Kennywood Gets Ghostwood Estates for 2008

Kennywood Gets New Dark Ride in 2008
A few days before Kennywood announced that it and its sister parks were going to be acquired by Parques International, the park announced a new attraction for 2008. Ghostwood Estates will be a state-of-the-art dark ride where Gold Rusher ride used to be.

“The eight room haunted house replaces the Gold Rusher, which was retired this past August. “Ghostwood Estate is clearly an indication of Kennywood’s commitment to dark rides,” explains Jerome Gibas, Kennywood General Manager. “It combines the newest technology available – a trackless conveyance system with cars programmed and monitored by a computer and includes over 200 interactive targets and numerous CGIs (Computer Generated Images).”

Guests will be armed with blasters, developed by LaserStar, Florida. The blasters provide guests the opportunity to compete with others in the vehicle by targeting haunted characters throughout the estate. Each vehicle is also equipped with four individual scoreboards.

The $2 million project is expected to be complete for Kennywood’s opening in May of 2008.”

-From Kennywood’s press release

Aside from the trackless nature of the ride, Ghostwood Estates sounds a lot like the Scooby Doo’s Haunted Mansion rides at the former Paramount Parks like Kings Dominion and Carowinds. I can’t remember if they were trackless as well. Hopefully, this new attraction will help draw those Pennsylvanians who are skeptical about the new foreign management.

What do you think about Kennywood’s new dark ride? Leave a comment below.

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