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Haunt map was released: See it here: https://qr1.be/SX1M

Tricks and Treats menu released: https://qr1.be/AK6Z

Why would they have other caskets spread throughout the graveyard too?

I currently have been hyperfixating on both Phantom Theater and Haunted Houses (mostly like Universal’s Horror Nights houses bc there’s no new ones at Haunt), so naturally I’ve been thinking on how to combine the two. Here’s my concept for a Phantom Theater themed Haunt house, inspired by elements of the Universal houses. I feel like the Haunt houses at Kings Island could benefit from more storytelling (something they’ve improved upon with Hotel St. Michelle and some elements of Alien Abyss). I don’t necessarily know if a Phantom Theater house would be the best direction for Haunt (If it’s too scary it would taint the IP in children’s minds, and a well-themed house would likely be a large enough investment that they would want it to be around for several years, potentially delaying any plans for an attraction return), but I’m also a sucker for an old ride returning through a Haunt (See Dueling Dragons at HHN). The following is my very rant-y concept for a PT house: The basic plot is that the house would vaguely be an origin story for how each of the performers from the attraction died (Yes I know in the original ride they’re not canonically ghosts but shhhh). Some scare aspects for this idea are taken from the Universal Haunts, so after each I’ll put a video link and time stamp for what I envision with it, warning for gore in some. Facade: The house entrance would be a recreation of the original attraction facade. Organ music is heard in the guest waiting area, with occasional snippets from the original Maestro queue recording. Before entering the house, an usher (perhaps Broken-Neck Nicki) explains the safety information and a brief explanation of the house’s plot Room 1: Theater Entrance A Candle lit lobby with torn curtains scattered around the walls. The queue posters from the original attraction would be displayed as well. A scareactor dressed as Maestro pops out of a curtain. “So you wanted to see the theater, did ya?” (1:17 https://youtu.be/-AhvQ-TJPdE?si=zVBwL88aL09T_EWY) Room 2: Hallway A long hallway with the dressing room doors from the ride. A Willard Warbler actor would abruptly slam a door open and shout at the guest. “Oh dear, close that door!” At the end of the hall, what is seemingly a mirror would ‘break’, with Larry the Usher popping out. (1:07 https://youtu.be/-AhvQ-TJPdE?si=zVBwL88aL09T_EWY) Room 3: Houdelini’s Rehersal Room A Houdelini actor pulls his demonic rabbit out of the hat. Turning to a corner, a short hallway is filled with bodies being mutilated by the magic equipment. Included is a sawed in-half Larry still in the box. A sculpture of the rabbit is seen mauling on Houdelini at the end of the hall. Room 4: Hilda Bovine Rehearsal Room A dark room with scattered wooden beams blocks the field of view. Rotting skeletons dressed as Vikings would be scattered across the room, along with props such as shields and music sheets. Hilda pops out from a hidden curtain and screams. “AAHHH!!” Room 5: Backstage A room filled with hanging theater sandbags that the guests have to walk through. A scareactor of one of the stagehands pops out, with a corpse caught hanging in the ropes next to him. At the end of the hallway is an electrical panel, which an electrified Gus the stage manager jumps out next to, shining a flashlight in the guest’s eyes. “The backstage is for performers only!” Room 6: The Great Garbanzo Rehearsal Room An extension of the backstage area, a cannon set next to guests fires smoke, seemingly into the ceiling. An actor dressed as The Great Garbanzo then jumps out, manically laughing. Room 7: Balcony Hallway A thin corridor with green walls. At the end sits No Legs Larry (either a live scareactor using a mirror effect, or just a prop), leading guest into the theater. “The show is just about to begin!” Room 8: Stage Guests walk across the stage filled with smoke. (1:54 https://youtu.be/u6xMv74SUBY?si=64JaPAl5DD6vtcME) A Lionel Burymore actor would pop out next to a castle facade, with stab marks clearly visible on his chest. Mannequins would be set up across the room dressed as Houdelini, Hilda, Garbonzo, Willard Warbler, and several theater-goers. A Maestro actor would be seen in the center, playing his organ. (1:21 Room 9: Prop Room Guest would enter the prop room, filled with references to the original attraction and leftover props from random past houses. A Mummy scareactor would emerge out of the original sarcophagus prop, with a rat puppet also being used. Room 10: Boiler Room A collapsed wall in the prop room would lead into the boiler room. Pipes and crates would be scattered across the room, with the original furnace moved over from Slaughterhouse. A heat effect would blast guests as they crossed, with two scareactors dressed as the boiler-men. “How about some heat?” Guests would turn into a final corner, with a final Maestro jumpscare at the exit of the house. “You’ll be back! You’ll be baaaack!”

How long do you guys think that Son of Beast station will remain standing considering Wolfpack obviously isn’t going to come back apparently. It’s cool that it still exist but it’s a bit of an eyesore and considering it’s not being used it serves little purpose.

