One Last Visit With Scooby and the Scary Swamp

September 14, 2014 marked the last day to ride Scooby-Doo Ghost Blasters : The Mystery of the Scary Swamp at Six Flags St. Louis.   After 12 seasons, the park closed the ride to make room for a new, "spectacular" attraction - Justice League : Battle For Metropolis.  Although many Scooby fans were disappointed that one of their favorite dark rides was closing, they were pleased to find out that Sally Corporation, the same ride provider that created their beloved Scooby-Doo ride, will be creating the park's new attraction as well. Given the uniqueness of the ride, and the love that we have for it, members of the SallyCorp team recently traveled to St. Louis for one last ride on Scooby-Doo's Ghost Blasters.  Our CEO, John Wood was first to ride, along with Six Flag's St. Louis Chief Operating Officer, Jim Harig and Park President, Dave Roemer.  Needless to say, they had a BLAST!

Although Sally created a number of Scooby-Doo attractions over the years, this was the only dark ride themed around a scary swamp, the others were all based in a haunted mansion.  Operating 22 brightly colored boats equipped with a fright light for each of its four passengers, this 650-ft. long ride flooded the senses with spectacular special effects.  The sights and sounds of an excitingly eerie excursion still sprung to life around every corner.  With over 115 laser targets, each ride was a unique and different experience, allowing guests to zap villains while dodging falling bookcases, spitting gargoyles and a crocodile with laser-beam eyes.  All the while, each rider’s ghostblaster points were tracked and tallied on individual score consoles aboard each boat. After the unpopular Castaway Kids dark ride closed, the Six Flags St. Louis building sat empty and unused for a number of years.  After some time, Six Flags reached out to Sally and Scooby-Doo Ghostblasters - The Mystery of the Scary Swamp story line was developed.  In 2002 the ride opened and entertained Six Flags St. Louis visitors for over 10 years. Below is a picture of John Wood, Chairman and CEO of Sally Corporation, and Dave Roemer, Park President of Six Flags St. Louis, shaking hands at the opening of the ride in 2002 and then another from this year, 2014, at the ride closing.

Here's a look back at ride photos from Scooby-Doo's Ghostblasters and the Mystery of the Scary Swamp. And we thought it'd be fun to post the original storyboards for the ride.  Enjoy!