Phantom Theater Encore Reviews

[beastfan11]

All right, I know. It’s Reddit. But… maybe if we’re talking about the ride returning enough it’ll come back. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

10 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

All right, I know. It’s Reddit. But… maybe if we’re talking about the ride returning enough it’ll come back. 

It really depends on what employee was asking. There are definitely some higher up employees who roam the park and are more in the know. On the other hand, there are thousands of seasonal workers who don’t know anything. However, I think there might be some merit to what the employee said because in my opinion the interaction sounds like was from someone who would be a higher up employee.

[matt112986]

15 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

It really depends on what employee was asking. There are definitely some higher up employees who roam the park and are more in the know. On the other hand, there are thousands of seasonal workers who don’t know anything. However, I think there might be some merit to what the employee said because in my opinion the interaction sounds like was from someone who would be a higher up employee.

An employee running the kiddie train said the same to my sister, take that for what you will.

[brenthodge]

May be nothing, but somehow I feel like theyve laid a great big Easter egg in the KI theatre. The big “announcement “ might be hinted at 4x a day 6 days a week. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

19 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

May be nothing, but somehow I feel like theyve laid a great big Easter egg in the KI theatre. The big “announcement “ might be hinted at 4x a day 6 days a week. 

Maybe the last showing of the summer will be followed up by an announcement in the Kings Island Theater.

[BoddaH1994]

25 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

May be nothing, but somehow I feel like theyve laid a great big Easter egg in the KI theatre. The big “announcement “ might be hinted at 4x a day 6 days a week. 

I'm hoping for the same thing; however, I think next year would be too soon. What if they did this show and their research was wrong and no one cared? What if people didn't get it? What if the nostalgia didn't play off the way they wanted? It's one thing to have a failed show, it's another to have a failed show followed up by a very expensive failed ride.

I'm sure they were correctly confident that the show would work, but the far more likely sequence of events is:

1. Show is pitched

2. Show launches

3. Show goes over very well and people start talking

4. People talking puts a worm in the ear of Cedar Fair

5. New Phantom Theatre begins development

As I said before, if a "new" Phantom Theatre s less of a recreation of the old ride and more of a 2D cutout shooting thing then I'd rather just stick with the memories of the old ride than have its legacy *******ized. Of course, time will tell.

[chad_1138]

Saw again for the 4th time today.  There was a different actor playing The Maestro.  He did a great job.  Curious to see if he is just filling in for a day or if they had a change.

[BoddaH1994]

Just now, chad_1138 said:

Saw again for the 4th time today.  There was a different actor playing The Maestro.  He did a great job.  Curious to see if he is just filling in for a day or if they had a change.

There is a Maestro and a "swing" that can cover most of the positions. You probably saw the swing in that particular show, which gave the Meastro that show off. 

[beastfan11]

9 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I'm hoping for the same thing; however, I think next year would be too soon. What if they did this show and their research was wrong and no one cared? What if people didn't get it? What if the nostalgia didn't play off the way they wanted? It's one thing to have a failed show, it's another to have a failed show followed up by a very expensive failed ride.

I'm sure they were correctly confident that the show would work, but the far more likely sequence of events is:

1. Show is pitched

2. Show launches

3. Show goes over very well and people start talking

4. People talking puts a worm in the ear of Cedar Fair

5. New Phantom Theatre begins development

As I said before, if a "new" Phantom Theatre s less of a recreation of the old ride and more of a 2D cutout shooting thing then I'd rather just stick with the memories of the old ride than have its legacy *******ized. Of course, time will tell.

I feel like there’s always been a lot of “buzz” around the ride and bringing it back in some capacity, although your timeline for green lighting the project would make sense. If it were to return, it’d need to be a very smart revival of the original concept. 
 

I look at stuff like the Mystic Timbers shed and have faith that they’d have the ability to pull it off IF they wanted to go that route. The easy thing to do would be to do an easy retheme of Boo Blasters, add sone screen based effects, and make sure the guns work properly. That would be incredibly disappointing, and as you said…. Eh. No thanks. 
 

But a nice overhaul of the current ride setup with a combination of physical sets, basic animatronics, and screen based effects could make for great experience that would be welcome by fans of the original ride and newbies all the same. Plus, the park would never be in a situation where an IP refresh would be required a la Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle since you’re working with original characters. 
 

