The Early 80s park layout

One of the reasons I started doing this site was because I wanted to clarify memories I had.

I had visited the park a few times in the 1980s and visiting it again in 2012 I couldn't even figure out where the memories took place.

So much has changed.

As I began analyzing old pictures I have been working on recreating the layout of Sesame Place from the early 1980s. This is what I have so far:

Original Image from Google Earth - Click to enlarge

Now, I bet I made some mistakes and I know there were even changes during the first few years of the park. This isn't the layout from a specific year in the 1980s since it includes Herry's Hand Over Water which was only around from 1980 to 1983 and includes Crystal Climb which opened in 1982.

If you know of any corrections, please tell me!

Oscar's Obstacle Course

Oscar's Obstacle Course was a play area in the early days of the park.

Images from YouTube

Children would slide down a pole into a wooden maze.

Obstacles like tubes and tires were there for kids to climb over and crawl through.

Mid Cities Daily News

New Logo!

I am very excited about the new logo that Christopher Mercaldo did for the site. He sent me two versions:

Christopher is very talented graphic artist and these logos really look great!

Do you have some graphic work? Email him!

Automated Muppets

Automated Muppets were animations versions of the Sesame Street characters that appeared at the park in 1982.

Images from YouTube

The automated Oscar the Grouch was setup in a small outdoor stand. He would pop out of his can and talk to the kids around him (via a recording of Carol Spinney as Oscar.)

Oscar and Cookie Monster were both mentioned in a 1982 news article. I don't know when (or why) these characters were phased out.

Milton Glaser: Designer of the Sesame Place logo

Reader Christopher Mercaldo did a little research on the Sesame Place logo.

Image from SesamePlace.com

 Turns out it was designed by one Milton Glaser. Glaser is a celebrated artist, most famous for his Bob Dylan poster, the "I Love NY" logo and the DC Comics logo:

Images from Wikipedia

Glaser was born in New York and educated at Manhattan's High School of Music and Art (now Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts). He graduated from the Cooper Union in 1951 and later, via a Fulbright Scholarship, the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna under Giorgio Morandi. 

Image from Monocle.com

Glaser has had a major impact on contemporary illustration and design. His work has won numerous awards from Art Directors Clubs, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Society of Illustrators and the Type Directors Club. He is a member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI), and in 1979 he was made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

In 2009, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama. 

Image from containerlist.glaserarchives.org

It's interesting to find out, but not surprising. Its a wonderful logo:

Image from SesamePlace.com

1995 Park Map

Many, many thanks to Christopher Mercaldo who provided us with scans of a 1995 park map!

There is a whole lot to go over in the map, and I will over the coming days, but first and foremost is the Sesame Place logo:

 As Christopher points out, Sesame Place had almost abandoned the classic "street sign" logo at this point.. This alternate logo (which seems far less interesting) is still used on merchandise but Sesame Place has returned to using the classic logo for most things.

The front gate(s) has always had the classic logo, I believe.

We will look at this page in close ups in the future, but this gives us a wonderful look at the layout of things like "Sesame Beach" and stuff I was unaware of like "Funtastic Laboratory" and "Runaway Rapids"!

So many wonderful things on this map! Again, I thank Christopher Mercaldo for sending this in. There is an email link on the right, and I encourage you to look for anything you have that will help us remember the park we grew up with!

Old signs

The original Sesame Place signs were styled to look like the park logo (which in turn was styled after the Sesame Street "street sign" logo.)

The park logo hasn't changed much, but the old signage around the park has been changed.

Big Bird appared on the sign for Big Bird's Nest:

 Rubber Duckie had his sign:

 The Amazing Mumford had a sign with (possibly) the longest name of any attraction:

Twiddlebugs had two different attractions and signs:

Herry had his own attraction sign:

Herry also had a similar sign inside Mr. Hooper's Emporium. It said "Fun & Games":

Frazzle monster appeared, fittingly, on the Monster Maze sign:

 He also appeared on a sign inside The Sesame Food Factory, over "The Hot Kitchen" section: