Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare Construction Progress

[beastfan11]

10 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

Did there used to be another turret cap on the right side of the castle (looking from this direction)? It'd be right below where the black pickup truck's door is. I could also just be seeing something on the Eiffel Tower's star wire, but that bulb does not appear to be oriented in that direction.

Oddly enough, I think it may have been gone already: 

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

2 hours ago, beastfan11 said:

Oddly enough, I think it may have been gone already: 

Good catch, The Castle watcher is already gone. That's a clear sign they're tearing it down, (Although peace by peace) This building.

[TheCrypt]

It's seemingly never been there. See these pictures for reference. 

https://KICentral.com/parkhistory/past-attractions/scooby-doo-and-the-haunted-castle/

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

As much as I really want the castle to go in favor of a brand new exterior design, I would totally not be shocked if they just make some minor modifications to the castle structure and just dress it up to make it more like a gothic/medieval theater. I mean Music Hall in downtown Cincinnati sorta looks like a castle on the outside. 

[beastfan11]

I think with a bit of remodeling, some new paint, and a new marquee(see below), it would look great.  Something inspired by the original, but in line with the new art direction. 
 

[kingsislandfan1972]

I'm hoping the purple castle goes away, I mean I loved it for when it was Scooby-Doo and fit the theming perfectly, and it sort of worked for Boo Blasters (with some minor adjustments) but as time went on it just became an eyesore. I would like to see a new entrance thats just not another re-skin of Scooby-Doo.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think if they can change these three elements (the mouth, the "BH" medallions, and the tops of the towers) it will help a lot. It would definitely help everyone feel like PT:ON is not just a re-skin of SDatHC and BBoBH. Changing the colors of the castle should be on the list of changes as well. 

They should definitely try to find a way to add a marquee and change the castle turrets to be less castle-y.

[BryanJay]

 

These are some very quick sketches I made, but this is sorta how I’m predicting the entrance will look like. At this point, I’m not expecting them to massively demolish the whole facade and more so do a paint job and overlay to make it look different enough to recognize it’s a different attraction, but not anything major since I think a majority of the budget is going into the animatronics and theming. 
 

I didn’t want to draw it, but especially since they’re canonically ghosts at this point, I think a small detail to add that would go a long way is putting tombstones in the grassy section of land to the right on the entrance. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think if they put up a marquee I'd rather see one like the original had, but there's a chance they could make this kind look good too. My other hope would be that they keep the pieces on top of the gates. Those add a little flair to the structure.

What program did you use to make these?

[BryanJay]

Currently on the live cams, what I assume is some sort of ventilation or electrical work is going on. (Also for my last post I used ibispaint)

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

Looks like they're installing solar panels on the building.

[KIghostguy]

I'm a couple days behind on posting this, but for anyone curious, here is the video that they were playing on the side panels. And the posters that were displayed on the monitor as well.

There was more concept art displayed on the monitor during the press announcement, but I wasn't able to get good pictures of it from where I was standing. Sorry!  

 

[beastfan11]

44 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

I'm a couple days behind on posting this, but for anyone curious, here is the video that they were playing on the side panels. And the posters that were displayed on the monitor as well.

There was more concept art displayed on the monitor during the press announcement, but I wasn't able to get good pictures of it from where I was standing. Sorry!  

 

Wow. Thank you! 

[CoasterJack]

44 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

I'm a couple days behind on posting this, but for anyone curious, here is the video that they were playing on the side panels. And the posters that were displayed on the monitor as well.

There was more concept art displayed on the monitor during the press announcement, but I wasn't able to get good pictures of it from where I was standing. Sorry!  

 

I've been looking for clear footage of those monitors for days and this is by far the clearest I've seen them by far. Thanks Evan!

[kingsislandfan1972]

2 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

I'm a couple days behind on posting this, but for anyone curious, here is the video that they were playing on the side panels. And the posters that were displayed on the monitor as well.

There was more concept art displayed on the monitor during the press announcement, but I wasn't able to get good pictures of it from where I was standing. Sorry!  

 

IMG_6602.mov

I wonder if the gum chewing is a nod to the original ride when guests would spit their gum on the glass in the Peppers Ghost scene, which is something I vaguely remember. Nowadays I would hope there would be consequences for such behavior.

[BryanJay]

Thank you so much for sharing!! I’ve probably spent hours looking for this over the weekend so I really appreciate seeing this. Here’s what a noticed from it.

First looks at Hilda and Houdelini. They both hook great digitally, and with all the others I’m sure they’ll look even better in person (Garbonzo looks sooooo good sculpted out). I’m assuming the character at the bottom is Sir Pretzel, they don’t look like they’d be Lionel to me. 

