Florida is looking a lot like the shows, movies and toys many of us _ and our kids _ grew up on.
The latest retro blast?
Sesame Street opened last month at SeaWorld Orlando. The attraction, an interactive neighborhood designed to resemble the setting of the popular educational TV show that debuted 50 years ago, is on six acres of land. The world of "Sesame Street" was built in the space formerly occupied by Shamu's Happy Harbor.
Six of its rides are former Happy Harbor rides that were rethemed to give characters such as Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, the Cookie Monster and Big Bird a place to frolic.
Families can visit a re-creation of the familiar address on the stoop marked "123 Sesame Street" that the show's various cast members and guest stars such as Rita Moreno, Carol Burnett and Jim Henson's Muppets once visited in its run from 1969 to today. Even psychedelic rocker Grace Slick of the former Jefferson Airplane lent her voice to a sketch on the program's first episode.
Other attractions and rides include a Sesame Street Party and Parade, an Interactive Play area with the characters, the Cookie Monster's Cookie Drop! Big Bird's Tilt 'n' Whirl and Super Grover's Box Car Derby.
Sesame Street's opening day was a bit soggy as rains hit the tourist attraction, the Orlando Sentinel reported. But few were complaining at the Rubber Duckie Water Works splash pad. Mother Nature just provided a lesson on Florida weather _ and wasn't "Sesame Street" always about education, anyway?
The Children's Television Network premiered "Sesame Street" on PBS stations on Nov. 10, 1969. After 49 seasons, the show is still broadcast in some 150 countries in 70 languages.
"Theme parks represent one of the most powerful ways for families to engage with and delight in the 'Sesame Street' characters," said Scott Chambers, the senior vice president of North America Media and Licensing, Sesame Workshop in a news release. "Sesame Street at SeaWorld Orlando will enable us to establish deeper connections with even more families while helping the Workshop sustain its nonprofit and educational mission."
For information and tickets visit SeaWorld Orlando at https://seaworld.com/orlando/sesame-street/.
