May 31, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-05-31) (as Whitewater Canyon) May 27, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-05-27) (as Knott's Soak City U.S.A. – San Diego) June 1, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-06-01) (as Aquatica San Diego) March 26, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-03-26) (as Sesame Place San Diego)
It is the first theme park in the world to open as a certified autism center by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). Sesame Place Philadelphia near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first theme park in the world to be a certified autism center.[2]
History
As a water park
Sesame Place San Diego originally opened on May 31, 1997, as White Water Canyon, being operated independently. At the time it featured 16 water slides and a wave pool, with a western theme applied to it.[3] The park suffered from many management and construction problems, and the poor attendance led to the park filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in June 1998.[4]
In December 1999, Cedar Fair purchased the park from its original owners for $11.5 million.[5] Under its new ownership, Cedar Fair gave the park a new beach-theme and a rename to Knott's Soak City U.S.A. for its reopening on May 27, 2000.[6][7]
On November 20, 2012, Cedar Fair announced it had sold the park to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.[8] The acquisition saw the park transformed into a 32-acre (13 ha) water park named Aquatica San Diego. The refurbished park reopened on June 1, 2013.[8][9][10] It features a wide array of attractions for all ages and swimming abilities, one of which passes by a flamingo habitat. The water park was featured on the episode, "Appalachian Splashin" on Xtreme Waterparks.
As Sesame Place San Diego
In 2017, Sesame Workshop announced that a new Sesame Place park would open "no later than" mid-2021.[11] The location of the new park was soon revealed in 2019 when SeaWorld announced that Aquatica San Diego would be re-branded as Sesame Place San Diego park for the 2021 season. The Sesame Street-themed park would feature tame roller coasters, carousels and other family-friendly rides, the street made famous on TV, a parade, live shows, character interactions, and other attractions. The park retained the Aquatica water attractions into the new park, although one of the rides, "HooRoo Run", was removed for being deemed too extreme for the retheming.[12]
Construction took place in phases, allowing Aquatica to remain open for the time period. The park's opening was soon delayed to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic halting construction. Aquatica soon closed for its final season on September 12, 2021, and the remains of the park were transformed into Sesame Place San Diego.
In November 2021, it was confirmed that the newly themed park would open in March 2022.[13] The park opened on the 26th of that month.[14]
Attractions
As the park was originally a water park, Sesame Place San Diego contains mostly water attractions, but with its retheming, several dry attractions are included as well.
Two mini climbing towers, one Cookie Monster themed, the other is Cookie themed. The guest pulls themselves up in a chair and the ride drops the chair slowly.
In addition to the rides, a replica of Sesame Street called "Sesame Street Neighborhood" is also featured,[15] alongside photo ops with many Sesame Street characters.[16]
Water Attractions
Name
Opened
Description
Former names
Bert's Topsy Turvy Tunnels
TBC
Three 60-foot-tall double-inner-tube slides. Two enclosed and one open air.
A 60-foot-tall water slide complex with six body slides, four enclosed and two open air.
Whanau Way (Aquatica) Imperial Run (Soak City)
The Count's Splash Castle
2023
A ProSlide RideHOUSE. It replaced the previous The Count's Splash Castle. The new structure is a multi-level, interactive water-play attraction that features 4 water slides, 111 play elements, including three giant tipping buckets that dump over 1,300 gallons of water combined. [17]
Former Attractions
Name
Opened
Removed
Description
Former names
The Count's Splash Castle
1997
2023
A four-story interactive, area that features two slides, hoses, jets, geysers, and a 500-gallon bucket that unloads every five minutes. The attraction was removed for the 2023 season, and was replaced with a larger and better version.
Walkabout Waters and Kata's Kookaburra Cove (Aquatica) Dick's Beach House and Gremmie Lagoon (Soak City)
HooRoo Run
1997
2019
An 80-foot-tall speed slide with two open-air and two enclosed slides. It was removed after the 2019 season, as the slide's drop and speed were deemed too extreme for the Sesame Place retheming. The ride also suffered from maintenance issues and frequent downtime during Aquatica’s last several seasons.
