Image Courtesy Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens welcomes a new character this weekend.  Julia will be joining Elmo, Cookie, Oscar and friends in the Safari of Fun area.  Julia is an autistic character and it sounds like she will be a regular in both the shows and as a walk-around character.  According to the press release:

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is excited to welcome Sesame Street’s Julia to the Safari of Fun. Julia is an autistic four-year-old girl from Sesame Street who enjoys playing with her friends Elmo and Abby Cadabby.

To celebrate the addition of Julia and to honor Autism Awareness Month, Busch Gardens will host a sensory friendly showing of “Let’s Play Together,” April 13 & 14 at 10am. After the showing, walk-around Julia will meet with guests who attended the show. Families can also take home free Sesame Street storybooks featuring Julia.

So to your average guest this probably doesn’t move the needle like Tigris opening next week, but for the younger set this is huge new fun!