Phantom Theater Haunt Idea

[BryanJay]

 

I currently have been hyperfixating on both Phantom Theater and Haunted Houses (mostly like Universal’s Horror Nights houses bc there’s no new ones at Haunt), so naturally I’ve been thinking on how to combine the two. Here’s my concept for a Phantom Theater themed Haunt house, inspired by elements of the Universal houses. I feel like the Haunt houses at Kings Island could benefit from more storytelling (something they’ve improved upon with Hotel St. Michelle and some elements of Alien Abyss).   

 I don’t necessarily know if a Phantom Theater house would be the best direction for Haunt (If it’s too scary it would taint the IP in children’s minds, and a well-themed house would likely be a large enough investment that they would want it to be around for several years, potentially delaying any plans for an attraction return), but I’m also a sucker for an old ride returning through a Haunt (See Dueling Dragons at HHN). The following is my very rant-y concept for a PT house:  

 The basic plot is that the house would vaguely be an origin story for how each of the performers from the attraction died (Yes I know in the original ride they’re not canonically ghosts but shhhh). Some scare aspects for this idea are taken from the Universal Haunts, so after each I’ll put a video link and time stamp for what I envision with it, warning for gore in some. 

Facade:

The house entrance would be a recreation of the original attraction facade. Organ music is heard in the guest waiting area, with occasional snippets from the original Maestro queue recording. Before entering the house, an usher (perhaps Broken-Neck Nicki) explains the safety information and a brief explanation of the house’s plot 

Room 1: Theater Entrance 

 A Candle lit lobby with torn curtains scattered around the walls. The queue posters from the original attraction would be displayed as well. A scareactor dressed as Maestro pops out of a curtain. “So you wanted to see the theater, did ya?” (1:17 https://youtu.be/-AhvQ-TJPdE?si=zVBwL88aL09T_EWY) 

Room 2: Hallway

 A long hallway with the dressing room doors from the ride. A Willard Warbler actor would abruptly slam a door open and shout at the guest. “Oh dear, close that door!” At the end of the hall, what is seemingly a mirror would ‘break’, with Larry the Usher popping out. (1:07 https://youtu.be/-AhvQ-TJPdE?si=zVBwL88aL09T_EWY)

Room 3: Houdelini’s Rehersal Room

 A Houdelini actor pulls his demonic rabbit out of the hat. Turning to a corner, a short hallway is filled with bodies being mutilated by the magic equipment. Included is a sawed in-half Larry still in the box. A sculpture of the rabbit is seen mauling on Houdelini at the end of the hall. 

Room 4: Hilda Bovine Rehearsal Room 

 A dark room with scattered wooden beams blocks the field of view. Rotting skeletons dressed as Vikings would be scattered across the room, along with props such as shields and music sheets. Hilda pops out from a hidden curtain and screams. “AAHHH!!”

Room 5: Backstage 

 A room filled with hanging theater sandbags that the guests have to walk through. A scareactor of one of the stagehands pops out, with a corpse caught hanging in the ropes next to him. At the end of the hallway is an electrical panel, which an electrified Gus the stage manager jumps out next to, shining a flashlight in the guest’s eyes. “The backstage is for performers only!” 

Room 6: The Great Garbanzo Rehearsal Room

 An extension of the backstage area, a cannon set next to guests fires smoke, seemingly into the ceiling. An actor dressed as The Great Garbanzo then jumps out, manically laughing.

Room 7: Balcony Hallway

A thin corridor with green walls. At the end sits No Legs Larry (either a live scareactor using a mirror effect, or just a prop), leading guest into the theater. “The show is just about to begin!” 

Room 8: Stage

Guests walk across the stage filled with smoke. (1:54 https://youtu.be/u6xMv74SUBY?si=64JaPAl5DD6vtcME) A Lionel Burymore actor would pop out next to a castle facade, with stab marks clearly visible on his chest. Mannequins would be set up across the room dressed as Houdelini, Hilda, Garbonzo, Willard Warbler, and several theater-goers. A Maestro actor would be seen in the center, playing his organ. (1:21

Room 9: Prop Room

Guest would enter the prop room, filled with references to the original attraction and leftover props from random past houses. A Mummy scareactor would emerge out of the original sarcophagus prop, with a rat puppet also being used. 

Room 10: Boiler Room

 A collapsed wall in the prop room would lead into the boiler room. Pipes and crates would be scattered across the room, with the original furnace moved over from Slaughterhouse. A heat effect would blast guests as they crossed, with two scareactors dressed as the boiler-men. “How about some heat?” Guests would turn into a final corner, with a final Maestro jumpscare at the exit of the house. “You’ll be back! You’ll be baaaack!”

[BeeastFarmer]

This is incredible! Thanks for the work of telling the story.

[beastfan11]

100% sold. 

[SonofBaconator]

I don’t understand why the park won’t use this IP. It can be easily milked for Haunt, a ride, and even merch.

[SmartCat7162]

I feel like it is also considered a family attraction, so would turning it into an adult haunt attraction be in the best interest for the park. I feel like also if they were to ever bring back phantom theater this would only hurt the ride because it is family ride.


