USA: SeaWorld Entertainment and Sesame Workshop Extend Partnership for New Sesame Place Theme Park
The nonprofit organization Sesame Workshop, maker of the beloved Sesame Street® preschooler television series, recently announced to extend its 37-year partnership with SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. through to December 2031. This agreement allows SeaWorld as Sesame Workshop’s exclusive partner in the U.S. to develop a second Sesame Street theme park in the country – currently, Langhorne’s Sesame Street Theme Park, which is located between Philadelphia and New York City, is the only destination dedicated to the “Cookie Monster” and his friends. The location for the second park is still to be determined but – according to SeaWorld – its first guests could be welcomed already in mid-2021. Just as the existing Sesame Street theme park the new venue will probably feature a variety of family rides, water slides, live character shows and a daily parade, among other offers. After the opening of the new park, SeaWorld also has the option to develop further Sesame Street parks throughout the country – depending on its economic success.
“[…] Building more Sesame Place theme parks will enable us to connect with even more families and provide funding that supports our nonprofit mission,” said Jeffrey D. Dunn, CEO of Sesame Workshop. Joel Manby, President and CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment, added: “We share Sesame’s goal of educating and entertaining generations of children, and the extension of our partnership furthers SeaWorld’s mission to provide guests with experiences that matter. We are thrilled to be able to grow the presence of Sesame Place theme parks in the U.S. and help our company diversify its brand portfolio and expand into new areas,” commented Manby.
Furthermore, SeaWorld Orlando will see the opening of a new Sesame Street land to be built by fall 2022 – the company’s two Busch Gardens parks in Tampa (FL) and Williamsburg (VA) as well as SeaWorld San Diego (CA) and San Antonio (TX) already feature such a theme area. (eap)