As we saw with the rest of SOB that they only demolished when it was time to build Banshee, I think they'll get to it if/when they have a plan for it. I don't think its anywhere near old enough to demolish due to structure fatigue quite yet.

The 2024 Tricks and Treats menu has been posted.

I think a lot of people put stock into these tombstones because of what we saw with Firehawk a couple years ago, where it was blatantly obvious that it was going away but they still had fun with it. Now you have a tombstone placed near an old ride, as opposed to the graveyard, with quite a bit of detail in it. Pair this with the former ride building/haunted house seeing some activity last year and you have a good amount of speculation to have fun with if you’re a fan.

The park as of 9.11.24. And oddly enough, a sole paddle boat remains.

I have found no survey markers near or around the old SoB station. My guess is all of the commotion going on at SoB station is because it is used as storage for Halloween props.

My personal opinion on the new decoration is that it’s nothing more than that: A decoration that’s basically used as a random troll for fans or a publicity stunt. SOB is one of those attractions KI likes to reference often (Adventure Port and random crates around the parks as an example) and I feel like this is just another one of those. With the addition of stuff like the Phantom Theater car infront of Boo Blasters, I think someone who works in the Haunt Decoration team just like having these on display to guest. Absolutely hope I’m wrong and this is a clue to something though, I’d love to see basically any kind of wooden coaster that just uses the name.

I have photos of them also taking stuff out of the area from August 14th, 2024. Just to show the difference, something cool to see them working in this place again.

I was hoping for Gene Staples of Indiana Beach to swoop in and buy the park these last couple years. I was pretty surprised that Coney and the buildings weren't protected in some way by the Historical Society. I do feel if more people fought for Coney to have historic status back in 2019 when the rides were removed, there may have been a different outcome than what we got.

As full time Supervisor of Admissions during that time, I can confirm how things were done. We did use wristbands during the upcharge years of FearFest. Wristbands were originally available at the General Admission booths, at the Return Visit booth inside the park next to Keyhole Photo and we also had associates in the park selling wristbands out of aprons. The first year, as the weeks went on and the popularity of FearFest became apparent, we expanded sales into the Season Pass Sales windows and Big Booth (the Group Sales building) and had people selling them from aprons outside the front gate too. Once FearFest started, you had to have a wristband in order to get in line for rides and enter the haunts. Close to the time of FearFest opening (an hour before?) we set up bicycle rack barricades inside the front gate along with signs directing guests to exit through the old season pass gate. No exiting was permitted through the front gate once the barricades were set up; that was to free up the front gate as an entrance only so we could have a smooth flow of traffic, in through the front gate and out through the season pass gate. Once it was clear that the main flow of regular park guests exiting the park and the main flow of FearFest guests entering the park was over, the barricades were removed and the front gate operated as normal. At no time was the park entirely cleared then people have to re-enter for FearFest. That idea was rejected due to it being a logistical nightmare.

I have attended every year of Fearfest & Halloween Haunt. There have always been highlights and lowlights every year...but it is still my favorite time of the year to visit the park. I still wish that they would up charge us season pass holders...even if it were only $10.00...but no more than $20.00...anything to knock the crowd back to a tolerable level. Back when it was an up charge you could get in multiple rides and haunts in on both Friday AND Saturday. Nowadays the scariest thing about The Haunt are the crowds on Saturdays!

I don’t know how much I agree with that. Paramount did little to nothing to truly integrate their IPs. The quality of their mazes was generally on par with what we have now, if not a little worse. There were some highlights, mainly Curse of the Crypt, which were pretty cool. As far as the environment, fog, visuals, fire, audio, lighting, etc. the current version is miles ahead of what we had back then. Some of that can be chalked up to new technology being available now. Speaking of Curse of the Crypt, for those who don’t know, it was a maze that was in the back of the games building - to the left as you enter X Base. One of the signature features was a part where guests would be forced to crawl and wouldn’t know that they were on dark plexiglass. At a certain point, the lights would come on exposing a faced up actor who you would be nearly face to face with, covered in real hissing cockroaches. Curse of the Crypt was retired following the 2004 season.

Here’s an interesting fact for today; At the innagural Fearfest, one of the attractions was a Haunt on the Eiffel Tower’s 264’ observation deck. A feature that never came to fruiting was that several of the steel decks of the flooring were going to be replaced with very transparent fiberglass, so you could see straight down the structure to the ground. Unfortunatly, the Ohio Department of Agriculture required that any modification to the “ride” be approved by the original manufacturer - Intamin AG of Zurich, Switzerland. Unfortunatly, time and red tape got the best of the idea and it was delayed. Ultimately, the entire Haunt on the tower didn’t make it to year 2 and the project never saw the light of day... and likely never will. Would have been fun, though! I’ll try to give you a historical Haunt/FF fact each day leading up to Haunt’s opening. There’s a lot you may not know.