Monster Plantation

Background

Monster Plantation (now Monster Mansion) is a popular family dark ride at Six Flags Over Georgia located in Austell, Georgia. Aboard 6-passenger boats, riders pass through nine scenes along the 700' foot-long flume, passing by over 107 original audio animatronic characters. Outside of Disney parks, it is the world's largest animatronic-based family dark ride. The new "Monster Mansion" incarnation also features more 4D effects than any other ride in the world.

Monster Plantation - 1981-2008

Monster Plantation made its debut in 1981, using the same ride system but replacing all characters and scenery from the antiquated "Tales of the Okefenokee" dark ride that had been operating since the park opened in 1967. To create the ride, Six Flags engaged Gary Goddard and Al Bertino, both who had recently left Walt Disney Imagineering.

The exterior of the ride looks like a typical antebellum Southern Plantation. Boats proceed through a water-filled concrete trough and through the interior, which is filled with humorous animatronic monsters having a picnic. Near the end of the ride, the boats are purposely diverted into "the Marsh", a dark swamp filled with a variety of scary monsters before the boats are delivered back to the outdoor boarding station.

On September 27, 2008, Six Flags had on their sign that it is "your last time to ride Monster Plantation," as it would be remodeled and called Monster Mansion in 2009.

Monster Mansion - 2009-Current

In April 2008, impressed with the newly opened Glow in the Park Parade at Six Flags Mexico, Six Flags management approached designer Gary Goddard about the possibility of renewing the popular-but-rundown Monster Plantation dark ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, which Goddard had originally created over 25 years earlier. Over the Fall and Winter of 2008, the Monster Plantation was completely overhauled by Goddard's company, the Goddard Group.

Many of the original creators participated in the renewal, including Phil Mendez who originally designed all 107 characters, and Dick Hamilton, who had written the popular theme song. Taylor Jeffs served at the renewal's Creative Director, leading a team that included Bob Baranick (Art Director), Edward Marks (Lighting Design), Ted King (New Music & Arrangements, Adirondack Scenic (New Scenery) FX Masters (Animatronics & Effects), Entertainment Design Group (Technical Installation & Programming), Maria Goodman (Graphics) and Phil Phillipson (Murals). Barry Kemper and Kirk Powell served as the attraction's Producers and Project Managers.

Monster Mansion follows the same basic plot and premise as the original Monster Plantation, but infuses the attraction with modern technologies, effects, and storytelling techniques. During the renewal, every single one of the 99 original characters were re-built from the inside out, including new mechanics, fur, and renewed costumes based on the originals. Eight new characters were added, and all original murals were discarded and new murals, designed by Disney Animation production designer Phil Phillipson, were installed. Every light and speaker in the building was also replaced.

Renamed "Monster Mansion", the new attraction made its debut to the press on May 14, 2009 and to the public on May 16, 2009.

Tributes & Trivia

In Monster Mansion's opening scene, there is a hidden tribute to "Tales of the Okefenokee" on the right side of the room. A framed portrait depicts several of the previous attraction's characters.

The ride track for Monster Mansion is exactly 700' feet in length, with 613' feet of that being enclosed within the show building.

Monster Mansion's main show building is 25,000' square feet in size.

Over 230 yards of fur was used over the course of the Monster Mansion renewal.

Composer Dick Hamilton's daughters provided the vocals for the original Monster Plantation theme song.

Project Manager Barry Kemper provided voices for several of the new characters.

Creative Director Taylor Jeffs has said that the works of Dorothy Draper were the inspiration for the motif of the attraction's opening scene.

In early 2009, a contest was held to name the new photographer character in the opening scene. The name "Papa Razzi" was selected the winner in an online poll.

Papa Razzi's bird sidekick character, added during the 2009 renewal, is named Nestor.

The attraction's mascot character Busby is named in honor of then Georgia Governor George Busby.

In December 2008, an original animatronic named "Scout" was auctioned off as a benefit for Atlanta-based Children's Healthcare.

In the queue, signs instruct riders that they'll be asked to make their best "monster faces" in the attraction's opening scene. Many of the attraction's designers and their families are depicted here making the sample monster faces.

4D Effects

The Monster Mansion boasts more "4D" interactive special effects than any other ride in the world. These include;

1. On-ride Interactive Photo

2. Bubbles

3. Leap Frog Fountains

4. Heat

5. Smell (Apple Pie)

6. Water Spritz (Hose gag)

7. Fog Screen

8. Wind

9. Strings

10. Fog

11. Smoke Ring Cannon

12. Sing-a-Long

13. Compressed Air Blast (Monster Sneeze)

14.Lighted water accents

With 13, Monster Mansion beats out the previous record holder, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride, which has eight 4D effects.

Tales of the Okefenokee - 1967-1980

From the park's opening in 1967 until 1980, the same building housed The Tales of the Okefenokee, a boat ride inspired by the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris, more commonly known as Song of the South. Tales of the Okefenokee told the same story as Disney's Splash Mountain, but pre-dated its Disney counterpart by over 20 years.

References in Pop culture

• Homestar Runner- in the Halloween Fairstival special - The sign in the locka-room reads "don't go in the marsh!!!"

• One of the primary monster characters (the one on the ride sign) is a little yellow monster with a propeller hat. His name is "Busbee" and he is named for George Busbee, Georgia's governor at the time the ride opened.

• The owner of the plantation is Missy Scarlett, a reference to Miss Scarlett in "Gone With The Wind."^{[original research?]}

External links

• haunted report-review of The Monster Plantation
• unofficial Six Flags Over Georgia Site-with a picture gallery
• [1]- official Six Flags Over Georgia site Monster Mansion page