SonofBaconator

@Orion-XL200 Heck, you could have a company sponsor the train ride for Winterfest too if it’s a budget thing to try and allocate some funds to the train. I don’t think anyone would be confident in voting it best holiday event if not all parts of the park aren’t 100%- and that goes for the train too. They don’t even decorate the locomotives with lights or wreaths.

There was a time when Kings Island had four indoor ride through attractions operating at once. Flight of Fear, Tomb Raider or The Crypt, Action Theater, and the kids dark ride all brought something different to the park, and together they created a level of variety that made the indoor lineup feel complete. When you compare that to today, where Flight of Fear and Phantom Theater are the only true indoor rides, it is easy to see how much that part of the park has shrunk. A third indoor attraction would not be unusual for Kings Island. It would simply move the park closer to the variety it once offered. Phantom Theater is a great addition, especially for families, but it cannot represent every type of indoor experience on its own. Kings Island used to offer several different styles of indoor attractions at the same time, and there is still plenty of room for something with a different style or tone. An interactive ride, a more modern concept, or a lighter themed attraction would fill a space that the current lineup does not fully cover, and it would give guests another option that fits outside the coaster focused offerings. This is where Action Theater naturally comes up. The original ride is gone and the inside is now used for a haunt, but the type of attraction that once operated there filled a role the park no longer has. Kings Island already has many haunted houses, so using that space only for seasonal events does not bring much to the main season. If the park ever found a way to bring back Action Theater in some form, or create a new indoor attraction with a similar purpose, it would reintroduce a style of experience that is currently missing. Adding another indoor ride would not repeat the past. It would simply expand the lineup in a way that feels natural for Kings Island. A new attraction inspired by the spirit of Action Theater, or a completely new concept altogether, would round out the park in a meaningful way and bring back a type of variety that used to be one of its strengths.

You didn’t miss much, nearly identical to last year‘s. I think that there should be more lights along the route for people to look at instead of the 12 days of Christmas. But as long as people ride it, I’m sure they see no effort in wanting to fix it.

It seemed somewhat dead for opening night, then again it is Black Friday, colleges were playing, and it was cold. Started to pick up as we were heading out after about 2 hours. Something felt lacking. Not having the dark ride (Boo Blasters/Phantom Theater) open hurt the appeal a bit as most people would flock there for warmth… but that’s a temporary issue. I still argue the train needs a change- the lights along the ride were starting to show their age. It’s a shame the park doesn’t have nearly as many dark rides at once did because something like tomb raider/the crypt or even the action theater would have been a welcomed ride for people trying to escape the frigid cold.

@BryanJay

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.

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

Amongst the many Phantom Theater threads on this forum, this one aims to take a different approach. I’ve been thinking about this alternate version of Phantom Theater and wanted to share the idea in case anyone else has imagined something similar. Basically, picture a scenario where Kings Island didn’t originally build Phantom Theater as an omnimover dark ride in the Haunted Mansion style. Instead, imagine they took the exact same characters, atmosphere, portraits, parlor rooms, and ghostly humor, but turned the whole thing into a fully animatronic stage show. Guests would still have to enter through the lobby and listen to Maestro taunt them, but instead of loading into ride vehicles, they’d take their seats in a large Victorian theater filled with red velvet curtains, flickering candles, gilded arches, and multiple small stages. Maestro, Hilda, Houdelini, Garbonzo, Lionel and the rest of the Phantom Theater cast would appear as animatronic performers, each popping out on their own miniature stage to sing, argue, perform magic tricks, or attempt dangerous stunts. The whole thing would feel like a mashup of the original Phantom Theater aesthetic with the structure of Country Bear Jamboree or even the old Chuck E. Cheese animatronic shows. In a way, it would basically be what Phantom Theater Encore became, but built entirely around animatronics instead of live actors. Same characters, same humor, same style, just reimagined as a seated ghostly revue instead of a ride-through experience. For added authenticity, scenes like the prop room – the stage hands – the show lights guy, and the boiler room guys would appear as you’re walking through the line going towards the theater area or as you’re leaving. Thoughts?

I’m conflicted about Six Flags and Missouri. Prior to the merger, Missouri was pretty diverse when it came to parks and ownership: Cedar Fair, Herschend, and Six Flags coexisted. Now Six Flags has 2/3 control of the Missouri’s parks, and while Herschend still arguably owns the superior park, I don’t see the ladder having desire to own either SFSTL or WoF if they were up for sale. Additionally I don’t see the Six Flags giving either the GL/SFA treatment. In short I think both parks stay Six Flags properties for the foreseeable future. If anything, I could see Herschend looking into Valleyfair! if that property was ever available since they own Adventureland in Iowa.

I think Dorney would be sold since they just installed a Dive coaster, which would increase the resale value, and since Herschend owns Kennywood, I could see them making a push to buy them.

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.

Any working theories? Also would they all be Six Flags or former Cedar Fair parks as well? Personally, I think our chain would sell off a park to a competitor if it was in a “dead area.” For example, Valleyfair! would be a “good” candidate because it was always in the bottom tier of CF parks pre merger.

They’re growing at a fairly large rate

Batwing should be dismantled and relocated to Mason…

During Paramount’s attempt there was a soldier that came back to their loved one.

I’ve said this nearly every year but I hope that they add more lights to their train ride. Almost every park that has a train ride decks it out for the holidays and it seems like ours always seemed to be missing something.

Do you mean that the staggered seating allows for a longer, more snakelike train?

They did use Phantom Theater props and animatronics as displays during Fearfest/Haunt in the past so I don’t think it detracted that much.

that was one of the things that I feared would go away when the chains merged…marketing is always one of the first departments to experience cuts when companies are trying to save money.

I never understood why the park never used the IP for nearly 20 years until PTE. We could’ve had Haunt Mazes, merch, etc in between 2003-2022

3 Questions: What’s one thing will you be upset if they don’t bring back? Whats one thing you don’t think they’ll bring back? What’s something you’d like changed that they didn’t do the 1st time?

on a somewhat related note, I’m curious if Kings Island Louisville/Lexington grip has eroded since the reopening of Kentucky Kingdom and if so, by how much.

B&M has made hypers with both the standard 4 across as well as the staggered seating. My question is- would Diamondback (heck include Behemoth, Intimidator/Thunder Striker, Shambala, and Steel Dragon 2000 in as well) have a different experience if it (and the latter mentioned coasters) had 4 across trains? The lack of open-airedness is a given, but would it/they ride any different?

I don’t know why the park didn’t preserve as much as possible- they could’ve made some cash selling some of the props off- even the minor ones like the old photos on the walls.