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Today is the first time I've opened this thread. I avoided spoilers and POVs from media day. I visited the park for the first time this year, yesterday. I am blown away in all honesty. Hit the ride for Early Entry and the park wasn't too packed, so the wait was not too bad. The only downfall of the queue was the audio...it wasn't loud enough (even with my hearing aids), or people were talking too loud. Seeing it themed and seeing the Maestro up top again was a welcome sight. I loved that the screens in the queue also were not FUNtv. I will admit, I did miss the busts in the windows just before boarding. The audio for the spirits could have been a little bit louder as well. I decided for my first ride, I wanted to do it without trying to score any points and just look at it. It was odd seeing the 2 opera boxes and then a gap, but honestly glad they did that. I loved how immersive everything was from the moment we saw No Legs Larry until the end. I'll skip the play by play. I'd have to say my favorite animatronic was the first time we see Hilda and her hair raised. Some of the scenes did feel a bit far away, so the details were hard to see (being a theater person, I would have loved to look at the tiny details). I rode it again a few hours later and did the game. The flashlights were pretty cool and I enjoyed that they would vibrate when you hit the ghost notes. I enjoyed it enough, that at the end of the night, I did 4 consecutive rides through Fast Lane. Again, was honestly blown away. Great addition for the park!

Let's use this thread to discuss. Food plans, meal options and perk treats.

It’s such a good ride! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For those who may have missed it, Kings Island has added a new "Military Days" event to their lineup! It runs May 22 through May 25. See the quote and screenshot for more details.

Totally not calling you a liar, or anything of the sort. Or trying to argue. Certainly had some great rides and seen some POV’s of a few bad ones. But today, it looked great. You can definitely tell they’re still tweaking things. I could hear the main theme music a lot more and almost all of the effects were working. Only things that were off were the “pop up” heads in the prop room and the final boiler blast worked, but the timing was off. Not trying to sound like an apologist or a fanboy, but I do believe the inconsistencies are more growing pains than lack of attention. The ride is a month old and I’m sure they’re a lot they’re still trying to figure out from upkeep standpoint. The ride deserves nothing but the best when it comes to things working consistently. We had a great ride today. Feeling optimistic about its future. (Gonna put on my new PT:ON baseball tee now that I’ve made myself sound like a thoosie apologist)

I wonder how much it would cost/ what would need to be done to get that water feature going again. Obviously I don't see them doing a full lake there again, but a smaller man made pond around the base of the water feature going up against the queue house and exit path kinda like the ponds that are in the Maverick and Sirens Curse lines could work.

They are filling it up. 😂

Patronizing folks is gross. Drop your superiority complex.

What if we get a line on opening day similar to when Banshee first opened for PT Opening Nightmare? 😅

If I recall someone made a mockup in one of the threads, but I'm assuming for about the first month or so they'll loop it back by Pumpkin Coaster, possibly going through the Peanuts Showplace theater as well (Which I still think would be cool if they put some of the old displays they used for the lobby of Encore in there). They used a similar setup for the final week or so of Boo Blasters, but I imagine Phantom's going to have a larger turnout.

Not sure I’ve seen this talked about yet but with how popular this new ride seems too be and the attention it’s getting if there are no plans for additional Queue lines, the current queue line indoors is VERY small I could see this having a line that wraps around well outside the indoor portion around the park, for the majority of the season too not just opening week. Will be interesting too see how this is addressed.

Never trust everything some rando claims to know on Reddit... except for this one time, it's for sure legit. I'm not necessarily shocked, we haven't had a new addition open alongside the park in years. I'm just disappointed that Phantom couldn't be the exception. But I've been waiting like 15 years for this, what's another few weeks? I just hope they announce a firm date instead of having a random soft opening which I miss, and they jump up and down in anger for not choosing to go that day.

Blah blah blah Orion yada yada. Back on topic. From Reddit, a user is claiming PT:ON won’t open until daily ops. Don’t think I can post any proof or validity here, but it’s out there. Personally, I’d rather them take their time and get it right.

From what I gather, in its current form it’s specifically a spacecraft that is meant to act as a transport to another planet- I believe the former form was a more vague experimental government project (sorta like how Firehawk was loosely themed.)

