From 1994-2013 who remembers Action Theater (originally named Paramount Action FX Theater)? I have fond memories riding SpongeBob 3D, a very brief Stan Lee Superhero ride, and even a 3D Dinosaur ride. There are other shows that were shown in a theater such as Days Of Thunder, James Bond, and even a Hanna-Barbera ride. Who else has fun memories of this Kings Island attractions? 

I remember my first time in the attraction and it was when Spongebob 3D was in place. I think my family and I visited it for the first time in 2004. I'll never forget the dive to Rock Bottom. We all laughed pretty hard and had a great time. 

Sadly, years later, this kind of attraction would do me no good. I've done a few of the 7D type of attractions that can be found in Pigeon Forge...they're okay...but I don't know if they've really got much market in an amusement park. 

I do wish the building was used more than just at Halloween. 

Always enjoyed SpongeBob 3D. My favorite was Secrets of the Lost Temple. The Elvira show during Fear Fest was cool too. The park definitely needs more indoor attractions! 

8 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:

Sadly, years later, this kind of attraction would do me no good.

I think it could at least be popular for the A/C as long as they also put in new 4-D seats. In reality that building might do much better as a new dark ride these days, though I think it'd have to be a different ride system than PT:ON. Whatever they do with Action Theater, they definitely need to rework the entire queue line. The double queue was fine when it was two separate theaters, but they fill both lines for Haunt and never put an associate at the end of it to manage people coming through at the merge point.

What are the two yellow tower-looking things off to the right side of the current entrance path? For the longest time I thought they were for the old sign, but looking back at it now they don't have the same shape at all.

Those are used to evacuate people from WindSeeker. To my knowledge, they have never been used. Both sides are meant to hook together and evacuate in tandem across the tower.

If I remember correctly, it opened without that system available in place (and without the extra shocks between the seats). I don’t remember if it was shut down after its opening until they could get the system in place, but I do recall the addition of those extra shocks coinciding with the appearance of the evac equipment.

SpongeBob wore out his welcome, but it was fun during FearFest/Haunt when they would have Elvira on one side and Circus of Horrors 3D on the other (when both sides still worked) prior to the abandonment of Haunt season use and the other side becoming Urgent Scare.

The brief return of Days of Thunder in 2004 was nice to get, unfortunately it didn't stay around very long.

The Dinosaurs Alive companion show was an upcharge, so I never did that one.

My favorite films will always be the first 2- Days of Thunder and Bond.  I would LOVE to find footage of both full films, especially the Bond film to see what music it used (like if they lifted it straight from the films or not).   7th Portal and Smash Factory were also fun.  

13 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

SpongeBob wore out his welcome, but it was fun during FearFest/Haunt when they would have Elvira on one side and Circus of Horrors 3D on the other (when both sides still worked) prior to the abandonment of Haunt season use and the other side becoming Urgent Scare.

Was Circus Horrors 3D in the Action Theater? I remember it being in the Festhaus (pre- Panda Express) and eventually in the Enchanted Theater as Carnevil. 

Working at Action Theatre in the Summer of '04 was awesome.

Haunt 2004 when they had Dracula's Haunted Castle, not as much :P

On 2/11/2026 at 11:27 AM, beastfan11 said:

Was Circus Horrors 3D in the Action Theater? I remember it being in the Festhaus (pre- Panda Express) and eventually in the Enchanted Theater as Carnevil. 

Yeah, I've got the name wrong. But there was a 3D-side show with a carnival/haunted house type of theme that ran for a couple seasons next to Elvira.

20 minutes ago, PKIDelirium said:

Yeah, I've got the name wrong. But there was a 3D-side show with a carnival/haunted house type of theme that ran for a couple seasons next to Elvira.

Smash Factory? Or something like that. Totally tracking with you. Can’t remember the name, though. 

23 hours ago, teenageninja said:

Working at Action Theatre in the Summer of '04 was awesome.

Haunt 2004 when they had Dracula's Haunted Castle, not as much

What was different about working between the two?

15 hours ago, beastfan11 said:

Smash Factory? Or something like that. Totally tracking with you. Can’t remember the name, though. 

Google to the rescue. https://darkridedatabase.com/rides/action-theater-3/

Funhouse Express, 2005 and 2006.