Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare New in 2026

[Shawn Meyer]

I'm excited to see this ride come back. I was just a baby when this ride was around the first time. I'm hoping they keep the guns working all the time so I have a chance to compete with my friends. 

[MaestroJr]

Does anyone worry that Six Flags recent financial struggles will cheapen the ride or possibly even delay its opening?

[CoasterJack]

2 minutes ago, MaestroJr said:

Does anyone worry that Six Flags recent financial struggles will cheapen the ride or possibly even delay its opening?

I think most of the stuff is contractually secure at this point. From photos, seems like the design is already in motion, and there's a good chance this project started awhile back, potentially even pre-merger. Also Sally Dark rides is domestic, so it shouldn't run into some of the delays and other issues the overseas manufacturers have had. So I think PT: ON should be safe from what I can assume...

[Tr0y]

42 minutes ago, CoasterJack said:

I think most of the stuff is contractually secure at this point. From photos, seems like the design is already in motion, and there's a good chance this project started awhile back, potentially even pre-merger. Also Sally Dark rides is domestic, so it shouldn't run into some of the delays and other issues the overseas manufacturers have had. So I think PT: ON should be safe from what I can assume...

Remember the renderings of Camp Snoopy from the announcement versus what we actually got?

Pepperidge Farm remembers. 

[MaestroJr]

Maybe I’ve just been reading too much of the news lately but this Six Flags money issues just have me worried about the future of Kings Island and our new Phantom Theater, I’m a worrier, can’t help it 

[kingsislandfan1972]

A collage I made of all the dark rides Kings Island has had in the former Boo Blasters building, I'm getting excited Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare! 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I'm hopeful since it is a joint project between Sally Dark Rides and Kings Island/Six Flags. If it doesn't turn out well or gets delayed, I'd immediately assume that KI/SF ordered the attraction and ran out of money halfway through production. This would also mean worse things for the company as a whole since they've already delayed a number of additions and cut the promised 2026 spending. The fact that the one Cleveland[dot]com article has been shared so much doesn't help much at all.

Camp Snoopy seemed to fail due to the small scale of the project, the area's delayed opening, and the removal of some key theming elements that would have made the area feel more campy. It was lackluster compared to the higher quality additions we saw from 2017-2022.

[MaestroJr]

Courtesy of the Kings Island instagram page, love that they are talking about the Maestro like an old lost friend. Also they stated that more updates will be coming soon in the comments 

[I...am SteVe]

3 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

Courtesy of the Kings Island instagram page, love that they are talking about the Maestro like an old lost friend. Also they stated that more updates will be coming soon in the comments 

That song he's listening to looks awesome. It might just be the MVP 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

He's definitely listening to the MVP Sale. I think it'll be good if they keep this kind of post to a minimum. It's good to advertise pass sales, but using PT:ON exclusively for pass sale posts rather than adding a pass sale blurb to a PT:ON post feels like it could artificially cheapen the product.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Maybe Six Flags can save some money by moving the Boo Blasters props up to Cedar Point and giving them their own Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. They need an indoor dark ride anyways.

[SonofBaconator]

So the original Phantom theater was introduced in 1992, the last year before Paramount took over.

With all that in mind, it makes me wonder if the intent was see how it did at KI before replicating it at other parks like Kings, Dominion, Canada‘s Wonderland, etc..which we’ll never really know because ownership changed hands. There are people on here who know more than I do so please feel free to chime in. 

Also, with all that in mind, I wonder if Six Flags would replicate this concept to other parks to diversify IP.

[MaestroJr]

7 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

Maybe Six Flags can save some money by moving the Boo Blasters props up to Cedar Point and giving them their own Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. They need an indoor dark ride anyways.

That’s a good idea, Cedar Point really does need one dark ride, I think that would solidify them even further as the goat 

[johnjniehaus]

13 minutes ago, MaestroJr said:

That’s a good idea, Cedar Point really does need one dark ride, I think that would solidify them even further as the goat 

Cedar Point needs to bring back THE PIRATE RIDE! I believe the building is still there it's it? 

[CoasterJack]

9 minutes ago, johnjniehaus said:

Cedar Point needs to bring back THE PIRATE RIDE! I believe the building is still there it's it? 

