Sesame Place will feature 18 rides - 11 water slide rides and seven dry rides, including a roller coaster and balloon ride. Sesame Place San Diego takes over SeaWorld's former waterpark, Aquatica Waterpark, which opened in 2013 and had its final season in 2021. Niles added that Sesame Place is a larger version of Sesame Street Land at SeaWorld Orlando. And why not? Sesame Street is a great IP for that and one they already have.' 'SeaWorld officials won't say it, but this is their way of competing with Legoland. 'Legoland has been going hard after families with young kids,' said Niles. In some ways, Sesame Place is Sea World's answer to Legoland in Carlsbad. Sesame Place's location near the U.S.-Mexico border could also help attract tourists and locals on both sides of the border. Sea World, embroiled in controversy after the release of the 2013 'Blackfish' documentary, has been pushing hard to move away from its bread and butter live animal encounters and to get a share of the family travel market. Still, Niles noted that there is a place for Sesame Place in the highly competitive Southern California theme park marketplace. Theme parks are not all the way back from pre-pandemic times, he added. And feds raising interest rates to curb inflation, which is at a 40-year high, will certainly have people thinking twice about using their disposable income on a visit to Disneyland, Sea World or Sesame Place, said Niles. Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed gas prices higher. Just as theme parks get their bearings, they face another issue. There was high, pent-up demand despite limited hours and offerings at certain theme parks. Once the state government began reopening businesses and theme parks with mask or vaccine requirements, people began to flock to the parks. Tourism declined sharply in 2020, with theme park attendance dropped by more than 80% that year. Sesame Place was supposed to open in 2020, Diprofio said, but was pushed back because of the pandemic. Every major theme park across the state, from Disneyland, Sea World to Great America, closed for about a year. Theme parks were hit hard when the pandemic surfaced in March 2020. The opening of the new theme park in Southern California comes as the coronavirus pandemic wanes and tourism and theme parks rebound from pandemic-related travel restrictions, closures and lockdowns. Can it work? It'll come down to execution and theme of concept.' There's a reason why Elmo memes go viral. 'Sesame Street has huge nostalgia appeal for Gen X and millennials. 'Sure, it can be relevant,' said Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider, a news site that follows the theme park industry. 'There's a lot of multigenerational excitement and experiences with Sesame Place.'Įxperts say there's a market and appeal for Sesame Street, but whether it can thrive depends on its execution. 'Everything old is new again,' said Diprofio.

Sesame Place is banking on nostalgia from the older folks, Gen Xers, and millennials who grew up and remembered watching the iconic television show that began airing in 1969. Sesame Place San Diego New Theme Park Opening March 26th! #SesamePlaceSanDiego /rgEmALLsvgīut can Big Bird and Elmo compete in a highly competitive Southern California theme park market dominated by Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter and Snoopy? 'It's like walking into Sesame Street, the one you see on TV.' It sits in the middle of the Sesame Street neighborhood,' said Erika Diprofio, vice president of marketing at Sesame Place San Diego. 'When you first walk into the park, you'll see a carousel with all of your favorite Sesame Street characters. There's also a Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Sesame Place San Diego will feature many of the iconic Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Elmo, inside a 17-acre theme park in Chula Vista, about 20 minutes south of Sea World.

Sesame Place San Diego will feature 18 rides (11 water rides and seven dry rides), a Sesame Street parade, and character meet and greets with Cookie Monster, Abby and Elmo.

The new kid- and family-focused theme park will compete with Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland, and other theme parks in Southern California.Sesame Place San Diego is only the second Sesame Street-themed theme park in the country.SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment and Sesame Workshop are opening a Sesame Street-themed amusement park in San Diego.

Sesame street park