saw a turtle — coolest parts of the day.
We ditched that event and went to the zoo which… was fun (though not free which makes sense since there were actual things to see and do while visiting).
Obvvvvvviously this event is over but this is just a warning for next year. Remind me to read my own review when my working mom guilt steps in.