Are Dark Rides Worth the Investment?

[SonofBaconator]

At multiple points in its history Kings Island has had a total four dark rides/enclosed attractions operating: Flight of Fear, The Crypt, Action Theater, and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. (You could argue we have had six with the scenes on Adventure Express and Mystic Timbers but I just consider them show sections) In the recent years the number of dark rides/enclosed attractions has dwindled to two with just Flight of Fear and Boo Blasters. The Crypt obviously had its issues and the Action Theater kinda lost its luster during its final years before it retired.

So what happened? Are dark rides not worth investing in? Are they too complicated to maintain? I know Disney and Universal parks have plenty of dark rides but those companies have the capital to pull it off. There have been a few dark rides that have bit the dust within the past decade: Curse of Darkastle, The Crypt and Action Theater are the only ones that come to mind but I know there's more I'm missing. 

With all this in mind, could we see more dark rides return to Kings Island and possibly other parks in the chain? I remember when people thought we'd get a Triotech dark ride like Wonder Mountain's Guardian which never happened. The Crypt building is still standing to many still speculate that something will be installed inside. What of Action Theater? Can it be brought back and operate or does it need to be overhauled? Look how long Boo Blasters has been at the park unchanged since 2010. 

[SnakePlissken]

35 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

At multiple points in its history Kings Island has had a total four dark rides/enclosed attractions operating: Flight of Fear, The Crypt, Action Theater, and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. (You could argue we have had six with the scenes on Adventure Express and Mystic Timbers but I consider them just consider them show sections) In the recent years the number of dark rides/enclosed attractions has dwindled to two with just Flight of Fear and Boo Blasters. The Crypt obviously had its issues and the Action Theater kinda lost its luster during its final years before it retired.

So what happened? Are dark rides not worth investing in? Are they too complicated to maintain? I know Disney and Universal parks have plenty of dark rides but those companies have the capital to pull it off. There have been a few dark rides that have bit the dust within the past decade: Curse of Darkastle, The Crypt and Action Theater are the only ones that come to mind but I know there's more I'm missing. 

With all this in mind, could we see more dark rides return to Kings Island and possibly other parks in the chain? I remember when people thought we'd get a Triotech dark ride like Wonder Mountain's Guardian which never happened. The Crypt building is still standing to many still speculate that something will be installed inside. What of Action Theater? Can it be brought back and operate or does it need to be overhauled? Look how long Boo Blasters has been at the park unchanged since 2010. 

Get rid of Boo Blasters and bring back an indoor log flume.

[goettablitz]

I have listened to many podcasts with park officials as well as design firms and it seem that the biggest challenge with a dark ride is the story.  If you have a familiar intellectual property such as any of the Disney story's or a famous movie or character (Tomb Raider, King Kong, Jurassic Park, Days of Thunder, James Bond, Justice League, Spiderman ect) then half of the battle is done from a design standpoint because the guests already have an idea of what is going on.  It is far more difficult to create a good, original intellectual property.  Six Flags has been using Justice League which it has rolled to most of its properties.  Universal doesn't really do dark rides without IP any more and Disney has moved away from it as well (the Disney higher ups have even said they are focusing on IP based attractions).  I don't think it is a coincidence that most of Kings Islands dark rides were IP based (generic mine train roller coaster and spooky lumber mill roller coaster don't count in my opinion as dark rides.  loosely themed yes but not dark rides).  One shining example of when Kings Island created their own characters and it really worked was Phantom Theater (the concept of haunted theater is pretty easy to understand).  Recently when Cedar Fair has done dark rides (Wonder Mountain, Voyage to the Iron Reef, Knotts Berry Tales) have all been park created IP.  I applaud Cedar Fair for creating their own original stories and rides but I think the biggest dark ride challenge Cedar Fair faces is their only IP is Peanuts.  The other issue even with IP based dark rides is that not all IP is created equal.  A park has to evaluate if an IP is strong enough or will translate well into a ride before they will invest in a multi million dollar attraction.

