Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare Construction Progress

[kingsislandfan1972]

I wonder if Boocifer will be reused in PTON...

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

22 minutes ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

I wonder if Boocifer will be reused in PTON...

I was thinking Boocifer to be reused for any Haunt theme mazes (Like if Kings Island would get Dark Ride, they can use it.)

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

5 hours ago, Shaggy said:

If what they show is the completed demo (as stated in the post)... you can see they didn't remove the platforms/walls that were placed on top of the original theater (Pepper's Ghost) scene.  It looks as though they may be re-using the "chase" turntable as well.

I was hoping for a full theater scene, but looking at the video it looks like the pit was filled in with a concrete floor. What we might lose in that massive scene I think we'll gain back in having almost everything be new! Looking back, I think they did replace the drywall in certain areas (and it isn't left over from 2003). 

It was interesting to see the work they did in the queue room with taking down the frames on the balcony wall and ripping up the floor tiles. I really hope they do some good work to restore the queue, hall of busts, and loading area since it looked like those still have the painted-over wallpaper in them. They also have all of the SDatHC/BBoBH scenes written on the back walls. I got a little chuckle out of seeing "PIPE OR(G)AN".

[Stoan]

40 minutes ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I was hoping for a full theater scene, but looking at the video it looks like the pit was filled in with a concrete floor. What we might lose in that massive scene I think we'll gain back in having almost everything be new! Looking back, I think they did replace the drywall in certain areas (and it isn't left over from 2003). 

It was interesting to see the work they did in the queue room with taking down the frames on the balcony wall and ripping up the floor tiles. I really hope they do some good work to restore the queue, hall of busts, and loading area since it looked like those still have the painted-over wallpaper in them. They also have all of the SDatHC/BBoBH scenes written on the back walls. I got a little chuckle out of seeing "PIPE OR(G)AN".

That theater scene was my favorite part of the original

[kingsislandfan1972]

Prediction... the chandeliers stay but we get new wallpaper for the que. Also were the green cobwebs on the Chandeliers originally for PT?

[BryanJay]

42 minutes ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

Prediction... the chandeliers stay but we get new wallpaper for the que. Also were the green cobwebs on the Chandeliers originally for PT?

 

The green cobwebs were added after PT. I wonder if the queue will have the red rope queue lines like the original? 
 

Also I’d put an almost 0% chance of them doing this, but I wonder if any of the scrap wood/floor tiles could be like chopped up and sold in like the front gift shop like The Beast track or those Vortex slices. That would be cool, but I don’t know if a dark ride carries the same appeal to manufacture that, and I also doubt anyone cares enough about Boo Blasters to have an unrecognizable item like that lol. (I did perhaps take a crumbling piece of flooring from when I worked Boo Blasters and it was going to be thrown away, so maybe I have a rare, one of a kind artifact)

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I honestly wonder if they're going to put old theater style carpet in the queue. I believe Haunted Hotel (a recent Sally creation) has themed carpet in the queue. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

33 minutes ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

Prediction... the chandeliers stay but we get new wallpaper for the que. Also were the green cobwebs on the Chandeliers originally for PT?

I think the chandeliers will stay, but I hope they add more in the loading station like there were in the original. I know they sold some of the load station chandeliers to schools in the area. The glow in the dark cobweb fabric was added for Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle. You can see how much they've faded in your photo comparing the balcony setups.

The Amusement Today article mentioned that there will be 26 scenes as well. I'll have to go through my layout to see how they can have them organized.

It's super interesting that you can still see where the Maestro sign was on the balcony.

10 minutes ago, BryanJay said:

I wonder if the queue will have the red rope queue lines like the original? 

100% not happening IMO. I don't know how well it did in the 90s, but so many people already sit on the metal rails and break them that I don't think they would risk something like the nice stanchion ropes. Carpet would be really nice to have but they'd need to clean it often and well. It gets way too wet and slippery with the linoleum floor, so I hope they get the carpet.

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

1 hour ago, BryanJay said:

 

The green cobwebs were added after PT. I wonder if the queue will have the red rope queue lines like the original? 
 

