PKI to remove Phantom Theater

Koaster King said: "A sign was placed in front of Phantom Theatre today which said the ride would be closing on Sunday like Shaggy said. I have pictures if some of you nonbelievers need proof, lol!"

You don't say?! It's almost as though I were psychic ;-) Let's just say when birdies are a talkin' Shaggy is a listenin'.

Shaggy

Only Danny when defending his "Precious PKI" would have the gall to classify a once wolrd record holding coaster as a "mild" ride. I'd also bump up 3 of the four kiddie coasters (save Taxi Jam) up into the "mild" catagory. If roller soaker is "mild" then so is Scooby. And Reptar and Beastie are *much* wilder than Scooby.

Of course when it comes to my sweetheart "Sweetest Place on Earth" (TM) I'm apt to throw a hissy fit anyway. One thing that I will definitely give HP over PKI is food. Yes, its a small thing but it made a great deal of difference to me and mine. BTW:Super7 also left HPs waterslides off the list, but since I neve ride them I'd just as soon let them languish.

And if Tomb Raider delivers as being the "totally immersive dark experience" (or whatever the wording was) then Roller Soaker at least meets (or IMO exceeds) the "Interactive Family Fun" that it was billed as. Just watch the last part of the line going into the station as the people cringe from the impending bombs. :)
lata,
jeremy
--resident HersheyPark Ho

Don't give me that "Precious PKI" crap Jeremy! It's not even one of my 5 favorite parks! I just know more about it, so its easiest for me to defend. I should have left SGC off the list like Taxi Jam then and made an extra category for The Racer and Express. I don't find them as tame as RRR and Beastie nor wild as Top Gun. You do the math Hostyl! That's all I had to work with. :)

I love the park, but I'd be dumb to force myself into a PKI Zombie and not appreciate others equally because of home park pride! There's a lot more for me out there and it just happens that I live close to one of my 10 favorite parks. What a coincidence!

See ya,
Danny
--Disney Slut... A Big One!

Danny: Are you serious? I'd have never guessed that PKI was NOT a top five park for you. I guess the next question is WHY NOT? It's not a top five park for me (actually, it is number six, behind SFGAm, Hershey, DisneyLand, BGT, and SFWoA). But for some reason, I thought you liked it more than that.

Oh I get it, you will just prostitute yourself for whatever park just *happens* to be closest. You have no shame :)
jeremy
--who is an honest hoe....and all his ho friends are honest (Harlem Nights reference...)

How was Phantom Theater used at Fear Fest? Details, please- I'm a haunted house fan! Thanks.

1. Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Food and beauty of the park do it for me right off the bat! The steel coasters are maintained well and quality rides and attractions everyone! The staff was kind and efficient and the cleanliness is over the top!)

2. Disneyland (I can’t find anything not to love and I’m a Disney ho! )

3. Six Flags Great America (Superb park layout and unmatched coaster variety! This is really the ultimate thrill/theme park atmosphere for me since it offers plenty of both!)

4. Busch Gardens Tampa (See BGW. I don’t know why this isn’t higher, but they lost some touch last visit. Kumba and Gwazi were both down for most of the day, but I was left with an incredible Montu and thrilling late rides on Gwazi. Good times! The animals are more icing on the cake!)

5. Disney’s California Adventure (Almost impossible to find an attraction without an quality feel to it and there’s a great middle ground between thrills and the Disney atmosphere. California Screamin’ rocks!)

6. Paramount’s Kings Island (Easily one of the most well-rounded theme parks in coasterdom, but missing that steel coaster that’s going to keep the thrill seekers coming back even though FOF and Vortex are real winners a.k.a. I’d really like to see a hyper at the park. You’re right, what’s not to love? There are just some parks I love even more!)

A rundown of the rest I’ve been to….

7. Silver Dollar City (Is this Busch Gardens Missouri? :))

8. Holiday World (Fantastic coasters AND free drinks AND free parking AND friendly service?? Get out of town!)

9. Islands of Adventure (Steadily moving down my list, but still going strong! The theming is unbelievably immersive, the water rides are top-notch, and they have TWO of my favorite type of looper!)

8. MGM Studios (BEST drop ride, I love RnRC, I love the movies theme, I love Disney! Told ya so! Disney ho strikes again!)

