In store for kids as TV favourite

Running The Furchester Hotel Making sure guests are happy “We all have our jobs to do at The Furchester Hotel, but I think we’d all agree that mine is hardest of all. It’s my job to welcome the guests. I need to make sure everyone is comfortable and that they understand the rules. “I do my best to uphold the hotel’s half-star rating. I bring the finest art to the hotel. Of course, even in a quality hotel such as ours problems arise from time to time. But the most important thing is to remain calm. So now you can understand why mine is the hardest job of all!” Waiter Gorging on tasty cookies at every opportunity “Me welcome you with crunchy cookie...nom nom nom. Me Cookie Monster, me hotel waiter. Me help guests become adventurous eaters. And me always make sure that nothing go to waste. You know, me think me got best job ever. Me get to work with great people, me get to meet amazing guests and me get to eat all the cookies me want.” THEY’RE the world’s bestloved puppets so it’s no surprise Cookie and Elmo get the VIP treatment.

Bosses at Alton Towers have signed up the telly icons alongside their co-stars from The Furchester Hotel for a live show.

The theme park spectacular’s producer Chris Carter said: “We don’t make any distinction between our puppets and our actors. We look after the puppets as if they were real.

“They are essentially family to us. We can’t reveal exactly how we look after them – that’s our secret formula. But all of our characters are VIPs.”

Since Sesame Street spin-off The Furchester Hotel first aired on CBeebies in 2014 it has become must-see viewing for kids across Britain.

And the theme park show, which opened yesterday, is the first time anywhere in the world fans can see the characters in ED GLEAVE TV Editor real life. Chris said: “Our puppeteers li and breathe them. They are th characters both when they’re performin in the show and outside of it. They ha immersed themselves into it.

“Puppetry is such a highly-skille challenge that to bring it to life, it’s n just about the hand action. If you watc the puppeteers work they are almo performing themselves.

“It’s a highly-skilled role. It’s challenging as any other acting role. Th puppet is an extension of them and the are an extension of the puppet.”

Bosses at Alton Towers near Stoke-o Trent hold tough auditions to find th best talent.

Chris added: “We go through a proce where they try out specifically for eac role. There is a rigorous system where we have call-backs and then develop their characteri-