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Kennywood Opens New "Ice Age" 4D Theater

WEST MIFFLIN (KDKA) - Kenny Kangaroo, move over. A costumed pair of prehistoric squirrels helped celebrate Kennywood's newest attraction Wednesday.

Marketing Manager Nick Paradise cut the ribbon for the premiere performance at the new Kennywood 4D Theater.

"This is a movie experience taking 3D to the next level," he said. "You have your film, you've got your 3D glasses, we've all been to 3D movies at this point. But this is going to take it above and beyond with different effects within the film that make people feel like they're there along with the characters."

A crowd exchanged mid-summer heat for an animated "Ice Age" feature.

The "fourth dimension" comes, in part, from the seat you happen to choose. When dinosaurs rumble, so do the seats. When flakes fall on the screen, it also snows on the audience.

The storyline: a sabretooth squirrel discovers a time machine - a great excuse for multiple scene changes. The 4D Theater was a six-month, multimillion dollar project.

"It went from being an arcade building to a wonderful new attraction," one visitor said.

"A lot of unexpected things started happening," said another.

Like an unexpected spray of water, for example.

"I just got a little bit of spray," one woman said. "But that's all you need."

The show is just nine minutes long. And yet, as a little girl put it, "It was awesome."

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