Sure, you may think you know what I like or love about parks or whatever, but I don’t think I’m that shallow to say my home park is the best just because it’s my home park. I’ve just been to PKI enough to know they run an outstanding business, that they run their rides in best performance possible, and that they clearly want the overall the most Paramount quality of rides and attractions that they can.

If the park only catered to thrill seekers, you wouldn’t have seen over 10 kids/family rides (Wild Thornberries, Runaway Reptar, Atom Ant’s Airways, Yogi’s Sky Tours, Ghoster Coaster, 7th Portal, Smash Factory, Meteor Attack,…) in the past five years. If they only wanted a park for little kids, they wouldn’t have introduced 5+ major thrillers (Drop Zone, Face/Off, Son of Beast, Tomb Raider, Flight of Fear 2…) in the past five years.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of my tastes in parks. I’m always for the theme before the thrill and if you can combine both, all the better. I’m honest when I say I have no biases to parks (at the moment) and I’m a bigger critic of the parks I love than anyone since I’m the one it disappoints when I run into a bad experience. I’m not an enthusiass, so I don’t let simple crap ruin my visits anywhere (I think you can tell that by my top 10 list alone). Yes, SFWOA is above CP, but they’re still both in my Top 15. And Hercules is a horrible coaster!! :)

Honestly, I don’t have many problems with any park in my Top 10. I think a GCI woodie would nail BGW in my #1 position. I think a hyper or liquid coaster would shoot PKI into my Top 5. Ditto for BGT to have a real fight for the #2 position with DL.

Again, I love PKI! They have been great to the park’s fans, to the enthusiasts, and try to provide outstanding service. In all honesty with this one, I think it’s only below some of the other because of food! The park has some things going for it, but the food can be a roller coaster in itself with how it goes from good to bad to ok to good on every visit. Busch and Disney plainly are different versions of Kings Island quality, but for my tastes they do some things even better! While I’m a strong optimist, I’m a realist as well. So, I don’t have a problem with blind love for anything! My favorite park is usually the one I'm in right now. :)

See ya
Danny
--No Mercy. No Shame. No Sequel. ;) *** This post was edited by Koaster King on 7/12/2002. ***

When I last visited the park with my cousin and parents, we thoroughly enjoyed this ride and so, I am extremely sad to see it go

Please, PKI, if you read this, put in a newer, even better dark ride and don't replace it with a non dark ride!

Take a lesson from Indiana Beach and merely make an old dark ride better a la Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain!

Okay .. let's set the record straight ...

THE BAT was dismantled because the d*mn thing never worked right. KI built it too soon, the technology wasn't ready, and the result was just a mistake . Pretty ride, great idea, but it just never worked right. Taking it out was the SMART choice.

FLIGHT COMMANDER was a flat ride that someone was killed on. True, it was their own drunken fault. But bad press is bad press, and it was prolly 10,000 times cheaper and easier to remove the ride than risk more and more bad publicity. Again, taking it out was the SMART choice.

WINNIE WITCHES CAULDRON and TURNPIKE were/are very similar to other rides in the park currently. CAULDRON was a nicely themed MONSTER and TURNPIKE pulled off better on DAYS OF THUNDER. You only need so much.

To my knowledge, THE MONORAIL has never run. If it did, it ran for a season or two. KI quickly decided that trams were cheaper and more efficient for their needs. By the way, Jungle Jim's in Fairfield Ohio is getting very close to opening that very same monorail at their store.

SKYLAB, I believe, started getting some questionable attention after the accident with FLIGHT COMMANDER. If removing it meant saving some face, then it may have been the right choice.

A great portion of rides were removed in the eighties to help distance the park from nearby AMERICANA AMUSEMENT PARK (now LeSourdesville Lake). From 1979 to 1983-94, AMERICANA had strong claims to the title of the best amusement park (note the word amusement, not thrill or theme) in the country. Kings Island, at that time, did have some fair competition from them ... especially in the Coney days. It was a wise business choice to become the premiere big ride, theme/thrill park in the area and thereby drawing on a completely different crowd. Granted, with Americana's consistent problems in the late 80's and latter 90's, KI has had to fill the void of both AMUSEMENT and THRILL Park.

I will say that 10 coasters (including THE BEAST and SOB), 2 flume, 1 rapids, and plenty of flat rides (and a decent drop) is a strong showing for any park. I miss the Keelboat Canal, and I miss the Smurf (and Hanna before that) ... but times change. I'll miss SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN at Indiana Beach, but I LOVE the new LOST COASTER OF SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN.