**ALERT** Permanent ride closure at PKI

Anyone that holds a soft spot in their hearts for rides at PKI may be interested in the following.

This is the last week of operation for Phantom Theatre. Word is the ride will close forever after Sunday July 14th.

Phantom Theatre was opened in 1992 and has been operational for 10 years now. It is rated one of the best dark rides at any seasonal theme park. The ride has seen better days and is due for replacement, yet the past few seasons have seen an improvement in making all the effects operational once again. In the past the park has replaced the dark ride attraction located in the current Phantom Theatre building every 10 years.

Again, trust me when I say make sure to ride the attraction by this Sunday. It will be your last chance.

Phantom Theatre will be replaced with another attraction for 2003. RIP Maestro

Shaggy

I think im going saturday. Better get some nice last rides on it. Thanks for the alert

I always thought the ride was fairly lame, but I admit some scenes were quite well done. I especially liked the blast of hot air from the furnace.

I'll miss this as a relaxing, air-conditioned break from coasters.

Isn't part of the building that houses it used for administration? If that's the case, we can expect another "dark-ride" sort of attraction, eh? Not a complete tear-down and reconstruct?

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

Den,

The building that houses it is also home to storage, as well as the Hannah Barbera Theatre. There are no admin offices there to my knowledge.

I predict a major overhaul to the ride portion, and not removal of the building altogether.

Shaggy

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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.

I see scooby for 2003.

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Track Record: 110 and counting.....

Same here PatMan007

"Danny, Thanks for your kind comments and suggestions! We haven't made any new product announcement yet for 2003. You can expect something shortly though, so stay tuned. While I can't provide any details, I would recommend riding Phantom Theater this week. Thanks again for your interest! Have a great day! -David Mandt"

I had confirmation from both David Mandt and Jeff Siebert along the lines of what Shaggy reported, so I wanted you to know he is no joker. We knew that anyway. ;)

Neither one gave me details about what was going in its place, but I think we all have sensed Scooby's arrival especially with the success of the movie(even though it is a WB film).

Make sure you ride Phantom though!! It's a beautifully well-themed dark ride and you don't want the chance to slip by forever to see it!

Well, then I'm glad I got my first and last ride on Phantom two weeks ago. But why would they close it down when any kind of overhaul could probably be completed in the offseason?

PKI gains Tomb Raider and loses two attractions (King Cobra and now this).

I was prepared for the worst with Phantom but enjoyed it. Then again, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the kiddie area of the park. I hope they keep the same efficient doombuggy ride system and just change the sets. Scooby definitely sounds like a good fit -- and it would be a cool changing of the guard now that Scooby's presence at USF is coming to an end as the Hanna Barbera ride there goes in for the Jimmy Neutron makeover. But, like Carowinds, does any park really need two Scooby-themed rides?

Rick

Is the new Scooby Doo movie that is showing right now a Paramount film? If so, I would almost bet that anything new they put there will be themed to Scooby Doo.

Paris said: "Well, then I'm glad I got my first and last ride on Phantom two weeks ago. But why would they close it down when any kind of overhaul could probably be completed in the offseason?"

I think the point is, the work will take longer than the off season allows. Actually PKI's off season is relatively short. Only like 5 months, that is a small amount of time for a major installation.... if this is indded major.... we'll soon know.... The park is closed only after the first weekend in November and then re-opens in April. PKI shuts down completely for the holidays at Christmas for like 2 weeks, so deduct that time from the mix too.

"PKI gains Tomb Raider and loses two attractions (King Cobra and now this). "

Well, I think you have to look at it this way. PKI is removing two attractions this season which leads one to believe that at least two will be added next season. IMO you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs ;-)

"Then again, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the kiddie area of the park."

Actually, a lot of people miss it on their visits to PKI. That tells me that many don't even know it exists. I personaly never thought it stuck out, and that it fit in rather nicely. If it stuck out like a sore thumb, I think more people would take note of it.

Shaggy

RAD, the new Scooby Doo at theatres is a Warner Bros. film although it has been very successful even though its had some of the worst reviews of the year. The four other Scooby rides I've seen look extraordinary and they have great capacity as well, so I'm looking forward to it if that's what they're doing.

http://www.sallycorp.com/darkrides/scooby-doo's%20haunted%20mansion.htm to take a look at the Sally Scooby rides.

*** This post was edited by Koaster King on 7/8/2002. ***

Having rode the Scooby Doo ride at Carowinds I would love to see a ride like that at PKI. It would be a welcome addition and would make a missed attraction very popular.

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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly

Will they allow cameras into the ride???

I REALLY wanna get some video to remember it by.

Tyler

After doing the ACE walkback today (including my brother and I there were four of us) I rode Phantom Theater today, knowing about the rumor on Screamscape might be true. Hopefully, this means an anouncement is not far away. Also, next year, we`ll have at least two new attractions to look forward to!

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Coney Island (Cincinnati) ride operator

You know, I don't even know what the ride is or where it is, and I'm a third-year season pass holder!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"

I know where it is NOW....found it during CBCon for the first time after hearing so much about it....shame we didn't "ride" (or whatever) before it went away....

I guess lacking even 1 spin on PT means we're not PKI "insiders", huh Jeff?

I'll get a ride for all you guys this week! It's sad to see it go, but I think our haunted mansion will be totally unique and judging by PKI's job on Tomb Raider I bet we'll see them do a great job on it and it will be very well done. I wonder if it will be interactive with the guns. Shaggy thanks for the info by the way I appreciate it!

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Can we change the name of Top Gun to your mom so no one wants to ride your mom?

I have never been there. But it looks interesting.

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-Sean Newman
88 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC Coaster # 100 in July.
Nitro Laps:105
B+R Launches:28

I'm sure the usual no on-ride photography thing applies to the Phantom Theater, but it would be nice on the final week if they would relax that rule for historical purposes. Not saying they would, but it would be nice.

Now if anyone tries it, I strongly suggest you do NOT use nightshot. I learned this at Disneyland, Disney, amazingly enough is very video-camera friendly on their rides, however I was informed over the PA system to turn the camera off, then informed at unload that it was okay for me to video the Haunted Mansion, just not use nightshot. Allegedly nightshot makes the video surveillance system go haywire and presents an extreemly bright screen to the person who is monitoring the attraction.

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

Wow....I'm saddened by this news. I managed to get there during CBCon with my brother because we happened ot notice it in the kiddie area and were starting to feel worn out after the previous few days on the trip (in Trip reports section). I was pleasantly surprised that such a hidden ride in the kiddie area was so well done, and I wanted to go on again once I had a chance to go back. I should add that it was rather long for a ride of this type, and I think a little more signage outside would have helped.

Sad to see this go, though.