Based on how this figure is being constructed compared to the others (with pupils) I think this might be the static figure? Unless they count something like the culture of gargoyle which were also shown.

Also the gum chewing comment on the poster is really weird to me, I wonder if that’s a reference to something in the new attraction. The no flash photography rule does make me feel better about this ride allowing photos on it, which I figured since Boo Blasters allowed phones out, but I’d be ****ed if I couldn’t take thousands of photos in this one.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

Okay I know how I normally write so I've compiled my thoughts using these photos.

1. Garbonzo gets some more dynamite
2. I think this is the clay casting model for No Legs Larry. If you look at how it is being formed, there are plastic shells where his eyes go and the artist is either sculpting or applying a coat of something (possibly to release the mold)
3. This wall is very intriguing to me. While it looks like it might just be a backstage wall, I kind of thought it also looked like the Pepper's Ghost glass wall covered in dust and grime and cracked in places. Could this be a reference to what was?
4. Arpeggio, my beloved <3 He looks so good!
5. Look at this view of a dressing room (?) door! The green above it in the transom also makes me think they could've installed a Green Room during their renovations  
6. This lower shot shows the wreath and some of the nice blue wallpaper. I hope we can see lots of color like this throughout the rest of the ride!
7. It seems our resident electrician is still dealing with mechanical knobs and levers
8. We've seen the boiler prop itself, but check out this nice drawing of it
9. (Just go along with it) As the adage to new beginnings goes: "Something Borrowed..."
   1. The vulture has found his way over to the Phantom Theater to leer over guests young and old.
10. "Something Blue..."
    1. This glowing blue cabinet is indecipherable — perhaps it contains some Ghost Notes 
11. "Something Old..."
    1. It's a little dusty, but we call it home! This outer molding for the gargoyle does make it look a little dusty...
12. "Something New..."
    1. Look at these three characters in their newer, more corruptible state
13. Did somebody call for a sarcophagus?
14. Oh, it seems Willard (or Lionel, I can never remember which is which) seems to be wrapped up with the sarcophagus
15. This movement test has me very curious. Is Maestro rehearsing his greetings or his final bows? Or is he rehearsing both? Much to think about!

I believe the reference to chewing gum is from when guests would get it stuck on the glass during the Pepper's Ghost scene. All of the characters look so much better now that they're not withering away like they were all those years ago. They have something to work towards instead of just reliving the glory days of the Phantom Theater! 

 

Thank you for the video and photos @KIghostguy!!!

[burlguy41005]

Love seeing these updates and sad to see nothing on the use of the peppers ghost effect....

[KIghostguy]

3 hours ago, burlguy41005 said:

Love seeing these updates and sad to see nothing on the use of the peppers ghost effect....

I doubt we’ll see Pepper’s Ghost used. The beams of light from the flashlights would reflect off the glass, ruining the effect.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

4 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

I doubt we’ll see Pepper’s Ghost used. The beams of light from the flashlights would reflect off the glass, ruining the effect.

I think we might see references to it (see photo #3 on my last post), though any "ghosts" of that sort would probably be on the screens now. Does anyone else think that might look like the Pepper's Ghost wall or is it just my imagination?

[SonofBaconator]

So this clearly isn’t Houdelini like I originally thought, so I wonder who this is

[Stoan]

On 11/23/2025 at 4:19 PM, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

Looks like they're installing solar panels on the building.

Can you imagine the amount of power they could provide if they covered the parking lot in panels like the Cincy Zoo.

[SonofBaconator]

12 minutes ago, Stoan said:

Can you imagine the amount of power they could provide if they covered the parking lot in panels like the Cincy Zoo.

IIRC, those were donated to the zoo so it was little to no cost for them. An ambitious ask, but I couldn’t imagine how much it would cost Six Flags to install panels in any of their lots without significant incentive.

As someone who advocates for solar energy, there’s something cool about seeing the whole park unobstructed as you approach from the parking lot.

[SonofBaconator]

3 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

So this clearly isn’t Houdelini like I originally thought, so I wonder who this is

@BryanJay

[beastfan11]

Could that be the all new, Sir Pretzel?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

On 11/23/2025 at 9:35 AM, BryanJay said:

Currently on the live cams, what I assume is some sort of ventilation or electrical work is going on. (Also for my last post I used ibispaint)

I think some of this might be part of a roof repair. The spacing of the lines feel like they're either for patches in the roof seams (?)(I don't know how that roof was done) or for something like solar panels as was suggested in another post. The width of each line seems a little too wide to be anything besides that. BryanJay, you might be right about the electrical and ventilation work. It's probably time for some upgrades, especially if the new ride will need more power than SDatHC and BBoBH with the new features it's supposed to have.