It’s the very first holiday season for Sesame Place San Diego (which just opened this past summer as a retheming of SeaWorld’s Aquatica water park) and that means it’s the inaugural year for “A Very Furry Christmas” in Southern California.
We were fortunate enough to attend opening day of A Very Furry Christmas this past Saturday, and upon arriving at Sesame Place San Diego we could see that the park had been decorated with festive lights and ornaments for the season.
Immediately upon walking through the park gates, the first thing we noticed was none other than Big Bird himself meeting and greeting with guests in his nest in the Sesame Street-themed entrance area.
We enjoyed other decorations around the entrance area before checking out the map for A Very Furry Christmas, which indicated that the park’s numerous water-based attractions would not be available for this wintertime event.
But what is available at the Sesame Street Theater is the “Elmo’s Christmas Wish” show, in which “Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe, and Rosita dance and sing about their favorite holiday and talk about what each of them wants for Christmas.”
Watch “Elmo's Christmas Wish” at Sesame Place San Diego 2022:
Next we took some time to peruse the fun and colorful Christmas merchandise available in Sesame Place’s gift shops.
At that point we took a stroll around the circumference of the park, taking in some of the other decorations like a mural of the Sesame Street friends celebrating the holidays and snowglobes of the individual characters donned in Christmas gear.
Other character meet-and-greets include Elmo (against a green-screen backdrop that will superimpose guests onto Sesame Street) and Cookie Monster dressed up as Cookie Claus… so that’s where all those milk and cookies went.
Another character performance near the end of the day saw Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and their friends celebrating “a fun, festive sing-along as they share their favorite parts of the holiday season” in the Rosita's Harmony Hills area.
Watch “A Very Merry Sesame Street Sing Along” at Sesame Place San Diego 2022:
Kids and families who are in a dancing mood can join Bert and Ernie as they “dance, sing, and jingle bell rock along to your favorite holiday tunes” at Big Bird's Wave Pool Lawn.
There’s also an upcharge event near the lawn called “Cookies with Cookie Monster,” which is advertised as “fun-filled family experience features meet and greet opportunities with Cookie Monster and hot chocolate in a fun refillable mugs!”
And as the evening began to wind down, guests gathered along the Sesame Place San Diego parade route for the energetic, fun-filled Sesame Street Christmas Parade.
Watch Sesame Street Christmas Parade at Sesame Place San Diego:
The park closed soon after the parade, but it’s nice to know that Sesame Place San Diego is open on select dates with a number of special activities for families to enjoy during the holiday season.
A Very Furry Christmas runs on select dates from now through Sunday, January 8th at Sesame Place San Diego. For additional information and to purchase advance tickets, be sure to visit the official Sesame Place website.