Kings Island
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cedar Fair Entertainment
Park News - (10/23/14) For all the great rides at Kings Island, the park is almost as legendary for the rides that they have removed over the years as the ones they still have. Most of these legendary former rides were removed simply because they suffered from a variety of technical or design issues… which is where things like Tomb Raider, the original “The Bat” and Son of Beast come in. There is one legendary ride the park had that was replaced for really no good reason at all… and that was Phantom Theater.
Phantom Theater opened in 1992 and was given a personality overhaul to become Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle in 2003… which was then given a quick revamp in 2010 to remove all the Scooby-Doo stuff when the license expired and reopened as Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. While the ride still features the same basic omnimover ride system as it did back in the Phantom Theater days, there was just something special about the old Phantom Theater. It was obviously done up as a homage to Disney’s Haunted Mansion, but really held it’s own as a great dark ride all by itself before Scooby-Doo moved in.
Personally I’d love to see the ride returned to it’s classic form as “Return to Phantom Theater”. Maybe even look into removing the guns while adding some modern high-tech special effects and illusions. If you want to see more about what into the creation of Phantom Theater, make the jump over to ThemeParkUniversity who has just posted a special article and interview with the Rick Bastrup, the President of R&R Creative Amusement Designs who created the original attraction for Kings Island.
(8/5/14) Good news, Screamscape has confirmed with Don Helbig that the Shake, Rattle & Roll ride will indeed return for the 2015 season. The reason wasn’t given, but I’d say it was in need of a major refurbishment.
(8/1/14) According to the latest guest reports Shake, Rattle & Roll, the Huss Troika flat ride at Kings Island has been removed from the park and seems to no longer be listed on the website. The sign out front however says that the ride is “temporarily closed”, so perhaps it most likely undergoing an extensive rehab and will make a return later this season, or for the 2015 season. I’ve reached out to the park for an official comment and hope to know more soon.
 2015 - Woodstock Gliders / Snoopy’s Space Buggies - (1/17/15) Kings Island has posted a picture to twitter showing off where the new Woodstock Gliders and Snoopy’s Space Buggies rides will go in Planet Snoopy. Click the link to see the picture.
(11/3/14) Kings Island has announced that the park will add two new rides for 2015, along with some other improvements. As previously rumored the park will add a new classic Larson Flying Scooters ride be to called Woodstock Gliders, bringing back the spirit of the park’s removed Flying Eagles ride. The second ride will be called Snoopy’s Space Buggies, a children’s spinning flat ride from Zamperla. Both will be added next to each other in the Planet Snoopy area of the park.
Elsewhere in the park, Starbucks will be relocated from it’s current location at the end of International Street to the opposite side near the front gate, in an expanded 3,650 square-foot location, making it one of the largest Starbucks stores in the Midwest. It will have seating capacity for 219, including an outdoor patio with a view of the Royal Fountain and Eiffel Tower. The International Street Fudge and Candy Shop will be renamed Sweet Spot and undergo an extensive redesign with new offerings. New in 2015 will be Yogurt Plus moving into the current Starbucks location with 18 flavors and a toppings bar.
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(8/11/14) Screamscape sources tell us Kings Island may be planning on adding a new Flying Scooters ride into the park for 2015. I have to wonder if this might be just one part of a multi-ride package, similar to the multi flat-ride additions we saw Cedar Fair add to both Cedar Point (Gemini Midway) and Valleyfair (Route 76) in 2014. The anchors for both of those previous additions were Zamperla Disk’O Coasters, but Kings Island already has one in the form of Surf Dog (formerly: Avatar). The question is, will it go into Camp Snoopy with Surf Dog, or will it go to the other side of the park along with the returning Shake, Rattle & Roll flat ride? |
