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We live in Michigan and we are planning a trip for late May next month. I don't know how I'm going to avoid the spoilers but I'll try my best! 😅 Also I'm hoping the line for PT:ON won't be as long when I go in May, but I don't want to jinks it.

Sadly it looks like we won't be getting the two wooden floral carts back this year either. They looked very nice on either side of International Street and I haven't seen them anywhere else in the park since they were removed. (Photo: Brad Perdue on KICentral)

If this is the same scene board as in the SDR tour video, I posted my thoughts on each scene a little while back. I might try to go find that post and share it again since this is a better view than before.

Each new sneak peek of the animatronics are getting me more and more excited!

Important to note that I still don’t think this is 100% what is in the ride vs early ideations: Bottom row,5th: Final scene where the Boiler Room was in the original. 4th row, 2nd: Larry turntable (with also the same flower setup as boo blasters) 4th row, 3rd: Peppers Ghost (??) stage scene. The 5th scene also looks to be Maestro at the organ again, so I wonder if this is before they got the budget and maybe used more elements from Boo Blasters retrofitted to Phantom (which they still could do but I think it’s a complete rebuild unless they use any props as easter eggs) 3rd row, 3-5: Houdelini, Hilda, and ?? Houdelini again??? Also after much reflection… I actually kind of feel bad at calling the documentary thing underwhelming I apologize. I think I expected more new footage of the animatronics, but this is also a good intro for someone who may not be extremely familiar with the phantom theater lore like me and probably everyone else who was refreshing for this all day. The next episode will be the best one yet.

I need the to get my prescription updated. 1. Bottom row, third shot - Garbonzo exploding at the end of the ride per Bastrup’s pitch? What else?

I am very happy to see this considering the very few updates we got for RiverRacers this past year.

Excited to see what’s next! Appreciate the updates.

Here we go!

They're looking good so far! I hope they can achieve a little more of a glossy red for the final product, but even the current finish looks like a nice change compared to the Boo Blasters "oozy" look. The fact that the roundels are still on there is a little strange since they went through the trouble of rendering the rest of the doom buggies without them for the teaser art. Image: Kings Island / Sally Dark Rides via KICentral.com Photos: Rick Davis via DAFE (https://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/scoobyDooHauntedCastle.html) These same ride vehicles in their original form. The ride vehicles in their Mystery Machine scheme, complete with front-mounted "tire". A view of the initial castle construction that shows how the new was built over the old.

I have checked over and over a billion times today. I hope they post whatever it is soon!!

They just shared an Instagram story.....it was just a Six Flags post about a pass giveaway lol.

… guess I called off work for nothing today

There's still 8 more hours in the day...they could post it at 11:59 p.m. and their post yesterday would still technically be correct But I agree with you. As an impatient person, I am surprised it has not been posted yet!

Pumped for tomorrow! Really digging the commitment to keeping these updates going. What do you think we’ll see?

That’s a nice looking color that I think will look even better under low light, looks like the some color as the balcony box at the old opera theaters which is obviously what they want

I've often wondered why the park didn't include the Kite Eating Tree or Snoopy's Space Buggies in Camp Snoopy. There's a case to be made for SSB not fitting into the camping theme, nor might the other four rides on that side of Planet Snoopy, but I feel like there's a way the park could've made them fit without changing much at all. That would've at least made two more equally-sized areas. Given that it felt like they ran out of money I think adding more might've been a little out of the question. As likely as it might be that no exterior work will happen until after Winterfest, I'd love to see the park or Sally Dark Rides put out a December teaser with either some material/set close-ups or another look at the inside of the building. They've been releasing a new piece each month and I hope that can continue. I wonder if there will be screens for the scores like on the Justice League dark rides or if the scores will only be shown in the ride vehicles like with SDatHC and BBoBH.

And why are there two dozen different kinds of concrete surfacing? And that extra seating area for the mess hall, seems like that, and the turf for it, got relocated to build the pavilion by the Carousel...

The ongoing roof work has spread to the other half of the structure.

I believe the permit shows just the cost of the renovations to the structure and not the whole project.

I've been questioning this permit for a while. Is the $900,000 supposed to be the entire cost? It seems very, very cheap for a complete overhaul. I'd expect this project to cost in the neighborhood of $5M - 10M. Maybe the amount shown here is for the exterior work? That seems about the amount it would likely cost for the entrance overlay...