Also I’d put an almost 0% chance of them doing this, but I wonder if any of the scrap wood/floor tiles could be like chopped up and sold in like the front gift shop like The Beast track or those Vortex slices. That would be cool, but I don’t know if a dark ride carries the same appeal to manufacture that, and I also doubt anyone cares enough about Boo Blasters to have an unrecognizable item like that lol. (I did perhaps take a crumbling piece of flooring from when I worked Boo Blasters and it was going to be thrown away, so maybe I have a rare, one of a kind artifact)

I did told Tony about bringing the red rope queue back. I hope it comes back, cause thats how close we get for theme cattle pen railing.

 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

2 hours ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

I did told Tony about bringing the red rope queue back. I hope it comes back, cause thats how close we get for theme cattle pen railing.

 

Please tell me you're not going to bug Tony about a madhouse like you did to Koontz....jk

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Another set of interesting notes from today's video:

• Most of the black ceiling tiles in the queue room have been removed. The FunTV screen(s) are still up in the queue room alongside the hurricane-style lamps on the right hand balcony wall. The fake windows, queue railings, and center part of the linoleum tile floor have been removed. Some of these elements are leaned up against the front wall. The door nearest the photo room is painted white on the inside.
• Both the extended cover and the underside access panel for Maestro's queue room balcony have been removed. (This could be an awesome sign for what's to come!)
• Maestro's curved stage right after the loading station is still in place and looks like it is merely dirty and only received a little bit of paint.
• The door to the left of the photo room ("Not An Exit") leads to a backstage hallway that appears to either be painted to resemble a cave or to have a tarp over the wall. The wall to the left of this door is labeled as the "YARD" scene with "A-17 [up arrow]" (presumably denoting the scene and prop element that goes there.
• Scene #8 | Kitchen
• I think walls have been removed from the back of the BBoBH bedroom scene. A new pallet-looking item is leaned up against the wall where No Legs Larry once beckoned guests into the theater.
• The turntable and platform still exist, but there is a big cutout in the wall that leads to the former theater stage. The newer interior walls use metal framing, if anyone was curious.
• The only remnant of the large parlor scene appears to be the painted checkerboard floor. Everything else looks to have been replaced by new walls.
• Scene #13 | Pipe Organ
• Scene #15 | Dungeon Lab
• The ride operator's telephone and black curtain remain in the loading station for now. You can still see the old Phantom Theater wallpaper and paneling that has been painted over, especially now that the house lights have been turned on. The upper wallpaper will need to be replaced or removed if they hope to emulate the original station. (Which I very much hope they do!)
• The only look into the bust hallway shows that the floor and queue dividers have been removed.
• This final interior shot also shows that the wall formerly used for the camera has been replaced.
• Boocifer lives on in the spot where Boo Blasters defeated him, now removed from behind his stone arch. The green "grass" paint remains under his unmoving figure in another room that appears to have been given new drywall. Metal wire chasing boxes sit beside Boocifer. Some of those will presumably be used to send the scoring system data to new screens at the end of the ride, similar to the Justice League attractions at other Six Flags parks.
• No work has begun on the exterior facades. Even the Boo Blasters Safety Guides are still posted.

Areas of the building that we didn't see include the bust hallway, the graveyard, the portrait hallway(s), the former PT electrical room, half of the now-former dungeon, both skeleton scenes, and Boocifer's last stand. Some parts of the track also look to have been pulled up, possibly to change which direction the opera boxes will face. The completion of the demolition phase and the beginning of "intricate" electrical work give some insights into the transformation process.

The article (posted above) in Amusement Today states that there will be 26 interactive scenes with 1 static figure and 33 animatronics inside. The new character of Sir Pretzel joins the now-named Arpeggio (or Archie for short) and Rick the Electrician. The ride will end with "...a grand on-stage musical finale with all cast members" — I believe this might go in either the larger skeleton room or the leaderboard room. Lauren Wood Weaver, VP of marketing at SDR, also stated that the company was approached several years ago and that this project was approved in November 2024. This just goes to show how much time and planning goes into these attractions before they are even announced.

 

Tuesday, November 18th can't seem to come soon enough! I think they might show off the first functional animatronics and maybe another little glimpse into the new attraction or two.

[beastfan11]

33 animatronics is significantly more than I expected. Granted, they’ll surely be limited in their movements when compared to Universal/Disney, but 33. Wow. Unreal. Sounds like they’re really going for it. 

Any bets on the static figure? Return of the centurion?