What to Know
- Griffith Park
- Adjacent attractions, separately ticketed
- Boney Island opens Oct. 11 and the Ghost Train opens Oct. 13, 2018
Sometimes, if you're lucky, and various stars align, and planets are rotating optimally, and clouds are drifting in the right direction, and all things are good, auspicious pairings come together that only bring total delight.
Your two favorite singers, dueting together on stage? One such example. Your favorite meal and drink, going on sale at the same time? That works.
A beloved autumntime train ride at Griffith Park teaming up with an equally beloved Sherman Oaks yard haunt, one that had to shutter in 2017 after years of delighting locals with its sketela-tastic theming?
We mean... such a notion would likely deliver the biggest smile the spooky season.
So wait for it, fans of gentle frights that have plenty of SoCal cred: The long-running Ghost Train, which runs at the LA Live Steamers Railroad, will return in October, bringing the long-running Boney Island along for the proverbial ride.
The announcement was made at Midsummer Scream, the mega Halloween convention, on Saturday, July 28 in Long Beach.
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There'll be a few things to know, principally that the Ghost Train and Boney Island will be adjacent but still distinct attractions, with "... separate entrances, separate tickets, and slightly different but overlapping schedules."
Boney Island opens on Oct. 11, the Ghost Train's first 2018 run is on Oct. 13, and many of their nights will coincide, meaning you can visit both, if that's your ghoulish ghoal.
Er, goal.
Boney Island will run for 15 select nights, while the wicked rails of the sweet, LA Live Steamers train'll clock 10 nights, all in October.
So why did Boney Island close, after developing such a devoted fan base?
The ever-growing "enthusiastic crowds," and the need to safely provide for those crowds, proved too costly for the decades-old delight, which sat on a quiet corner of a suburban neighborhood.
But pairing up with the Ghost Train, a 1/8th scale train, at its roomy Griffith Park location should give this bone-fun bash the space and safety it needs to continue its charming walk-through attraction, one that finds skeletons up to all sorts of impish activities.
Ticket information and further details are still a bit further down the tracks, but make no bones about it: This is the kind of match-up born in the dreams of those who love charm-packed homegrown Halloween events, the sort of events that feel completely LA in spirit, through and through.
We mean, of course, through and boo!