[Stoan]

10 hours ago, SnakePlissken said:

Get rid of Boo Blasters and bring back an indoor log flume.

Less capacity and higher costs of operation, and think of the insurance!

Get rid of Boo Blasters, and bring Boo Blasters 2.0: AR Edition! 

[gforce1994]

I think they are, as long as they are updated. Look at the Haunted Mansion and POTC, two quality dark rides, periodically updated, are still crowd favorites.

[Shaggy]

4 hours ago, goettablitz said:

I have listened to many podcasts with park officials as well as design firms and it seem that the biggest challenge with a dark ride is the story.  If you have a familiar intellectual property such as any of the Disney story's or a famous movie or character (Tomb Raider, King Kong, Jurassic Park, Days of Thunder, James Bond, Justice League, Spiderman ect) then half of the battle is done from a design standpoint because the guests already have an idea of what is going on.  It is far more difficult to create a good, original intellectual property.  Six Flags has been using Justice League which it has rolled to most of its properties.  Universal doesn't really do dark rides without IP any more and Disney has moved away from it as well (the Disney higher ups have even said they are focusing on IP based attractions).  I don't think it is a coincidence that most of Kings Islands dark rides were IP based (generic mine train roller coaster and spooky lumber mill roller coaster don't count in my opinion as dark rides.  loosely themed yes but not dark rides).  One shining example of when Kings Island created their own characters and it really worked was Phantom Theater (the concept of haunted theater is pretty easy to understand).  Recently when Cedar Fair has done dark rides (Wonder Mountain, Voyage to the Iron Reef, Knotts Berry Tales) have all been park created IP.  I applaud Cedar Fair for creating their own original stories and rides but I think the biggest dark ride challenge Cedar Fair faces is their only IP is Peanuts.  The other issue even with IP based dark rides is that not all IP is created equal.  A park has to evaluate if an IP is strong enough or will translate well into a ride before they will invest in a multi million dollar attraction.

While Peanuts will never, ever hold a candle to the HB or Nick themeing, I do think the park is missing a HUGE opportunity to add a Peanuts-themed dark ride.  Its a property with existing, successful story lines - thanks to the annual repeats of television specials "Its the Great Pumpkin", "A Charlie Brown Christmas" etc.  They could restore, and improve upon, the original "TV Set" exterior and theme the interior to the different scenes from the seasonal televisions specials.   Frankly, its a win win replacement theme, and frankly, would likely enchant kids on whom the current kids area overlay is lost. 

I would love it if they re-converted the current Boo Blasters attraction to a Peanuts themed boat ride.  But the reality is... the reasons that the "boat" conveyance system was eliminated was due to the complications of dealing with water inside a building, constant circulatory upkeep, deterioration due to humidity, and mold & mildew issues.  Also, the decision to add the "doom buggy" style conveyance system was due to the need to force the perspective of the riders in Phantom Theater. (To deny riders the ability to look around and see how the tricks were being done.)

I once asked the park execs back in Paramount days about the decision to remove Phantom Theater and add SDATHC - specifically in a year when they added a major thrill ride (Delirium.)  I was told that, at the time, they primarily considered the SDATHC conversation as a necessary improvement to an aged and maintenance-heavy attraction.  They coupled it with another install in order to pull people from both the thrill-seeking, and family oriented audiences(obviously.)  Basically, they felt like updating a dark ride in the kids area was not a big enough marketing draw to see an attendance and revenue increase - but the deterioration of the ride necessitated it be changed.

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

I once asked the park execs back in Paramount days about the decision to remove Phantom Theater and add SDATHC - specifically in a year when they added a major thrill ride (Delirium.)  I was told that, at the time, they primarily considered the SDATHC conversation as a necessary improvement to an aged and maintenance-heavy attraction.  They coupled it with another install in order to pull people from both the thrill-seeking, and family oriented audiences(obviously.)  Basically, they felt like updating a dark ride in the kids area was not a big enough marketing draw to see an attendance and revenue increase - but the deterioration of the ride necessitated it be changed.