After seeing the "DEMO LOOP" from the IAPPA show with Maestro and No Legs Larrys, I wouldn't be surprised if that was continuously shown in the lobby where the queue is. Seem to tell the story and be about 15 minutes long. (of course I'd much rather have what was done before.):

While I do think the additions were very well done and were needed it feels like the thought behind each one was less thorough than before. I'll praise the park and a lot of the things it has done until my fingers grow weak, but that doesn't change the fact that a large enough amount of others online have questioned those recent choices for me to have doubts. I wholeheartedly agree with the fact that these mini-lands were done very well and helped improve them compared to what was there before. Part of my worrying is that there will be visible gaps in the thought process behind Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare like there were with the other additions. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy opened more than a month after the season started. Both Orion and River Racers were the smallest version of their models (giga coaster and water coasters) possible. Not all has been bad, though. Mystic Timbers remains one of my top rated coasters and has a great break run experience. The park added two amazing new restaurants and brought back the Antique Autos. Orion revitalized Area 72 and gave KI a veritable speed machine. The entire 50th Anniversary celebration hit the ball out of the park with its care and grandeur. Adventure Port and Camp Snoopy each took a dead area and breathed new life into it. Splash River Junction was a very good upgrade to Soak City alongside some much-needed restroom and facility renovations. The new Carousel Pavilion has provided a nicely shaded spot for guests to eat and a new venue for smaller shows. What we've seen from PT:ON so far has been absolutely amazing! The animatronics look really good and show that a lot of care has been put into the development of the new ride so far. My phrasing might have been better said as to call those additions "vastly allocated" instead of "budget" attractions. A lot of good was done with some things falling short in each project. Remember when members of this site were wondering about the rest of the roof not being red on Enrique's? I really like the smaller approaches for less money, I just wish the park management (or whoever's left to do this sort of thing) would take a little more care to ensure that these major additions open on time and do more of what they set out to do. One thing I'm really excited to see is how much more colorful this new Phantom Theater might be compared to the original. I really liked how vibrant the new sets and displays that were shown off at IAAPA were!

I hope they can make the Safety Guide placement look better for PT:ON! The sign on a post is fine, but it doesn't really fit in too well. The up-lighting on the building is nice to see!

I think some of this might be part of a roof repair. The spacing of the lines feel like they're either for patches in the roof seams (?)(I don't know how that roof was done) or for something like solar panels as was suggested in another post. The width of each line seems a little too wide to be anything besides that. BryanJay, you might be right about the electrical and ventilation work. It's probably time for some upgrades, especially if the new ride will need more power than SDatHC and BBoBH with the new features it's supposed to have.

Could that be the all new, Sir Pretzel?

@BryanJay

So this clearly isn’t Houdelini like I originally thought, so I wonder who this is

Okay I know how I normally write so I've compiled my thoughts using these photos. Garbonzo gets some more dynamite I think this is the clay casting model for No Legs Larry. If you look at how it is being formed, there are plastic shells where his eyes go and the artist is either sculpting or applying a coat of something (possibly to release the mold) This wall is very intriguing to me. While it looks like it might just be a backstage wall, I kind of thought it also looked like the Pepper's Ghost glass wall covered in dust and grime and cracked in places. Could this be a reference to what was? Arpeggio, my beloved <3 He looks so good! Look at this view of a dressing room (?) door! The green above it in the transom also makes me think they could've installed a Green Room during their renovations This lower shot shows the wreath and some of the nice blue wallpaper. I hope we can see lots of color like this throughout the rest of the ride! It seems our resident electrician is still dealing with mechanical knobs and levers We've seen the boiler prop itself, but check out this nice drawing of it (Just go along with it) As the adage to new beginnings goes: "Something Borrowed..." The vulture has found his way over to the Phantom Theater to leer over guests young and old. "Something Blue..." This glowing blue cabinet is indecipherable — perhaps it contains some Ghost Notes "Something Old..." It's a little dusty, but we call it home! This outer molding for the gargoyle does make it look a little dusty... "Something New..." Look at these three characters in their newer, more corruptible state Did somebody call for a sarcophagus? Oh, it seems Willard (or Lionel, I can never remember which is which) seems to be wrapped up with the sarcophagus This movement test has me very curious. Is Maestro rehearsing his greetings or his final bows? Or is he rehearsing both? Much to think about! I believe the reference to chewing gum is from when guests would get it stuck on the glass during the Pepper's Ghost scene. All of the characters look so much better now that they're not withering away like they were all those years ago. They have something to work towards instead of just reliving the glory days of the Phantom Theater! Thank you for the video and photos @KIghostguy!!!

