Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare - Animatronic Previews, Interviews, and more!

Kings Island’s “new again” dark ride, Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare is on track to open in 2026. The park recently hosted a construction tour of the ride. “New again” because the ride has gone through several incarnations over the years. Toward the end of International Street, on the right is the entrance to the children’s area Planet Snoopy. On the left of this walkway was previously The Enchanted Voyage, a boat ride. This was later rethemed to The Smurfs’ Enchanted Voyage until 1991. Into the early 2000s, Sally Dark Rides re-designed the ride as a shooter dark ride first Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle in the Hanna Barbera days, then Boo Blasters on Boo Hill in 2010 all the way until 2025. In between, from 1992 until 2002, the ride functioned as a dark ride with an omni-mover like ride system and was called Phantom Theater. The ride featured characters like The Maestro and No Legs Larry and leaned more toward the whimsical and family-friendly than the scary side as far as haunted attractions go. Dark ride specialists, Sally Dark Rides is back coupling new technology and ride design to bring something familiar and yet brand new. VP of Marketing and Business Development of Sally, Lauren Weaver stated, “We had a story in place, one that fans loved. . .we had to honor that original story and bring back original characters so many people remembered”. The storyline for Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare is that it is opening night for the latest performance in the Phantom Theater. Just before the show, a lightning strike released supernatural ghost notes from Maestro’s famed pipe organ and they’ve run amok throughout the theater. The entire cast is calling on you, the rider, to return them back to the organ before the curtain can rise! Tony Carovillano, VP of Operations at Kings Island, said this of the ride, “With such nostalgia, it just made sense to put Phantom Theater back in here. What an exciting time to work with Sally Dark Rides again”. The ride is set to open on opening April 18, 2026. VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http://attractionsmagazine.com SOCIAL MEDIA! TWITTER / X: http://www.twitter.com/attractions FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/attractionsmagazine INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/attractionsmagazine TIKTOK: http://www.tiktok.com/@attractions THREADS: http://www.threads.net/@attractionsmagazine