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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.

After my most recent visit to Kings Dominion I was thinking about how nice it would be to have some more variation in the outer wall so it isn't just rectangles inside of rectangles. One more set of "balconies" (where the seating extends into the grass) would be nice, especially where the paths to Oktoberfest and Planet Snoopy meet International Street. That could open up space for some sections of the black pavers to be replaced with short or ground-level planters. That's part of what gave the old I-Street some of it's shape and I think it would help. The current setup is nice for having the tables spaced out like they are, but I think adding two more balconies and making some planters would help bring back some charm. Adding some lights along the edges of the fountain might be nice, but I'm curious what they would be lighting up?

The same mentality of they will show up regardless applies to the purchase of goodies as well apparently....

I've been thinking about what the park could do to add to the light/fireworks show at night. Adding more lights along the Royal Fountain is one way to make it an even greater experience, here in yellow is where they could add more lights.

We shared a lot of the sentiments listed above.

I love your idea for the theatre stage. Its too close and the figures too large. If feels more like a store display window with a bunch of anaimated fugures in it. Even if they HAD to use the turntable (did they really?) It could have been incorporated into the whole stage set - like having "extras" or chorus girls running onto the stage to make it in time. I even like the idea of seeing some human (and ghost) audience members infront of the stage - like we are tru "opera boxes" a bit further back. Thats one of my only nitpicks and mainly a counter to those wanting reflected images back

Unfortunately, the drop in temperature on Saturday seemed to lead to a LOT of people walking around with the ugly AI hoodies.

Good. Thats a excellent reflection of the growing and rightful rejection of AI slop. And it will only keep going because the reasons why it all sucks are so vast that just about any person can resonate with at least one of them.