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Screamscape's latest update has a link to a Theme Park University article about the creation and design of Phantom Theater. It's a very interesting read, and it includes several pictures of Phantom Theater's various stages of design and fabrication, as well as an interview with Rick Bastrup of R&R Creative Amusement Designs. I think I've seen some of the pictures around here before, but there are a few (like one of a miniature painted model of the ride) that I haven't. Here's a link. According to the article, there will soon be a follow-up with a scene-by-scene analysis of the ride. That should be an interesting read, as any YouTube videos I've seen (or even the DAFE article about Phantom Theater) don't seem to get into much detail. EDIT: Actually, the follow-up has already been posted. Here's a link. There are actual pictures of the ride, and they're really great. Enjoy!

As Phantom Theater is to Scooby and the Haunted Castle or, even more so, to Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is what: Taft's Kings Island's theming and attention to detail is to Paramount Parks' or, even more so, to Mr. Kinzel's Cedar Fair's. Taft's Kings Island's incredible food and entertainment offerings compared to Paramount Parks' or, even more so, to Mr. Kinzel's Cedar Fair's. Note that on the last two fronts, Mr. Ouimet's Cedar Fair is making amazing progress. Perhaps there is hope for a high level, themed dark ride again at Kings Island, if only the riders would behave themselves and not get out, carry on inappropriately, &c.

Kings Island on Facebook: "There was a time when Rivertown had no Beast." Photo : Don Helbig / Kings Island via Facebook

Carowinds Amusement Park on Facebook: "Check it out Fury 325 construction is moving along! Did you know 2015 season pass holders will get ERT, Exclusive Ride Time on this world record breaking thrill ride next year? Season pass prices are at their lowest price of the year through Nov. 2! You don't want to miss out!" Photo : Carowinds Amusement Park via Facebook

Wow, thank you for posting this. What a nice look back at one of my favorite attractions ever at Kings Island. Great pictures and a great read. I really miss that ride, it probably wouldn't hurt as bad if it had been replaced with something... better or at least of the same caliber. I really hope that one day we'll see dark ride of that detail at the park again, or better yet, bring back Phantom Theater! I can dream, right? But seriously, compare this loading area: (Photo courtesy of the article, Copyright R&R Creative Amusement Design) To this one (to be fair, the lighting isn't right): (Photo Courtesy of Theme Park Review) Pretty much sums it up right there. I guess I should be happy we still have a dark ride though.

How has this man been successful in business? I expect to receive my notice of suit shortly because I am sure I have made what the park would consider disparaging remarks over the past 121 pages regarding their actions and stupidity. That to me is the most shocking thing about Mr. Harts comments, when he shouldn't make comments, is that the park will not stand for disparaging remarks about the park and if you do we are going to sue you. Also I like to see they are supporting their young employees now, unlike earlier when they sacrificed a young employee for approaching a breast feeding mom in the park. Should be pretty easy to show how incompetent this park is, starting with leadership. Oh wait my lawyer has advised me that I have No Comment regarding Mr. Hart, his leadership abilities or the future of this park. But this mans an idiot, I mean No Comment.

That's not nice. To Mr. Ed.

One thing that I really wish I could beat into some of the youngins' heads is that Phantom Theatre was a ride, but it was also a work of art.

Great picture to remember Diamondback Opening Day 2009! Sent from my iPhone using Taptalk

looks a bit more intricate and complex than, say... The 1-dimensional characters that fill the space now. (ps- none of the images are mine. credit to ThemeParkReview and ThemePark University).

Also known as trying to prejudice a jury.... Should the park find out it isn't right, Mr. Blabbermouth just made any potential settlement much more expensive and also angered the plaintiffs and their attorney. Gee, dumb. Truly dumb.

I have no comment on the quality of management at Kentucky Kingdom. I don't particularly like the way they've handled almost every issue they've dealt with this year. I think they're approaching each issue that's come up this year like it's never, ever happened in the industry before. But I'm not going to comment of the quality of the management.

That is some handsome track there.

So, just like that, Mr. Hart is right and the claimants are wrong? No discovery, depositions, fact finding, testimony, negotiations, court action or proof is needed? Why?Terp, who notes in passing that claims made in a lawsuit, by either side, tell only one side of a story.

