I thought it was pretty odd that the main plot revolved around Pee Wee never leaving his small town and having any sort of adventure in his life...guess the first film never happened haha.

The main thing missing (in my opinion) was the abstract fantasy elements that worked so well in the first film and the TV show. if you're looking for anything resembling Large Marge, stop motion dinosaurs or off the wall non human characters,you'll have to keep looking. he certainly meets some oddball characters on his trip but the film felt like it was afraid to cut loose and get too weird.