I can understand that. I remember seeing old POVs that the animatronics didn't age well due to the material they were made with so adding a bunch of flat ghosts and still figures made sense from an operations standpoint. Still, I wish Paramount had invested more into keeping the theater around longer and updating it as the years went on. 

If they turned it into a Peanuts themed dark ride they'd have to remove the lazier tag aspect because they don't want you shooting at Charlie Brown. Unfortunately I think the gun experience will never leave as it gives the younger audience something different to do besides just sitting and watching scenes go by.

@goettablitz you are correct in that IPs are hard to come up with, especially if you want to do something different for each park. I still think it could be pulled off though. Phantom Theater was basically a spin off of the Haunted Mansion that you see at Disney Parks and Snake River Expedition is reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise and other themed boat rides.

I remember when I was watching an old KI (or maybe Coney Island) documentary where someone said that you didn't really see a lot of animation in the midwest since you only really get it either in Florida or California. If the park brought in some more dark rides with generic IPs, people might get a similar experience to Disney or Universal. I'm still impressed with the animation I see when I go to Cedar Point and that's nowhere near Disney/Universal quality.

[SnakePlissken]

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

While Peanuts will never, ever hold a candle to the HB or Nick themeing, I do think the park is missing a HUGE opportunity to add a Peanuts-themed dark ride.  Its a property with existing, successful story lines - thanks to the annual repeats of television specials "Its the Great Pumpkin", "A Charlie Brown Christmas" etc.  They could restore, and improve upon, the original "TV Set" exterior and theme the interior to the different scenes from the seasonal televisions specials.   Frankly, its a win win replacement theme, and frankly, would likely enchant kids on whom the current kids area overlay is lost. 

I would love it if they re-converted the current Boo Blasters attraction to a Peanuts themed boat ride.  But the reality is... the reasons that the "boat" conveyance system was eliminated was due to the complications of dealing with water inside a building, constant circulatory upkeep, deterioration due to humidity, and mold & mildew issues.  Also, the decision to add the "doom buggy" style conveyance system was due to the need to force the perspective of the riders in Phantom Theater. (To deny riders the ability to look around and see how the tricks were being done.)

I once asked the park execs back in Paramount days about the decision to remove Phantom Theater and add SDATHC - specifically in a year when they added a major thrill ride (Delirium.)  I was told that, at the time, they primarily considered the SDATHC conversation as a necessary improvement to an aged and maintenance-heavy attraction.  They coupled it with another install in order to pull people from both the thrill-seeking, and family oriented audiences(obviously.)  Basically, they felt like updating a dark ride in the kids area was not a big enough marketing draw to see an attendance and revenue increase - but the deterioration of the ride necessitated it be changed.

I wonder what Disney did to overcome those problems since they have the Pirates ride and Splash Mountain and used to have some at Epcot too I think.

[cdubbs727]

20 minutes ago, SnakePlissken said:

I wonder what Disney did to overcome those problems since they have the Pirates ride and Splash Mountain and used to have some at Epcot too I think.

I think it just comes down to Disney having a lot more money. 

[Shaggy]

28 minutes ago, SnakePlissken said:

I wonder what Disney did to overcome those problems since they have the Pirates ride and Splash Mountain and used to have some at Epcot too I think.

I think it comes down to re-investment capital.  Disney parks have a year-round bountiful cash flow designated for the significant upkeep and updating of rides.  Even so, they still are forced to close rides for definitive periods of time for extensive re-hab.  It wasnt widely revealed, but one of the reasons the original ride in the Norway Pavilion in EPCOT was altered to "Frozen" was because there was significant water damage & mold inside the building.  That, and of course the fact that the ride was in need of an overall change due to low ridership.

