Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare Reviews

[MaestroJr]

Got two rides in today and absolutely exceeded my expectations, I want to thank Six Flags, Sally, and Kings Island for making this all happen, briefly wanted to share my pros and cons of the new ride and Share a few photos from the ride, I plan on many many more rides this summer.  Also got a super smooth ride on The Beast so shoutout to the retracking crew for doing a superb job. 
 

Phantom Theater Pros:

Soundtrack and Toccata is back

Facade and Queue is outstanding with the spooky theme

All the animatronics are amazing simply put

New life has been breathed into the building especially when entering the loading area with the lighting windows 

Cons: The wait time was ridiculous for a ride that has a tried and true loading process 

Some effects are cheap and carried over from Boo Blasters like Larry on the turntable and the Bosco door
 

Not sold on the interactive aspect 100 percent, I like it but think it could be better, maybe it’ll grow on me 

Some of the animatronics have a goofy look that fights with their scary original 

Overall a phenomenal addition to Kings Island for families and friends to ride for years to come and a worthy successor and tribute to original Phantom Theater and so, so much better than Boo Blasters, could not be happier to have Phantom Theater back at the park. 
 

[johnjniehaus]

Just a random question, why are so many people maxing out the score with like 999999? Targets worth too many points? Ride breaking down/stopping for loading resulting in these crazy maxed out scores? Been seeing a lot of them posted on Facebook 

[robintodd]

1 hour ago, johnjniehaus said:

Just a random question, why are so many people maxing out the score with like 999999? Targets worth too many points? Ride breaking down/stopping for loading resulting in these crazy maxed out scores? Been seeing a lot of them posted on Facebook 

The boxes are two at a time (two boxes, two blanks) this creates much more space between sets of boxes.  My first ride the first box had no one in it and I was alone in the 2nd box.  I had 999,999 by the 1/2 way point of the ride (Hilda).  The second time I rode it i was in the first box with a fellow rider and not sure how many but there were people in the 2nd box. My score was around 390,000.  So the more people competing to hit notes the lower the score (from what I could gather 1 person has to hit the note for points, if more than 1 hit it at the same time the note survives.  ie. no ties).

Hope that helps.

[robintodd]

Rode it Friday twice and then on Saturday with 2 of my grandkids.  This ride is absolutely fantastic for what is is meant to be.  In my opinion this is NOT for the original Phantom Theatre fans.  It is "inspired" by the original ride NOT meant to be a reproduction of it.  Keep in mind FAMILY RIDE.  The original was much darker and scared small children.  This one still does a little (especially the lightning/thunder effects in the queue).   The biggest surprise and what made me smile was where the "peppers ghost" effect used to be.  ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT in my opinion.  I'm sure I'm in a minority but I think the peppers ghost effect in today's day and age may be more trouble than it would be worth.  Face it people today are a little more "brave" to deface things (spitting on mirrors, gum, etc.) I'm sure that would require daily cleaning.  I truely fear for Larry in the queue.  They have signs about cameras but by then it may be to late.  Plexi glass around the section would help (but spitting may still be there).  Doing this would have to have left the exit doors still accessible and would may have affected the popcorn scent (loveley touch).  Another observation was the neither the Maestro nor Larry do the narration for the information videos on how to use the flashlights.  This may be a signal that in case Maestro or Larry stop working the instructions would still be viable.

I used Fast Lane my first ride (20 min) the second i waited in line (almost 3 hours).  The line seemed to go in spurts.  I can understand this because with the new cars, new tech and I'm assuming some work on the track system since it was exposed I think it will take some time to fine tune it.  After all with 28 or so boxes and 400-500 in each box that's alot of weight compared to cycling with half of the boxes empty.  

Saturday when i took the grandkids it was about 2 hours and even though we were there around 3-4 we did get the keychains they were given out.   

Finally, I noticed a LARGE amount of people entering through the exit.  The line was all the way outdoors every time I passes the ride all day.  I'm sure the long waits were becuase of stopping for loading special needs which is fine but it does bring up how many people were taking advantage of the situation to avoid the line.  Honestly I've never seen that before with Boo or Scooby.  It will be interesting to see how long that line is next weekend or in the middle of the season.  I understand the need for those who need it but I have heard that KI is rather lax on the reasons they accept for these exceptions.

All in all a FANTASTIC addition which I will be riding over and over.  Great job to Sally and the KI team (and Rick)!!

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I don't know if the popcorn scent wasn't working yesterday when I was there, but I did not smell any sort of popcorn scent in that section of the queue. 

