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Whats your Favorite HBL Dark Ride?


Dino2003
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My favorite is SDATHC. I cant remember the smurfs ride, as I was a wee little man back then. PT wasnt a very fun ride for me as the years went on, everything started to crumble. I think I rode it so many times that I got sick of it. blink.gif

Edited by pki_guy
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Whats your Favorite Dark ride that was or is in HBL?Tell how what you liked about that ride and why you chose it! biggrin.gifbiggrin.gif

First off, I'd like to state that I am a huge fan of Scooby Doo, so much so that my book has a picture of he and I shaking hands. So much so that I own every PlayStation 1 & 2 Scooby Doo video game. So much so that I own Scooby Doo clothes, toys, pictures, and movies. And I think that SDATHC is a great ride, in the same league with Walt Disney World's Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I greatly enjoy SDATHC and welcome it to Hanna-Barbera Land and PKI.

Now with that said, I shall proceed. The most awesome dark ride that I ever experienced at PKI or anywhere outside of a Disney theme park to date was the PHANTOM THEATER! My reasons are:

1. It had an atmosphere similar to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - the most romantic and expensive musical that I ever took Mrs. Chef to. Phantom of the Opera is our favorite musical and Phantom Theater reminded us of it. Phantom Theater was a somewhat romantic ride if you rode it with your significant other.

2. It was VERY similar to Disney's HAUNTED CASTLE.........very similar indeed. It was almost as good, kind of like how Sutter Home's Moscato wine is almost as good as Robert Mondavi's La Familia. Both are sweet, high quality dessert white wines. However, La Familia is 4 times as expensive than and only 50% better than Moscato.....just as the Haunted Castle would be in turn to Phantom Theater.

3. The music sounded much like Beetle Juice, yet some of its scores sounded like Phantom of the Opera.

4. Until PKI announced it's closing........the lines were VERY short. I'd ride three times in a row after lunch.

5. It was very entertaining to watch and absorb.

Okay folks, those are my opinions. I am older, more traveled, more worldly, and more experienced than most folks on this forum. Hence, my guidelines for evaluating a dark ride might differ from most folks here. Nevertheless, there it is.

Italian Chef - The Phantom of the Kitchen

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^^Those are some good points. Even though I haven't been on SDATHC, I have to go with The Smurfs. That ride was just great, I can still remember that queue and the boat house. I would always get alittle dizzy walking on the rotating floor to get on the boat. Then the actual ride itself was relaxing and such a sight. Those was around the time that the family would take a yearly trip up to Kings Island. Where my older brother would rave about The Screamin Deamon and when I rode my 1st roller coaster, The Racer. I remember lifting up in my seat so high that my brother held me down, haha!! Wish I could still get airtime like that on The Racer.

ahh memories, Phantom Theater was a great ride, but it wasn't the smurfs. I have a feeling that although I will like SDATHC, I will think Phantom Theater was better, but who knows..

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AHH another cartoon from my childhood i love them smurfs! the Smurfs Enchanted voyage rocked thats prolly my 1st favorite ride from the past next to King Cobra...PT was great but it wasnt a HBL cartoon i wonder why Kings Island didnt put PT in coney mall? i always wonder that....they could have put in a ride themed to HB in that Building when the smurfs got taken out they could have themed that building to the flintstones,Jetsons,Yogi Bear one those cartoon characters....iam sayin PT would have been a lot Cooler if it was in Coney mall!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have to say The Smurfs. Something about it being a boat ride made it very enjoyable, not to mention that the scenes were fully realized with full sets and a great soundtrack. I've often described the Ride as being like Small World, except with Smurfs... and they sang their La la la la la la song instead of "It's a Small World" The Halloween room was my favorite. I can rememebr passing that waterfall with the buzzards with the glowing eyes above it.

I think Phantom Theatre was good in it's first season. Unfortunately, the park did not keep it well maintained and it seemed like eventually few of the effects were working and it was incredible dirty. When I went last season it seemed like many of the animatronic figures weren't working at all.

I have a vague memory of the Enchanted Voyage (the pre-smurf version), but I could have only been 2 or 3 years old at the time because it was turned into Smurf's Enchanted Voyage when I was young. The only thing I seem to remember fro the pre-smurf Enchanted Voyage is a skeleton playing a guitar. I'm not exactly sure what kind of scenes were included in the ride.

I've still yet to ride Scooby. I know it has the interactive element, but I wondered what other special effects the ride has. ANyone care to share?

Cris Cooper

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Yes the Smurf Enchanted Voyage was Great it was the ride of my childhood.....PT was great its just i didnt like PT as much as i do scooby....PT was braking all over the place the figures never worked half the time...Soo i think My fav dark ride is Scooby and Smurfs!

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I cannot tell a lie, though no longer in existence, Phantom Theater is still my favorite dark ride. How much? Look for one editorial about it and at least one fictional story based on it in my column after Aaron gets it set-up.

The Maestro was like Phantom (of the Opera), Helga was like a cross between Christine (POTO), Maria Callis (a famous soprano YEARS ago) and Anna Nicole Smith (Brother Charles loves full-figured ladies), Houdelini was like Harry Houdini, and there was even a Macbeth look-a-like. Plus a gargoyle, a mummy, and much more!

The whole presentation was much like Disney's HAUNTED MANSION and the music was like Beatlejuice with some scores from Phantom of the Opera. The steam from the furnace was appreciated in winter. The lines were short, so we could ride it 3 times in a row after lunch.

C'est la vie. Yes, SDATHC is great........but my favorite dark ride was and still remains the Phantom Theater even after its demise. Adio mon Phantom Theater. Vive in mi core.

Italian Chef.

sad.gif

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Interesting tidbit.... when I visited Disneyland Paris, I saw where the inspiration for Phantom Theater came from.... the haunted mansion in Disneyland is actually called Phantom Manor. Also, I always thought some of the music from the ride sounded like the theme from "Tales from the Crypt."

Cris

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  • 4 weeks later...

I think the Smurf ride was probably really fun. I vaguely remember riding it. I remember riding in boats and seeing Smurfs. That was probably when I was about 5 though, so I'm not going to count that. Out of Phantom Theater and Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo is a lot more fun. Phantom Theater got boring after a while, but since you shoot on Scooby Doo, it's like a new ride everytime.

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