Phantom Theater

Leaning too much into making it cartoony and adding a lot of comedic scenes. From what we've seen so far, the characters are cartoon like. I don't mind that too much, but I loved Phantom Theater for being a haunted house. It feels like they're going with an almost comic book look with bright colors.

A friend shared these with me. Taken near a work area with the door wide open that employees could see. If not allowed, sorry, please delete. Seeing the rid system is neat, it's so much simpler than I imagined it to be.

Did not expect this!! I really thought it would be down for a couple months at least. I'll be there 10/8!

I am SO HAPPY. I never thought I'd see the day they bring Phantom Theater back in any way. I always looked at it as a dead idea. The stage show was great, but I didn't think it would lead to this. I definitely do not expect the animatronics to return in the same way they were, but I'm sure what Sally comes up with will be great. I'm just glad to see it back in the park.

One thing Kings Island can consider doing, and maybe all Cedar Fair parks, is offering free locker use. I spend a lot of time at Universal Studios now, and rides like Hulk and Velocicoaster are very strict on items being brought onto the ride, so much you have to pass metal detection before boarding. At KI, A lot of people may just take the risk of item loss to avoid dealing with paying for a locker. Being able to scan your pass or even just having a printed ticket you hang onto could potentially help with incidents like this.

I don't see Cedar Fair ever installing something like Phantom Theater at KI or any of their parks. I would love to see some kind of haunted attraction return to that building, but there would most likely be no kind of animatronics like seen on PT. Let's hope they see the absolute state of disrepair Boo Blasters is in and renovate sometime soon.

This sounds great and I hope more parks adopt this! I couldn't tell you the last time I used cash. Working in food and retail for 6 years, dealing with cash was annoying. People standing there, scrounging for change in their pockets/purse, handing me change after I've entered it into the register, making sure I have enough change before a shift, counting the drawer multiple times throughout a shift. I'm sure it will help with the flow of lines, although I'm not so sure how many people still use cash.

Yes I certainly did! (JoshuaEric is me, I didn't realize I had another account using my main email). I never even knew those existed. It was awesome to see everything working and I was in awe seeing all the guys arms working in the final tunnel with proper lighting. I can' tell you the last time I saw every one of them working, if ever.

I definitely think the entrance building needs some kind of overhaul. This website has been posted a ton but the concept art is awesome - http://matthunterross.com/kings-island. It's not a new building, just an addition of dormers and a large centerpiece. The idea of a legacy walk in Tower Gardens sounds great! I would hope to see lots of colorful banners around the park, maybe signs at the entrance of rides explaining their installation and any records they might have broken, & specialty food booths in different parts of the park. Definitely need to sell some kind of birthday cake lol

That is so exciting! Thanks @gforce1994. I hope someone can get some pics somehow. I hope to see that last tunnel fixed up, it is appalling how it looks now.

Yeah, I am looking forward to the new Marvel stuff they use at WDW -- they just can't use the properties Universal uses or the Marvel name. DL can use those properties, just not the Marvel name. I don't think Universal will ever give those properties up for the reasons in my original post.

I meant just the name Marvel. Disney can't use the Marvel name at WDW or Disneyland, that's why the new Marvel complex at California Adventure is called Avengers Campus.

I highly doubt Universal will EVER give up their Marvel properties, no matter how big the check is. WDW cannot use any of the properties that Universal uses. Those properties are Spider-man, Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four, and the Marvel name (which can't be used in any attraction name, WDW or Disneyland). Disney is free to use any other Marvel properties, such as Guardians of the Galaxy, which I believe they are installing at one of the WDW parks. Losing Marvel Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure would be a huge blow for Universal Orlando, especially since Spider-man is probably one of Universal greatest rides and would make the transition to Toon Lagoon awkward. Unless they have an IP as strong as Marvel to fill it with (Lord of the Rings??), I think Universal will hold that contract very close to them for a long time.

This was a fantastic read -- thank you! I can't believe I missed it in March. I definitely agree that PT was one of the boldest and most unique rides KI ever had. Haunted attractions are a dying breed, and even though I was very young when PT was removed, I still knew that KI had lost something very cool and unique. I hope to see a haunted attraction go back into that building sometime, but I don't believe that will ever happen. The omnimover system is definitely not made with shooting style dark rides in mind. It is very slow and the cars are so close together, its obvious it is meant for a dark ride with sets and characters with a story.

Sadly, I only go to experience HB Land in it's form between 2000-2005 when it was mixed with Nickelodeon Central. I barely remember it, mostly just Boulder Bumpers & the Jetson's ride. Nick U was okay IMO, much like most of Paramount's themes, it seemed very just slapped on and not really "themed". All of the rides from Nick U exist today in the exact same form, no difference in the ride experience, just a different name. The only ride to suffer from de-theming was Scooby's haunted castle, which isn't even Nick. Planet Snoopy seems very bright and well taken care of, and being themed around a classic comic strip and movies gives it longevity. From pictures I've seen, HB land looked to be the best. My vote went to Snoopy since I've experienced Nick U and can compare the two.