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? 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I'm kind of hoping the static figure is the Centurion! He was such a small part of the original, but I think he added to the vibes as much as the Gargoyle and the other living props.

[johnjniehaus]

2 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I'm kind of hoping the static figure is the Centurion! He was such a small part of the original, but I think he added to the vibes as much as the Gargoyle and the other living props.

As long as his face and audio works. Hate seeing the later POVs of PT where he's completely lifeless and faceless 

[kingsislandfan1972]

If the face busts return in the hallway... do you think they will be the same busts from before or will they be all new ones? 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

2 hours ago, johnjniehaus said:

As long as his face and audio works. Hate seeing the later POVs of PT where he's completely lifeless and faceless 

Do you think he could be projection mapped like Victoria Frankenstein in the queue of Monsters Unchained? I can't tell if static means fully static or if it's face could move/it could move on a platform.

[BryanJay]

I do wonder if the centurion or the other statue character would count as the static figure, since they were only technically classified as animated statues in the original ride. Depending on what the classify as one of the 33 animatronic, I’m personally predicting that if the turntable is used, the static figure will be on that since it gives it the illusion of motion and would probably depict a character, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Centurion would also count for this.

Also, with the conditions of the building and such, I wonder if the original paper mache statue that survived could be placed in the new attraction as an Easter Egg. Another random aside, next season I would love for some of the artifacts that they don’t use for the new ride to be placed somewhere in the park. One of the gift shops could be cool if they have a PT area, but I would be worried about sun damage. If the attraction is like REALLY popular consistently throughout the season, maybe making an extended queue into the peanuts showplace and displaying these there could be neat. 

[kingsislandfan1972]

11 minutes ago, BryanJay said:

I do wonder if the centurion or the other statue character would count as the static figure, since they were only technically classified as animated statues in the original ride. Depending on what the classify as one of the 33 animatronic, I’m personally predicting that if the turntable is used, the static figure will be on that since it gives it the illusion of motion and would probably depict a character, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Centurion would also count for this.

Also, with the conditions of the building and such, I wonder if the original paper mache statue that survived could be placed in the new attraction as an Easter Egg. Another random aside, next season I would love for some of the artifacts that they don’t use for the new ride to be placed somewhere in the park. One of the gift shops could be cool if they have a PT area, but I would be worried about sun damage. If the attraction is like REALLY popular consistently throughout the season, maybe making an extended queue into the peanuts showplace and displaying these there could be neat. 

I would love it if they had a gift shop with a PT area, along with artifacts of the original ride, also an extended que in the Peanuts showcase is a good idea.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

3 hours ago, BryanJay said:

Also, with the conditions of the building and such, I wonder if the original paper mache statue that survived could be placed in the new attraction as an Easter Egg. Another random aside, next season I would love for some of the artifacts that they don’t use for the new ride to be placed somewhere in the park. One of the gift shops could be cool if they have a PT area, but I would be worried about sun damage. If the attraction is like REALLY popular consistently throughout the season, maybe making an extended queue into the peanuts showplace and displaying these there could be neat. 

The north end of the Emporium would be a great place to do this. It already serves at the Haunt Store during the Fall season and only receives partial direct sunlight through the doors that face International Street. I could see The Shakespearean statue (in the case above) and Houdelini head be placed in there: probably in the corner where the lantern activation point has been. If the park still has the rest of the artifacts from the exhibit, this would be an opportunity to turn this area into a mini-museum with items replacing a few shelves. The model could also be displayed if there is room to do it. I hope the back wall from the KIT lobby display survived as well since it could serve as a backdrop again. The inverse busts will probably go back into the ride building and some of the description boards might not fit in the new space either. 

There will also need to be space in this store/mini museum for things about the new ride. I don't know how much Sally Dark Rides can provide, but photos of new concept art and a filmed interview with some of the creative team would be an awesome start. 

I really hope this new Phantom Theater does really well. Six Flags is currently looking through their portfolio as they "optimize" to figure out their priorities, and if they don't see a good ROI with this major addition for Kings Island I might be worried about how "major" future additions will be. It's bad to fear monger, but this is a situation that is actively developing with the other parks as well.

[DiamondbackFan]

Permit:

 

[beastfan11]

20 hours ago, kingsislandfan1972 said:

If the face busts return in the hallway... do you think they will be the same busts from before or will they be all new ones? 

If they’re all still intact, I’d assume (hope) they’d use them. 

