Our one and a half year old grandson is obsessed with Elmo. So, when he came to visit over the holidays, we decided to take him to Sesame Place San Diego to meet his idol and the rest of the Sesame Street gang. It was such a fun day for all of us.

Sesame Place opened in San Diego in 2013 and flies a bit under the radar, maybe because it’s further south or maybe because locals still think it’s one of the water parks it used to be in a previous incarnation. Whatever the reason, it means it’s more manageable than many theme parks, making it perfect for toddlers – especially in the winter, which, in Southern California, is an ideal time to bring them.

We downloaded the Sesame Place app, which was really helpful for checking showtimes, and started our day at the park with lunch because no one wants to deal with a hangry child. We got burgers at Grover’s Grill, chicken tenders at Monster Snacks and pizza at Telly’s Trattoria, all of which we enjoyed at the picnic tables that surround the dining venues. (FYI, there are no indoor restaurants or high chairs at the park.)

Sesame Place San Diego Character Meet & Greet

Once the little one’s belly was full (at least for the moment), we headed off to catch Elmo’s Christmas Wish Character Show before our scheduled Meet and Greet with his idol. We had booked this private experience as a special holiday gift and prepared our grandson the whole week before by explaining that he was going to meet “big” Elmo so he wouldn’t be freaked out when his little stuffed Elmo turned out to tower over him in person. We showed him videos of kids hugging Elmo and the other characters and hoped for the best.

After the show, we waited by (okay, our grandson waited and danced on) the stage for the characters to arrive. Cookie Monster came out first but was unceremoniously dissed by our grandson, who excitedly pointed to Elmo behind him and, with a big grin, happily snuggled himself into Elmo’s open arms. I quietly went over and hugged Cookie myself.

Although our grandson only had eyes for Elmo, the characters were so friendly and animated while also being respectful of his level of comfort. We took dozens of photos ourselves and the professional photographer took loads of candid photos of him interacting with the characters and formal shots of our whole family posed with them. This experience was such a highlight of our visit to Sesame Place San Diego and our grandson loves looking at the photos and pointing out Big Elmo. Honestly, I wish I could have done this with Taylor Swift at one of the Eras Tour concerts I attended.

Later in the day, after a few rides, we took him for Christmas Cookies with Cookie Monster because the idea of milk and cookies plus Big CM himself seemed like a win win. Our grandson was very into the chocolate chip cookies as well as the coloring sheets and crayons they gave each guest. We were proud to see him actually offer one of his precious cookies to the furry blue Muppet and documented the sweet moment to remember always.

Sesame Place San Diego Rides for Toddlers

Because patience is not a toddler’s strong point, we sprung for Abby’s Unlimited Magic Queue – basically, a front of the line pass – so we wouldn’t have to wait on line. It was a good decision.

There are just enough rides for toddlers who don’t meet minimum height requirements and the best thing about the Magic Queue is that it let us take him on those rides multiple times in a row without having to get back on line.

We did Elmo’s Rockin’ Rockets, Sesame Street Soar & Spin and the Sunny Day Carousel and had a blast. Rub-A-Dub Sub was closed that day, as were all the water rides, but it didn’t matter but it didn’t matter because he loved the rides he went on and almost had a meltdown when he couldn’t do Elmo’s Rockin’ Rockets one more time since it was almost time for the big parade when all the rides take a break.

Sesame Place San Diego Upgrades

Besides the Meet and Greets and Abby’s Unlimited Magic Queue, there are a number of other ways to upgrade your Sesame Place San Diego visit. You can book seats in the reserved section for the must-see Sesame Street Party Parade at the end of the day and for the live character shows. Reserved parking is also available as are stroller rentals and an irresistible All-Day Dining Deal.

If you live in Southern California, consider a Season Pass to take advantage of exclusive benefits and monthly rewards. And, if you’re just visiting, your GPS will tell you how to get to Sesame Place San Diego. It’s as easy as ABC.

SAN DIEGO, CA (KGTV) — San Diego was awarded an MLS expansion franchise back in May of 2023. Since then they have revealed a team name and colors, built a training facility, and built a coaching staff and roster. Today they tool the practice field for the very first time.

“It gets real, and then real, and then really real as each step has been special. When you get players here that’s what it’s all about,” says San Diego FC CEO Tom Penn.

It’s been 20 months in the making, as San Diego FC took the practice field today at their Sycuan training facility.

“It’s been a lot on whiteboards until now but we think we have an idea of what our strengths and weaknesses are going to be,” says SDFC head coach Mikey Varas. “Now is the time we get to start to see it so we are really excited to get them on the field this first week and get that base ready.”

“I’m going to get really close to Tyler because he is the one who did all the work on this,” says Penn. “I just want to see his pride, as he is the one who signed all these players which is hard.”

On day one of training for San Diego FC, the team says there goal is to compete for an MLS title. It really helps when you have a state of the art training facility like they do at Sycuan in El Cajon.

“This is such a special place Sycaun’s tribal land. It’s the home of their ancestral village, and now to have this kind of youth development and high performance academy here is amazing,” says Penn.

“This facility is unbelievable for what it is. I will tell you that it is unbelievable. I hope that nobody takes it for granted,” says SDFC head coach Mikey Varas.

The roster of 26 players is still a work in progress. Varas says the goal from day one is to get these players to mesh, and build team chemistry before the season opening game in late February.

“That’s priority number one to get a group of strangers, who just got to know each other and introduce themselves to each other just a couple of days ago, to start understanding each other on and off the field and that’s and that’s an amazingly exciting objective.”

