Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare Reviews

[BryanJay]

It’s been closed since yesterday (much to my torture, now I’ll have to ride other rides ugh) because it had to be evacuated. Not sure if it’s the causation, but Tuesday’s storms might’ve caused some damage to the ride, as a portion of the queue ceiling had collapsed and a lot of the ride’s triggers were delayed.

[MaestroJr]

Really part of the ceiling collapsed? I didn’t noticed that last Thursday 

[beastfan11]

10 minutes ago, MaestroJr said:

Really part of the ceiling collapsed? I didn’t noticed that last Thursday 

Yeah, things seemed normal Friday night as well. Looking like it might be closed now? Could be storm related. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

It was closed today as well. I believe the reasoning was indeed that there was an issue with the roof, though I'd much rather the ride be closed for a few days than let it be open and delay the roof work.

There was also another portion of drywall that had been kicked in under Maestro's balcony. This is a good opportunity to hopefully fix that and anything else throughout the ride that has either broken or not worked as intended since April. It'd also be the time to either fix or replace the TV in the first boiler.

[brenthodge]

3 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

I’ve heard rumours  that PT is having lots of operational issues this last week, I know it was closed one day for a couple of hours in the evening, anyone know if this is anything out of the ordinary or not?

I was there Monday and it went down for a few minutes, but when back up the first half of the ride till the main theatre stage was silent. Then Friday night the queue area went fully dark except for the chandeliers for a few moments, the “lightning strike” returned it to full bright so I wasn’t sure if it was just a new cycle I’d never seen. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

19 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Then Friday night the queue area went fully dark except for the chandeliers for a few moments, the “lightning strike” returned it to full bright so I wasn’t sure if it was just a new cycle I’d never seen.

That would be a really cool new cycle for a potential Haunt overlay! 

[MaestroJr]

I really hope it’s open by Saturday 

[beastfan11]

14 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

I really hope it’s open by Saturday 

Ditto. Have my sister from out of town going with us Sunday and she told me that’s one of the things she’s looking forward to the most. 

[johnjniehaus]

I'm coming in from Seattle and plan to be at the park Saturday August 8 and it would be an absolute travesty if this ride was closed the one time in 2026 I'll actually be at the park. Praying they fix whatever happened before my visit. 

[MaestroJr]

In times like this I wish the park would say something to else to let us know what the deal is, makes it hard on the outside looking in

[beastfan11]

[MaestroJr]

Day two of it not being open I feel bad for those who made special trips to ride, I’ve been on it already a bunch but am still curious what the deal is

[johnjniehaus]

1 hour ago, MaestroJr said:

Day two of it not being open I feel bad for those who made special trips to ride, I’ve been on it already a bunch but am still curious what the deal is

Yeah it's gonna suck so bad if it's closed when I'm there. Hoping whatever the issue is can be resolved this week and it's good to go next week 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think this may actually have been day 3 or 4, as it wasn't open on Sunday either.

[johnjniehaus]

Anyone up at the park today? Any updates on open/closed status?

[johnjniehaus]

Was just thinking this quote sums up the last few days

"The theater is closed... it has been for a long time!" - The Maestro 

[beastfan11]

Just checked the queue times site and it says it’s open with a 70 minute wait….

Link

 

[disco2000]

Yes it is open.

[Orion742]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

Yes it is open.

Did they fix the issues with the roof and broken animatronics toward the end of the ride?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I didn't see any visible issues with the roof during my ride, but all of the animatronics were working. The only thing that wasn't working was the ghost note projections in a few scenes. The second boiler also had a strange line near the bottom third of the screen, but I believe that is an easy fix. All of the lightbulbs were working and the heat was as well. I didn't remember to check on the newest hole in the wall of the queue, but I'm sure it was also fixed. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I meant to post it here right after I saw it, but sometime last week the Fast Lane line was chained off with a sign directing guests to go through the exit for FL. Once I got inside I was able to see that there were multiple ceiling tiles missing in the corner closest to the entrance. There were a few buckets and some water barriers around the area directly under that in front of the queue's western emergency exit door. It was back open both times I went this week. 

From what I can remember all of the animatronics and effects were working well. The music was missing, but I'd rather the rest of the ride stay in working order before they worry about that. I'll be interested to see whether or not the ride ends up operating or not during Haunt as well. I think it could go either way.

[johnjniehaus]

Ok this is the moment I've been waiting for - My review of Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare! 

So most of you probably know I relocated to Seattle last year and I was traveling through the area this past weekend and stopped by the park last Saturday and got two rides on Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare. The first ride I just rode through taking in the details and the second ride I used the flashlight to play the game with the ghost notes. 

First of all the entrance - I don't love the repurposed castle. I feel like they could have done better with that and made it more unique and different however I appreciate that most of the budget clearly went into the ride interior vs a fancy exterior. 

The que was fantastic. The darkness and the lightning effects were great and really set the tone of an abandoned theater. I was worried the purple wallpaper would be almost Dr Seuss like but the dark lighting makes it look really really good. The audio in the que was loud enough to hear it over all the talking so I was able to hear all the preshow dialogue. 

The hallway portraits were a nice touch considering that they were a stable of the older version of the ride and are absent from the current version. They actually look much more like paintings in person vs in photos you can obviously tell they are screens. Enjoyed the dialogue loop here as well and it was also loud enough that I could understand what each character was saying 

The shooting element of the ride I personally found to be distracting. I played the game the second ride through but in a way every target looks the same and I actually found it distracting and hard to take in the actual rooms and characters while chasing ghost notes. I think it's a nice feature for kids who don't appreciate the artistry of a classic dark ride but I personally would probably not play the shooting game on future rides. 