I agree with your point about the animatronics and the risk of unruly kids potentially destroying them. When I first saw photos of Larry in there while the ride was under construction, my first thought was I was afraid that unruly kids may throw objects at him and/or go behind the barrier and try and touch him. I really hope they enforce zero tolerance of any sort of interfering with the animatronics in the queue and I really hope in 5-10 years they're still on top of the animatronics and it doesn't become one of those rides where some stuff is working and some isn't like Boo Blasters was. 

[SonofBaconator]

I rode it yesterday and I was thoroughly surprised at how immersive the queue was as well as the ride itself. I do feel like the ghost note element was not distracting and you can honestly somewhat ignore them and just take in the ride itself if you wanted.

A few critiques and some that I hope they fix as a season progresses:

Spoiler

The capacity wasn’t the best- there were a ton of gaps between the opera boxes- I’m not sure if that was intentional, if it was the same number as before but spaced out differently, or if not all the boxes had been reinstalled yet.

The audio in the que- A few people have pointed this out already, but you can only really hear Larry when you’re on the right side of the building as opposed to how you can hear Maestro throughout the whole queue. 

The portraits-The portraits could be a little louder too- I like the idea of them interacting with one another, but I’m not entirely a fan of the AI. That might sound hypocritical as I’ve shared AI renderings on here before, but I’m not trying to make money off of it whereas the park/company is using it for one of their attractions.

My two cents in the new ride vs the old ride:

Spoiler

The original ride was meant to heavily take inspiration from the haunted mansion, so it had elements that were slightly scarier, and since the ride was story base and not a glorified arcade game, they packed in as much story in detail as possible.

When it was converted to Scooby-Doo in the haunted mansion you at least had the advantage of the Scooby Doo IP that you’ve got to interact with while the shooting element was introduced.

Then when the park lost that IP and went with a generic one, you pretty much solely focused on it as a laser tag ride.

Now that it returns to its original IP the park decided to keep the interactive element intact so they had to do it in a way to where little kids can still interact with via the flashlights while the older generations can focus on the detail of the theming itself.

I knew the story was gonna be different- you essentially went from touring an old abandoned theater, where the actors literally died, returned as phantoms, you’re disturbing their slumber, etc- to a more family friendly setting where the characters are already phantoms and the theater is open for business. I think this story follows more along what Phantom Theater Encore was doing where you have a bunch of live people attending a ghost performance.

I think that honestly, the ride itself is just fan service for people who remember the original and something entirely new for the young generations so in that element I think it works well.

I would honestly give it a B+. There are a lot of technical things I still think they need to work out, but overall the ride isn’t bad – I think there are a few things that I mentioned in the spoilers that kept it from being an A+ ride. I went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be a carbon copy of the original, and I have to give credit to the park and Sally for reintegrating the original  IP into a layout/concept that had been altered well over 20 years ago. 

[robintodd]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

The capacity wasn’t the best- there were a ton of gaps between the opera boxes- I’m not sure if that was intentional, if it was the same number as before but spaced out differently, or if not all the boxes had been reinstalled yet.

The audio in the que- A few people have pointed this out already, but you can only really hear Larry when you’re on the right side of the building as opposed to how you can hear Maestro throughout the whole queue. 

The portraits-The portraits could be a little louder too- I like the idea of them interacting with one another, but I’m not entirely a fan of the AI. That might sound hypocritical as I’ve shared AI renderings on here before, but I’m not trying to make money off of it whereas the park/company is using it for one of their attractions.

I was told it's the same number of boxes just spaced differently and done so the scenes don't step on one another (or you have to many guests trying for the same notes)

Completely agree on the audio.  Larry needed to be louder (and Archie could have be quieter )
 

[Phantom Theater]

I had one ride yesterday and I loved it!! I would have loved to have done it more but the line was long. We waited about 2.5 hrs. It was so surreal seeing these characters that have lived in my mind since I was 7 years old get a second life. The queue was awesome and I am so happy to see Maestro back where he belongs, even though I'd love to have seen him back at a piano up there. As noted, the audio for Larry was too low. I was ecstatic when they gave out the Inaugural Performance keychain before boarding. The ride itself was awesome. I really like that energy that is around every corner, there are few parts that are still walls. My biggest dislike was the show. While cool to see all the characters performing, that scene is way too crammed. Getting rid of the turntable and opening that area up to the size of the original stage would have really helped that part out.

I am very happy to see the reception this ride is receiving and I am glad kids today will experience something with so much soul at KI.

