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I have no information nor opinion on when the ride will open, but coming from the world of industrial automation, which this ride essentially is, it would not be the least bit surprising that it would take a couple of months to program and debug this thing. It's a very complex machine, with hundreds, if not thousands, of sensors, relays, contactors, pneumatic and/or servo actuators, safety systems, audiovisual hardware and software, PLCs, HMIs, etc., all subject to hardware infant mortality, all of which is designed to be efficiently and safely operated by minimum wage operators. No small task! When automated systems are complex, the number of failure modes skyrockets to the point that debug alone can take quite a while (think ~10 engineers & technicians working 6 or 7 12-hour days for weeks), to say nothing of the programming itself. For example, a typical automotive automated production system will run in debug for ~3 weeks once the hardware is "on its feet" to try to identify the myriad ways in which it can fail. Plus, even with those failure modes addressed, it will go on to exhibit dozens more failure modes once released to the wild.

It is amazing on how complex these rides are, even if they appear at times to be just simple on the surface. They are so incredibly complex. Thanks @DispatchMaster for a description of how much actually goes into it. I do theater work and most would think lighting is just as simple as plugging in the lights...but it's so much more than that.

It would be interesting to know. Obviously the original animatronics were probably more simplistic and the special effects didn't include screens or laser guns. So my guess is less programming but they could have run into some interesting problems just from the standpoint that it was a new ride and pretty good for its time

To my pain, I don't know if the plan is to open it with the park (though it seems odd to me that it would open the weekend after opening instead of having a soft opening with minor effects or adjustments being made during the weekdays the park is closed) but I also don't think it's likely for it to have been delayed. For reference, two months before their opening, RiverRacers hadn't been fully assembled, and the trains for Soapbox Racers hadn't arrived. Though I suppose I'm just "defending" the April 18th opening date because if manifest it enough I'll be able to ride it sooner. I think the reddit source is trustworthy, but I'm more inclined to believe the April date that has remained on Sally Dark Ride's site. Perhaps this is more of a personal want, but whether it opens with the park or if they hold a charity event, it would be a shame to me if there wasn't a clearly communicated opening day and if it randomly soft opened without notice a few weeks into the season. The crowd energy from fans at the last performance of Encore and the last day of Boo Blasters (and probably the Rick Bastrup Q&A, I'm still salty about having to miss that) was very fun to experience and I'd love to have it for the theater's grand reopening.

At this point, I know no reason of this attraction not opening "on time," whether it's at the very first day of the season or further into April or even May.

A fossil was found during the construction of PT: ON... (a relic of a forgotten time perhaps? 🤔)

Good! I was last at Holiday World in 2022 and I rode voyage and legend all day - both elite coasters. Then I rode Raven and the end was very uncomfortable and rough (and I always said mean streak wasn't that bad so I know I'm not wimpy when it comes to roughness). I only rode Raven twice. Wanted to like it much more than I did. I'll be excited to give it another go when I visit the area in August this year!

As time goes on, I don't see KI getting new coasters in both AZ and the "Vortex Spot". We keep talking about wanting a coaster up front to replace either Invertigo, Top Gun and Congo Falls (or all 3). Who knows, maybe they can last another 10 years after installing a coaster in The Vortex Spot. Trust me, I would love to see new coasters in both areas. I suggest something else . . in The Vortex Spot the return of Swan Lake with shops and a flat. Maybe add a sit down restaurant with the The Beast hill as a back drop. It doesn't have to be those things . . go-carts, zip lines, ghost town, etc.. Because mostly, I am tired of seeing a fence back there instead of some sort of an attraction. Then redo AZ with a new coaster and theme for the whole area. Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't see KI getting 2 new major coasters in the front and back within 3-5 years of each other. Either we get a new coaster in The Vortex Spot and watch aging coasters in AZ continue to decline. Or we get a new coaster in AZ and look at an empty lot over the fence for the next 10 more years.

I honeslty wonder if there was any problems that arose with the construction of the original PT? 🤔

SpongeBob wore out his welcome, but it was fun during FearFest/Haunt when they would have Elvira on one side and Circus of Horrors 3D on the other (when both sides still worked) prior to the abandonment of Haunt season use and the other side becoming Urgent Scare. The brief return of Days of Thunder in 2004 was nice to get, unfortunately it didn't stay around very long. The Dinosaurs Alive companion show was an upcharge, so I never did that one.

Vortex replacement… does that phrase even make sense anymore? I published a piece on this on TPBD. https://themeparksbydon.com/Vortex-replacement-term-outdated/

While I love the idea of a fully enclosed queue, I don't see Six Flags investing in that kind of money. That's more along the lines of something Universal or Disney would do. P.S. Can you do a full walkthrough of the queue or just a set of pictures of each area of the queue?

I hope they do expand the path in that area when they do build a new coaster. Ever since WindSeeker was put in, it created a major bottleneck during those final years of Vortex.

I have been wondering how a queue could work for a Vortex replacement and I mocked up a sorta idea of a queue line with a double sided locker system and metal detectors (like Siren's Curse). The station of the coaster would be higher than usual allowing for a bunch of open space underneath the station that would be used for the double sided lockers, the exit gift shop, on ride photo booth, and a merged queue that would also feature a "pre-show" for the ride. The coaster model I have is a modern Vekoma launch.

From my perspective (not being directly involved or knowing much about construction) I’d believe it isn’t a holdup, but rather they just didn’t plan for it to open April 17. The leaker said they’re completing theming until February, and beginning show programming which would be completed in about 2 months. I think this is the closest turnaround they could complete considering guests would be in the park for Winterfest which hasn’t been an issue. I selfishly hope they don’t do an unplanned soft opening because I really want to be there opening day, but it wouldn’t shock me if they opened it as soon as programming was finished, and it would be even more surprising to me if they waited until Memorial Day. Because it’s accessible and indoors, I’d assume it’s the kind of thing KI wouldn’t want sitting dormant besides when they absolutely had to for Haunt/Winterfest to allow for the building to be cleared.

I'd say this is the most excited I've been for a season at the park since the 50th anniversary. Getting the new Phantom Theater, the remodeled Gift shop, restoration of the 100 year old carousel, and the return of the Monster - it's shaping up to be a good year! As for new additions, I honestly think I'm more hyped for PTON than either Orion or Mystic Timbers. I would rank my excitement for new attractions through the last decade or so as follows - 1. Banshee 2. Phantom Theater 3. Orion 4. Adventure Port 5. Antique Autos 6. Mystic Timbers 7. Woodstock Gliders/Space Buggies 8. Camp Snoopy 9. Anything to do with the water park Worth mentioning I was more excited about the retracking of The Beast and racer than I was about any new additions the last decade

Oh no not this again lol. I thought this horse has already been beaten dead a million times lol. I respect your opinion, but I can't see how people couldn't be excited about a 300 foot coaster lol. Look I know it wasn't Fury or Millennium but it was the biggest investment in park history. Im going to end this talk right here as there's already a million other threads on this subject. Back on topic. I'm very excited about this mainly bc I never got to ride the original Phantom Theater. I was born like a month before it closed. I haven't been this excited about a Kings Island new ride since Orion. I'm also really liking the direction the park is going with updates. It's a much bigger improvement over the very few updates we got for RiverRacers.

Vekoma has really upped their game. All of their recent designs and track layouts have been stunning.