Decided to go to Chuck E Cheese today while I am on a little Thanksgiving break from work. This Chuck E Cheese is located at: 8801 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45251 I arrived around 2:00pm to find a quarter full parking lot. Walked inside and got my hand stamped and headed to the front counter. Was pretty hungry so I thought I should grab some food before the huge ride fest that was about to happen. I placed an order for a large extra cheese pizza and 100 tokens. See, the rides at Chuck E Cheese uses token as admission instead of a ticket. They had no "unlimited ride" plan which was kinda disappointing. After I ate darn near the entire pizza and had a Cherry Coke, it was time to get my ride on! The way Chuck E Cheese is set up is in 2 sections. The larger section is the arcade and the smaller section is the rides. The best part was that all the rides were practically a walk on today with little or no wait! What an awesome day this is going to be! Here are my reviews of the rides: Barney - The Ride Hop in and hold on tight as Barney takes you on tour of his farm on his custom made tractor. Don't forget your overalls! My thoughts: I had high hopes for this ride since it had a huge name attached to it. I found the seat very roomy and the on board audio top notch, however, with just a very few minor lateral Gs, it turned out to be sluggish more than anything else. Not sure what all the hype was about, but I was kinda dissapointed. Could have used an inversion here and there. Grade C+ POV of Barney - The Ride Bob The Builder - The Ride Hop in and hold on tight as Bob The Builder takes you on a tour of the construction site on his custom made bulldozer. Don't forget your hard hat! My thoughts: I actually enjoyed this one much better than Barney. The seat belt was perfect length and the on board audio had me singing along. The G forces on this one were much stronger than Barney. Since the ride itself reminded me of Troika at Kings Island, I enjoyed multiple rides on it. Could have used an inversion here and there. Grade B+ POV of Bob The Builder - The Ride Stuart Little - The Ride Hop in and take hold of the steering wheel as you drive Stuart back home. Don't forget your drivers license! My thoughts: A perfect one for families. A nice stroll down the street that reminded me of the antique cars. the on board audio was a little hard to hear at times. For what it was worth, the ride was perfect, however, it could have used an inversion here and there. Grade B POV of Stuart Little - The Ride Clock - The Ride Hop in and hold on as you take the ride of your life on a huge clock. Spin around multiple times as you groove to a funky soundtrack. Don't forget your....ummmm...ability to tell time? My thoughts: The best ride at the park. The Gs holding you in your seat as you spin around the clock are top notch. The soundtrack is great and the ride length is perfect! The only downfall is that if you want multiple rides, you have to get out of your seat to give it another token. The only thing that could make this ride any better is an inversion here and there. Grade A POV of Clock - The Ride All in all, I had a pretty good time. Barney was a huge disappointment, but Clock MORE than made up for it. The place was very clean and the live stage shows were great! I was a little shocked at the cost for pizza and tokens. Grade for the whole day: A solid B. Thanks for reading! Bill

Oh Wilbur...

I don't understand why Mr. Hart would have commented on anything. I still do not understand why the park continues to do things as they have. They can turn anything into a PR nightmare. I so want to call him Mr. Ed.

You have made my night, and mayhaps week. Thanks for sharing. Now I shall be a teary eyed phantomtheater as I reminisce my favorite past KI ride.

While the complexity of the figures inside Phantom Theater were part of its downfall, I think that the thing that would prevent it from being built today is the lack of "interactivity" (read: laser guns). It's simply more marketable to make a "blasting" dark ride than a classic one. It also takes pressure off the designers (and budget) when you can count on a guest's focus being in a particular place for only a fraction of a second before it's pulled elsewhere. A real shame, because it's difficult to tell a story when explosions surround you. And if you ask modern park goers, maybe they don't want a story. Maybe if guests could ride Boo Blasters and Phantom Theater back to back, they'd prefer the former in overwhelming numbers. Worth noting: technology is minimizing the big parks' reliance on Audio Animatronics, too. This year's two big ticket additions were both dark rides, and neither contains a single Audio Animatronic. That's a major shift from the past, where a ride's robotic figure count or robotic figure quality was proportional to its budget (and often to its esteem). Digital does it these days. Heck, Canada's Wonderland debuted a nifty "interactive" "dark ride" that required no Animatronics... or sets... or lights. A couple shameless plugs to share my opinions: TRULY Interactive Attractions That Don't Require Laser Guns (link) 12 Dark Rides You CAN'T Ride at Disney or Universal Parks (link) 20 Most Incredible Animatronics Countdown (link)