[calakapepe]

Long read and... I know that I tend to be very critical of things I care about.. so to partially counter that, I made myself go back n forth for negative and positve thoughts. 

From videos before riding:

👎 We use flashlights.. but lack a 'lights out' scene.

👍 A nice shooting system that works, and has sounds and haptics to confirm points

👎 The Opera lady doesn't sing operatically.. doesnt sound serious, originally it was a powerful vocal that, when paired with the cracking mirror felt intense. I wish they had a lady that sang "properly". This voice is kind of.. annoying, i hesitate to say. 

👍 The queue has lightning in the windows

👎 The Facade wasn't truly redone

👍 Many animitronics 

👎 Too many reused assets from boo blasters.. Scooby to Boo was understandable as it was a required redo while the entire park redone.. but at least phantom to Scooby did, albeit less dazzling, mostly new effects.

👍 the boiler scene returns!

👎 There's no pepper's ghost effect & in its old location is all the characters, admittedly moving, but in one place.. on an empty stage.. peppers ghost wouldve been cooler as a static display if they had the whole audience area depicted like the OG

👍 There are some callbacks/ redos of the OG on even small-detail scales. The Gargoyl, the guy caught in the ropes, the mummy.

👎 The ride aint spooky at all.. I understand making it more family friendly for younger ages too but, I was 4 when I started riding & remembering Phantom Theatre and I still really liked it.. I feel we couldve gone more ghoulish than this.. afterall they went and put "Nightmare" on the ride title.

👍 The ride vehicles are paired with one other vehicle now allowing for a fresher riding configuration and, in theory, allowing for longer audio sequences without hearing the other groups' scene.

👎 connected to previous positive-- No Legs Larry repeats his first line loudly twice for some reason at the beginning

👍 They attempt a decent story for why you're shooting these ghost notes

👎 no legs larry, should be sassy and making puns that are slightly spooky themed like in the show's opening meet n greet.. thats why ppl loved him

👍 maestro says "youll be back" 

👎 the audio repeats way too frequently for the showboxes being more spread out than before.. tocatta in d minor & "back on the stage once again".

👍 projection mapping

 

After riding

👍 The shooting system was much more responsive and satisfying than expected

👎 There are several moments where there's nothing happening

👍 The windows in queue have thematic lighting

👎 The 2nd buggy in the "train" doesnt get the best views because the cars don't rotate to look at the same time.. wouldve liked the cars to stay separately spaced since none of the scenes needed to last super long anyways.. the reused ride can only rotate at certain moments on the track.. car 1 and car 2 can never be triangulated on the same moment, because they will experience the exact same physical movements.. wouldve liked the system to program in different rotation points also. OG phantom had different rotations compared to scooby... but ever since scooby, its been the same. This was a good chance to change it up.

👍 The indoor queue can fit more people and yet still does not feel cramped so the line will be out in the hot sun less often.

👎 The castle has gashes in the concrete already

👍nice easter eggs throughout including invered bust, The Beastie vulture etc

👎REALLY shouldve brought the peppers ghost effect back

👍Boo Blasters is gone! 

👎 Volume on No Legs Larry incomprehensible in most places in the queue yet the cats meowing hurts my ears its so loud.

👍 The bats on the metal railing are nicee

👎 The boiler scene had nothing happening with the 2 guys, no notes going in.. then the secondary portion.. you dont get blasted with heat. (Many complained of it being hot.. but its still a better effect with the heat)

👍 The new tangled in the ropes scene is superior

👎 The 2-carriage showbox configuration ultimately led to my experience having 1 or 2 times where the dialogue/ action finishes early because it was designed for the 1st car to see. I remember the notes changing a little early once. Since the cars cant be made to rotate to triangulate on the same scene.. I think they should've kept the cars equally spaced out. Nothing lasted so long to need the extra spacing from my quick impression *shrug*

👍 the haptics when you capture a ghost note is great

👎 Larry's intro dialogue need to go through the carriage speakers instead of loudy screaming it twice within 3 seconds.. the riders hear both iterations.

