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I wouldn't be surprised if 2027 ends up being an off-year for the park, or some very minor addition(s)/refurbishments. Kings Island has added new family attractions for the past four seasons in a row, plus Six Flags already has several 2027 projects in the works for other parks in the chain. I highly doubt we're going to see anything like a Vortex replacement or other significant coaster built for 2027. Although, I do have some ideas of what the park could add (if they decide to add anything at all) Begin a retheme of Action Zone: I imagine this would likely be a multi-year expansion project similar to Jungle Xpedition at Kings Dominion. The first phase would be rather minor, focusing on ride and restaurant rethemes. It's also possible we could see some sort of flat ride being added. Rivertown: To be specific, the pathway between the Eiffel Tower and Rivertown where the Shooting Star cafe is. I could see this being a good area to do another flat ride package similar to Adventure Port. Front gate: Refurbish the front gate plaza and the facade of the front gate to be more modern and welcoming to park guests. Soak City: Although Soak City has recently recieved new additions in 2025, they still have land to do some more expansion if they really wanted to.

On a Six Flags budget? No way!

If I had to rate Phantom Theatre: Opening Nighmare, it gets a 10/10. For context, I never got to expereince the original Phantom Theatre. I did get to experience Scooby Doo and The Haunted Castle as well as Boo Blaster on Boo Hill. I will always have a fond opinion of Scooby Doo and The Haunted Castle because that was what I grew up with. And I did enjoy Boo Blasters on Boo Hill when all of the effects and targets and blasters still worked. After about 2015, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill really started to fall off. When it was announced that Boo Blasters on Boo Hill was closing and that Phantom Theatre: Opening Nightmare was replacing it, I was very excited. As Opening Day for this year got closer and closer and more looks at the rides developement were released, I wasn't only excited, I was also beginning to raise the bar in my mind for this ride. Before I got into line, I made something clear to myself so I could give it a proper and balanced judgement and I think everyone should look at it from this angle: This is a reimagination NOT a recreation. I have so far managed to grab 2 rides. One on Preview day and another on Opening day. I have to say that not only was I impressed, but my expectations were exceeded! Phantom Theatre: Opening Nightmare does so much right. It is a fantastic dark ride that has a fun story, detailed and well done scenes, and has a great interactive side that anyone can enjoy. You can really tell that a lot of effort was put into this ride. There are miniscuel issues but they are easily fixable and are extremely outweighted by the postitives of Phantom Theatre: Opening Nightmare. So Phantom Theatre: Opening Nightmare gets a 10/10 from me! Lastly, I would like to say that this is something KI has needed for YEARS. A refresh of the dark ride. I know a lot of us park fans and roller coaster enthusiats want to see new big coasters and rides come to KI. Believe me, I am in that same boat. But at the same time, the smaller additions KI has gotten over the last several years havent been that bad. I personally believe the strategy was to spruce up dead/ugly areas of KI and bring them to the same level as the rest of the park. The area where Adventure Port is now was boring and uninteresting before the additions of Cargo Loco and Sol Spin. That refresh brought new life to that area and it looks as good as the rest of the park. The addition of Camp Snoopy also did the same thing. That area beforehand was ugly and devoid of anything interesting and now its one of the more popular areas of KI. With Phantom Theatre: Opening Nightmare, not only did we get a much needed refresh of the dark ride, we got a top tier dark ride that is a smash hit. For me personally, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill ran its course around 2020. This refresh was long overdue and I am absouletly happy we got this. I have zero doubts that KI will recieve a new major coaster and/or thrill ride in the next few years. But these smaller additions have done more to boost and round out the lineup of KI more than I think people give them credit for.

RMC Son of Beast! 🙃

A lot of people have been saying the structure is in bad condition due to being left abandoned for so long. If this is true, I'm curious as to why it hasn't been demolished yet.

The bust that was used was an original and was only removed when they demolished Boo Blasters. I believe all four were repainted since I’ve seen videos of them in their updated state, but strangely I think only one is being reused for the ride. Maybe they tested to see which one was in the best state, and this was the one they chose.

Seems like a good spot for a bar.

I doubt the bust is real. They moved them to the KIT for the show and they were kind of in bad shape then. It does look pretty dead-on so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s from the same mold.

I think in the original, the pepper's ghost effect could've been interpreted as the performers 'disappearing' instead of materializing, since Larry calls it "the final performance" and we don't see most of them to the end of the ride... but that also doesn't make sense since they technically weren't ghosts in the original according to the creators. I think in theory the effect could've been cool in this version. Since the scenes are more synced to each opera box, Car A could've seen them appear, and Car B could have them disappear. But also adding the large glass panels would’ve definitely taken away from the budget, and realistically they’d probably use screens for the characters instead of the animatronics we did get.

