I actually really love this, animatronic theater shows are my favorite type of attraction and I’m sad that Kings Island never really had one (I don’t really count any of the action theater shows since they’re mostly movies). Absolutely with a phantom theater stage show, they’d have the bit where Garbonzo is shot out of the canon and shoots out to the back of the theater like Donald in Philarmagic.    Semi related, but I always wondered what Phantom Theater would be like if they chose to build it in with Enchanted Voyage boat ride system (Flooded Theater?)    

Thank you so much for sharing!! I’ve probably spent hours looking for this over the weekend so I really appreciate seeing this. Here’s what a noticed from it. First looks at Hilda and Houdelini. They both hook great digitally, and with all the others I’m sure they’ll look even better in person (Garbonzo looks sooooo good sculpted out). I’m assuming the character at the bottom is Sir Pretzel, they don’t look like they’d be Lionel to me.  Based on how this figure is being constructed compared to the others (with pupils) I think this might be the static figure? Unless they count something like the culture of gargoyle which were also shown. Also the gum chewing comment on the poster is really weird to me, I wonder if that’s a reference to something in the new attraction. The no flash photography rule does make me feel better about this ride allowing photos on it, which I figured since Boo Blasters allowed phones out, but I’d be ****ed if I couldn’t take thousands of photos in this one.

Amongst the many Phantom Theater threads on this forum, this one aims to take a different approach. I’ve been thinking about this alternate version of Phantom Theater and wanted to share the idea in case anyone else has imagined something similar. Basically, picture a scenario where Kings Island didn’t originally build Phantom Theater as an omnimover dark ride in the Haunted Mansion style. Instead, imagine they took the exact same characters, atmosphere, portraits, parlor rooms, and ghostly humor, but turned the whole thing into a fully animatronic stage show. Guests would still have to enter through the lobby and listen to Maestro taunt them, but instead of loading into ride vehicles, they’d take their seats in a large Victorian theater filled with red velvet curtains, flickering candles, gilded arches, and multiple small stages. Maestro, Hilda, Houdelini, Garbonzo, Lionel and the rest of the Phantom Theater cast would appear as animatronic performers, each popping out on their own miniature stage to sing, argue, perform magic tricks, or attempt dangerous stunts. The whole thing would feel like a mashup of the original Phantom Theater aesthetic with the structure of Country Bear Jamboree or even the old Chuck E. Cheese animatronic shows. In a way, it would basically be what Phantom Theater Encore became, but built entirely around animatronics instead of live actors. Same characters, same humor, same style, just reimagined as a seated ghostly revue instead of a ride-through experience. For added authenticity, scenes like the prop room – the stage hands – the show lights guy, and the boiler room guys would appear as you’re walking through the line going towards the theater area or as you’re leaving.  Thoughts?

I wonder if the gum chewing is a nod to the original ride when guests would spit their gum on the glass in the Peppers Ghost scene, which is something I vaguely remember. Nowadays I would hope there would be consequences for such behavior.

I've been looking for clear footage of those monitors for days and this is by far the clearest I've seen them by far. Thanks Evan!