Phantom Theater revival concept

[Swiftdrawer]

Many people on here have been talking about bringing back the Phantom Theater to replace Boo Blasters. And I believe it’s the way to go. With how Boo Blasters has had its blasters no longer make noise for years, I don’t think they have plans to keep Boo Blasters around forever. The idea of Boo Blasters was always just a retooling to replace the Scooby Doo elements that were in the Scooby Doo and The Haunted Mansion that was rethemed into it. A pretty cheap way to create a IP with the stuff they could keep from Scooby Doo. Cedar Fair attempted to become somewhat known for dark rides in the last decade though that didn’t get too far. Bringing back Phantom Theater would be a huge sell for Kings Island. The marketing, the merchandise, potentially Phantom Theater treats, so many possibilities. And they don’t have to recreate the original Phantom Theater. They could tie in the new version with the original as well as Phantom Theater Encore, telling us of what happens after Encore. As a fiction writer who has written around 3 million words of fiction, I know very well the different directions in storytelling they can go with.

My concept for a Phantom Theater revival is to have it set after Encore, in which something changes in the spirit world. After the Phantom Theater returns for its encore, demand from both the living and the dead causes someone to bring back the Phantom Theater, reopening it to the public somehow and ushering in a new era for it. The living owners of the building housing the returned Phantom Theater would have ties to Kings Island’s storyline really set up by both Area 72 and Adventure Express’s refurbishment 2 years ago. The storyline connects Flight of Fear, Orion, The Beast, Mystic Timbers, and more already. They could go with a story that some people connected to the Miami River Company saw the Phantom Theater return only to vanish again and tried to break the curse that keeps the Phantom Theater from only returning once every 50 years and they contact possibly CHAOS Labs or even Madame Fatale to see about doing something about the curse because of all the smiling faces who enjoyed the Phantom Theater when they saw it too.

Eventually, they overcome the hurtles required to bring it back and contact the spirit world in order to aid in making that happen. And riders would experience the grand reopening of the Phantom Theater, rather than just an Encore. All new scenes and animatronics would show a performance filled with more energy than ever before and even introducing new elements such as some featuring Larry, naturally. I was born after the original ride closed so I never got to ride it sadly but still, the dream for enhancing Kings Island to make it even more fun would involve Phantom Theater’s revival as a key project. But they can go even further. They can tie in more things that already exist along with a revived Phantom Theater into the storyline for Kings Island. That includes the haunted houses. But will a Phantom Theater revival actually happen? Not for a while. Between the merger and all the cost cutting measures lately and the elimination some positions in Six Flags this year, I doubt they will be focusing on it any time soon. That said, many dark rides are cheaper than a big steel roller coaster like Diamondback, Banshee, or Orion. And they already have the building, ride vehicles, and omnimover system. Personally, if I were in charge of Kings Island’s future direction, I would heavily emphasize the art of storytelling, something that appeals to all ages and demographics.
 

Such storytelling would also include turning Soak City into something more unique in theme, likely dividing the water park into areas themed to various bodies of water. You could make the case for retheming it around Ohio itself given the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Let me know what y’all think about my concept. The backstory I propose isn’t perfect in my perspective. It’d be better to introduce some new faces who have nothing to have with Area 72 or the Miami River Lumber Company who are nerds really into the supernatural.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

A new Phantom Theater would be awesome! I really like when references are done indirectly as easter eggs, rather than having them be direct tie-ins. Connecting this storyline to the rest of the park would likely best work if it were done like it is over in Area 72. Kings Island would need to put a good chunk of money into making this project worthy of the name, and would also need to dedicate a nice portion of the maintenance budget into keeping it maintained. It would behoove them to create B-modes for each scene as well. Cedar Fair was developing a plan beginning around 2012/2013 to install new interactive dark rides in their parks, but it never panned out like they had hoped. See Wonder Mountain's Guardian (Canada's Wonderland) and Knott's Bear-y Tales (Knott's Berry Farm) to find out how the first two installations went. What do you think should happen with the other three Boo Blasters rides if KI received a new Phantom Theater? Could they also become a smaller PT, or should those parks look into updating using another Sally Dark Rides property? Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion is also licensed through SDR, so Cedar Fair could have chosen to keep that version of the ride. Hopefully sometime soon Boo Blasters (technically Ghost Blasters 2.0 with an overlay) will get a good retheme that is not just a bunch of screens and frame sets. Screens, while cheap and easy, would not live up to the rides that have filled that building with joy since 1972. 

