WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — It’s #412Day in Pittsburgh, and while residents proudly celebrate the Iron City, L3DFX is preparing for an alien invasion. Earlier this year, Kennywood announced the mystery of Area 51 would be moving east with the debut of Area 412. 

Just in time for summer, the park is adding Spinvasion, a new thrill ride. A first of its kind in the United States, the Zamperla-designed ride crisscrosses sideways, and even parallel with the ground. While Spinvasion is sure to lead guests to the park’s Area 412, they will also linger at the refurbished Cosmic Chaos and in the intergalactic gift shop.  

A new park area also means new inhabitants and the Bolingbrook, Illinois-based L3DFX team looked to the stars to find the right residents to call Kennywood home. Size, imagination, and an air of whimsy came together to help ensure Area 412 would be terrifically terrestrial. 

Before L3DFX could do anything, the firm had to identify whether there was enough space to land. Area 412’s newest neighbors will arrive by spaceship – specifically one that is OVER 16 feet tall. To be parked permanently at the entrance of the Spinvasion queue, L3DFX created something that is both welcoming and ready for action. 

“This truly is an out-of-this-world project for us,” shared Emily Popovich, Chief of Business Development and Sales for L3DFX. “2023 is Kennywood’s 125th season, and we wanted to celebrate with the park’s team. We are excited to have helped bring the vision of an alien invasion to life while remaining true to the family fun Kennywood is known for.”

The design team recognized the best way to bring it all together was to go big – or send the aliens home! And along with a giant spaceship, they needed a friendly alien ambassador. Enter Gary. As Gary came to life, the team gave him a silly and friendly look to welcome families into Area 412. His spaceship is a mix of both traditional images inspired by images of UFOs from the 1950s, and fresh, unique touches created exclusively by the L3DFX team. The mix of classic nostalgia with modern design makes Kennywood the perfect place for Gary and his spaceship to touchdown. 

“Working on this project with Kennywood sparked everyone’s imagination,” added Paul Ciesiun, president and creator of L3DFX. “Any time we can take a theme, and stretch and mold it to create an immersive experience that’s beyond what our client envisioned, we get extremely excited. For this particular opportunity with the Kennywood team, we used their baseline ideas – cotton-candy-loving aliens, a battle with invading bots – and extended it so much further, bringing personality to the storyline. You could say the results are over the moon and beyond.”

And while today may be #412Day, the Spinvasion attraction and new section of the park won’t open at Kennywood on Memorial Day weekend. That’s when Gary can officially phone…call…Kennywood, home.

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