Looks like they're installing solar panels on the building.

I think if they put up a marquee I'd rather see one like the original had, but there's a chance they could make this kind look good too. My other hope would be that they keep the pieces on top of the gates. Those add a little flair to the structure. What program did you use to make these?

I think if they can change these three elements (the mouth, the "BH" medallions, and the tops of the towers) it will help a lot. It would definitely help everyone feel like PT:ON is not just a re-skin of SDatHC and BBoBH. Changing the colors of the castle should be on the list of changes as well. They should definitely try to find a way to add a marquee and change the castle turrets to be less castle-y.

I'm hoping the purple castle goes away, I mean I loved it for when it was Scooby-Doo and fit the theming perfectly, and it sort of worked for Boo Blasters (with some minor adjustments) but as time went on it just became an eyesore. I would like to see a new entrance thats just not another re-skin of Scooby-Doo.

I think with a bit of remodeling, some new paint, and a new marquee(see below), it would look great. Something inspired by the original, but in line with the new art direction.

They might be taking down the Boo Blasters signage?? There’s been a storage container there for a few days but it would be for Winterfest so who knows… omg it’s the car how did you know??

Who’s got a few extra of these? Asking for a friend…

The car for the Outer Limits/Orion area is a really nice feature, the Ghost Hunting Van would work really well.

The white Chevy Express really sells the whole thing

In-case you're wondering what the facade may look like. I've made (Although not greatly) the facade with the original concept art for the ride and added lazy detailed except for the building part of the facade. I think the new theater will look like it was burnt down from the inside only seeing traces of it that make it out.

They also included this cool concept piece that I believe we saw in a previous YouTube video/interview:

Channel 12 has a story about some of the animatronics. As a side note, I cannot see the Opening 2026 sign and not think "Spongebob Squarepants" https://local12.com/news/entertainment/kings-island-unveils-new-animatronic-characters-upcoming-interactive-dark-ride-collab-collaboration-phantom-theater-opening-nightmare-iaapa-expo-orlando-mason-ohio-cincinnati-family-fun-entertainment-tech-rollercoaster Also Sally Darkrides also has a "Ghost Blasters" which is just BooBlasters but interestingly KI isn't listed as a park location. Please don't make PTON the same dang ride.

Caught a brief look on a Facebook live stream. Sound awful and it was from pretty far back, but the Maestro and Usher display from the TikTok link was unveiled.

Me in junior high writing a note to a girl I'm crushing on!

I’m really loving how active the socials have been about this new dark ride. It appears that the park and the marketing teams realize how special this is and they are really pushing it which makes me happy. You can tell there are lots of passionate people bringing this project to life and they want to show us all the work and time going into this addition!

Me in high school drawing and redrawing the leaked Diamondback layout on every notebook I had. Ha!

I can’t wait to totally focus on work and being an adult today, and not obsessively checking for IAPPA updates.

I would certainly hope they show an animatronic and ride vehicle but at the very least an animatronic, I am curious what the surprise will be

I'll be at the Press Conference at the Expo next week. Some of what I've read about what will happen at the Press Conference; that's not how these things work. Largely at these, they have a "Ride Vehicle" covered until the event announcement; unveil it and then reps from SDR and Six will make comments, and "MAYBE" show a video; but in this case it's unlikely... and that'll basically be it. I think this is being done at the SDR booth- not at "IAAPA Central". Their booth is unlike to have a large screen to view it on. I don't think it will go 15 minutes even. They may have a ride vehicle or maybe an animatronic. These Press Conferences aren't for park guests and fans. They're to promote their business and "pound their chest" on what they are doing. I may be wrong, but I've been the EXPO year since 2015, except 2020 (which was canceled)- and this is generally what happens. These are business announcements, not for the park goer.