While staying for the weekend at Sawmill Creek Resort, my family had the opportunity to check out Ghostly Manor Thrill Center in Sandusky, Ohio. This gem is filled so many activities that my family was able to spend the whole afternoon and as we left my boys begged to come back!
Ghostly Manor Thrill Center has a full sized skating rink, 3-D mini golf, XD Theater, arcade games, year round haunted house, and bounce houses. With so many activities all under one roof, it’s the place to be for families with a wide age group of kids. Ghostly Manor allows you to pay individually for each activity or offers money saving package deals.
As soon as we walked in, the kids ran straight to the 4D XD Theater. This ride allows you to pick from five action-packed movie experiences from an under the sea adventure to a trip down a snowy, pine-covered mountainside. Before the movie starts you are given 3D glasses and are belted into an oversized seat but since this ride can get bumpy, children need to be over 40″ tall.
We split up the group and choose two different movies to watch. While the first group went in, we stayed right outside of the enclosed curtain and hear a lot of giggling and laughing. In fact, my mom, who never rides roller coasters said their ride, Canyon Coaster, was downright thrilling. This attraction is a must-see on your next trip to Ghostly Manor.
Next up we headed over to Wizard’s Journey which is a 3D blacklight mini-golf adventure. It starts unlike most golf games as this one has a video at the beginning where you learn about your quest and are given 3D glasses to wear (some of the kids chose not to wear them but still had a blast). I think the attention to detail in this attraction was simply amazing and the sound effects made it extra fun.
Even with all the fun we had already had, we were just getting started! Ghostly Manor just recently added a huge addition to their building and created a place where kids can jump, slide and bounce. With five inflatables to choose from (some have height restrictions) kids can play the day away. This area also boasts a HUGE 3 level play area with bridges, tunnels, and slides, oh my! I’ve never seen such a structure before.
While supervision is required in this area I appreciated that there were staff members to help keep an eye on the kids also. Staff members while young, seemed to really love their job and interacted very well with the kids. Later in the day, I was so happy to see them wiping down not only the play structure but also the bounce houses with a mild cleaning detergent. When asked, they said that they did this each day.
Are you ready for this? Even after all of that, we still weren’t done at Ghostly Manor because we still had to check out their full sized skating rink! What is absolutely unique here is that not only can you skate but you can also use 2 or 3 wheeled scooters which were perfect for my two youngest boys. In fact, for a small fee, they even rent a roller bar which makes skating a breeze.
For those of you who dare, you may also want to check out their year round haunted house full of haunts and spooks. In fact, this haunted house is one of the most highly rated ones in the United States and has been featured on several TV shows, including The Travel Channel. Since we had five children under 8 with us we chose to save this attraction for a few years from now.
In the end I was blown away by the amount of activities that Ghostly Manor Thrill Center offered. As a mom of three boys who like to venture out on their own, I really loved that we didn’t all have to be doing the same thing. So will we be back? ABSOLUTELY!
