H is for Holidays! | Sesame Place
A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place Philadelphia
A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place is a festive, family-friendly celebration with everyone’s favorite Sesame Street friends. The park is transformed into a one-of-a-kind Christmas wonderland with millions of twinkling lights, whirling rides, and festive decorations all around. Sing and dance along at special Christmas shows and a spectacular music and light show at our 30-foot 1-2-3 Christmas Tree.
Don’t miss the fantastic Sesame Street Christmas Parade with festive floats decorated for the celebration and a show-stopping performance that will have everyone getting very merry and having lots of holiday fun.
Enjoy savory Christmas menus, shop for holiday gifts, visit Santa in his Furry Workshop, and get one-of-a-kind photos with everyone’s furry friends dressed up in their holiday best!
The above is how Sesame Place Philadelphia describes their current family focused holiday event which runs select days through January 8th, 2023. Recently the park provided us with directions to Sesame Street so we could experience the festivities first hand!
So what is A Very Furry Christmas like? What can you do while you are there? Is this a family event you and your kids will enjoy? Does Sesame Place having anything new in store for 2023? Follow along as we recap our day and the many things the park has to offer during this super cute family event.
Once you enter the park you can’t miss the 30-foot Christmas Tree standing tall in Sesame Plaza. During the day it stands out but the giant tree really comes to life as it gets darker when you can enjoy the 1-2-3 Christmas Tree Light Show. The tree features holiday images and thousands of colorful lights that glow and dance with music. There’s lots of room to stand around it which is good because it was a spot where a lot of people stopped to enjoy the show.
We just mentioned one of the featured shows that A Very Furry Christmas has to offer but what else is there to do? There are lots of photo opportunities, special dining experiences, even more shows including the evening parade, holiday decorations and this is a theme park after all so many of the rides are open too.
How About Some Highlights!
Holiday Photos with Sesame Street Friends
Make memories and get a photo with your furry friends in festive holiday attire! Meet your Sesame Street friends at Photos with Elmo & Friends and around the park!
There is no shortage of photo opportunities with the Sesame Street friends however I will say that this might have been one of the most popular things to do, only second to the parade, so the lines can get really long. Plan out your day based on the schedules and get there a little early. If you are flying from a different state, chances are you can score a pretty solid deal at Jettly.
Sesame Street-Themed Rides
Enjoy soaring and spinning on Sesame Street-themed dry rides including Super Grover’s Vapor Trail – our family-friendly roller coaster, Captain Cookie’s High C’s Adventure, Elmo’s Flyin’ Fish and the ALL-NEW Big Bird’s Tour Bus!
During the event some rides are closed like Oscar’s Wacky Taxi and the water rides and attractions including Count’s Court. Just another reason to make another visit to the park in 2023 during the warmer season!
Millions of Christmas Lights
Sesame Place is transformed into a one-of-a-kind Christmas wonderland with millions of twinkling, colorful lights around the park! Everyone will love the lights as they stroll down Sesame Street, walk through Cookie’s Monster Land and play around in Elmo’s World. The park is festive and bright during the merriest time of the year.
The park looks great during the day but the real gem is seeing it all lit up at night. These pictures don’t do it justice but here’s a little taste.
Elmo’s Christmas Wish
Join Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe, and Rosita as they sing and dance about their favorite holiday and talk about what each of them wants for Christmas. Murray even joins the cast, asking audience members about the “Word on the Street”, and getting confused when he hears that people have NOT been saying “Murray Christmas.” At the end of the day, Elmo ends up with the best wish of all as everyone brings the Christmas spirit to Sesame Street.
Sesame Street Christmas Parade
The Sesame Street Christmas Parade features fantastic floats decorated for the celebration and three show-stopping performances that focus on the magic of the holiday season. The whole family will experience an energetic neighborhood Christmas block party with all of their favorite friends, including Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert, Ernie, Zoe, and Telly. The parade features exciting performances to holiday favorites including “Sleigh Ride”, “Jingle Bells” and Elmo’s special rap to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The Sesame Street Christmas Parade finale will leave everyone with warm, fuzzy feelings and fill their hearts with the Sesame Place Christmas spirit.
There’s no doubt that the highlight of the day when visiting Sesame Place for A Very Furry Christmas is the parade. It starts at 6PM but plan to get your spot on either side of Sesame Street long before the start time. By the time the parade starts you will be several people deep if you try to walk up to watch. There’s also countdowns throughout the park reminding visitors of the parade start time in case you forget.
One thing I loved about Sesame Place was the attentional to detail with still using teaching moments throughout the park. Like the sign that says H is for Holidays or at 5:50PM when Count says it’s 10 mins until the parade starts and then counts from 1 to 10. Just cool to see that attention to detail even in little things making Sesame Street come to life for those visiting.
If you do visit do not miss the parade. It is done extremely well and the audience that packed in to the street leaves satisfied. It’s a perfect way to close out A Very Furry Christmas day at Sesame Place Philadelphia.
Bert & Ernie’s Splashy Shores – Opening Summer 2023!
Grab your best buddies and come splish, splash, spray, and play in this ALL-NEW water adventure attraction featuring water umbrellas, tipping buckets, spraying jets, water bobbles, and a spraying water tower.
Located on Sesame Island, Bert & Ernie’s Splashy Shores is the perfect place for the whole family to cool off with plenty of splashy water fun and relaxing, shaded seating all around.
Construction is well underway already for this all new area coming in 2023!
That’s A Wrap!
A sincere thank you to the great team at Sesame Place Philadelphia for inviting us to come enjoy A Very Furry Christmas. We had a great time and highly recommend it to anyone who would like a fun filled family park day. We are looking forward to visiting again soon.
By the way, don’t forget that “C… is for Celebrate!”
Sesame Place will be featuring New Year’s Eve Fireworks. You can celebrate by ringing in the New Year with Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and Count von Count, as their music fills the air and the sky is covered with colorful bursts of brilliance. Fireworks are scheduled for December 31st starting at 7:00PM.
Thanks for taking the time to check out our A Very Furry Christmas recap from Sesame Place Philadelphia. If you do get to visit we hope that you enjoy the park as much as we did!