For a Soak City retheme, I'd go more for something like River Country was at WDW and call it Wildwater Country or Wildwater Junction. There could be a wooden water tower right as you enter the water park (therefore having a tower at the entrances of both the dry park and water park) with some Ohio River and Little Miami River theming. Cedar Point Shores can keep the Lake Erie theming to themselves. Moving away from the tropical theming could certainly make the water park more unique and stand out more. Now if only they could do something to deal with their capacity issues...

 

Welcome to KIC!

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

Soo umm... Boo Blaster is closing.

[johnjniehaus]

3 minutes ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

Soo umm... Boo Blaster is closing.

It's now or never! Let's face it Kings Island always seems to do one thing well which is disappoint the die hard fans. Whatever goes in the boo Blaster building will have the GP in mind more than the handful of phantom theater thoosies - however I do still hope it comes back. I think the phantom theater encore attendance numbers could be a good indicator of how many members of the GP actually want to see that ride back 

[burlguy41005]

Hope a true dark ride/scary....no shooting or games....lets see what they come up with...assum the peppers ghost mirrors are still in the building...

 

[Swiftdrawer]

22 hours ago, johnjniehaus said:

It's now or never! Let's face it Kings Island always seems to do one thing well which is disappoint the die hard fans. Whatever goes in the boo Blaster building will have the GP in mind more than the handful of phantom theater thoosies - however I do still hope it comes back. I think the phantom theater encore attendance numbers could be a good indicator of how many members of the GP actually want to see that ride back 

Considering how quickly the media was told that Boo Blasters is closing to make way for “future additions”.. I interpret what’s going on as varying different things that could happen. The first one I’m not a fan of and really doubt: a demolition of the entire ride in favor of several new rides. I also really doubt some kind of retheme of the area around Boo Blasters. The obvious possibility is new dark ride. And considering the fact that Boo Blasters’s blasters haven’t worked correctly in a very long time along with the removal of the picture spot and the fact they never changed the narration after it was removed.. I feel like the removal of Boo Blasters has been planned for some time. Also obvious is putting in a new dark ride would be the cheapest replacement for Boo Blasters other than some big haunted house. Phantom Theater revival is exactly what Kings Island needs. Spectulation of a Peanuts dark ride or Scooby Doo’s return have also been floating around.

I don’t think a Boo Blasters replacement will be coming next year as the park is supposed to get a family thrill attraction. Unless plans have changed, the replacement is coming in 2027(or 2028) or Boo Blasters is just going to sit empty for a while. Some additions planned for next year at other parks or expected to open this year have already been delayed. Quantum Accelerator. And who knows when Montezooma’s Revenge’s refurbishment will be finished? Its reopening might also be delayed. Back to Boo Blasters. It’s very interesting that they announced its closing date to be the 1st of next month as opposed to the last day of the regular operating season: the last Sunday after the last day of Haunt. What are they planning? Why not let it stay open till the last day of the operating season before the park closes to be transformed for Winterfest?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

1 hour ago, Swiftdrawer said:

I don’t think a Boo Blasters replacement will be coming next year as the park is supposed to get a family thrill attraction. Unless plans have changed, the replacement is coming in 2027(or 2028) or Boo Blasters is just going to sit empty for a while. Some additions planned for next year at other parks or expected to open this year have already been delayed.

I'm almost certain that Boo Blasters' replacement will be the 2026 attraction since The Crypt's building is being used for Halloween Haunt and the closing date for BBoBH is on September 1st. It's likely that all of the Six Flags 2026 plans changed after seeing the recent earnings reports. There was a quote from someone in the company that said any park that received a large/major/high-expense attraction in 2025 would not receive anything [big] in 2026. Great Adventure is probably the only exception to that since they just removed seven rides, including Kingda Ka, and even that replacement has been delayed. 

Kings Island could receive a Boo Blasters replacement, one or more rides relocated from Six Flags America, or a combination of the two.

