I was told it's the same number of boxes just spaced differently and done so the scenes don't step on one another (or you have to many guests trying for the same notes) Completely agree on the audio.  Larry needed to be louder (and Archie could have be quieter )  

I rode it yesterday and I was thoroughly surprised at how immersive the queue was as well as the ride itself. I do feel like the ghost note element was not distracting and you can honestly somewhat ignore them and just take in the ride itself if you wanted. A few critiques and some that I hope they fix as a season progresses: My two cents in the new ride vs the old ride: I would honestly give it a B+. There are a lot of technical things I still think they need to work out, but overall the ride isn’t bad – I think there are a few things that I mentioned in the spoilers that kept it from being an A+ ride. I went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be a carbon copy of the original, and I have to give credit to the park and Sally for reintegrating the original  IP into a layout/concept that had been altered well over 20 years ago. 

I don't know if the popcorn scent wasn't working yesterday when I was there, but I did not smell any sort of popcorn scent in that section of the queue.  I agree with your point about the animatronics and the risk of unruly kids potentially destroying them. When I first saw photos of Larry in there while the ride was under construction, my first thought was I was afraid that unruly kids may throw objects at him and/or go behind the barrier and try and touch him. I really hope they enforce zero tolerance of any sort of interfering with the animatronics in the queue and I really hope in 5-10 years they're still on top of the animatronics and it doesn't become one of those rides where some stuff is working and some isn't like Boo Blasters was. 

Rode it Friday twice and then on Saturday with 2 of my grandkids.  This ride is absolutely fantastic for what is is meant to be.  In my opinion this is NOT for the original Phantom Theatre fans.  It is "inspired" by the original ride NOT meant to be a reproduction of it.  Keep in mind FAMILY RIDE.  The original was much darker and scared small children.  This one still does a little (especially the lightning/thunder effects in the queue).   The biggest surprise and what made me smile was where the "peppers ghost" effect used to be.  ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT in my opinion.  I'm sure I'm in a minority but I think the peppers ghost effect in today's day and age may be more trouble than it would be worth.  Face it people today are a little more "brave" to deface things (spitting on mirrors, gum, etc.) I'm sure that would require daily cleaning.  I truely fear for Larry in the queue.  They have signs about cameras but by then it may be to late.  Plexi glass around the section would help (but spitting may still be there).  Doing this would have to have left the exit doors still accessible and would may have affected the popcorn scent (loveley touch).  Another observation was the neither the Maestro nor Larry do the narration for the information videos on how to use the flashlights.  This may be a signal that in case Maestro or Larry stop working the instructions would still be viable. I used Fast Lane my first ride (20 min) the second i waited in line (almost 3 hours).  The line seemed to go in spurts.  I can understand this because with the new cars, new tech and I'm assuming some work on the track system since it was exposed I think it will take some time to fine tune it.  After all with 28 or so boxes and 400-500 in each box that's alot of weight compared to cycling with half of the boxes empty.   Saturday when i took the grandkids it was about 2 hours and even though we were there around 3-4 we did get the keychains they were given out.    Finally, I noticed a LARGE amount of people entering through the exit.  The line was all the way outdoors every time I passes the ride all day.  I'm sure the long waits were becuase of stopping for loading special needs which is fine but it does bring up how many people were taking advantage of the situation to avoid the line.  Honestly I've never seen that before with Boo or Scooby.  It will be interesting to see how long that line is next weekend or in the middle of the season.  I understand the need for those who need it but I have heard that KI is rather lax on the reasons they accept for these exceptions. All in all a FANTASTIC addition which I will be riding over and over.  Great job to Sally and the KI team (and Rick)!!

The boxes are two at a time (two boxes, two blanks) this creates much more space between sets of boxes.  My first ride the first box had no one in it and I was alone in the 2nd box.  I had 999,999 by the 1/2 way point of the ride (Hilda).  The second time I rode it i was in the first box with a fellow rider and not sure how many but there were people in the 2nd box. My score was around 390,000.  So the more people competing to hit notes the lower the score (from what I could gather 1 person has to hit the note for points, if more than 1 hit it at the same time the note survives.  ie. no ties). Hope that helps.