Partnership will include the development of a new Sesame Place theme park and costume character appearances.

Sesame Workshop and SeaWorld Entertainment have extended their 37-year partnership to include the development of an additional Sesame Place theme park in the U.S.

The Sesame Place theme park will feature a variety of rides, water slides, live character shows, a daily parade and seasonal events that will aim to bring the world of “Sesame Street” to life. The theme park also extends Sesame Workshop’s commitment to social impact work with its Sesame Place Cares annual series of events both in and outside the park.

“We know that the magic of theme parks gives families a unique and powerful way to experience and delight in the ‘Sesame Street’ characters,” says Jeffrey D. Dunn, chief executive officer, Sesame Workshop. “Building more Sesame Place theme parks will enable us to connect with even more families and provide funding that supports our nonprofit mission."

The new license agreement will also extend SeaWorld’s status as Sesame Workshops exclusive theme park partner in the U.S. through December 2031, with the second Sesame Place theme park slated to open no later than mid 2021 in a U.S. location to be determined.

After the opening of the second theme park, SeaWorld will have the option to build additional Sesame Place locations throughout the U.S.

“We share Sesame’s goal of educating and entertaining generations of children, and the extension of our partnership furthers SeaWorld’s mission to provide guests with experiences that matter,” says Joel Manby, president and chief executive officer, SeaWorld Entertainment. “We are thrilled to be able to grow the presence of Sesame Place theme parks in the U.S. and help our company diversity its brand portfolio and expand into new areas.”

The agreement also makes it possible for “Sesame Street” characters to continue to appear at existing distinct “Sesame Street” lands inside the company’s two Busch Gardens theme parks and SeaWorld theme parks. It will also allow costume characters to appear the new “Sesame Street” land that is slated to be built in SeaWorld Orlando by fall 2022.