[Swiftdrawer]

4 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I'm almost certain that Boo Blasters' replacement will be the 2026 attraction since The Crypt's building is being used for Halloween Haunt and the closing date for BBoBH is on September 1st. It's likely that all of the Six Flags 2026 plans changed after seeing the recent earnings reports. There was a quote from someone in the company that said any park that received a large/major/high-expense attraction in 2025 would not receive anything [big] in 2026. Great Adventure is probably the only exception to that since they just removed seven rides, including Kingda Ka, and even that replacement has been delayed. 

Kings Island could receive a Boo Blasters replacement, one or more rides relocated from Six Flags America, or a combination of the two.

We’ll see soon. Just gotta be patient. I hope you’re right. I wouldn’t mind not only Boo Blasters being replaced but also one or two hand me down rides from Six Flags America. Ride relocations are much more affordable most of the time than new rides so it would be so Six Flags to already have plans to relocate or sell off most of Six Flags America’s rides. Geauga Lake all over again. But if they don’t bring anything from Six Flags America to Kings Island, there’s always CGA’s rides after the 2027 season. That said, in an ideal world, the new Six Flags or as I like to call it, Cedar Flags would not only add relocations from SFs America to KI and replace Boo Blasters next year but it would also put more love into parks that don’t get as much investment. Those parks need love even more.

[BryanJay]

So honestly I’m 95% confident a phantom theater thing is going in boo blasters next year, so here’s my prediction list:

-I’m pretty confident on them keeping the same ride system. The current ride system seem to be reliable, and changing it/gutting the building seems like it would add cost to the budget which could be spent on theming, and also displace the indoor theater/meet and greet space and important entertainment production spaces. There’s also a lot of storage space with the current layout that’s being utilized, and also a custodial trash section between the building and international street which really prevents the entrance from being moved there. I think if they do reuse the same system though, I’m split on them making it a shooter ride (more on that below) because that would basically eliminate the pepper’s ghost scene from returning. Assuming it’s reused, I think no new cars will be added (half were removed when phantom changed to Scooby) and the track layout remains in mostly the same direction (maybe the track is twisted to face the stage in the first scene).

-Even if the ride they decide to build is screen-based, at the very least one animatronic of the Maestro will be included in the queue, and the FunTVs will be removed. 

-All the characters make a return. The Mighty Bosco (a character alluded to but never actually seen) is featured more prominently in the new attraction. More gut feeling prediction, but I think either a new female performer is introduced, or one of the previous minor characters (Willard Warbler or one of the stagehands come to mind) is gender swapped. 

-The current entrance remains the same, and the current amount of lighting in the queue house is dimmed. 

-The original statue busts are repainted and used in the queue.

-Assuming all the Boo Blasters props aren’t removed, one the knight figures will be reused in the new phantom attraction. Assuming Sally Dark Rides helps with the attraction (it’s rumored, they’ve worked in the Six Flags parks before, and have collaborated with the original production company who created the original Phantom Theater) some sort of reference to Boocifer remains in the attraction, maybe a portrait or something. The skeletons from BBoBH are reused during Haunted as decoration or in a house, and the rest of the props are sent to the existing Boo Blaster locations are spares. 

-For the announcement of the attraction, my date predictions are 1. The week before or directly on September 1 (right around the end of the initial MVP sale, and allows them to put advertisements on any construction walls they put up) or 2. Directly at the start of Haunt or September 25 or 3. October 31 because Halloween and spooky, but honestly that’s too long to wait for me. 
 

Now here’s random nitpicks I hope they avoid:
-If the ride is an interactive shooter attraction (which I’m 50/50 on which way they’d go with that) I’m hoping they use a flashlight shooting system similar to the planned Five Nights at Freddy’s Sally Dark Ride or the Monsters Inc ride in Tokyo Disneyland (especially if they don’t only use primarily screens with it and do a situation like Boo Blasters with physical props). More importantly though, I don’t want the storyline of the ride to include like a “paranormal investigators” plot like they added to DarKoaster. I think that will date the attraction and makes it look tackier.

-The name of the attraction ideally is just kept as “Phantom Theater” if they want to differentiate it from the original, I’d like them to make a small change like calling it “The Phantom Theater”, “Phantom Theatre”, or I’d even be fine with “Phantom Theater: Revival” since it’s sorta a theatrical term. I do not want the name of the new version to be anything along the line of “Phantom Theater: Return of the Maestro” or anything else that isolates this version as just a sequel.