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[BryanJay]

I made a video for a Phantom Theater Haunt house! (It doesn’t match the description I wrote earlier, but it gives off good vibes I think)  Link to video (Fixed)

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

1 hour ago, BryanJay said:

I made a video for a Phantom Theater Haunt house! (It doesn’t match the description I wrote earlier, but it gives off good vibes I think)  Link to video

And where does that link send to?

[BryanJay]

5 hours ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

And where does that link send to?

It was a broken link to video but it should be fixed now.

[BryanJay]

I’m still on my Haunt hyperfixation (which is very normal behavior to be having in January) so I made a layout for the Phantom Theater house idea (and also two other house ideas I had which I wanted to share, but didn’t think they deserved a whole new topic) 

[westcoaster]

wow

 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

7 hours ago, BryanJay said:

I’m still on my Haunt hyperfixation (which is very normal behavior to be having in January) so I made a layout for the Phantom Theater house idea (and also two other house ideas I had which I wanted to share, but didn’t think they deserved a whole new topic) 

Awesome work! Surely it's normal behavior to think about Haunt all year (my Haunt hyperfixation/creation/idea is shown and recorded on a thread somewhere here). Where did you get the maze layouts? The dark ride concept is super cool!!

[BryanJay]

Basically bumping old thread to avoid making unnecessary ones. 

So with all the Haunt drama, I made a three year plan basically for what houses I’d bring to the event to refresh the lineup each year. Also with this, I’m assuming no new rides would be built that interfere with the venues, and that Six Flags keeps the IPs they currently own the rights to. 

As a recap for 2025- 

Order of the Dragon (Blackout Building)

The Conjuring: Beyond Fear (Madame Fatale’s)

2026-

Dark Ride (KillMart)- A KI version of the dark ride haunt house originally featured at Knott’s and brought to some other legacy Cedar Fair parks. I love the trend of bringing the Knott’s mazes that work well into the Six Flags parks, as you’ll see with a later house. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Slaughterhouse)-See other Six Flags houses for reference) 

2027-

Trick r Treat (Cornered)-Outdoor house based on the movie. 

Train of Terror:The Ghosts of Rivertown: Basically what they used to do for Tombstone Terror-Tory, have a live storyteller give like stories about the forest of Rivertown, and then have actors run out towards the train. The only issue is how to logically make a stop like before if they wanted to do that. Basically option A. unload at Soak City, make a small loop around the outside of the station around to the park entrance, then loop back and board the train back to Rivertown. Option B. Unload at Soak City station, and walk back towards Planet Snoopy with the path being themed (reusing a lot of props from cornered). Both present logical issues, but I think an elaborate ride overlay like this would be really special. For the actual train ride, I think scenes with ghost cowboys in the town scene, a yeti creature in the woods, the ghost girl in the fort, and tree monsters fitting in with Mystic Timbers would be cool. I don’t think they’d have the same popularity as a horror train experience, but extra spooky overlays for the Antique Autos (Route 666) and whatever the rumored dark ride is for 2026 () would be cool too. 

2028-

Puppets Unstrung (Hotel St. Michelle)- Enter an abandoned theater of sinister puppets, blah blah blah blah. 

The Depths (Alien Abyss)- Another Knott’s adaptation, lookup a video of that for reference. 

I think with this plan for the houses, the upcharge would really be worth it. Then after this basically replace two houses every year: It would be cool to add any additional houses to the lineup, but I’d prefer quality over quantity. Also for each year, add a new show or scarezone as well. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Ik this likely wouldn't happen due to logistical reasons, but I'd like to see a Haunt on the Eiffel Tower brought back. Also bring back the scare zone at the base of the tower. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

3 hours ago, BryanJay said:

B. Unload at Soak City station, and walk back towards Planet Snoopy with the path being themed (reusing a lot of props from cornered). Both present logical issues, but I think an elaborate ride overlay like this would be really special. For the actual train ride, I think scenes with ghost cowboys in the town scene, a yeti creature in the woods, the ghost girl in the fort, and tree monsters fitting in with Mystic Timbers would be cool.

I bet there would be a world where they could send guests along the path to/from Soak City, turn right into Picnic Grove, and then use the original Picnic Grove path (between Woodstock's Air Rail and the log flume) to return guests back to Rivertown proper. Make the haunt come in two parts, 1) a spooky train ride over to the Soak City station (hopefully extensively remodeled and decorated to look abandoned) where guests deboard and walk into an overflow queue line, then 2) the haunt begins at the entrance to Picnic Grove where guests then follow the aforementioned path. 

The biggest issue would be how to get it through Picnic Grove without potentially disturbing any event hosting capabilities. Maybe they could build some new shelters over where Invertigo is now. The park should continue to encourage and host company gatherings during the Fall season to keep money coming in. There's also the question of how well-suited that old pathway is to still being used for anything other than cars, which could probably be somewhat easily fixed. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I believe back in the day they did Kids Boo Fest in Picnic Grove (if I'm thinking properly). Then it got moved to Soak City.