Sesame Place San Diego, California's Newest Theme Park, Opens

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc. SEAS has teamed with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, for Sesame Place San Diego, which opened this weekend as California’s newest theme park.

What Happened: The attraction is the first Sesame Place on the West Coast and is located 20 minutes outside of San Diego in Chula Vista. The theme park has 18 Sesame Street-themed rides and exciting water attractions, including a family-friendly rollercoaster, wave pool, lazy river and water slides. All of the park’s rides and attractions are included in the single-day admission ticket for $64.99; a 2022 season pass starts at $132 per year.

"This moment has been over 40 years in the making," said Ed Wells, executive vice president and head of global media and education at Sesame Workshop. "Since the first Sesame Place launched in 1980, it has been one of the best ways for kids and families to interact with the Sesame brand and their favorite characters, up close and in person … This park is full of new interactive, entertaining, and playful learning experiences for families and continues our mission of helping kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder."

See Also: 'Sesame Street' Adds Two Gay Fathers To Its Cast Of Characters

Why It Happened: The first Sesame Place referenced by Wells opened in suburban Philadelphia in 1980 and is still operating. However, attempts to launch Sesame Place theme parks elsewhere have not been successful. An all-indoor park in Irving, Texas, opened in 1982 and never reopened after its 1984 season, while a Tokyo attraction ran from 1990 to 2006. A Mexican theme park inspired by that nation’s version of the Sesame Street characters opened in 1995 but was shuttered in the coronavirus pandemic and did not reopen.

The 17-acre Sesame Place San Diego is small compared to California’s other major theme parks: SeaWorld San Diego is nearly 200 acres, Legoland California in California is 128 acres and Disneyland in Anaheim is roughly 500 acres.

Nonetheless, Marc Swanson, CEO of SeaWorld Entertainment, has high hopes for the new attraction, which is his company's first new theme park in nine years.

“This park is part of a big year for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment as we have opened new attractions already in 2022 across multiple parks as part of our overall business strategy and will continue to expand our offerings in the coming years with exciting experiences for our guests,” Swanson said.

Photo: Courtesy of Sesame Place San Diego