And before it’s brought up, there are plenty of smaller parks that operate dark rides with basic animatronics and physical sets. So there’s no “it’s too expensive to operate” excuses applicable. It’s absolutely feasible if done correctly. That argument reminds me of the “Winterfest is never returning because of X” posts that circled around for years. Yet, it’s arguable that Winterfest has overtaken Halloween Haunt as the more popular event. 

[brenthodge]

Another “owned” IP are the characters they created for Carnivale. Maybe BOOblasters could become a permanent “Carnivale capers” attraction hosted by Marty P Gras with an interactive “race around the world” shooter ride with the scavenger hunt characters. They were already very flat-cartoon style. Would be an interesting way to keep that ride in International street. Maybe redo the exterior/entrance to feel more a part of International Street. Could easily get a “Holidays around the world” overlay for Winterfest. Then a  “new” phantom theatre could go between The Racer turn arounds (old action theatre) in a ride with physical sets, animation on props and architecture (doors etc) the interact with screen based characters. Use the original illustration style of the characters, and if done right, screens would be a better match to those great original renderings. No shooting, not a heat by beat retelling of the tide, but the same basic concept. Maybe even based on the show in that it’s an encore in a “rediscovered” abandoned theatre. 

 

[MDMC01]

19 hours ago, brenthodge said:

May be nothing, but somehow I feel like theyve laid a great big Easter egg in the KI theatre. The big “announcement “ might be hinted at 4x a day 6 days a week. 

Reminds me of how I thought Cirque: Origins vaguely hinted at Mystic Timbers (vines/forest theme around the stage, but everything else had nothing to do with it) and Gravity vaguely hinted at Orion (space theme)

[Orion742]

20 hours ago, beastfan11 said:

All right, I know. It’s Reddit. But… maybe if we’re talking about the ride returning enough it’ll come back. 

Mike Koontz also said at Coaster Stock that one of his Goals was to update Boo Blasters… I think it is all coming together. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 minute ago, Orion742 said:

Mike Koontz also said at Coaster Stock that one of his Goals was to update Boo Blasters… I think it is all coming together. 

I still think they would need to have an interactive piece like the guns to keep the younger guests engaged. 

[disco2000]

22 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I still think they would need to have an interactive piece like the guns to keep the younger guests engaged. 

But how many that remember Phantom Theater were that younger guest at the time and have fond memories of it despite no interactive piece?

New poll Lol - how old were you when you first rode Phantom Theater and how old were you in 2002 when it disappeared?

[BeeastFarmer]

31 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

I still think they would need to have an interactive piece like the guns to keep the younger guests engaged. 

I was fully engaged during the Enchanted Voyage and Smurf's Enchanted Voyage.

[brenthodge]

I think you could make it engaging in 2023 without shooting at stuff, but you’d probably need to have the characters be screen or projection to be dynamic enough. There’s a reason Chuck E. Cheese (and even Disney to some degree) are ditching the creaky animatronics. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

21 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

I was fully engaged during the Enchanted Voyage and Smurf's Enchanted Voyage.

Kids are used to having a device on their hand at all times now. I don't think the old PT or Smurfs would be able to fly today, but maybe I am wrong.

[disco2000]

13 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Kids are used to having a device on their hand at all times now. I don't think the old PT or Smurfs would be able to fly today, but maybe I am wrong.

Sadly you are probably correct....

How many current teens on this site grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons?  Is that even a programming choice anymore....

[BeeastFarmer]

11 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Kids are used to having a device on their hand at all times now. I don't think the old PT or Smurfs would be able to fly today, but maybe I am wrong.

Yes and no.  I have been to the PTE show twice now, and I have seen 4 little kids (they looked anywhere from 4 to 10ish) absolutely mesmerized by the show, without anything in their hands.

And I know that this might tread on TOS, so please edit out if needed.  I am surprised that shooter rides have any place in a family friendly amusement park in today's day and age.  The talk is about normalizing gun violence that leads to things later on in life, then why would we do this with 4, 5 and 6 year olds?  There is also a reason there are no more shooting galleries.  But Cedar Point has skeletons shooting at each other.