There's no real fair comparison between a cash cow like Disney - who see's an average attendance of 53,000 people a day, 365 days a year (just in the Florida parks) and a seasonally operated regional park that operates a collective 5 months out of the year.  Add in the fact that Disney has a whole studio brand pushing the theme of the rides in the park.  The rides themes dont necessarily wear out, because they are constantly in a viewing rotation in many, many media channels.

A regional theme park, like KI, must often make a choice to completely replace an aged attraction since they need to be able to market it as "new." Disney has the opposite issue - they have to maintain them because they are so beloved and guests would revolt if they removed them.

[medford]

Its a small world is a boring experience (from my perspective), low thrill and developed in a time where technology is way behind what could be done today.....yet the lines are always long and can you imagine the complaints they would get if they removed it?  As shaggy said, that is a whole different set of issues.

I like Boo Blasters as a "shoot" em up fun, immersive family experience.  There is even a back story to the building and ride, however since they got rid of the pre-ride experience that story is mostly lost.  However, it needs vast updating.  Make all the guns work well (too many don't or are inconstant).  I doubt we'd see something like this at a season park, but imagine if they revamped it so it took back over the entire building, made all the cars individually movable (I think that is how tower of terror cars work) and programed so that each car takes a different course thru the maze,  Each ride would be a little different than the last and perhaps you'd have to ride it 4-5 times thru to actually see and visit each room?  How cool would something like that be?  Something like that would even allow an individual car to pause in a room or circle around an object offering different angles to "attack" the ghost from.  I can only imagine the controls on something like that would be a fortune, but it could really enhance the experience.

[CoastersRZ]

I agree that having a Snoopy themed dark ride to replace Boo Blasters would be a perfect fit for KI.  I would imagine that it would not be that hard (or expensive) to do.  It would also fit with the Planet Snoopy area better.  Keep in mind that the ride is more or less the same ride as what opened in 2003, just with the Scooby references removed.  It would be nice to see a refresh.  I would enjoy a Snoopy themed ride (and I know my son would too). 

I wonder if they would have to jump through some hoops/licensing agreements with Peanuts Worldwide, LLC .  Peanuts Worldwide is 20% owned by Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, and DHX Media owning 41% and Sony Music Entertainment Japan owning 39%. Presumably, they would have to give sign off (and maybe royalties) from Cedar Fair for the use of the Charlie Brown characters.  It looks like Cedar Fair last renewed their license agreement with Peanuts Worldwide in 2017, to the 2025 season.

https://ir.cedarfair.com/news/news-details/2017/Cedar-Fair-and-Peanuts-Worldwide-Extend-Peanuts-Licensing-Agreement-to-2025/default.aspx

[XjoshhyX]

I'd love to have a modern reimagination of Phantom Theater back around. I get that Peanuts theme's would take the priority there, but the hit of nostalgia with some upgrades would be extra cool.

[SonofBaconator]

If they rethemed BBoBH to the Peanuts, they could do it two ways. They could theme it to the different tv specials and comics where guess pass by different seasons and stories much like the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride at the Disney parks. The second way they could do it, and this would be harder and require more work, would be to keep it one generic theme throughout the regular operating season and then alter parts of the ride scenes for holidays like Halloween and Christmas.

[Gabe]

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

I think it comes down to re-investment capital.  Disney parks have a year-round bountiful cash flow designated for the significant upkeep and updating of rides.  Even so, they still are forced to close rides for definitive periods of time for extensive re-hab.  It wasnt widely revealed, but one of the reasons the original ride in the Norway Pavilion in EPCOT was altered to "Frozen" was because there was significant water damage & mold inside the building.  That, and of course the fact that the ride was in need of an overall change due to low ridership.

