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Maybe it's just because I'm a college student and don't have a ton of money but that seems like an expensive night.

I question if you really mean a lot of the things you post.

As much as I love Kings Island at Halloween time they would lose me & my whole family if they would even charge $5.00 per Haunt. I don't care what "other" places charge for their haunted houses....there are NO Haunts at Kings Island that I felt are worth $5.00 to experience, none.

What many don't know is that most of the Phantom Theatre figures hands and heads were actually latex masks or "shells" over plastic frames. (Those with moving parts within the facial features and hands used latex shells. Those without were made of hard fiberglass/plastic.) Latex breaks down over time, and thus those using shells/masks simply melted over the years. In the early years, when the attraction was kept in it's best condition, the park would contact AVG (AVG was the company that provided the animatronic characters and effects for the ride) to supply replacement masks/hands for the figures as they "melted." AVG had molds of the original ride design clay sculptures. When contacted by KI, they would pull out the approriate molds and pour in liquid latex. After that, exanding foam spray (yes the type you can buy at Lowes for insulation purposes) filled the center. Once cured, the mold was opened and each mask/part was hand painted by an artist according to the original character design specs by R&R Animations. (R&R Animations designed the concept/story/characters for the ride.) The foam sprayed in the center had formed a stiff "core" (similar to those styrofoam heads that wigs are stored on) that enabled the artist ease in painting. The masks, once complete, were shipped to KI still on the foam heads. The maintenance team at KI then removed the masks from the foam core and replaced the deteriorating ones. This was a costly expense - and eventually the park cut the budget for it. Thus Phantom Theatre suffered and became a shell of it's former self. Quite frankly, those that only experienced Phantom Theatre in the last 4 or 5 years of it's life really only saw half original attraction. The first time I rode Phantom Theatre (June 1992 - inaugural year) I was absolutely astounded at it's quality. But then over the years effect after effect kept dissapearing. Many of the Phantom Theatre figures were in dissaray by the time the attraction closed. When I toured Phantom Theatre on foot (the last year it was open) many of the costumes on the figures had been ruined by melted/dripping latex over the years. (Not to mention just general dirt and filth) There was a maintenance bay in the show building where the replacement parts were stored. They literally had dozens of the foam heads and old deteriorated shells/masks laying around. How any of the shells/masks have survived this long is beyond me - especially since the figures have been used outside in the weather for a few season now. However, even if they had been stored in a climate controlled environments they would not have lasted. The outside elements, no doubt, are greatly speeding their demise, but ultimately nothing lasts forever. Think of them like a plastic Halloween costume stored in an attic - over time they simply dont last. Here's some photos I took just after they began disassembling Phantom Theatre. The pictures actually make the figures look pretty good. However, in person it was a different story - they were in bad shape. Shaggy

This will probably come off as insulting...but what has gone wrong with our world when someone is upset that they didn't get all the blood and profanity that they felt was coming to them?