👍 despite wishing for a "lights out"moment.. i actually like the choice of that same character now turning up the lights to try to help get rid of the notes.. though, I wouldve opted for a flood light moment then haha.. maybe a quick strobe disguising a photo op

--

 

Overall, Im so very glad to finally get rid of Scooby/ Boo Blasters. I remember the debut of Scooby as a 7 year old and being severely disappointed lol I have always joked "I was the target demographic.. and scooby doo was a lame addition as a 7 year old that actually DOES like scooby doo" 

Outside of my whining, this ride is very acceptable. Bringing a (for now) well operating shooting system that doesnt feel clunky & gives you great visual and physical feedback. I think kids as old as 13 will very much enjoy this ride as it is.. but, I think it leaned a bit too much into family friendly that it doesnt excite for older guests as much (except YOU who's reading this disagreeing). I mean the ride has "Nightmare" in the name.. probably a difficult balance. Ive heard people say kids used to get really scared of the old one but, Im coming from being maybe 3 or 4 and I dont remember ever being scared; my parents have never reported me crying from OG phantom *shrug*

Im glad to see most people posting are fans of it (assuming mostly adults have been posting) I wish I was amongst the crew with mostly positive things to say. Tis my nature. But, Im glad the park put it the effort to give us a ride inspired by something that arguably was one of the best attractions to ever grace Kings Island.  Let's all agree to keep it Phantom Theater forever now haha

Ill be sure to ride this every time... the line is not crazy. 

[Michael H]

My wife and I rode it today.  I rode the original one as well.   With that said. I love both of them.  I try not to compare one to another, because it was a different time and different technology.  I loved the theatrical show of Phantom from a couple of years ago.  I still watch it to this day on you tube.   I am very happy with this ride and will be looking forward to riding it a lot in the future as well.  There is only one criticism I have, there needs to be hot air blowing on you when you go by the boiler.  That would be a great effect.  Overall, a 10 for me.   I hope everyone enjoys it as well.

[super7]

On 4/17/2026 at 5:16 PM, johnjniehaus said:

Not sure how long Orion lines were when opening during the pandemic but I'd say this is the biggest turn out for a new ride opening since mystic if I had to guess 

it’s great that there’s such a high interest in this ride 
 

Practically every person in the world can ride this ride.    A smaller % of the population can ride coasters.    So it would be logical that this ride may attract more people.
 

Maybe these parks will start figuring out that if they put in more attractions that everybody can ride, their attendance will quit being stagnant   

[OwenFromTheRacer]

I was very impressed and pleased with it when I rode on Thursday. I feel the production quality is very high and the flashlights are very cool; the real time tracking is great. I think it is important to keep in mind that this is a brand-new effects based ride. They are still working out the volume of music and sounds effects, how to keep the flashlights consistently working and keeping all the effects inside the ride consistent

[brenthodge]

So many bemoaning the loss of the peppers ghost scene in the new Phantom Theatre. It wouldn’t make sense in the narrative and it actually never made sense the first time. We’ve seen these ghosts fully manifested, but then they become wispy image, only to go back to being fully formed again? The reason the peppers ghost works at don’t is the it’s really the first time we’ve seen the ghosts “manifested”. They are transparent, the become more “physical” once you are in the graveyard. Thats one of the reasons the hat box ghost location has been controversial- it ruined the build up of the ghost logic. The first version just had the PG effect to copy Disney.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think the only big change I'd have made to the ride scene layout would be to bring back the big theater scene but without the Pepper's Ghost effects. Make guests feel a little closer to the stage than before, though. Put some smaller animatronics on stage and in the audience, but keep them corporeal. There could still be Ghost Notes floating along the back wall and a flat surface for the tracking system as well. The PT Encore scene music stays, the Ghost Notes and game aspect are kept, you're just not right up at the front of the stage. Other than that I think everything else will be fixed as the ride continues to cycle with public guests. 

 

3 hours ago, super7 said:

Practically every person in the world can ride this ride.    A smaller % of the population can ride coasters.    So it would be logical that this ride may attract more people.

To add to this, I hope Kings Island decides to put in another family dark ride elsewhere in the park. I've been advocating for something in an expanded Action Theater but it doesn't have to go there.

[Outdoor Man]

Home Run by KI & SDR. The line was deceivingly long Sunday afternoon. We rode near the end of the operating day, so was in the line room when the Fast Pass and Accessible lines closed. Once those were exhausted, the main line went very fast. I don't recall hearing anything from the original musical score from the original- thought that was to have been played somewhere. Good (ride) add though.

From here, it's really on the "guest." For instance, I get that some are physically unable to navigate the line queue; but I don't feel like that is a license for your party-of-10 to skip to the front of the line. The accessible line was out the door and down the walkway a bit with what seemed to be a lot of able-bodied people surrounding one.

We'll see how long it is before line queue props are damaged from enterprising <18 guests going to places off-limits. 

There are a lot of moving parts to keep maintaining, so I hope KI is up to the task; lots of "burnt out bulbs" that weren't replaced from last Fall on those front buildings though.... 