I should of appreciated the Phantom Theater when it was still operating, if I knew it was getting removed, I would have at least ridden it 50 times in a row, I dont ever remember a line so I would get in line, ride, exit, repeat. The reason why I liked Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle so much was because it was themed and fit along great with Hanna Barbera Land. When Scooby Doo got replaced by Boo Blasters, I was totally unsatisfied, because at least with Scooby Doo, it told a story unlike Boo Blasters. By looking at the pictures above, you can really tell that the theming for the Phantom Theater was more creative than Boo Blasters. As with everybody else, I would love to see a return of the Phantom Theater.

...armed with the backing of the taxpayers of Kentucky assuming virtually all the risk of failure, while virtually all upside potential accrues to Messrs Hart and Lunsford. Such a deal.

Not to mention the fall out that if it's proven as the parks fault.... KK where if you get hurt the park will sue you.... We have no hard proof this person had her pass revoked for climbing a fence other than what Ed says....

Mr. Hart take note that is how you are supposed to handle things.

Can we briefly recall how Kings Island had the audacity to sell disposable 3D glasses for $1 a pop in the line for Boo Blasters for a time? That's to say nothing how long they sold the things in line for Disaster Transport... for years after the queue's 3D rooms had been sealed and the ride took place in pitch black darkness. That, to me, is symptomatic of the Kinzel Cedar Fair style. But I digress... Awesome article. The ride was an unexpected anomaly that bested expectations for a seasonal park in the Midwest. Kings Island has a rich history of those, doesn't it?

Wow fun! Thanks for posting!

Dang, the one room I wanted to see pictures of, the person didn't have! Still, great article to have a nice trip down memory lane.

Banshee should give its 2 millionth ride the last weekend of the season. It has been a great year for ride milestones and anniversaries.

And, instead of using an attorney who specializes in these types of cases, the park is letting one of its investors, a mostly retired white shoe lawyer from a big corporate firm (and golfing buddy?), dabble in representing it. Why isn't the park's insurance company counsel representing it? And, if the park loses this litigation, can the claimants now sue for libel and slander as well?

Nothing is perfect in its first year, I will absolutely agree there. But KK is... different. And I'm no industry expert, I'm just writing out my opinions as a layperson. I may be way off, but here's how I see the fate of the Kingdom. It has existed before. Ed Hart has run an amusement park before. The park started with a lot more rides and attractions than most first-year parks have. There was likely some pent-up longing among locals to go to their park again. The regional competitors didn't even really launch any sort of media assault against it. In theory, they had every possible advantage. And yet, time and time again, they have made decisions that just seem... well, amateur. Worse than that even, honestly. I'm not sure you'll find anyone on here who WANTS this park to succeed more than me. Thunder Run and Lightning Run are easily among my favorite coasters, and I think overall, the collection of coasters and flats complements my home park (Kings Island) as the two are almost completely mutually exclusive in their ride offerings. I seriously LOVE this park. I don't want to see it close in any way. But the way Ed Hart has run things through the first year, I'm not convinced that he's ready to adapt to the market he's going to be facing. First, he has to make it to 2016. If that happens, I think the hardest part of reestablishing the park is over. If all goes to plan, all the rides on the property should be running by then and they'll have a very respectable coaster lineup, plus whatever surprises they add. To do that, though, he needs more than the 600,000 guests a year that he got in the first season. In particular, he needs non-passholders to visit one time and spend, spend, spend inside the park. That's where the money is. IIRC, they sold just under 200,000 passes. If that 600,000 guests includes passholders, you're looking at what would seem to be a very small number of other guests, and that isn't good financially. A Halloween event would probably help immensely, but as has been said many times in this thread, that part of Louisville isn't somewhere you want to be after dark, and thus, I doubt we'll see such an event at all unless the park can reach the level of success it was having early in its Six Flags tenure. Assuming Hart somehow pulls off that kind of success, he's going to attract the attention of Kings Island, Holiday World, Dollywood, and other regional parks. These other parks almost certainly have much larger advertising budgets than KK does, and could launch a media blitz to squash this park like a bug. He would have to adapt to this, too, and overcome that hurdle. If we can reach THIS point, then I think the park might be in the clear for a while. But there's a lot of ifs in this post, and frankly, I've gotten myself worried that my time with Lightning Run is going to be cut a lot shorter than I'd like. Of course, an automatic door on Swampwater Jack's for wheelchair access would probably be a prudent investment, too. But, hey, baby steps, right?