The season opener is Februarty 23rd against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

So now that Jim Harbaugh’s first season with the Chargers is in the books with Saturday’s defeat in a wild-card playoff game, it’s time to answer a big question.

Are the Chargers the same Chargers they’ve always been?

The answer is no.

And yes.

The first answer will be the longer one, because that’s where the 17-game season points.

Over those four months, they weren’t the same old Chargers.

One, they Chargered far less.

Instead of goofing up winnable games, a habit that introduced Chargering into NFL speech, they forced opponents to beat them. They finished among the leaders in fewest turnovers and fewest penalties. No team threw fewer interceptions. In field-goal percentage and net punting, the Chargers landed in the top half. This team didn’t beat itself very often.

Two, in establishing a reputation for physical play, the Chargers broke from the franchise’s norms over the years since Marty Schottenheimer was fired.

Physicality isn’t easily quantified, but in leading the NFL in fewest points allowed, Harbaugh’s defense asserted itself at all three levels.

It takes good tackling, setting the edge and displacing blockers to allow the fewest rushing touchdown, as L.A. did.

A high number of defensive holding penalties, reflecting greater physicality, was the cost of doing business for a unit that finished fourth in net yards allowed per pass attempt.

On offense, Harbaugh and coordinator Greg Roman emphasized slam-bam football — even if it could be tedious.

They often deployed either of two massive fullbacks/wingbacks/tight ends, each weighing close to 300 pounds. Sixteen percent of the offense’s snaps came with a tight end and two running backs, one of them a huge mauler; only three offenses went with that personnel grouping more often.

They weren’t the same old Chargers. They were the Harbaugh Chargers, resembling the coach’s physical, sound teams at Stanford, Michigan and with the San Francisco 49ers.

It wasn’t surprising that Harbaugh changed so much about the franchise’s identity.

He commanded more power than any coach hired in the Spanos era, which goes back almost four decades. He was able to hire his own general manager, breaking from Spanos tradition, and also brought in a pair of coordinators, several positional coaches and a much-praised strength coach.

A former NFL quarterback, Harbaugh took a hands-on approach with Justin Herbert.

The regular-season results took a big jump: from five victories to 11 victories. And Herbert set career marks in victories, passer rating and interception rate, while also assembling his second-best Total Quarterback Rating, an ESPN statistic that accounts for rushing.

The Chargers’ only playoff game under Harbaugh?

That was a different story.

That look was Same Ol’ Chargers.

Notwithstanding stretches of defensive dominance, Harbaugh’s Bolts echoed the Chargers’ futility of many other postseason defeats.

The names were different, but two key areas of underperformance were familiar: interceptions thrown and failed kicking attempts.

Recalling Chargers Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, Herbert threw four interceptions, exceeding his regular-season total by one. Fouts was more prone to interceptions in the playoffs than in the regular season. Sixteen of his passes were picked off in his seven playoff games. To be fair, interceptions then were common throughout the NFL, and Fouts led the Chargers to a few playoff wins with sparkling play. Still, his interception rate per passing attempt was 30% higher in the postseason than in the regular season.

Along with the offense’s poor game, the Chargers’ kicking game plummeted Saturday, too.

Fortunate that a deflected punt took a favorable bounce, the Chargers would later allow a blocked one-point attempt that the Texans returned for two points. A three-point swing, the sequence ballooned the fourth-quarter deficit to 13 points.

And it summoned the ghosts of Chargers kicking failures in Januarys past.

Several errant kicks by Nate Kaeding contributed to San Diego Chargers playoff defeats. An 86.2% kicker on field goals for his career in the regular season, Kaeding made just 8 of 15 field goals in the postseason, a rate of 53.3%.

It was just one game, but Saturday’s playoff defeat punctured some of Harbaugh’s mystique he’d built up in the regular-season run to the first wild card.

The sheer bizarreness of the three-point blunder made for vintage Chargering.

After his kick was blocked sky-high, Cameron Dicker, who a had bright season, camped under it and tried to bat it down instead of catching the live ball. Dicker got clobbered for his effort. Unfortunately for him, points weren’t given for comic relief. “OMG Chargers kicker! hahahahaha,” former Chiefs All-Pro tackle Mitchell Schwartz posted on social media.

The outing in total wasn’t a full-on Chargering performance. The Texans’ defense, which has stars at all three levels, was simply too good on several plays. The Chargers were favored by three points, but as the game unfolded, Houston coach DeMeco Ryans’ defense — better than almost every unit the Chargers had faced — showed how limited their offensive personnel was.

But, this was eerie: the Chargers’ most consequential errors recalled the franchise’s first playoff game of the Super Bowl era — a 17-14 loss in December 1979.

On that afternoon at sunny San Diego Stadium, where thousands of San Diegans wore gold “Charger Power” T-shirts, Fouts threw five interceptions against a franchise from Houston, the Oilers.

Cue up the spooky music, while pondering another parallel tidbit: Chargers kicker Mike Wood’s 26-yard field goal try in the second quarter was blocked, and Houston returned it 56 yards. That led to a short field goal for Houston, making it a six-point swing. Four more interceptions by Fouts would follow, and the Chargers, eight-point favorites, walked into the afternoon shadow with a stunning defeat.

Harbaugh’s team, in contrast, was playing with house money. Defense aside, it got exposed at several positions.

On to the offseason.

Originally Published: January 13, 2025 at 6:13 PM PST