There's no real fair comparison between a cash cow like Disney - who see's an average attendance of 53,000 people a day, 365 days a year (just in the Florida parks) and a seasonally operated regional park that operates a collective 5 months out of the year.  Add in the fact that Disney has a whole studio brand pushing the theme of the rides in the park.  The rides themes dont necessarily wear out, because they are constantly in a viewing rotation in many, many media channels.

A regional theme park, like KI, must often make a choice to completely replace an aged attraction since they need to be able to market it as "new." Disney has the opposite issue - they have to maintain them because they are so beloved and guests would revolt if they removed them.

Not to mention, Norway decided not to renew its sponsorship of the attraction, which offset much of the cost of operating it.  As in Future World, sponsorships lapsed, which led to decreased maintenance budgets, which, over time, caught up to them such that a ton of $ now has to be poured into the park to keep it relevant (but with plenty of free IP to go around).

[dbackdreams]

20 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

If they rethemed BBoBH to the Peanuts, they could do it two ways. They could theme it to the different tv specials and comics where guess pass by different seasons and stories much like the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride at the Disney parks. The second way they could do it, and this would be harder and require more work, would be to keep it one generic theme throughout the regular operating season and then alter parts of the ride scenes for holidays like Halloween and Christmas.

i dont like the boo ride.  i cant get any pounts.  boucifer is like ding dong a meanie

[Skibum]

I would not consider Flight of Fear a dark ride. It is just an enclosed roller coaster.  Disney does not consider Space Mountain or Rock-n-Roller Coaster to be dark rides.  However, that is quibbling about non-critical details.  I would really like to see a boat ride come back like the Enchanted Voyage.  They could do it to the Peanuts IP and use Sally Dark Ride animatronics plus a Mack flume.  Just a small drop, ala Pirates of the Caribbean, but not for thrills.  Another idea would be using a fantasy setting with dragons or other projection-styled creatures.  They could rip out Amazon Falls and Invertigo and put the ride building in that space.  Then, the Action Zone could be rethemed to a fantasy area with Banshee, maybe retheme The Bat (not necessary), and retheme Delirium.

[goettablitz]

I have said before on this site that i think it could be a smart move to renovate Boo Blasters.  Remove all the sets and leave the omnimover ride system in place and create a triotech, mainly screen based dark ride there based on the Peanuts characters.  Then have seasonal versions based off of the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown Christmas.

As an alternative i think it would be great to recreate Phantom Theater, again primarily has a screen based ride.

[HandsUp]

I get it about a lack of IP. Plus, Cedar Fair seems to be more about thrill rides in general. That said, I would love an addition or a re-design of Boo Blasters. I'd really like a dark ride that was straight up scary. I was really impressed with Gobbler Getaway at Holiday World--It was a lot of fun for everyone with a great narrative that was easy to follow. 

[Joshua]

I would like to see them keep the Boo Blasters building as a "kiddie" dark ride and build a new, more thrilling one (perhaps themed to PT) in another area of the park. That way it could be a little "scarier." 

But perhaps not too scary that families with older children can't ride it.  

[cdubbs727]

6 hours ago, goettablitz said:

I have said before on this site that i think it could be a smart move to renovate Boo Blasters.  Remove all the sets and leave the omnimover ride system in place and create a triotech, mainly screen based dark ride there based on the Peanuts characters.  Then have seasonal versions based off of the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown Christmas.

As an alternative i think it would be great to recreate Phantom Theater, again primarily has a screen based ride.

I have no love lost for Boo Blasters (although both of my kids love it; the kid factor is why it's still around). A Peanuts attraction just seems a no-brainer. But man, I really don't want anything screen-based. It just doesn't work for me unless you can put the research and engineering to make it really immersive (and even Disney and Universal struggle with this). Animatronics are a charmer, but I get why they aren't used much. 

I was of the right age for Smurfs Enchanted Voyage; it was the first ride I ever went on at KI and I loved it. The narrative of it was so simple -- you floated through and watched the Smurfs do whatever they did throughout the year. You could easily come up with something similar for Peanuts, even if a boat ride would likely be out of the question for reasons mentioned above. And there's enough nostalgic appeal for Peanuts that I think it would be a popular ride. 

