Sesame Workshop and SeaWorld Entertainment are extending their 37-year partnership to launch a second Sesame Place theme park, which will open its doors by 2021 in a yet-to-be-determined US city.
The agreement extends SeaWorld’s status as Sesame Workshop’s exclusive theme park partner in the US, and extends the parties’ partnership through December 2031.
The current Sesame Place theme park—the only one based entirely on Sesame Street in the US—is located in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Following the opening of the new location, SeaWorld will have the option to build additional Sesame Place theme parks across the country.
The expanded deal also makes is possible for Sesame Street characters to continue their presence at distinct Sesame Street lands within SeaWorld Entertainment’s two Busch Gardens theme parks, as well as at the SeaWorld theme parks in San Diego and San Antonio. This deal also covers a new Sesame Street land to be built in SeaWorld Orlando by fall 2022.
Sesame Place features family rides, water slides, live character shows, a daily parade and seasonal events. The theme park also features the Sesame Place Cares annual series of events both in and outside the park, including a 30-year partnership with Variety—The Children’s Charity.
Sesame Workshop has announced a number of new initiatives as it begins to lay the foundation for its 50th anniversary, which takes place in 2019, including a partnership with digital literacy platform WriteReader and the appointment of new licensing representatives in China, Mexico and Brazil.