Nice Haunted Mansion reference

I thought this was the current theme, is it not? Back to the Phantom Theater construction progress: Did the International Street camera used to be higher up where we could see the alleyway behind Sweet Spot, or am I thinking of photos taken from the Eiffel Tower/something else? Also, how do we think the set pieces and animatronics are being shipped? Inside of a semi truck trailer/box truck up I-75? I think that would be the best method of transportation, but I also generally don't know how they could ship everything.

The story we know wasn’t the story it originally intended to have. IIRC the “meteor shower” and “distant planet” were part of the current “canon.” The original story, if I remember right, was more of XBase/A72 being a secret government base that investigated anomalies like Banshees, UFOs, Tree Monsters, Beasts, and basically all the wacky stuff KI was facing and Orion was just a secret government prototype. Correct me if I’m wrong or if I’m on the right track. Personally the current story is too…”specific” for my liking. The story we got focuses around surviving an oncoming meteor shower and rec colonizing a new planet. I feel like the idea of Orion just remaining a government prototype in a classified region of the park seems more on brand.

Ahh that's right....I guess I corelated it with later since it didn't open with it in 2012, but it was added after the season started.

It was added opening year (2012.)

Canada's Wonderland did this with Leviathan. I think a year or two after it opened.

Add a tunnel to the bottom of the first hill and give it a new name. Any name that has to be heavily explained to the average guest is probably not a good name, (see also Rougarou and Valravn). They could have accomplished the same story with the better name Zodiac and also called back to KI history. The park could even have a contest where they let the fans choose the new name for the coaster.

They need to revisit the story, do a bit of a relaunch.

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.

What Giga? We got 2 Hypers!

Put me in the camp that hasn’t been this excited about a new ride at Kings Island since Mystic Timbers debuted in 2017.

That's honestly a very bold thing to say considering we got a giga coaster in that timeframe.

What would be neat is if they had the scores included on the picture!

Oh, don't get me wrong I also have a lot of faith in SDR. Everything I've seen so far makes me believe that they will get it done in time for Opening Day, especially if they just need to install sets and such once it gets to the park. I'd assume that most of the major interior renovations were completed with the electrical work (whenever that was posted) and the rest is paint and installation. The parts that didn't look ready for installation were the lobby (queue) and exterior. As for the set pieces we know how some of the scenes look, like the dressing room hallway, parts of the prop room/boiler room, and one of Maestro's organs. I have a theory that the giant pipe organ that used to be between the living room and the dungeon will be reused in that same spot in the new ride. One thing I'm still curious about is how the scoring system will be handled. Will each score be on a screen at the end like in the Justice League rides, or just in each car like it's always been?

I have faith too , but honestly I am very excited and the last time I was anticipated for a new KI ride was Mystic Timbers! 😁

As of November it’s been said to be opening with the park in April, but I think it’s too early in construction/a liability for them to confirm that it is. I also won’t claim to know anything about construction but I assume there’s less room for error when retrofitting an indoor attraction with new props than there are with an outdoor project built from the ground up. But I choose to be optimistic. I have faith in Sally Dark Rides.

The exterior feels like something that would be last on the list, although I think they should really just get started whenever the weather clears up enough to actually start working. Nobody wants mid-April to come around and there still be a ton of missing paint/stucco/railings. Cedar Fair/Six Flags' track record for opening attractions on time has been absolutely abysmal these past few years, so I hope they're trying their best to keep to schedule. Would the crews installing the interior be the same ones working on the exterior? If not then I'd hope they can work concurrently rather than needing work on one to be done before the other begins. We haven't seen anything about PT:ON potentially being ready by Opening Day either, but hopefully the plan is to have it open with the park. I feel like in years past (pre-2021) we would've heard about a first rider charity auction by now as well.

I wonder what the construction timeframe will be for that. In my mind the exterior would probably be the last aspect of construction to be completed, but who knows. I wonder if when we get closing to opening daymare, we’ll get more on-site construction updates outside of Curtain Class episodes. Part of me wants them to save any photos from inside the ride to be saved so it’s more of a surprise, but I’m also desperate for any updates so who cares.