The sets and scenes were all great and some of the little details are fun - for example I got stopped in front of Hilda's dressing room and noticed all the little fan cards on her mirror (details you miss when just riding past the scene). The did think the stage scene seemed a bit small but loved they payed homage to Phantom Theater Encore. Also, the boiler room was working full force and I love the roses scent at the end of the ride. Hopefully the park will continue to keep all these effects working. Also the original bust on the left after Sir Pretzel was really cool. Glad they were able to incorporate that into the new version of the ride. 

All in all I really enjoyed the ride and I'd definitely ride it every visit if I still lived in the area. Sounds like I'll have another opportunity to ride it May 2 as my sister is getting married on May 1 this year so I'll be traveling back to Cincinnati then. 

[MaestroJr]

On 8/10/2026 at 6:51 PM, johnjniehaus said:

Ok this is the moment I've been waiting for - My review of Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare! 

So most of you probably know I relocated to Seattle last year and I was traveling through the area this past weekend and stopped by the park last Saturday and got two rides on Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare. The first ride I just rode through taking in the details and the second ride I used the flashlight to play the game with the ghost notes. 

First of all the entrance - I don't love the repurposed castle. I feel like they could have done better with that and made it more unique and different however I appreciate that most of the budget clearly went into the ride interior vs a fancy exterior. 

The que was fantastic. The darkness and the lightning effects were great and really set the tone of an abandoned theater. I was worried the purple wallpaper would be almost Dr Seuss like but the dark lighting makes it look really really good. The audio in the que was loud enough to hear it over all the talking so I was able to hear all the preshow dialogue. 

The hallway portraits were a nice touch considering that they were a stable of the older version of the ride and are absent from the current version. They actually look much more like paintings in person vs in photos you can obviously tell they are screens. Enjoyed the dialogue loop here as well and it was also loud enough that I could understand what each character was saying 

The shooting element of the ride I personally found to be distracting. I played the game the second ride through but in a way every target looks the same and I actually found it distracting and hard to take in the actual rooms and characters while chasing ghost notes. I think it's a nice feature for kids who don't appreciate the artistry of a classic dark ride but I personally would probably not play the shooting game on future rides. 

The sets and scenes were all great and some of the little details are fun - for example I got stopped in front of Hilda's dressing room and noticed all the little fan cards on her mirror (details you miss when just riding past the scene). The did think the stage scene seemed a bit small but loved they payed homage to Phantom Theater Encore. Also, the boiler room was working full force and I love the roses scent at the end of the ride. Hopefully the park will continue to keep all these effects working. Also the original bust on the left after Sir Pretzel was really cool. Glad they were able to incorporate that into the new version of the ride. 

All in all I really enjoyed the ride and I'd definitely ride it every visit if I still lived in the area. Sounds like I'll have another opportunity to ride it May 2 as my sister is getting married on May 1 this year so I'll be traveling back to Cincinnati then. 

Glad you had fun what was your favorite scene? 

[johnjniehaus]

9 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

Glad you had fun what was your favorite scene? 

Oh tough question - I really liked the last scene with the rose smell effect but I also think the dressing room with Lionel, Pretzel, and Warble was cool. It's hard to pick just one favorite. I also loved how the original queue bust incorporated but the rest of that scene is pretty boring so can't really pick that one. The "caught in the ropes" and boiler room were very well done. I'd say the least impressive scenes to me were the stage scene just because in footage of the original the set looks much bigger and the prop room honestly is a little dull in the new version - Gargoyle and Centurion characters don't talk. Just more of Hilda's screaming haha. So I know I've rambled but I think the new ride is very good and there's some great scenes but a few of them could probably have been better. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

The current stage scene is smaller than the original, and is also smaller than the library scene that existed in SDatHC and BBoBH. I wish they could've scaled down the animatronics and made the room feel bigger.

[MaestroJr]

Is there even a centurion character on our new phantom, I don’t recall seeing him 

[MaestroJr]

 

10 hours ago, johnjniehaus said:

Oh tough question - I really liked the last scene with the rose smell effect but I also think the dressing room with Lionel, Pretzel, and Warble was cool. It's hard to pick just one favorite. I also loved how the original queue bust incorporated but the rest of that scene is pretty boring so can't really pick that one. The "caught in the ropes" and boiler room were very well done. I'd say the least impressive scenes to me were the stage scene just because in footage of the original the set looks much bigger and the prop room honestly is a little dull in the new version - Gargoyle and Centurion characters don't talk. Just more of Hilda's screaming haha. So I know I've rambled but I think the new ride is very good and there's some great scenes but a few of them could probably have been better. 

I love the boiler room scene the best as it reminds me the most of the old scene 

[Timchat2]

The boiler room scene feels the most fully-realized of the new ride. It's a glimpse of what the revived Phantom Theater might have been like if given a complete Monster Mansion-style recreation instead of the "inspired by" attraction we have now.

[johnjniehaus]

1 hour ago, MaestroJr said:

Is there even a centurion character on our new phantom, I don’t recall seeing him 

I mean someone is hiding in the old boo Blasters armor suit in the prop room. Far cry from the Centurion but I figured that was what they were trying to reference there

[johnjniehaus]

1 hour ago, MaestroJr said:

 

I love the boiler room scene the best as it reminds me the most of the old scene 

I'm just happy that all the effects were working during my visit. On the first ride Larry #1 (Are you ready to be an usher) didn't work and that dialogue was missing but on the second ride about 45 minutes later he was working perfectly so idk what was up the first time.