If there’s clearing and work being done on it anything like that is good news it’s just weird and useless for it too still be there if there’s no real good use for it so tear it down or use it. it would be cool for a future theming fly through for a new coaster. Don’t use the station as the actual station. location of the station for a new ride somewhere else and have the coaster fly through this old SOB station and have theming elements in there possibly tying back too SOB.

I saw that as well. The most it looks like has been done is that the items from the Haunt lantern activation point have been taken out. I think there's still some track in there so that might be good for an "authentic SoB track piece" and/or other parts sale. They could use some of that money to pay off debts and such. If we see more items removed then I would like to know what plans they have for the structure. Assuming it's still usable I'd appreciate a new Haunt maze in there and/or to see it used for a coaster pass through like with the Yeti on Expedition Everest.

I think the park would need to completely demolish Coaster Connections and rebuild if they wanted to put a restaurant there. The building as it currently stands is smaller than Chicken Shack's kitchen and indoor line. Ideally I would like to see CC demolished and some of the paths extended that way to reorient the area (green outline, dashed line shows Bat's entrance). A flat ride/restaurant/store can still go on the Skyflyer plot, but the goal is to make it feel less like giant swaths of path and more like a cohesive area. The red shapes would get almost completely redeveloped — while keeping every mature tree they feasibly can — aside from Drop Tower which would stay and be repainted. Timberwolf and other parts in red would be used for a new major coaster.

Courtesy of ungrounded uncensored Facebook group. They talked about the station is actively being completely cleared out. Now I can’t Remember the last picture I have seen of the station but these pictures it looks a little more cleared out and empty from the last time Ive seen it but it could very well have looked like this for awhile just not sure. I’m not reading anything into this as I don’t think there is much too this.

Or they could turn the old Banshee gift shop back into a gift shop and then turn Coaster Connection into a restaurant.

I think 2027 would be a great year for the park to do a small retheme of Action Zone, even if it doesn't come with any new rides. It would be similar to 2018 where the big new addition was Coney Bar-B-Que and upgraded dining options, but with more focus on the entire area. Start repainting projects for Banshee and The Bat (possibly even making the light gray supports a darker gray to closer resemble the original) and introduce some small theming elements around the land. I wouldn't be upset to see a new store and restaurant replacing Coaster Connection either. Does anyone remember why the Banshee store got replaced by an arcade? I think that would be a good place for some small in-queue lockers while the ride photo counter gets moved to a new shop next door. As always I'm going to advocate for Action Zone to become the new Oktoberfest (while Banshee and The Bat stay the same) complete with touches of the original version of the area. If it really truly needs a new ride then I'd replace Congo Falls with a MACK Water Battle that reuses the basin and station. If we see a new coaster by 2030 I think it'll be in 2028. Let the small and cheaper Action Zone retheme come in 2027, open The Vortex successor in 2028, and replace the TR:TR building with a Rivertown expansion in 2029 as part of a 50th anniversary celebration for The Beast. I've been seeing some people speculate that Canada's Wonderland is going to get a new thrill coaster in 2028, but I don't think they need it yet. Maybe 2029 for them, but not 2028.

Honestly I wish the candles were still on the way out near the exit, I wish they would have kept that there.