[kingsislandfan1972]

23 minutes ago, beastfan11 said:

If they’re all still intact, I’d assume (hope) they’d use them. 

I'd hope so too. I used to shine my phone to see the remnants.

[MaestroJr]

To my knowledge, two of them were still intact as of a month ago when boo blasters was still open, and two of them were removed and never reinstalled after they were displayed at the Phantom Theatre play, somebody can correct me if I’m wrong about that, but I believe that is the case

[SonofBaconator]

I never understood why they were ever covered up to begin with- they fit the haunted castle theme just as good as they did for Phantom Theater.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Did the Phantom Theater line stop at the stairs so you wouldn't spend so much time in the hallway? The effect tends to do better when you're not right next to it for 3 minutes. I hope the park does something to cover the unsightly parts of the building better than they did for Boo Blasters. They don't need to entirely Disney-ify and make it so you never see an exit sign from the buggy, but there were a few spots in BBoBH where you could see orange cones, wet floor signs, and dark mystery door alcoves. 

The busts also might not have fit in very well with the new art style. As with the loading station, anything that was left over from PT got covered with paint or props. I'd be curious to know if the red eye lights that were installed in some of the busts were drilled through or mounted within. 

 

The station turntable room being absolutely coated in black paint will forever haunt my dreams. I really hope they can revive it to look like the original. I can't tell if it is covered in spray paint or wall paint either. You can kind of see the pattern still showing through.

One of the largest hurdles might be adding the curtains back into the room, but I would hope the team understands that guests will be looking for a lot of old mixed in with the new. The chandeliers may be harder to bring back since they were sold to local schools and organizations (I know of at least one that's been used in two separate productions of Phantom of the Opera), but their construction is relatively simple if more need to be made.

Photo: "Original Phantom Theater Concept Model" by BoddaH1994

 

Photo: Rick Bastrup https://roberthorsin.blogspot.com/2017/01/phantom-theater.html

Photo: Rick Davis https://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/phantomTheater.html

Photo: Kings Island

 

[MaestroJr]

1 hour ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

Did the Phantom Theater line stop at the stairs so you wouldn't spend so much time in the hallway? The effect tends to do better when you're not right next to it for 3 minutes. I hope the park does something to cover the unsightly parts of the building better than they did for Boo Blasters. They don't need to entirely Disney-ify and make it so you never see an exit sign from the buggy, but there were a few spots in BBoBH where you could see orange cones, wet floor signs, and dark mystery door alcoves. 

The busts also might not have fit in very well with the new art style. As with the loading station, anything that was left over from PT got covered with paint or props. I'd be curious to know if the red eye lights that were installed in some of the busts were drilled through or mounted within. 

 

The station turntable room being absolutely coated in black paint will forever haunt my dreams. I really hope they can revive it to look like the original. I can't tell if it is covered in spray paint or wall paint either. You can kind of see the pattern still showing through.

One of the largest hurdles might be adding the curtains back into the room, but I would hope the team understands that guests will be looking for a lot of old mixed in with the new. The chandeliers may be harder to bring back since they were sold to local schools and organizations (I know of at least one that's been used in two separate productions of Phantom of the Opera), but their construction is relatively simple if more need to be made.

Photo: "Original Phantom Theater Concept Model" by BoddaH1994

 

Photo: Rick Bastrup https://roberthorsin.blogspot.com/2017/01/phantom-theater.html

Photo: Rick Davis https://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/phantomTheater.html

Photo: Kings Island

 

The red eyes were quite literally just two red lights taped onto the busts head, somewhere I have a good picture of them I’ll look for, I also wish they would’ve been left for SDATHC because the spookiness of that show and the busts would’ve merged fine 

[kingsislandfan1972]

3 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

The red eyes were quite literally just two red lights taped onto the busts head, somewhere I have a good picture of them I’ll look for, I also wish they would’ve been left for SDATHC because the spookiness of that show and the busts would’ve merged fine 

Thank you! I was trying to figure out the same thing, about if the eyes were drilled or not. That gives me more hope for those to return, unless they decide to block off those openings.

[beastfan11]

BBoBH cars spotted in Lebanon, per the Season Passholders Group on Facebook. 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

What do we think this "special surprise is"? Maybe an IAAPA-related surprise?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think it will be the first look at PT:ON animatronics at IAAPA. I'd love for it to also be a reveal of one of the Opera Boxes, but I don't know how realistic it would be to get one mostly done and shipped by the time the convention starts.