The building is still there. From what I understand its partially used by park services, and mainly used as a fall daytime walkthrough activity called "The Magical House on Boo Hill". A little ironic if I do say so myself 

[BryanJay]

Kinda shocked that I didn’t get around to making this before, but here’s my first speculation map (to steal horror nights terminology) of what I think we could see in Opening Nightmare. I hope it’s clear which most of the scenes are but I’ll highlight my base thoughts before anything major is shared about the ride so that it’s impressive if I get anything right:

- One of the areas that I’m 50/50 split about is if the Boo Blasters bridge entrance will be reused, or if a new short outdoor section will be built to enter the attraction. I’m not sure if this is feasible or a priority, but it would be cool to make the queue wheelchair accessible so that everyone can enjoy (what I’m very much assuming) will be theming in the queue.

-I’m also pretty split on what the actual queue ‘preshow’ will look like. I’m really hoping there’s a Maestro animatronic on organ like the original. Only two maestro animatronics being on the sheet from the construction teaser worries me, but this could also be a more advanced figure so who knows. Also I’m assuming the lightning affects return to this space.

-I think the statue busts are repainted and reused, but I also have a gut feeling there will be a tv screen placed at the end of the hallway to explain the game mechanics by Larry. 
- I’m fairly confident that the ride track won’t be changed in anyway, include the path the car’s face. I’m also reallly hoping at the first scene with Maestro holding the curtain stays with “So you wanted to see the theater did ya?” because that’s just one of those iconic scenes (even being featured on the made to thrill poster they put out).
-I think either in the spot for Scooby Doo or the portrait hallway, there’s going to be a flash of lightning that disguises an onride photo. I don’t think it’ll be something they sell, but I think the scoreboard at the end will show photos of each guest and there score.

-I don’t have many thoughts on the rest of the scenes individually because they’re hard to guess. I think where ever they put Garbonzo firing out of a canon, it’ll be in a spot where the cars make a 180 spin to see his feet dangling out of a wall or something.

-I think Arpeggio (the cat character) could be a thing where he’s hidden in each scene somewhere.

-I think the part where the original peppers ghost scene was is going to be the section with the most new scenes, and I’m very confident on the stage section being used in the final room. I think pepper’s ghost is going to be used in someway within the ride, either at the ending stage scene using screens, or with No Legs Larry at some point in the ride.

Overall I’m very excited, I’m basically just using two photos and a press release to go off on, so if I got any of this correct I’ll be impressed lol. 

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

On 9/30/2025 at 7:32 PM, BryanJay said:

Kinda shocked that I didn’t get around to making this before, but here’s my first speculation map (to steal horror nights terminology) of what I think we could see in Opening Nightmare. I hope it’s clear which most of the scenes are but I’ll highlight my base thoughts before anything major is shared about the ride so that it’s impressive if I get anything right:

- One of the areas that I’m 50/50 split about is if the Boo Blasters bridge entrance will be reused, or if a new short outdoor section will be built to enter the attraction. I’m not sure if this is feasible or a priority, but it would be cool to make the queue wheelchair accessible so that everyone can enjoy (what I’m very much assuming) will be theming in the queue.

-I’m also pretty split on what the actual queue ‘preshow’ will look like. I’m really hoping there’s a Maestro animatronic on organ like the original. Only two maestro animatronics being on the sheet from the construction teaser worries me, but this could also be a more advanced figure so who knows. Also I’m assuming the lightning affects return to this space.

-I think the statue busts are repainted and reused, but I also have a gut feeling there will be a tv screen placed at the end of the hallway to explain the game mechanics by Larry. 
- I’m fairly confident that the ride track won’t be changed in anyway, include the path the car’s face. I’m also reallly hoping at the first scene with Maestro holding the curtain stays with “So you wanted to see the theater did ya?” because that’s just one of those iconic scenes (even being featured on the made to thrill poster they put out).
-I think either in the spot for Scooby Doo or the portrait hallway, there’s going to be a flash of lightning that disguises an onride photo. I don’t think it’ll be something they sell, but I think the scoreboard at the end will show photos of each guest and there score.

-I don’t have many thoughts on the rest of the scenes individually because they’re hard to guess. I think where ever they put Garbonzo firing out of a canon, it’ll be in a spot where the cars make a 180 spin to see his feet dangling out of a wall or something.

-I think Arpeggio (the cat character) could be a thing where he’s hidden in each scene somewhere.

-I think the part where the original peppers ghost scene was is going to be the section with the most new scenes, and I’m very confident on the stage section being used in the final room. I think pepper’s ghost is going to be used in someway within the ride, either at the ending stage scene using screens, or with No Legs Larry at some point in the ride.

