SESAME PLACE - Philadelphia
Langhorne, PA
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
PARK NEWS - (9/20/2024) In 2022 A video shot at Sesame Place went viral when it appears that a costume character in the park’s parade seemed to be “ignoring black children” and even waving their hand in a no-gesture as they passed by the outreached arms of the children. As you might expect, chaos erupted on social media following this, with hundreds of other families claiming that their children were also ignored when visiting the park with other costumed performers. The outrage eventually exploded into a $25 million lawsuit against the park over claims of “race discrimination”.
Sesame Place has stood by their claims that the perceived actions were just a misunderstanding, with the “no” gesture being directed at another parent asking the character to hold their child for a photo, which is forbidden. The park also promised that all of their staff would undergo “bias training” while the park reviewed their practices to determine any other changes that needed to be made.
This week, a federal court jury in Philadelphia voted unanimously against the lawsuit, determining that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment was not liable for any wrongdoing. According to a statement released by Sesame Place, “The facts presented demonstrate that we treat our guests equally. We want every guest at our park to feel welcomed and safe when they visit us and to be able to see and feel aspects of themselves in the experiences we create”. “We’re proud of the role we play in creating lasting memories — especially for our youngest guests. We are constantly learning and improving and we’re committed to using our parks to help build a more inclusive experience for our guests.”
2025 - Dinner Theater - Rumor - (10/29/2023) The look of the entrance to Sesame Place Philadelphia started to change forever when Oscar’s Wacky Taxi roller coaster was built in front of the park for the 2018 season, followed by the Fall 2023 addition of a publically accessible year-round Sesame Place Store that opened last month. Now I’m hearing that more changes are in the works to build up the rest of the park’s entrance plaza with a major new attraction. From what I’m hearing the big plan for the next season is to create a Sesame Street themed “dinner theater” style show venue. Of course, since this is a venue for little kids, I’m thinking that this may be a Lunch and Dinner Theater project (Lunch offered on weekends) rather than just a Dinner only show. The nice thing about this concept however is having it built at the entrance to the park will allow Sesame Place to offer up this product year-round if they wish to do so, and they probably do.
Stay tuned and keep an eye in front of the park for any future signs of construction.
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