[BryanJay]

To be fair, Phantom is one of the more inaccessible rides due to the use of stairs in the queue and the ability for anyone to ride it. I do agree that the Accessible line was very long this weekend, but there was a more-than-usual amount of guest waiting in the standard line too. Hopefully the wait times are able to be lowered as operations become smoother, I do think the added accessibility door within the queue should really help with that on a typical day, previously that was the job of the ride operator and the process of signing the green sheets slowed operations. 

I do really fear the longevity of the some of the smaller set elements. I'm hoping the newer technology and BTS infrastructure work that I believe wasn't done for the Scooby Doo conversion should help. But I really fear that it won't be long until we start seeing videos of kids climbing on Larry in the queue line. I think they should've had some additional barrier in place besides the queue line. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

On Friday, it took me right at an hour to get through the Fastlane line. When I was a few people behind the Fastlane scanner (where the 3 lines merge) there was a person sighing the green sheets in the exit hall. They would just open the door and lets 2 or 3 groups in. Groups being a family/those together. Then one group from the regular queue and a group from Fastlane. So 3 to 4 groups of people for 1 group in the regular line. I felt bad for the regular line queue for they were really getting the shaft on throughput. 

[silver2005]

I generally liked it. It's at the very least a HUGE upgrade from Boo Blasters.  My only issues are that the dialog could be a bit more clear and maybe more use of music through the ride (especially for a ride themed to a theater with a maestro).

I'll give it a A-.

[Outdoor Man]

40 minutes ago, BryanJay said:

To be fair, Phantom is one of the more inaccessible rides due to the use of stairs in the queue and the ability for anyone to ride it. I do agree that the Accessible line was very long this weekend, but there was a more-than-usual amount of guest waiting in the standard line too. Hopefully the wait times are able to be lowered as operations become smoother, I do think the added accessibility door within the queue should really help with that on a typical day, previously that was the job of the ride operator and the process of signing the green sheets slowed operations. 

I do really fear the longevity of the some of the smaller set elements. I'm hoping the newer technology and BTS infrastructure work that I believe wasn't done for the Scooby Doo conversion should help. But I really fear that it won't be long until we start seeing videos of kids climbing on Larry in the queue line. I think they should've had some additional barrier in place besides the queue line. 

 

I get it. But, on Sunday, it seemed to be a lot of people "with" the one(s) who legitimately needed to go through the back entrance. 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

4 hours ago, silver2005 said:

I generally liked it. It's at the very least a HUGE upgrade from Boo Blasters.  My only issues are that the dialog could be a bit more clear and maybe more use of music through the ride (especially for a ride themed to a theater with a maestro).

I'll give it a A-.

I agree. MUCH better than Boo Blasters! But I also think the ride could be better. I wish that there was a more clear plot throughout the ride, although Boo Blasters didn't really have a plot either. I just don't understand the whole "shine the flashlight at the Ghost Notes!" thing. Like why? I did sense there were some "dead spots" throughout the ride where nothing was really happening and I was just waiting for the next scene and the next time I got to use my flashlight. Don't get me wrong I really like the ride and think it's a great upgrade, but if you strip down everything it's essentially a very similar ride to everything else that has been in that building. If I were to give it a grade, it would be a B

[brenthodge]

19 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I think the only big change I'd have made to the ride scene layout would be to bring back the big theater scene but without the Pepper's Ghost effects. Make guests feel a little closer to the stage than before, though. Put some smaller animatronics on stage and in the audience, but keep them corporeal. There could still be Ghost Notes floating along the back wall and a flat surface for the tracking system as well. The PT Encore scene music stays, the Ghost Notes and game aspect are kept, you're just not right up at the front of the stage. Other than that I think everything else will be fixed as the ride continues to cycle with public guests. 

 

To add to this, I hope Kings Island decides to put in another family dark ride elsewhere in the park. I've been advocating for something in an expanded Action Theater but it doesn't have to go there.

I love your idea for the theatre stage. Its too close and the figures too large. If feels more like a store display window with a bunch of anaimated fugures in it. Even if they HAD to use the turntable (did they really?) It could have been incorporated into the whole stage set - like having "extras" or chorus girls running onto the stage to make it in time. I even like the idea of seeing some human (and ghost) audience members infront of the stage - like we are tru "opera boxes" a bit further back. Thats one of my only nitpicks and mainly a counter to those wanting reflected images back

[BoddaH1994]

We shared a lot of the sentiments listed above.