LANGHORNE, Pa. — Once upon a time, the Children’s Television Workshop, now called the Sesame Workshop, wanted to turn the group’s franchise, Sesame Street, into an interactive play space where the show’s audience, children ages 2 to 12, could learn while having fun.

In July 1980, with the help of Busch Entertainment, Anheuser-Busch’s family entertainment arm, the dream of a live, interactive Sesame Street that children could visit became a reality. The 3-acre park contained kid-powered rides such as Nets and Climbs (a three-story cargo net climbing ride), a video game gallery and a ball crawl in lieu of the rides common at other amusement parks.

It felt almost like Sesame Street, but a few things were missing, said Bob Caruso, who was an intern in the park’s human relations department 25 years ago and was one of 119 staff members working at the park on its first day. He’s now the park’s general manager.

“There were no (Sesame Street characters) at first,” Caruso said. “There were no mechanical rides.”

In the last 25 years, much has changed about Sesame Place, the municipality that surrounds it, and the county in which it resides. The park is now 20 acres large, employs 1,500 people, including 68 year-round employees, and includes a roller coaster, the Vapor Trail, Big Bird’s Balloon Race and the Big Bird’s Rambling River water park.

It’s also caused an explosion of growth around the park that includes several restaurants, hotels, including the Sheraton Bucks County, a Marriott Courtyard hotel, a Holiday Inn Select and other places where tourists can eat, sleep and exercise the impulse to shop.

The park was supposed to be one of four Sesame Place parks that would be built around the country, but only one more was ever built, said Greg Hartley, the park’s director of human resources. That one was in Irving, Texas, which is near Dallas. Hartley was also among Sesame Place’s 119 original employees.

But the magic that is Sesame Place didn’t quite transfer in the southwest, Hartley said.

“It was open from 1982 to 1984,” he said. “It closed because it wasn’t well attended. There were a lot of water parks being built in the area, so it wasn’t successful.”

The target market for Sesame Place begins with New England and stretches to such southeastern cities as Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. But Los Angeles has also emerged as a place where many new Sesame Place fans are emerging, said Audrey Shapiro, director of consumer marketing for Sesame Place.

And Bucks County, Middletown and the businesses near the park are thankful for the patronage.

Tourism in Bucks County earned the region $411,688,729 in 2003, said Keith Toler, executive director of the Bucks County Conference and Visitors Bureau Inc. While it’s not known how much of that business Sesame Place accounts for in the 132 days that the park is open, the part that the park plays in that calculation is significant, Toler said.

“Sesame Place is the third most visited attraction in the county,” he said. “During the peak of the season, it drives hotel occupancy by 80 percent.”

Occupancy rates at the nearby Sheraton Bucks County climb by 4 percent during the Sesame Place season while average rates increase by 5 percent, said hotel General Manager Jim Richardson.

Sesame Place has also brought in competition, Richardson said.

“It’s allowed for the opening of new hotels,” he said. “Hotels are looking at this area for the occupancy opportunities.”

From a local perspective, Sesame Place has helped keep Middletown from having to raise taxes. In addition to the $846,229 in amusement taxes that the township receives from the amusement park, the additional dollars spent by the park’s visitors also provides a boost to the economy, said Lisa Pflaumer, a Middletown supervisor.

“Some residents dread the summer due to the (Sesame Place) traffic, but the same people who come to the park also frequent establishments like the Oxford Valley Mall, and the restaurants. It provides a boost to the economy, and not just in the taxes from Sesame Place.”

The park is also a good corporate neighbor, and a participant in activities that the township holds, Pflaumer said.

Sesame Place also provides welcome diversity to Bucks County’s business community, said Todd Buch, president of the McCafferty Auto Group.

“It’s diversified the township to a certain degree,” he said. “There are lots of car dealers, Home Depots and Targets in business districts, but few have that type of attraction. It’s become a destination.”