[Swiftdrawer]

2 hours ago, BryanJay said:

So honestly I’m 95% confident a phantom theater thing is going in boo blasters next year, so here’s my prediction list:

-I’m pretty confident on them keeping the same ride system. The current ride system seem to be reliable, and changing it/gutting the building seems like it would add cost to the budget which could be spent on theming, and also displace the indoor theater/meet and greet space and important entertainment production spaces. There’s also a lot of storage space with the current layout that’s being utilized, and also a custodial trash section between the building and international street which really prevents the entrance from being moved there. I think if they do reuse the same system though, I’m split on them making it a shooter ride (more on that below) because that would basically eliminate the pepper’s ghost scene from returning. Assuming it’s reused, I think no new cars will be added (half were removed when phantom changed to Scooby) and the track layout remains in mostly the same direction (maybe the track is twisted to face the stage in the first scene).

-Even if the ride they decide to build is screen-based, at the very least one animatronic of the Maestro will be included in the queue, and the FunTVs will be removed. 

-All the characters make a return. The Mighty Bosco (a character alluded to but never actually seen) is featured more prominently in the new attraction. More gut feeling prediction, but I think either a new female performer is introduced, or one of the previous minor characters (Willard Warbler or one of the stagehands come to mind) is gender swapped. 

-The current entrance remains the same, and the current amount of lighting in the queue house is dimmed. 

-The original statue busts are repainted and used in the queue.

-Assuming all the Boo Blasters props aren’t removed, one the knight figures will be reused in the new phantom attraction. Assuming Sally Dark Rides helps with the attraction (it’s rumored, they’ve worked in the Six Flags parks before, and have collaborated with the original production company who created the original Phantom Theater) some sort of reference to Boocifer remains in the attraction, maybe a portrait or something. The skeletons from BBoBH are reused during Haunted as decoration or in a house, and the rest of the props are sent to the existing Boo Blaster locations are spares. 

-For the announcement of the attraction, my date predictions are 1. The week before or directly on September 1 (right around the end of the initial MVP sale, and allows them to put advertisements on any construction walls they put up) or 2. Directly at the start of Haunt or September 25 or 3. October 31 because Halloween and spooky, but honestly that’s too long to wait for me. 
 

Now here’s random nitpicks I hope they avoid:
-If the ride is an interactive shooter attraction (which I’m 50/50 on which way they’d go with that) I’m hoping they use a flashlight shooting system similar to the planned Five Nights at Freddy’s Sally Dark Ride or the Monsters Inc ride in Tokyo Disneyland (especially if they don’t only use primarily screens with it and do a situation like Boo Blasters with physical props). More importantly though, I don’t want the storyline of the ride to include like a “paranormal investigators” plot like they added to DarKoaster. I think that will date the attraction and makes it look tackier.

-The name of the attraction ideally is just kept as “Phantom Theater” if they want to differentiate it from the original, I’d like them to make a small change like calling it “The Phantom Theater”, “Phantom Theatre”, or I’d even be fine with “Phantom Theater: Revival” since it’s sorta a theatrical term. I do not want the name of the new version to be anything along the line of “Phantom Theater: Return of the Maestro” or anything else that isolates this version as just a sequel.

All of this! And I hope there’s a reference to Larry’s Happy Feet song somewhere because that’s the goofiest bit of the entire Phantom Theater Encore show in my opinion and it keeps making me think of the obscure movie of that name I haven’t watched in many years.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

3 hours ago, BryanJay said:

So honestly I’m 95% confident a phantom theater thing is going in boo blasters next year, so here’s my prediction list:

-I’m pretty confident on them keeping the same ride system. The current ride system seem to be reliable, and changing it/gutting the building seems like it would add cost to the budget which could be spent on theming, and also displace the indoor theater/meet and greet space and important entertainment production spaces. There’s also a lot of storage space with the current layout that’s being utilized, and also a custodial trash section between the building and international street which really prevents the entrance from being moved there. I think if they do reuse the same system though, I’m split on them making it a shooter ride (more on that below) because that would basically eliminate the pepper’s ghost scene from returning. Assuming it’s reused, I think no new cars will be added (half were removed when phantom changed to Scooby) and the track layout remains in mostly the same direction (maybe the track is twisted to face the stage in the first scene).

