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Phantom Theater


italianchef
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As much of a Scooby Doo fan as I am and as much as I like SDATHC, I still miss the Phantom Theater very much.

I miss the music, the characters, the special effects, the short lines, the story and the overall theming.

Does anyone else feel this way or is it out of sight, out of mind for everyone else?

Have a great day!

Italian Chef

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I miss everything but the music, I don't have to miss that. Oh yeah!

It did have some great characters: Garbonzo, Willard Warbler, Houdelini, Hilda Bovine, Lionel Burymore, and of course the infamous Maestro, "the true phantom of the theater." The part I miss the most though would have to be the pepper's ghost illusion in the "theater." That always amazed me, as I had no idea how it was done.

Phantom Theater

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WOW! Seeing that link just triggered many old memories!! I remember going to PKI another time that i had forgotten about. I was younger and it rained all day long, we decided to take "the voyage" and stay a little dry. I ended up crying b/c the figures scared the crap out of me!! laugh.gif

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Here's a question for you:

What was your favorite part of PT?

Mine's definitely the Maestro in the queue line. Especially when you're younger, his haunting "So you want to enter the theatre, do you?" He's speak for a minute or so and turn around to look like he was playing the organ. VERY convincing. It's a shame that it had to go. I almost wish they'd put it up again somewhere else in the park. I mean seriously... the only other dark ride of its type that came even close to being that great is Noah's Ark at Kennywood.

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Here's a question for you:

What was your favorite part of PT?

Mine's definitely the Maestro in the queue line. Especially when you're younger, his haunting "So you want to enter the theatre, do you?" He's speak for a minute or so and turn around to look like he was playing the organ. VERY convincing. It's a shame that it had to go. I almost wish they'd put it up again somewhere else in the park. I mean seriously... the only other dark ride of its type that came even close to being that great is Noah's Ark at Kennywood.

The blast furnace. darn I miss that ride. I didnt do Scooby even ONCE in 2004 season.

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Once again, my favourite part is the "phantom theater," with the pepper's ghost illusion. I loved how they made Garbonzo shoot out of a cannon and into the balcony.

Yes, the Pepper's Ghost part was BRILLIANT. If I hadn't read about it, I never would have figured out how they did it.

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Yea I like PT too but you have to admit that the Scooby Doo ride is much more popular with the all the guests.

That's true, but there are two different factors for that. The first of which being that Scooby still has some novelty left in it, and the fact that the general public wouldn't know a brilliant ride if they were forced into a seat, the lab bar closed on them, and the ride went into motion.

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Phantom Theater was definantly a unique ride, with theming and animatronics that approached Disney. Scooby Doo simply has cutouts. I really enjoy Scooby Doo and the competition if offers is great. Also, the interaction with the guests is its biggest benefit to a ride. I liked the animatronic figures, and the fact that there was no other ride like it in the country (contrary to the Scooby ride). It was a classic ride. I am glad that they brought out some of the animatronics for FearFest this past year at Dracula`s Haunted Castle.

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Here's a question for you:

What was your favorite part of PT?

Mine's definitely the Maestro in the queue line. Especially when you're younger, his haunting "So you want to enter the theatre, do you?" He's speak for a minute or so and turn around to look like he was playing the organ. VERY convincing. It's a shame that it had to go. I almost wish they'd put it up again somewhere else in the park. I mean seriously... the only other dark ride of its type that came even close to being that great is Noah's Ark at Kennywood.

LOL! When I was younger I always ran through that room to the hallway with the pictures because I was always afraid he would turn around.

Yeah I miss that ride a lot. My favorite part was when you went passed the furnace and could feel the heat from it.

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Here's a question for you:

What was your favorite part of PT?

Mine's definitely the Maestro in the queue line. Especially when you're younger, his haunting "So you want to enter the theatre, do you?" He's speak for a minute or so and turn around to look like he was playing the organ. VERY convincing. It's a shame that it had to go. I almost wish they'd put it up again somewhere else in the park. I mean seriously... the only other dark ride of its type that came even close to being that great is Noah's Ark at Kennywood.

I liked all of it, but I did not like Helga!

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Phantom Theater was a great ride. I loved the que line, I thought it was very creative having him talk to you, and it was very convincing. I don't think it has anything on Disney's The Haunted Mansion, because frankly, that ride is amazing. And Bodda, I may never understand your fascination with the Noah's Ark ride, haha. Guess I'll have to ride that one day. But yeah, I always loved Phantom Theater because it gave me a taste of Disney at my favorite park. When it was still around in 2002, and I could ride it and Tomb Raider, it really signified to me how unique PKI truly is. While Scooby makes more sense in Hanna-Barbera Land, as well as draws in a good crowd and is more neat to look at exterior wise than the old theater, I will always miss Phantom Theater. But hey, with it gone, that opens up the possibility of one day PKI building another haunted house like it but in a more appropriate area of the park, and maybe actually make it scary.

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As far as I'm concerned, Phantom Theater was much more like Disney than SCATHC. I like both, but Phantom Theater had class. The jeering Maestro was a great introduction. The music was cool. I really wish they would revive it in Coney Mall as a newer and scarier ride.

Have a great off season!

Italian Chef

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Yeah, just imaging what they could do with the old animatronics and some new ones with today`s technology. It will never happen, and if it did then you would get people complaining about where the park`s B&M coaster is and why the park is wasting money on a dumb attraction like this. Personally, I think it would be a great idea, but I don`t think they will ever do it.

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While I perfer SDATHC over PT I always liked the very begining of PT seeing the pictures with ''ghosts'' behind em rocked and hearing Maestro saying you'll never escape from the theater and then you'll be baaaack. I loved that smile.gif

I really wish PKI would build another dark ride like that or just bring back PT.

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I agree, I'd be a BIG FAN of a return of Phantom Theatre in some way. I'm not talking just using them for an event like Fearfest, but rather having the old characters and maybe even some new ones in an all new attraction. Perhaps even utilized in some sort of slow moving coaster or something. Regardless, it would have to be geared towards teens-adults.

Dark rides are really a lost art in my opinion. I mean, what makes up an amusement park? Classically speaking, it's a carousel, coaster (mainly wooden) and some sort of haunted attraction. All of this is gone in today's world. I mean, what's a carousel if it's made by Chance? It's just another lame flat ride, not a work of art. What's a wooden coaster that's not made by PTC? It can be good, but it's hard to imagine a whole lot of wooden coasters that you would deem as "timeless" or "classic" that have no PTC involvement. On that same token, what's a dark ride that has pop up cartoons as opposed to realistic animatronics? I mean, Scooby is a great concept, but couldn't the concept of the interactive dark ride have been utilized on something better?

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