Sesame Place - Character interactions

As much as we know that there is good writing and music that goes into Sesame Street, what really makes the show is the Muppets. Therefore, their presence is an important part of any visit there.

There are three main ways of interacting with the characters, not counting their representations in the rides and decoration.

One is the characters roaming the park. "Roaming" might not be the correct word, as there are generally specific areas where the tend to be. However, if you happen to be heading down the street the same time as Big Bird, you can walk with him. That is a thing that happens.

 The areas they head to are logical areas. For example, we found Oscar near Oscar's Garage, a souvenir shop.

Actually, the main areas all seem to be on "Sesame Street" the part of the park where the buildings resemble the show's set. We also saw Bert and Ernie here, but they were finishing a stint and we could not get in line. There are multiple stints per day, so if you have a specific character you can make it happen.

We did not want a lot of pictures with characters, but also some of them happened on phones, so I can't find the picture of my sisters with a honker. However, that was one that happened closer to the entrance of the park.

Another way to see the characters is in the parade.

This is a place based on an educational show, so if you see some people with letters and numbers, those will come up for songs that incorporate counting and sounds. When the parade stops for musical numbers, they are interactive, with dancing, counting, and singing back. There was even some jump roping.

Because they would stop and dance, characters did not always stay on the same float. So here is Murray in the cookie jar, but you knew it was generally Cookie Monster's spot, and he ended up in there later.

Finally there is 1-2-3 Smile With Me, a photo queue. It has two sides, but you are in line for both at once. When we got in line it was toward the end of the day. The first character was Big Bird, and the second was Elmo. Just as I was thinking that I would have wanted Cookie Monster most, Big Bird left and was replaced by Cookie Monster. I would have liked a picture with Big Bird, but I was really glad to get Cookie Monster. Then we left, because we didn't really want pictures with Elmo.

One annoying thing with this area is that personal cameras could not be used beyond a certain point, because they want you to purchase pictures here. We took our pictures from behind the line, and did not purchase anything.

There are plenty of options for meeting your favorite character and for capturing the moment on film.