Appreciate your patience guys, we will have all membership info set by the time registration opens for Coasterstock!

It is doubtless at the end of the Statute of Limitations. It is customary to wait til then to file for many good and wise reasons. Terp, who is not engaged in the private practice of law in the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or any United State. There is no legal advice meant for any particular client contained herein. You should consult a competent attorney in your jurisdiction if you have, or think you may have, a legal problem. This is a disclaimer.

Should change the name of the park to Kentucky Fiefdom.

Mr. Hart doesn't tolerate those who dissent from his views. He is surrounded by yes people, wearing rose colored glasses. His PR team has worked under his direction, policy and guidance, and has done that which he wanted. Were that not so, he'd have canned them long ago.

One of my favorite threads of all time. Winter's coming!

I've been there a few times within the last few Saturdays, arriving within a few hours after the start of Haunt. To give you an idea of how busy it was: the places we've parked were just about the closest you can get to Great Wolf Lodge in the Kings Island parking lot. That being said, both ride operations and house/trail operations were handled extremely well. The houses and trails would let larger groups of people in at one time, but the scareactors tended to break the groups up into smaller groups along the way by getting in people's ways. It was more effective than letting in a continuous conga line like the park has done in the past, as there actually was time for the actors to set the scares up between groups. I don't know that it worked this way for all houses since I haven't done them all each time, but Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror, CornStalkers, and Tombstone Terror-tory seemed to handle it like this the most consistently and effectively. This seems to help capacity significantly. (Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever had to wait in the second queue for TTT, and I've done it just about every Haunt visit I've had this year.) The ride ops were just doing extremely well; Beast's line never seemed to have long periods of standing still involved. That being said, most of the first, all of the second, and half of the station queues were filled, so it was still a significant wait (i.e. 60-70 minutes, according to FUNtv.) Fast Lane never really seemed to negatively affect operations, but your mileage may vary.

Jeesh.....Hart should have just said " We have no comments at this time."

Kentucky Kingdom on Facebook: Photo 1 and Photo 2 : Kentucky Kingdom via Facebook

Diamondback is in the neighborhood of where it was last year in the number of rides given through the same number of operating dates.

I believe the thinking was that the same department that is responsible for firemen issues should also inspect rides. But yes, they inspect and license the rides in Indiana.

Mosley Erecting Company on Facebook: "Carolina Fury...." Photo : Mosley Erecting Company via Facebook

Dude seems to be really full of himself. Sad.

Maybe that person mistook the characters for Smurfs because they were blue?

:::

This is a great trip report. I saw the thread title and I was like, what? I thought maybe there is a Chuck E. Cheese near KI or something and he went there before heading over to KI, which is insane considering KI has La Rosa's. One thing that concerned me. Where are all the ride ops? Chuck cares nothing for rider safety. At least have an automated spiel. And no height requirement signs either? What's with that mouse?

Plot twist - Mr. Hart, in a money-saving opportunity, is the park's public relations team. It would explain the ineptitude in that facet of the park's poor management. If I were close to Mr. Hart, I would be telling him the old cop line, "Ah, tell it to the judge."

We'll just tighten the restraints a bit.....

Trust me - I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

Mostly it has been Banshee, The Bat, Drop Tower and Delirium. Beginning of the season Invertigo was open early but I think it got replaced by Drop Tower when it finally opened for the season.

Wow. That's something!

A little more information has been added. Approved clubs: American Coaster Enthusiasts Club Theme Park Review CoasterBuzz Club Coaster Crew Platinum Great Ohio Coaster Club European Coaster Club Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain Club de Fans de Montanas (Mexico) The only thing to note is that for Coaster Crew members, you'll have to be a Platinum member or above. This was done to make the pricing more similar among the clubs, with the exception of ACE. For those who joined for media day, you'll be up for renewal before this event so just remember to choose the Platinum option when you renew. Tickets to CoasterStock are going on sale in January. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/things-to-do/events-and-promotions/Coasterstock-at-Kings-Island