End of an Era: Sesame Place to demolish virtually all remaining 1980 attractions

The announcement of Cookie's Monster Land (opening in May 2014) means the end of several attractions that have been at Sesame Place since opening day in 1980.

Nets & Climbs:

More often called "the nets" this series of large nets has undergone a few changes over the years, but is one of the most iconic features of the park. A new and smaller net climb will be built called Monster Clubhouse.

Monster Maze:

This opening day attraction is a "maze" of lightweight punching bags in a small sandy area. They will be removed.

Cookie Mountain:

 This was an orange/red color on opening day in 1980. It has since been changed to blue. It is located under the Nets & Climbs and is an attraction where kids can climb up a soft surface.

Ernie's Bed Bounce:

 This attraction looks very similar to how it appeared on opening day. Kids bounce on a large inflatable surface. In 1980, mom and dad could bounce too. The prevalence of bounce houses elsewhere makes this less exotic than it was in 1980 but the attraction is still very popular.


Big Bird's Nest

This was a soft bounce area where kids could play with soft blocks. A new soft play area called Mini Monster Clubhouse will be built.

To understand the history of these attractions take a look at this image:

This is a Google Earth shot of Sesame Place (today) with early 1980s attraction names written on top.

Sesame Place was much, much smaller then. The bottom center attractions evolved over time and whatever remained of them in 2006 was eliminated for Elmo's World. The attractions on the right slowly morphed an evolved over time and have all been replaced.

The four main buildings are all still there. Sesame Studio has had drastic changes and now houses Elmo's World Live. Sesame Food Factory has become a traditional cafeteria called Elmo's Eatery. Mr. Hooper's Emporium still operates, but the Computer Gallery has now become another cafeteria named Cookie Cafe.

Is it complete?

Friends,

I have documented every piece of information I could find in the Google News Archive, YouTube, Flickr, Webshots, eBay and various other sites around the internet.

If I find anything else I will post it, but it looks like everything out there is listed on this site.

Do you have pictures or video? Send them to me! Otherwise, just enjoy what is already posted. There is tons of great stuff to see!

Aloha!

Guy Hutchinson

Guy Hutchinson

Sesame Place's Facebook page

Here are a few great pictures from the Sesame Place Facebook page:

30th Anniversary Topiary

Image from jaelcustomdesigns.com

Here is a 2010 image of the 30th anniversary topiary.

Sesame Place T-Shirt

Image from eBay

Here is an undated T-Shirt featuring the park logo that was used for much of the 1990s.

Pencil holder

Image from eBay

Here is a vintage Sesame Place pencil holder with a 1980 copyright date.

Posted by Guy Hutchinson

Toy Tambourine

Image from eBay

Here is an undated (as far as I can tell) toy tambourine.

Sesame Place pennants

Here are a couple of undated pennants from Sesame Place:

 Image from eBay

 Image from eBay

1991 Coke Can

Image from eBay

Remember these? I don't know if Sesame Place still puts coupons on cans, but I certainly love that someone thought to save this!

Souvenir clapboard

Image from eBay

Here is an undated piece of memorabilia  It's a toy director's slate. It advertises a fictional movie called "Oscar's Adventures".

Souvenir pot holder

Image from eBay

Here is a pot holder featuring Cookie Monster making spaghetti.

The lettering is the same font from the park logo:

This pot holder features the copyright year of 1980, the same year the park opened.

It also mentions Big Bird at the bottom, but he doesn't appear on (at least on this side of) the pot holder.

Papa Twiddlebug, Big Bird and More

Christopher Mercaldo is a fellow theme park buff who designed the amazing logo you see at the top of this blog.

He also has his own theme park blog, Chris Mercaldo's Amusement Blog, which is full of amazing photos of many different theme parks including a couple great posts on Sesame Place.

You can find the posts HERE and HERE.

The posts have wonderful descriptions of a 1993 trip to the park and some great pictures.

One of the photos pictured a giant Big Bird in a nest on display at Mr. Hooper's Emporium:

Images copyright Christopher Mercaldo

 Another shows a picture of Papa Twiddlebug:

Go read them! Click HERE and HERE.

2006 Park Brochure

 Image from Blogger

1993 Park Brochure

Image from Henson

Here is a page from a 1993 park brochure. It advertises the new Twiddlebug Land, Paradise Playhouse and Breakfast With Big Bird.

2007 Park Map

Image from themeparkbrochures.net

2004 Park Map

The date on the bottom of this map is 2004. Here is another map that is apparently from the same year.

Image from themeparkbrochures.net

For some reason it omits the Big Bird steps.

What/where was Snuffle Ball?

Here is something that has puzzled me for a long time. An article about the Texas Sesame Place described something called Snuffle Ball:

 Mid City Daily News Jun 16, 1982

It is shown (without description) on both the 1981 and 1984 park maps:

However, it is shown IN TWO DIFFERENT PLACES! Once in front of Rainbow Pyramid and once behind it!

Hopefully we get an answer someday!

The Computer Campus

Image from eBay

This section of the 1984 park map intrigued me. It reads:

Kid's as well as adults can now learn basic programming skills on "user friendly" computers at Sesame Place. A number of courses are offered and two popular computer languages are featured: BASIC, one of the most popular programs in use today, is sophisticated enough for home, school and business applications. LOGO, a creative programming language, offers colorful graphics that encourage kids to carry out their own commands. Both languages are available to kids as well as adults. For more information on prices, times and course descriptions, pick up the Sesame Place Computer Campus brochure at the guest relations window or in the computer gallery or call (215)752-4900.

The park map had two images, the top one appears to be a classroom setting, the bottom being The Computer Gallery.

The phone number is still used for Sesame Place. I wonder where these classes were taught and how much they cost. Hopefully someone will post the "Sesame Place Computer Campus brochure" someday!

1984 Park Map

 Image from eBay