-Even if the ride they decide to build is screen-based, at the very least one animatronic of the Maestro will be included in the queue, and the FunTVs will be removed. 

-All the characters make a return. The Mighty Bosco (a character alluded to but never actually seen) is featured more prominently in the new attraction. More gut feeling prediction, but I think either a new female performer is introduced, or one of the previous minor characters (Willard Warbler or one of the stagehands come to mind) is gender swapped. 

-The current entrance remains the same, and the current amount of lighting in the queue house is dimmed. 

-The original statue busts are repainted and used in the queue.

-Assuming all the Boo Blasters props aren’t removed, one the knight figures will be reused in the new phantom attraction. Assuming Sally Dark Rides helps with the attraction (it’s rumored, they’ve worked in the Six Flags parks before, and have collaborated with the original production company who created the original Phantom Theater) some sort of reference to Boocifer remains in the attraction, maybe a portrait or something. The skeletons from BBoBH are reused during Haunted as decoration or in a house, and the rest of the props are sent to the existing Boo Blaster locations are spares. 

-For the announcement of the attraction, my date predictions are 1. The week before or directly on September 1 (right around the end of the initial MVP sale, and allows them to put advertisements on any construction walls they put up) or 2. Directly at the start of Haunt or September 25 or 3. October 31 because Halloween and spooky, but honestly that’s too long to wait for me. 
 

Now here’s random nitpicks I hope they avoid:
-If the ride is an interactive shooter attraction (which I’m 50/50 on which way they’d go with that) I’m hoping they use a flashlight shooting system similar to the planned Five Nights at Freddy’s Sally Dark Ride or the Monsters Inc ride in Tokyo Disneyland (especially if they don’t only use primarily screens with it and do a situation like Boo Blasters with physical props). More importantly though, I don’t want the storyline of the ride to include like a “paranormal investigators” plot like they added to DarKoaster. I think that will date the attraction and makes it look tackier.

-The name of the attraction ideally is just kept as “Phantom Theater” if they want to differentiate it from the original, I’d like them to make a small change like calling it “The Phantom Theater”, “Phantom Theatre”, or I’d even be fine with “Phantom Theater: Revival” since it’s sorta a theatrical term. I do not want the name of the new version to be anything along the line of “Phantom Theater: Return of the Maestro” or anything else that isolates this version as just a sequel.

Six Flags released a teaser today with a bunch of coasters going up their lift hills saying there is a "Big drop coming on National Coaster Day" (sic). I'm wondering if this could also be an announcement day for all 2026 additions. The teaser definitely makes me think that we'll see an announcement for SFOT's giga dive coaster and maybe one for another coaster allegedly coming for another park like Magic Mountain. This would also be a good time to announce all of the other 2026 additions, but who knows what that timeline looks like. It'd be a good time to do it as well since it would make another push for 2026 pass sales in the middle of the whole MVP sale. I'm a big proponent for "don't leave guests hanging" in terms of announce ride removal / run teaser campaign / announce new ride / maintain the hype. Waiting too long might leave guests hanging. I wasn't a fan of the botched rollout of the MVP sale, hopefully the 2026 announcements will be more consistent in their timing and groupings. 

I wonder, if the entrance remained in the same place, how much of the castle facade would remain unchanged. Keeping the castle would not reflect it being a version of Phantom Theater very well IMO. Re-doing it to be more similar to the theater facade would only add to it. As for the interior, I think they could keep some of the good/relevant props and replace the rest. As long as they get rid of the kooky castle walls and bring back the abandoned theater feeling I think it could shake out well. Even as a screen-based attraction I think they'd still need to have some well-placed curtains and props in every scene. They'd need to animate anything that would go on the screens either way. 

The paranormal investigator plot line would only really work in a Boo Blasters or Scooby Doo version of Phantom Theater IMO. 

I like "Phantom Theater: Revival" a lot more than the other options for the name precisely because it's a theatrical term like "Encore" was for the show. Switching the spelling of "Theater" to "Theatre" might not help since guests already mess up the spelling of the original and since it would feel more like a lazy oversight.