Phantom Theater was a dark ride located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Morgan Manufacturing, the ride opened to the public on April 11, 1992. Its design incorporated a continuously-moving chain of vehicles similar to Disney's Omnimover ride system. The attraction was furnished with sets and characters created by R&R Creative Amusement Designs, Inc., and it was themed as a haunted, abandoned theater.
Phantom Theater replaced Smurf's Enchanted Voyage (1984–1991), which in turn was a re-skin of the original Enchanted Voyage (1972–1983). The attraction operated through July 2002 and was overhauled in the offseason, reopening as Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle in 2003. The original ride system remains intact, even in the latest iteration of the ride known as Boo Blasters on Boo Hill.
History
Taft Broadcasting, interested in finding a way to promote its recently-acquired Hanna-Barbera division, purchased Cincinnati's Coney Island in 1969 with the intent of expanding and moving the park. Construction of Kings Island began in 1970, and the most expensive attraction erected for the park's inaugural year was a dark ride called Enchanted Voyage, which cost approximately $2 million to construct. The ride was manufactured by Arrow Development and opened with the park in 1972.
Enchanted Voyage was located in a building shaped like a giant TV set, taking guests through several rooms featuring animatronic versions of new and old Hanna-Barbera characters. Its theme song was composed by well-known Hanna-Barbera music producer Paul De Korte, and the lyrics were written by William Hanna and former Coney Island executive Dennis Speigel. It played throughout the ride, reciting themes from familiar characters such as Fred Flintstone, Scooby-Doo, and Yogi Bear. Less common shows such as Wacky Races and The Banana Splits were also alluded to.
Smurf's Enchanted Voyage (1984-1991) For the 1984 season, Kings Island updated the ride's theme to Hanna-Barbera's The Smurfs, and it was renamed Smurf's Enchanted Voyage. New animatronics were used for various characters and decorations, and the song playing throughout the ride was changed to coincide with the cartoon. Smurf's Enchanted Voyage consisted of several rooms, each themed to a different season of the year focusing on holidays such as Christmas and Halloween.
Phantom Theater (1992–2002) At the end of the 1991 season, the building housing the attraction was gutted, and the water transportation system was removed. Installed in its place was an Omnimover-type dark ride created by D.H. Morgan Manufacturing, similar in style to The Haunted Mansion attractions at various Disney parks around the world. An Anaheim-based theming company, R&R Creative Amusement Designs, Inc., developed the concept of the ride including its sets, props, animatronics, and music. The original boat loading area used on previous versions of the ride was retained and converted into a queue area for a kiddie roller coaster named Scooby Zoom, which later became Great Pumpkin Coaster. A new entrance was constructed for Phantom Theater at the opposite corner of the building, and a small, unused section of the building was converted into a children's theater called the "Enchanted Theater".
Phantom Theater officially opened to the public on April 11, 1992. It was themed as a behind-the-scenes tour of an abandoned theater haunted by the ghosts of vaudevillian-era performers, staff, and theatergoers who frequented the venue long ago. The exterior of the building was stylized as a dilapidated and crumbling opera theater. The queue area was dimly lit with a pair of electrical chandeliers above. The ride featured 17 separate scenes, some of which utilized a Pepper's ghost trick – a famous and widely used dark ride trick – to display ghostly illusions.
Removal
Phantom Theater closed on July 14, 2002. Nearly all thematic elements were removed and replaced with new scenes created by Sally Dark Rides. 28 of the 55 ride vehicles were also removed, while the remaining were retrofitted with laser light guns that riders would use to point and shoot at various targets throughout the ride. The attraction reopened in 2003 as Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle. Due to a licensing concern, the ride was slightly altered in 2010 and renamed Boo Blasters on Boo Hill.
In the years following Phantom Theater's removal, leftover ride components have been used as props during the park's annual Halloween Haunt event. Ride vehicles, characters, and other items were occasionally displayed at various attractions and locations across the park.