I'm predicting by sometime next month we'll see an update on the entrance. Well I'm hoping! 😅

I too like some of the others on here thought the Phantoms were too "cute" or "friendly" when I first saw them but the design has grown on me. In the original they were borderline creepy and I think that's the difference in the two attractions - original phantom they were meant to be creepy and haunted. The new one they are supposed to be engaging characters once again but they are a bit more family friendly. I think it has the potential to be a great ride and as I have said before I think it's great that people are being creative and not just bringing back a 30 year old ride. I know we still have beloved old dark rides at Disney or Knoebels but when you are creating something new for today's audiences I think it's natural that it changes a bit from what the expectations of a dark ride were in 1992. Oh I also don't think I've mentioned yet that I think the red "box seats" or doom buggies look better than even the original ones did. The greyish blue was classic of course but the red gives it a real restored theater vibe. Really digging the red ride vehicles

Absolutely they don't look the same but I think everyone knows that even if they create a carbon copy of the original somehow it still wouldn't be as good in the eyes of the original fans. So pleasing the original fans is not the goal. The goal is to bring back characters that are popular in park lore and to create a ride that original fans will enjoy because it's a new version of the original and create something that appeals to the average guest and to kids because while I know phantom theater is located on international Street technically it's so close to Planet Snoopy that alot of kids go through that building

100%, my dude. They look significantly better than the original figures. Not that they were bad or anything, but 34 years allows technology to develop in such a way that, on a surface level, makes them superior. The movement and articulation of the new Maestro when specifically compared to the original makes it obvious. To go further, yeah… I adore the art direction of the original ride. Everything about it. But I’m not going to sit here and say this new direction looks worse. I know that’s mostly objective, but come on: Ultimately, comparison is a thief of joy. I’m just hyped for what’s in store. Sally knows what they’re doing. Based on what little we’ve seen in the Curtain Call BTS series and via the filed plans, it seems like it’s going to be done right. Only time will tell…

I honestly love the new animatronics compared to the old ones and I've actually ridden the original PT. These animatronics look a lot more lively and interactive more so than the original PT animatronics. I'm just hoping it's going to be more of a dark ride than Boo Blasters meaning less bright lights. 😅

Depending on how much extra programming is involved, it should be relatively "easy" to switch out the screen media, LED lighting, etc. for a holiday overlay. Perhaps guests could be helping to recapture escaped jingle bells for a holiday concert at the Phantom Theater.

I think it's entirely possible that they just change the turrets instead of building a whole new facade onto the existing structure. Those look like they might be as easy to change as the top of the big Kings Island sign (like happened after Cedar Fair took over). That would at least make it look less castle-y. Above anything I hope they let it have a good color palette. The original looked nice but I don't know if beige and brown would work as well on the castle without something else being added. I do want the "Featuring" marquee overhang to return though.

They said "work on the facade would begin after the first of the year" so yeah that was mentioned. However, based on the blueprints it seems like the current entrance and bridge will remain, but I'm guessing they'll do some work on the castle itself to make it more like an opera house. I believe someone on here created a couple of mockup ideas awhile back on this thread or another thread.

Did anyone else interpret the new teaser video of mentioning a new exterior for the building? (I thought they said something about it)

I thought somewhere it was stated that the electrician's name would now be Rick, and that that would be the Rick Bastrup feature, no? Maybe in one of the text articles from October/November? Although looking back at the plans it does say Gus. Are Marty and Ralph the stage hands? So many characters are listed that I hadn't noticed before. According to the video, exterior work should be starting any day now. I wonder how much of it we might be able to see from the webcam. Very exciting times!

If I were to guess, I would say it’s Gus the electrician, basing off the we haven’t seen him in the animatronic list, but we’ve seen his body and switch.

So… help me out. Who’s this?

Here’s every animatronic (except one I guess, I’m not sure if they’re counting the gargoyle as one). I’m assuming some of the head sculpts will be reused for the main characters. I wonder if them being yellow within their model means they have facial movements (Which would align with Maestro and Larry well. The two oddballs with this theory are Hilda and the Boiler Men which I assume would talk but I after this new episode I also need to remember that it’s a homage to the original versus a remake. Also if Houdelini gets a voice that will be cool.) They all look fine here, and when judging the models with the physical figures we’ve seen I’m sure they’ll look fantastic!

Richard Doyle confirmed as maestro again, interesting to see where Rick bastrup will appear in the ride, here’s to April.

Seeing this set piece in Episode 2 is really getting me excited!

Whos counting down til midnight for Phantom Theater Episode 2? (Oh and also the new year...)

Love the new precedent of announcing Curtain Call episodes in advance so I don’t have to stress about a random drop on Thursdays. Starting the new year off right.