Sesame Street Forest of Fun

I have a feeling we're not going to be seeing too many new attractions at area theme parks this summer. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is not just adding a new ride but a whole new section to the park that I'm looking forward to letting my kids experience. Sesame Street Forest of Fun will bring Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets to life in a whole new way. The new section of the park is scheduled to open next month and will include four new kiddie rides, a playground and a new film. The film is called "Lights, Camera, Imagination" and is presented in 4-D. If you've never seen a 4-D movie, you wear the glasses and it looks like things are coming at ya but the theatre itself is also filled with tricks, gadgets and sensory experiences that add to the film. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie as the Sesame Street people still put out some funny stuff and you've got to figure that this production has some of the same people involved that made the ultra-fantastic Muppet Vision 4-D film in Walt Disney World. I'm telling ya, if Cookie Monster throws cookies at the audience...it's going to be worth the price of admission alone! (The movie has already premiered at Sea World in California, but I haven't seen it.)

Forest of Fun will also include rides which, from the looks of artists renderings, will be elaborately themed with the characters of Sesame Street. There will be a log flume ride and a family roller coaster plus a mini-Freefall and a Rock-n-Tug ride. Of course there will be a gift shop where you can stock up on all sorts of Sesame Street goodies. A spot where you can get pictures with the gang from the Street will also be included. Busch Gardens is also putting together an experience where kids and grown up can have breakfast or lunch with Elmo and friends.

If you're saying to yourself, Isn't there already a Sesame Street amusement park in Pennsylvania somewhere? The answer is yes, however Sesame Place in Langhorn, PA is more of a water park than a traditional theme park although they have started to add some mechanical rides in the last couple of years. It should be interesting to see how Busch Gardens can run with the Sesame Street theme starting from scratch.

Sesame Street Forest of Fun at Busch Gardens Fact Sheet