But I also loved Phantom Theater, maybe not as much as Smurfs (my theory: whatever was in that place when you were 8 is your favorite thing that's been in that place). But it was a really solid, fun dark ride, especially for a regional amusement park. The Pepper's Ghost illusion was fantastic in the big theater sequence, the animatronics were good and some of the effects were a lot of fun (the boiler at the end). 

I'd love to see something innovative and fun put in the Tomb Raider/Crypt building. Like I said, I'm not a fan of screens. But if they did decide to go that route, why not put something unique in that building? (I also have no qualms about them tearing it down completely). 

[goettablitz]

1 hour ago, cdubbs727 said:

I have no love lost for Boo Blasters (although both of my kids love it; the kid factor is why it's still around). A Peanuts attraction just seems a no-brainer. But man, I really don't want anything screen-based. It just doesn't work for me unless you can put the research and engineering to make it really immersive (and even Disney and Universal struggle with this). Animatronics are a charmer, but I get why they aren't used much. 

I was of the right age for Smurfs Enchanted Voyage; it was the first ride I ever went on at KI and I loved it. The narrative of it was so simple -- you floated through and watched the Smurfs do whatever they did throughout the year. You could easily come up with something similar for Peanuts, even if a boat ride would likely be out of the question for reasons mentioned above. And there's enough nostalgic appeal for Peanuts that I think it would be a popular ride. 

But I also loved Phantom Theater, maybe not as much as Smurfs (my theory: whatever was in that place when you were 8 is your favorite thing that's been in that place). But it was a really solid, fun dark ride, especially for a regional amusement park. The Pepper's Ghost illusion was fantastic in the big theater sequence, the animatronics were good and some of the effects were a lot of fun (the boiler at the end). 

I'd love to see something innovative and fun put in the Tomb Raider/Crypt building. Like I said, I'm not a fan of screens. But if they did decide to go that route, why not put something unique in that building? (I also have no qualms about them tearing it down completely). 

I too would love it if we got an all or mostly animatronic dark ride but seeing the way things are going with Cedar Fair and triotech and Six Flags with Justice League I don't know if it will happen.

[dbackdreams]

Fix boo ride are make a new one!  What if they did Spiderman i like Spidey

[westcoaster]

I think we could be a Knotts park.. some more dark rides well themed. Not all shoot em up or video screen

[exscream team]

Bring back the Phantom Theatre

[purdude86]

I think it's a tough question. I think dark rides really round out a parks ride collection and can elevate a park as a whole, but an individual dark ride is not going to have the huge impact on attendance that a big coaster or even a thrilling flat ride would have. It can influence people's decisions on where to go but they don't really think about it as a whole. Also to keep them going strong after years it takes a lot of upkeep and money. People keep pointing out how great they can be an using examples of rides like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean or Spider-Man at Universal. But these are far from affordable to a park like Kings Island. Haunted Mansion would cost $45M to build today,, that's almost double the biggest investment the park has made.

Also as mentioned above it can be hard to really get a good story across if it's not well known to sot hat can hold stuff back. This is where Kings Island could at least have a step up. With Boo Blasters practically in Planet Snoopy it could easily be converted into a Peanuts dark ride which would be well known and liked. Also fans of the park would love to see a return of Phantom Theater. Would be great to see two true dark rides in the park. Especially they could do interactive with Peanuts and classic one where you just ride through with Phantom. 

I do think that Cedar Fair has done well with some of their recent ones like Voyage to the Iron Reef and Knott's Beary Tales could be good. I like the idea of building stories for areas of their parks and could attach that to a ride. I think Mystic Timbers could be a good foundation for a dark ride akin to Iron Reef at KI. Can see elements of its theming throughout Rivertown and could even connect The Beast into it. Could put it where The Crypt was. I do hope to see more parks add them in, really think Cedar Point could use one as well to round out the park.

