Sesame Place is a children's theme park and water park, located outside of Philadelphia in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (with a Langhorne mailing address). It is the oldest of two theme parks in the United States based entirely on the children's educational television program Sesame Street (the other is in San Diego, California) and includes a variety of rides, shows and water attractions suited for young children. It is also the first theme park in the world to become a certified autism centre. Sesame Place is one of the twelve theme parks owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, which operates under an exclusive license from Sesame Workshop, the non-profit owner of Sesame Street. Overview Sesame Place is located in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The park has a "Langhorne, Pennsylvania" mailing address. Sesame Place first opened in 1980 near the Oxford Valley Mall and initiated the expansion of the commercial complex in the vicinity. It was designed by Eric McMillan, a Canadian designer, Sandra Hanna of Lambertville, New Jersey and several other designers. The park is open from early May through Halloween for The Count's Halloween "Spooktacular", and mid-November through December for "A Very Furry Christmas". The original park was and featured play areas and large computer labs where kids could colour their favourite Sesame Street characters. Since then, it has expanded to with rides and water attractions. The expansions included the construction of Cookie's Monster Land in 2014 - the park's largest renovation to date. The theme park is described as having implemented features to make it accessible to children with autism, and on World Autism Awareness Day in 2018 was announced to be the first theme park that is a Certified Autism Center. Certified Autism Centres "[help] businesses better serve guests and clients with cognitive disorders, including autism". In 2007, it became the first theme park in Pennsylvania to become completely smoke-free. Beginning in January 2021, the park began its year-round operation. The park's previous operating season ran from April through early January; however, 2021 was the first time the park has ever been open during the winter months. Each weekend was a limited capacity event that featured rides, dance parties, and a parade. In 2023, Sesame Place will not continue year-round operation but will only close between mid-January to mid-February In July 2022, the park faced criticism after a family claimed in an Instagram