The grand opening of Big Bird Bridge

Here are a series of images that show Big Bird (decked out in a bow tie and cuff links) helping some kids pull a rope to unveil Big Bird Bridge.

The giant Big Bird head is revealed as employees pull off the covering and balloons float up to the sky.

 Images from YouTube

Sesame Place Water Tower

When I hear the name Sesame Place Water Tower, I always think of the large water tower off route 95 with the Sesame Street characters on it:

Image from Signs and Graphics

However, long before the water tower first got a Sesame Place face lift in 1993 there was a attraction called Sesame Place Water Tower.

The Sesame Place Water Tower was described in the opening day brochure as:

SESAME PLACE WATER TOWER:

Youngsters pump water to the top of a 20-foot tower 

and then let it tumble down to turn a wheel; 

children also can direct streams of water at targets.

1980 Image from YouTube

At 20 feet tall, the Water Tower was a wonderful place to over see the park.

Image from Facebook

The very top of the tower featured a bunch of colorful orbs. The top one featured Big Bird's picture.

Image from YouTube

Big Bird Bridge passed through the Water Tower, so it's likely that the tower actually was necessary to stabilize Big Bird Bridge.

Image from Henson

The Sesame Place Water Tower likely was removed Flying Fish was built in 2006..

Image from Cardcow

Today the area houses the Flyin' Fish attraction.

Sesame Place 30 Great Years - Album 1

Over on the Sesame Place Facebook page there is an album of photos titled "Sesame Place 30 Great Years - Album 1".

All images property of the Sesame Place Facebook page

The description is:

The first of hopefully many albums of nostalgic photos of the park over the past 30 years

Sadly, the album has been up for a couple years and "Album 2" has yet to materialize.

I wanted to show the images here so we can look at them a little bigger (they are very small on Facebook) and so they can be archived here in case the album ever gets deleted from the Sesame Place page.

This attraction was called Herry's Hands Over Water.

 This shot shows Big Bird's Rambling River, but more interestingly shows how much empty space the park at this time. Look at all the grassy area!

 This shot shows the back of Sesame Neighborhood, likely from Big Bird's Rambling River! Notice the blue inner tubes stacked up on the right.

Here is a nice shot of the Sesame Brass band in front of the entrance to Big Bird Bridge. Look closely at the mouth and you can see the bridge was still open at this point.

 This photo shows a large crane raising the centerpiece of the Nets 'N Climbs into place.

 Another nice construction picture of the Nets 'N Climbs. This looks like a reverse angle of the previous picture.

Here is a nice picture where you can see kids jumping on Rubber Duckie Pond and a few people walking across Big Bird Bridge.

This tower was in the center of Big Bird Bridge and had the name Sesame Place Water Tower. It was a place where kids could pump water to the top of the tower and watch it flow down the water wheels.

The green tarp in the foreground was Twiddlebug Hop, a rope swing attraction.

Here kids are seen climbing through a giant plastic maze of geodesic shapes. This attraction was called Crystal Climb.
Notice the employee in the green and yellow polo shirt with red shorts.

This is a great shot of the old entrance looking towards the parking lot. Today this would be facing the "fire station" facade of Sesame Neighborhood.

This is Twiddlebug Hop, an attraction where kids would swing on a rope over a series of bumps.

Make sure and visit the Sesame Place Facebook page and click "like"!

Seeing the mall from Big Bird Bridge

Image from YouTube

Above is an interesting shot from opening day. You see a news reporter at the bottom of the stairs to enter Big Bird Bridge. What struck me as interesting was the fact that you can see JC Penny, way in the distance, at the Oxford Valley Mall.

Since then, in addition to a build up of rides and attractions, there is a large barrier of trees that make Oxford Valley Mall almost invisible to guests at the park.

Very interesting to see a shot like this because it reminds you of how different Sesame Place was back in 1980.

Image from Google Earth

Big Bird's Feet

Here is an odd thing I noticed when I was looking at some old videos of Sesame Place, the entrance to Big Bird Bridge once had feet:

Image from YouTube

In fact, if you look at this piece of concept art, he was designed with feet AND hands:

Image from YouTube 

The hands were never part of the entrance to Big Bird Bridge, but the feet were built and did exist (in the center, not off to the side like the concept art shows.)

Image from YouTube 

The feet were removed between 1985 and 1986. Most likely it was to create a better traffic flow in the area.

Big Bird Bridge

On the first post on this blog I talked about how a memory of Big Bird Bridge inspired me to start archiving Sesame Place's past.

Here is an overview of the, very simple, attraction:

Image from YouTube 

It was a suspension bridge that you entered through Big Bird's mouth.

Image from YouTube 

The bridge would give you spectacular views of the (then) three acre park.

Images from YouTube 

To give you some perspective: the Big Bird head was located at what was the front of the park in 1980. Today it would be the center of the park.

Take a look at the Google Maps image below of the park today. I inserted the early 1980s image on it and numbered a few corresponding locations. Make sure and note the park entrance in both images:

Images from YouTube & Google Maps

As the park expanded the bridge was removed. The Big Bird head remained (with the mouth closed) as a photo spot until it was replaced with the Sunny Day Carousel in 2008.

Images from YouTube & Flickr

Groundbreaking...

Image from eBay

It seemed appropriate that the above image should kick off this blog.

It shows a group of children, from the New Approach Method day care, breaking ground on what would become Sesame Place.

That was June 27, 1979.
33 years later we have a groundbreaking for this blog.

Well, hackneyed wordplay aside, let me tell you why I am starting this project.

I have lived much of my life close to Langhorne, Pennsylvania. As a kid I visited Sesame Place a few times and created some very vivid memories.

As I grew up I grew out of Sesame Place.

But, I was still interested in it. I would always read the newspaper articles about what was "new this year" and watch the TV commercials carefully looking at what changes I could spot.

On a rare occasion where I could chaperone a younger cousin or a niece I volunteered quickly and enjoyed looking at how the park would evolve over time.When I became a dad, I made sure that my wife and I took our son to Sesame Place before he could even crawl.

Image from Themeparks.About.com

This weekend I was riding with my son on the Sunny Day Carousel and I thought about how there used to be a giant Big Bird head where the carousel now stands.

Then I remembered a bridge that you once entered through his mouth.

The bridge had been gone for years, leaving just the giant head (until finally that was replaced by the carousel.)

Image from amusementpic.com

When I got home, I Googled every combination of "big bird bridge sesame place" and found very little info scattered across many different sites.

Now, hopefully the history of Sesame Place can now live on here on this blog. Let me be honest with you, even with the rose colored glasses, I think it's safe to say that Sesame Place has IMPROVED over the years.

The 3 acre 1980 park was not as polished as the 14 acre park that stands today.

Still, it's fun to look backwards.

Do you have memories of Sesame Place you want to share? Maybe you have a picture or video that you want to share or even just a link to something I haven't posted yet.

Please share it. Together we can make use the Big Bird Bridge to link the Sesame Place of the past with the Sesame Place of today. Wow, sorry. No more hackneyed wordplay, I promise.