[Oldschool75]

While Peanuts will never, ever hold a candle to the HB or Nick themeing, I do think the park is missing a HUGE opportunity to add a Peanuts-themed dark ride.  Its a property with existing, successful story lines - thanks to the annual repeats of television specials "Its the Great Pumpkin", "A Charlie Brown Christmas" etc.  They could restore, and improve upon, the original "TV Set" exterior and theme the interior to the different scenes from the seasonal televisions specials.   Frankly, its a win win replacement theme, and frankly, would likely enchant kids on whom the current kids area overlay is lost. 
I would love it if they re-converted the current Boo Blasters attraction to a Peanuts themed boat ride.  But the reality is... the reasons that the "boat" conveyance system was eliminated was due to the complications of dealing with water inside a building, constant circulatory upkeep, deterioration due to humidity, and mold & mildew issues.  Also, the decision to add the "doom buggy" style conveyance system was due to the need to force the perspective of the riders in Phantom Theater. (To deny riders the ability to look around and see how the tricks were being done.)
I once asked the park execs back in Paramount days about the decision to remove Phantom Theater and add SDATHC - specifically in a year when they added a major thrill ride (Delirium.)  I was told that, at the time, they primarily considered the SDATHC conversation as a necessary improvement to an aged and maintenance-heavy attraction.  They coupled it with another install in order to pull people from both the thrill-seeking, and family oriented audiences(obviously.)  Basically, they felt like updating a dark ride in the kids area was not a big enough marketing draw to see an attendance and revenue increase - but the deterioration of the ride necessitated it be changed.

I think with all the problems you mention, current technology should be able to resolve those issues. There are a lot of new mold resistant materials, new more efficient ventilation systems, a lot items can me less mechanical. I really thing they could do it and at a lot less cost of the original EV.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SonofBaconator]

It seems like screens are the affordable way to go without breaking the bank. I myself am a fan of practical affects and props
 

[purdude86]

On 6/9/2020 at 8:00 AM, Shaggy said:

While Peanuts will never, ever hold a candle to the HB or Nick themeing, I do think the park is missing a HUGE opportunity to add a Peanuts-themed dark ride.  Its a property with existing, successful story lines - thanks to the annual repeats of television specials "Its the Great Pumpkin", "A Charlie Brown Christmas" etc.  They could restore, and improve upon, the original "TV Set" exterior and theme the interior to the different scenes from the seasonal televisions specials.   Frankly, its a win win replacement theme, and frankly, would likely enchant kids on whom the current kids area overlay is lost. 

I could see the holidays theme work well as it would be very similar to what the Smurf's boat ride was like as it went through the different seasons. I tend to prefer an actual story to random scenes but as it would be aimed at kids and families more so I think it would work alright still. I might just keep it focused on the fall holidays as they are the most well known specials and it would allow for more scenes to tell with them. If they tried to do all of them each would only get about one, but could do truncated stories of Great Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. If they wanted to keep it interactive could incorporate "falling leaves" as the targets too since it would tie in with the overall season, though maybe switch it to snowflakes for the Christmas portion.

[SonofBaconator]

I think if it came down to it KI could come up with some pretty basic IPs. I myself had the idea of theming the old Crypt building to an abandoned mining company.

Also I doubt KI would ever build a ground up dark ride so they'd have to work with existing structures: the Crypt building, Action Theater, & Boo Blasters.

I'm no engineer so I don't know what I'm suggesting is feasible but have an indoor/outdoor wild mouse or infinity coaster that's heavily themed for the Crypt building. That building was built for a Top spin so I don't know how good it would house anything else.

Boo Blasters and the Action Theater could just be given an overhaul where BBoBH can either return to Phantom Theater or something entirely new and Action Theater could have changing shows