Kings Island opened for the 2026 season last weekend and Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare gave its first rides and brought long lines all weekend with lines reaching up to 3 hours at one point. While the focus is clearly on that along with the other exciting improvements and events happening this season, it is never too early to start speculating for the future. This thread will be used to address any rumors or speculation about what may come to the park for the 2027 season. This will also be the place to share any potential hints or signs of work on a 2027 attraction if anything is coming. One thing we do know is 2027 will be the 55th anniversary of the park. I'm going to start by saying I think a new major rollercoaster is all but off the table for a few reasons. 1) There hasn't been any signs of work on any potential/rumored new coaster site whether it be The Vortex site, remainder of old SOB site (outside of the dirt pile in the junkyard which constantly fuels speculation this time every year but never becomes anything), or the front gate area. Unless they pull a Siren's Curse or Legacy Six Flags and start land prep/construction later in the season, I think we can rule out anything major. Under legacy CF, whenever KI added a major new coaster, land prep/clearing and/or teasing started or was underway on opening weekend. 2) Six Flags already has 3 major coaster projects under construction and/or being teased: *Project Purple at GAdv *Magic Mountain's rumored thrill glider *Whatever Fiesta Texas is building in CrackAxle Canyon Also don't forget Carowinds is building a major record breaking water attraction for next year that is well under way that will likely be an expensive addition 3) Six Flags is in major debt so I doubt there is room in the 2027 budjet for a 15-30 million dollar rollercoaster at Kings Island Since a coaster is likely out of question, that leads us to a couple of other options. With the positive sentiment/debut of Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare, does the park decide to add another indoor attraction the following year? You have 2 buildings that can be used. Before Phantom Theater was announced, it was rumored the attraction for this year was going in the old Tomb Raider/The Crypt building. So do we see another heavily themed immersive ride go in there after all these years? The introduction of The Conjuring: Beyond Fear last Haunt likely throws doubts into that, but anything is possible. Then there is the old Days of Thunder/Spongebob 4D building that is currently used for Hotel St Michelle for Haunt which this Haunt would be its 5th season. Could we see the park decide to add an attraction of some type in there? We'll see. Then that brings us to the flat ride department. You have 2 options you can go down. Do you go with a thrilling flat ride? The last thrilling flat ride added was Sol Spin in 2023 and before that WindSeeker in 2011 and before that Delirium in 2003. So the park doesn't add thrilling flat rides often. With the departure of Xtreme Skyflyer last year, that space is empty outside of being used as queue space for a Haunt. I personally think an S&S scream n swing would be a perfect fit there and you could have it tie in with the spooky theme of Banshee and Bat next door. I always thought "Phantom Flyer" would be a good name for it and would tie well with the park with Phantom Theater and would pay homage to the original name of Linus Launcher in Camp Snoopy as its original name was Danny Phantom's Flyers. There are other options as Zamperla has a major catelog of thrill rides to choose from. Then you have family flat rides which the park has leaned heavily into in recent years. The question is what would you do with it? Do you do another Camp/Planet Snoopy expansion? Do you add one or 2 in like Coney Mall or Action Zone or Rivertown? Or do you do a package with a thrilling flat ride which I think would be the most likely option. Then finally we get to Soak City. The last expansion was last year and before that was 2016. With the mixed response to River Racers, do you even want to attempt another water coaster? WhiteWater West also has other slide options they could do. There's also the option of adding one of their even bigger play structures like what KD got back in 2021. There's also the very possible possibility the park just takes a year and focus on park improvements. After all, the company is in major debt so maybe they decide that KI has recieve enough new rides since 2023 that they give them the year to just focus on sprucing up the park and making it better. Banshee is due for a repaint and Bat too so if they decide to take an off year, that would be the year to do it as repainting rides does cost a pretty penny. I would love to hear your thoughts on what the park could see in 2027 and why. Let's enjoy the 2026 season, but also have a little fun speculating! Speculate away!

Maybe sometime in the next 10 years we can get more pieces of the park's "soul" restored! A boat ride, a Vortex successor, an Action Zone replacement, and a return to character for Rivertown would be nice to have. As for the Pepper's Ghost effects, I agree that it could have just been fun to have again even if it didn't make sense within the "story".

Looks like alot of activity around Zeypher today. may be ready by this weekend.

Nice piece. Feel very similar in the sense that it feels like a missing part of the park’s “soul” has been restored. Been feeling that since 2003, but caught a glimpse of it in 2022/2023 with PT Encore. Makes me want to get back on the ride ASAP!

My review: https://themeparksbydon.com/kings-island-phantom-theater-opening-nightmare-review/

It should be the first thing you see before they become "real" but as you said, I think the goal was just to have the effect - not actually tell a logical story sequence as they do at the disney versions. In this version- it could actually be having a scene not using the current characters, but maybe the "ghosts of theatre greats past" who could share the stage with the current cast, but I think you'd have to show them throughout the ride as photos, posters etc to establish thesre are "dearly departed theatre greats" so when they reappear as pepper'sn ghosts it makes sense. I think thats way more thought than they were giving this refresh

Never thought about how it technically could not make sense to have physical ghouls... and then seeing ghosts afterward.. esp garbonzo I think specifically is shown as a robot and then in the peppers ghost room. Absolutely true. But, it's a unique spectacle that adds variety, and for a kid, could be the coolest thing for awhile. And thats what it was for me. So, I wouldve liked it to return (the effect) or to be met/ exceeded in visual "cool" factor.. and for me, it didn't match it. Some agree, some dont. Apologies if my post specifically was too whiny in that aspect. I wonder how, if we did get a peppers ghost effect, how it could be done that maintains narrative sense.. but I dont know if I'd care too much.

When you look from overhead, you see how illogical the paver design was. Why they used the dark gray/black the way they did baffles me. Those should have been the "road" with the lighter used on BOTH sides for the "sidewalk" then an even lighter narrow row between the "road" and "Sidewalk" to delineate the "curb" that way the crappy spray painted line for the parade wouldnt need to be there. Then as someone above said - bump out in another 2-4 places. Even three evenly spaced bump outs would've been nice for additional seating and might giver room against the building to do a second row of trees or have brought back the streetlamps. With 3 bump outs, the light towers could have been integrated into pillars at the two corners of each bump out.

In reality I think they reused the turntable and the library scene room because it was easier and cheaper. That's not to say that this version is bad at all, I simply think whatever could have been done to bring the large theater back would have required KI and SDR to stretch their budget further while butting up against the constraints of the game mechanics. The smaller animatronics alone might've posed an issue since they would've required each character body to be re-scaled and the mechanics changed. I'm not entirely sure how far down beneath the scene the ride floor level went, but that might've posed an issue in itself depending on what Paramount and SDR did during the conversion to SDatHC.