Six Flags over Georgia has confirmed to be working on a refurbishment of Monster Mansion, the oldest dark ride of the park. A post on social media revealed some of the changes, that include improved theming and updated animatronics.
Monster Mansion, then named Monster Plantation, opened in 1981 as a retheme of Tales of the Okefenokee. Riders of the 5-minute boat ride are invited to the Monsters’ picnic. There they will meet many friendly monsters before the boats dwell down a river that leads to some rather more terrifying monsters.
The retheme of Tales of the Okefenokee was led by former Disney employee Dave Gengenbach and executed by Gary Goddard Entertainment (later called Goddard Group). The building was completely stripped for the new attraction, leaving only the boat ride system by Arrow Dynamics in place. Once the retheme had been completed, Monster Plantation was born. According to a fact-sheet by Six Flags, it was the first dark ride outside of Disney to feature more than 100 animatronics.
Goddard was asked back in 2008 to refurbish the ride. They managed to get many of the designers from 1981 back on board to design new characters, interactive elements and assist with an overall makeover. The attraction reopened on 16 May 2009 under the name Monster Mansion.
A post on Twitter by the park revealed some of the changes of this latest refurbishment: “Be on the lookout for an updated opening scene, new monster costumes, restored animatronics and interactive features, enhanced lighting and audio and more enhancements throughout the season.” This indicates a similar refurbishment as was seen in 2009: updating scenes and technical installations, but leaving the storyline in tact.