Overall I’m very excited, I’m basically just using two photos and a press release to go off on, so if I got any of this correct I’ll be impressed lol. 

I have my own version of what it could look like with a new facade. (Also I've changed the placement and included an actual pre-show room, similar to Haunted Mansions around the Disney Park (Minus the elevators.) So that anyone will know what they're getting ourselves into this mess.)

[BryanJay]

23 minutes ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

I have my own version of what it could look like with a new facade. (Also I've changed the placement and included an actual pre-show room, similar to Haunted Mansions around the Disney Park (Minus the elevators.) So that anyone will know what they're getting ourselves into this mess.)

That’s very nice work! I am personally skeptical about there being a preshow, but I do think it would be cool. I think on one hand the story they outline with the ghost exiting the organ would compliment itself to a preshow but the issues I would personally see with it are mainly that I think Kings Island as a park doesn’t seem to be able to maintain a preshow for more than like 3 years tops, and it eventually just becomes more queue area because you probably need an additional associate working to operating it, and I also worry from experience with preshows at parks like Disney where it becomes stale after the first few times watching it, guests are loud or shout things during it, or people crowd around the doors to attempt to be first. 
 

But that’s more my analysis because I love thinking about this stuff, not a knock on your idea. I do hope we did a facade with more queue space like this.

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

1 minute ago, BryanJay said:

That’s very nice work! I am personally skeptical about there being a preshow, but I do think it would be cool. I think on one hand the story they outline with the ghost exiting the organ would compliment itself to a preshow but the issues I would personally see with it are mainly that I think Kings Island as a park doesn’t seem to be able to maintain a preshow for more than like 3 years tops, and it eventually just becomes more queue area because you probably need an additional associate working to operating it, and I also worry from experience with preshows at parks like Disney where it becomes stale after the first few times watching it, guests are loud or shout things during it, or people crowd around the doors to attempt to be first. 
 

But that’s more my analysis because I love thinking about this stuff, not a knock on your idea. I do hope we did a facade with more queue space like this.

I been through Houdini's Great Escape (yes I know Madhouse.) and most people here are silent. Usually when is a walking pre show, they're usually going to talk. 

[MaestroJr]

If the ride is anything like that facade then I think we’re gonna have a really nice time on it, I hope we have some sort of preshow, but if we don’t, then that’ll be OK as long as the ride is good

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I think if there's any sort of pre-show it'll be set up similar to Haunted Hotel at Funtown Splashtown USA which is a newer Sally creation.

 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

On 9/30/2025 at 7:32 PM, BryanJay said:

- One of the areas that I’m 50/50 split about is if the Boo Blasters bridge entrance will be reused, or if a new short outdoor section will be built to enter the attraction. I’m not sure if this is feasible or a priority, but it would be cool to make the queue wheelchair accessible so that everyone can enjoy (what I’m very much assuming) will be theming in the queue.

-I’m also pretty split on what the actual queue ‘preshow’ will look like. I’m really hoping there’s a Maestro animatronic on organ like the original. Only two maestro animatronics being on the sheet from the construction teaser worries me, but this could also be a more advanced figure so who knows. Also I’m assuming the lightning affects return to this space.

-I think the statue busts are repainted and reused, but I also have a gut feeling there will be a tv screen placed at the end of the hallway to explain the game mechanics by Larry. 
- I’m fairly confident that the ride track won’t be changed in anyway, include the path the car’s face. I’m also reallly hoping at the first scene with Maestro holding the curtain stays with “So you wanted to see the theater did ya?” because that’s just one of those iconic scenes (even being featured on the made to thrill poster they put out).
-I think either in the spot for Scooby Doo or the portrait hallway, there’s going to be a flash of lightning that disguises an onride photo. I don’t think it’ll be something they sell, but I think the scoreboard at the end will show photos of each guest and there score.

-I don’t have many thoughts on the rest of the scenes individually because they’re hard to guess. I think where ever they put Garbonzo firing out of a canon, it’ll be in a spot where the cars make a 180 spin to see his feet dangling out of a wall or something.

-I think Arpeggio (the cat character) could be a thing where he’s hidden in each scene somewhere.

-I think the part where the original peppers ghost scene was is going to be the section with the most new scenes, and I’m very confident on the stage section being used in the final room. I think pepper’s ghost is going to be used in someway within the ride, either at the ending stage scene using screens, or with No Legs Larry at some point in the ride.