[KIEagle33]

6 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Sadly you are probably correct....

How many current teens on this site grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons?  Is that even a programming choice anymore....

I have seen it on a few channels, but not many unfortunately.

[MaestroJr]

I would love a Phantom Theater overhaul of Boo Blasters even if Blasters are included. Even just the music and cardboard cutouts would be an improvement kinda like at Epcot how Journey in Imagination with Figment is way better than Journey into Your Imagination, but defiantly not as good as Journey into Imagination. 

[RingMaster]

If they were to indeed retheme Boo Boo's Blasters, I'd fully expect the park to go the route of Knott's with how they handled the "return" of their Bear-y Tales dark ride, using a hybridization of screens and physical sets/props. Granted, Knott's had it slightly easier because it was really just a re-skin of what was already a 4D shooter attraction (Voyage to the Iron Reef). In the case of Phantom Theater RIP (Resurrection In Progress), we'd be looking at a more substantial overhaul of the former attraction, with maybe a brand new ride system having to be installed.

[brenthodge]

Ok-something is definitely up. They wouldn’t go to all the trouble of hosting a Q&A with Rick Bastrup after the 5 pm show on Weds just to promote a stage show. Something is brewing. 
https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2022/july/kings-island-to-host-qa-session-july-13-with-phantom-theater-designer-rick-bastrup?fbclid=IwAR0M-1J-gLTXU8NQtUFSHT3Ovfq2ULy1R_SdaGRt3BJ0zHiynWncJ8fvR3g&fs=e&s=cl

[DoomPlague]

In my experience, kids just get frustrated with the guns on Boo Blasters. I know modern thinking is that all kids are constantly playing games all the time and have some level of ADHD requiring interaction but reality says otherwise.

[FUN&ONLY!]

29 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Ok-something is definitely up. They wouldn’t go to all the trouble of hosting a Q&A with Rick Bastrup after the 5 pm show on Weds just to promote a stage show. Something is brewing. 
https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2022/july/kings-island-to-host-qa-session-july-13-with-phantom-theater-designer-rick-bastrup?fbclid=IwAR0M-1J-gLTXU8NQtUFSHT3Ovfq2ULy1R_SdaGRt3BJ0zHiynWncJ8fvR3g&fs=e&s=cl

I really hope that if Phantom Theater comes back, it comes roaring back, and it is not just as a “cheap” reskin of Boo Blasters. I know Phantom Theater was originally where Boo Blasters is, but I would not mind a new Phantom Theater going elsewhere. Kings Island needs more indoor rides. Boo Blasters and Phantom Theater can coexist.

[KI Guy]

On 6/29/2022 at 7:54 PM, IndyGuy4KI said:

Kids are used to having a device on their hand at all times now. I don't think the old PT or Smurfs would be able to fly today, but maybe I am wrong.

I know this is a common sentiment, but think it might be overblown. In the 90's it was Game Boys and now it's smartphones.

Disney proves that non-interactive dark rides can still work. They have many, many dark rides without laser guns.

[beastfan11]

59 minutes ago, KI Guy said:

I know this is a common sentiment, but think it might be overblown. In the 90's it was Game Boys and now it's smartphones.

Disney proves that non-interactive dark rides can still work. They have many, many dark rides without laser guns.

This is another one of those arguments that just gets tossed around here for the sake of making an argument. For the sake of nostalgia, it’d be cool to see it return in the current Boo Blasters building, but I’d be happy to see it anywhere if done right. 
 

There are plenty of popular dark rides (even in non-Disney parks) that don’t have the shooting gimmick. 

Here’s to hoping! 

[MDMC01]

TIL you can exit through the boiler room after each show… and I love it! It reminds me of a Haunt maze!

Also, Larry is awesome! 

[TOPGUN1993]

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2022/july/kings-island-to-host-qa-session-july-13-with-phantom-theater-designer-rick-bastrup?fbclid=IwAR0M-1J-gLTXU8NQtUFSHT3Ovfq2ULy1R_SdaGRt3BJ0zHiynWncJ8fvR3g&fs=e&s=cl
 

This small event is tomorrow after the 5:00pm show! 

Hope the turnout is good. 

[beastfan11]

I’ll be there! Looking forward to it.