The Circle Theater

The Circle Theater was the name of a theater at Sesame Place.

1987 Image from YouTube

The theater opened with the park in 1980 and was located in the back of the park next to Ernie's Bed Bounce.

1980 Image from YouTube

In 1988 the stage area was repainted blue.

1988 Image from YouTube

In 2003 the theater was replaced with the 1-2-3 Smile With Me photo spot. 

Image from Google Street Views

I have read some articles from 1999 that refers to the "all new Circle Theater" and an article from 2003 that also mentions the Circle Theater. It may be that the original Circle Theater closed down before 2003 and the Paradise Theater was called the Circle Theater for a time.

The theater housed many different shows over the years:

Sesame Players: This show consisted of two human performers who used a series of props to entertain children with a show that consisted of lots of problem solving questions that were asked of the audience.

Environmental Tales: On Environmental Awareness Day 1991 the Sesame Players did a special show about the environment.

A bird show featuring a trainer and a talented macaw.

Do you remember this theater or have any more information? Please let me know in the comments.

Sesame Studio

Sesame Studio is the name of an theater that currently houses Elmo's World Live:

 Image from IGOUGO

When the park opened in 1980, Sesame Studio was a very different attraction. One of the popular features was the Ernie's bathtub photo op:

1985 Image from YouTube

Children could step into a bathtub with Ernie and his rubber duckie:

1988 Image from YouTube

The bathtub was located next to a large, indoor, replica of The Sesame Street Set. 

 1988 Image from YouTube

This replica was phased out after the introduction of the larger outdoor neighborhood in 1988:

2012 Image

The Sesame Street Set was located next to a small chroma key theater:

 1985 Image from YouTube

The Sesame Street Set featured Big Bird and Little Bird peeking out of the nest and Prairie Dawn, Grover and Count Von Count looking out the windows.

1985 Images from YouTube

Kids could also pose for pictures inside Oscar's trash can (which was actually a half trash can open in the back.)

 Image from ThirteenLove

There was also a second floor balcony (which included a walkway to the upstairs exit of the studio.)

1985 Images from YouTube 

The chroma key stage would show children how the special effects were done on their favorite TV shows.

1985 Images from YouTube

The studio was transformed in the 1990s to create the larger theater that currently shows Elmo's world. For a time, the larger theater existed alongside exhibits like a room of mirrors (called Teleidoscope Temple) and these play puppets:

1999 Image

I'm not sure what the space is used for today, but it seems like the current theater only occupies two thirds of the building.


2015 UPDATE:
When working on the Sesame Place book I found that some of the science elements were also located on the second floor of the Computer Gallery.

Episode 16 of The Purple Stuff Podcast features a story about Return of the Jedi special effects being shown in the blue screen theater,

Big Bird's Nest

Big Bird Court does feature a play area that is called Big Bird's Nest, but there was once another nest on property.

Above is a shot of Big Bird's house at the end of Sesame Neighborhood. It looks essentially the same as it did when Sesame Neighborhood was added to the park in 1988... with one exception.

Peep holes.

Small holes had been drilled into the doors so that kids could see inside. Inside was a large Bird Bird nest and a few other props.

Big Bird's nest appeared to be made from wood and rope. There were always kids trying to peek in there to see if Big Bird was taking a nap.

Today the holes are gone and the backdoor sports a deadbolt.

I believe the inside of the house is actually used by the janitorial staff.

It's not really a problem. I'm sure Big Bird can afford a better pad by now.

1988 coupon and advertisment

Image from Vintage_ads

Above is a magazine ad from1988. In addition to giving us the chance to save $3 (from May 7 to July 8, 1988) it mentions many attractions including Sesame Streak water slide and Ernie's Bed Bounce.

It also mentions the debut of Sesame Neighborhood, the outdoor Sesame Street replica set. There was already an indoor one:

Images from YouTube

The indoor replica was part of Sesame Studio, but has since been closed down. 

Also, the ad mentions two new walk-around characters: Prairie Dawn and Grover.

Images from GoPhilla & Blogspot

The ad mentions they join the other characters at the park,: Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster and The Honkers.

Sesame Place still distributes coupons like this today and you'll save more than $3:

Of course, admission prices were different in 1988:

$14 for children, $12 for adults. Children under 3 are admitted free. Parking is $2.50

2012:

Single-Day Admission   $57.99 (plus tax)                    

Children 23 months & younger                                    FREE

Seniors (55+) (single-day admission only)               $52.99 (plus tax)

AAA Walk-Up Discount (with valid card)                     $54.99 (plus tax)