An awesome speculation map!

I've got some thoughts of my own that continue with your speculation, so I'll use it as a framework (I hope that's cool with you!)

• I think the current bridge and facade structure will be reused with some changes to make it look more like an old theater
• The queue "preshow" room should be returned to how it was in 1992 with something extra above the entrance. Maybe it could have some scaffolding and boxes on top to make it look like there is some restoration work going on. Ditch the can lights and TVs as well. It would look so much better if the chandeliers and other fixtures could provide enough light for the room. I don't have major hopes for this room at all though, considering it is most likely to be the one part of the ride Six Flags will be allowed to get their grubby little hands on to mess it up.
• The statue busts would be nice to see although I'm worried about how the illusion will look if people have to stand next to them for too long.
• No on-ride photo unless it's for the scoreboards like you said (I'll get into that later).
• I'm really hoping we can see the theater scene (the now former skeleton chase/giant living room) can be restored. If your plans are right there is still space back there to open it back up into a bigger room. It could be a great show scene and — despite the challenges it might have with pointing and shooting — would harken back to the original.
• Arpeggio should be in most scenes and could be running through the theater with riders as they catch each note. He'd be a great little animatronic if they can find a way to make him go around like that.
• I don't know how big or small of an area they need for the score boards, but I'd assume those might go where the BBoBH score board was instead of on the other wall. 
• If they try to bring back a Pepper's Ghost effect, I think it should go with the auditorium scene right where it was during the original PT. The places for it are presumably still there under layers of plywood. The biggest hurdle would be getting the glass back in and making it work with the shooting aspect.

 

My doomerism is getting me worried about Phantom Theater again since there are so many places Six Flags could mess something up, but I'll have to remain hopeful that SDR will be able to work its magic. I'd love to hear what the excuse for not taking the Boo Blasters signage down yet is. It doesn't feel like it would be hard to do unless there isn't anyone there to do it.

[kingsislandfan1972]

I honestly do hope they bring back the Peppers Ghost affect, with the g

18 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

An awesome speculation map!

I've got some thoughts of my own that continue with your speculation, so I'll use it as a framework (I hope that's cool with you!)

• I think the current bridge and facade structure will be reused with some changes to make it look more like an old theater
• The queue "preshow" room should be returned to how it was in 1992 with something extra above the entrance. Maybe it could have some scaffolding and boxes on top to make it look like there is some restoration work going on. Ditch the can lights and TVs as well. It would look so much better if the chandeliers and other fixtures could provide enough light for the room. I don't have major hopes for this room at all though, considering it is most likely to be the one part of the ride Six Flags will be allowed to get their grubby little hands on to mess it up.
• The statue busts would be nice to see although I'm worried about how the illusion will look if people have to stand next to them for too long.
• No on-ride photo unless it's for the scoreboards like you said (I'll get into that later).
• I'm really hoping we can see the theater scene (the now former skeleton chase/giant living room) can be restored. If your plans are right there is still space back there to open it back up into a bigger room. It could be a great show scene and — despite the challenges it might have with pointing and shooting — would harken back to the original.
• Arpeggio should be in most scenes and could be running through the theater with riders as they catch each note. He'd be a great little animatronic if they can find a way to make him go around like that.
• I don't know how big or small of an area they need for the score boards, but I'd assume those might go where the BBoBH score board was instead of on the other wall. 
• If they try to bring back a Pepper's Ghost effect, I think it should go with the auditorium scene right where it was during the original PT. The places for it are presumably still there under layers of plywood. The biggest hurdle would be getting the glass back in and making it work with the shooting aspect.

 

My doomerism is getting me worried about Phantom Theater again since there are so many places Six Flags could mess something up, but I'll have to remain hopeful that SDR will be able to work its magic. I'd love to hear what the excuse for not taking the Boo Blasters signage down yet is. It doesn't feel like it would be hard to do unless there isn't anyone there to do it.

I would love for them to bring back the Peppers Ghost affect, but if they do bring back the glass, I hope people now would be more respectful now because back then people would spit and throw gum on the glass wall. But I would honestly would love for it to return because when I was a kid that was the most amazing scene.

[burlguy41005]

Hope not a bunch of cheap screen based stuff and PLEASE do the peppers ghost scene...SALLY this is a great opportunity to shine!!!!