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Article: Designing Phantom Theater (Theme Park University)


TombRaiderFTW
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You guys, are making it so apparent that this ride needs a full re-do. It went from Phantom Theater, to SDATHC, (arguably a very poor version of Phantom Theater) to an even worse version of the Scooby ride in Boo Blasters. The last time there was a proper revision was 1992!

The spooky theme has been done to death; I think something along those lines would be tired and cheap considering it's been something similar for 20+ years.

If it's feasible, I'd like to see something on the level of the Calico Mine Ride at Knott's. That would be some serious coin I'm sure. There should be no blasters on this ride. There is so much more you can do these days if you want to make it interactive.

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At the VERY least, a blaster-free, charming, family dark ride themed to the Great Pumpkin would be incredible and appropriate. I don't even mind Sally's flat blacklight style and believe that it would lend itself just find to a Peanuts dark ride if it were done appropriately.

See their Gobbler Getaway as a way to make a cute, autumn-colored dark ride in blacklight that's NOT glowing phosphorescent blue and green like Boo Blasters.

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I think, for me, one of the main reasons BB is a poor ride is that the old PT ride is still there is parts. The cars are still there just slightly repainted. Where the cars were removed sits plywood that makes it look like something broke. The busts are still there just nailed over. Heck the ride still travels the same track. Most things either don't work or never did.

Plus a ride that the effects don't work unless you shoot them always bothers me. PT was a ride that felt like a show. BB is a ride that feels like a chore for my son to enjoy all of the moving objects.

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It's almost offensive to my theme park sensibilities that they bothered to keep the inverted busts and took the time to glue red LEDs onto their eyes before boarding them up. Like, what was wrong with that incredible and unique effect? And if you must replace it with generic spooky eyes, why "defile" (to sound dramatic) the busts beneath by purposefully putting the LED eyes over the statues' eyes? C'mon.

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  • 1 year later...

bumped as I know several of our newer members would love to read this...

And, because..../signal lost/

I vaguely remember reading this the first time around but I'm glad you bumped the thread as it was great to read again!

I do have one slight criticism of the ride. Heresy I know! But I thought one thing about it was a bit odd. Maestro just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the ride. He was freaking SCARY as a child, while nothing else about the ride really was. Overall it was mostly humorous, and tried to be more silly than scary. And the ride pulled this off PERFECTLY...except for Maestro. He truly was frightening to me as a child. I remember riding for the first time as a 6 or 7 year-old. You see Maestro in the queue and hear his creepy voice, and on the ride the first thing you see is Maestro. I still remember to this day closing my eyes throughout the rest of the ride. It wasn't until afterwards when my parents said it wasn't scary and explained some of the scenes that didn't sound so bad to me that I decided I'd try it again with my eyes open. Maestro still creeped me out but I loved the rest of the ride. My even younger brother was freaked out by Maestro so badly that he talked about him even at home and had to sleep with the lights on for a while because he was afraid Maestro would "get him". The rest of the ride was totally appropriate for a young child, and the ride is right there across from the kid's area, yet Maestro was absolutely freaky to us as children.

Then as a pre-teen and teen I thought it was lame. I just wanted to ride the coasters at that point. Then as an adult I outgrew KI altogether. So for a while I had no idea who the target audience for the ride was. It was too scary for kids, too lame for teens and not even on the radar of child-less adults. When I first found out about the ride being changed to a Scooby-themed shooter I remember thinking "yeah, that sounds like a good idea. MIB and Toy Story were great rides in Orlando, so it makes a lot of sense to try that out."

Then as an older adult, after the ride was gone and the underwhelming Boo Blasters now in its place, I have gained an appreciation for amusement parks again and rides like Phantom Theater. The music, the concept, the animatronics, and the theming of that ride were pretty outstanding for a seasonal amusement park. Even the queue was bearable to wait in when lines were long, and how good was that Pepper's Ghost scene? Over time I have come to appreciate that ride and how wonderful it was, and I still miss it every time I go back.

But I still don't really understand how Maestro fit in with the rest of the ride.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

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I think what hurts that location more than anything is the entrance being right in side of the kid side of the park. Even though some of the rides are not kid only rides (Eagle replacements, Surf Coaster, former Reptar ride, and the dark ride, Race for Your Life Charlie Brown).

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I think what hurts that location more than anything is the entrance being right in side of the kid side of the park. Even though some of the rides are not kid only rides (Eagle replacements, Surf Coaster, former Reptar ride, and the dark ride, Race for Your Life Charlie Brown).

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This is a very good point you bring up. You don't see a lot of the age groups you would be aiming at with this dark ride go by there often, or at least stay there. I only go by there if I actually want to ride Boo Blasters (rarely), or if I want to get to something quicker. Such as Diamondback, Gliders, a maze during Haunt, or something like that. If they were to put a dark ride I think they would put it somewhere else.
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You would be correct.

Also, half the capacity was lost, with half the Omnimovers being removed (every other one--alternating).

 

I know it's an old post, but the capacity was not lost. When half the ride vehicles were removed, the ride speed was also doubled. This means it maintained the same capacity.

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