| Boo Blasters on Boo Hill | |
|---|---|
| The entrance to the ride's building. | |
| Location | Kings Island |
| Area | Planet Snoopy |
| Opening date | 1972 |
| Attraction Type | Dark ride |
| Model | Omnimover |
| Vehicles | 27 |
| Riders per vehicle | 3 |
| Previous names | Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle (2003-2009) Phantom Theater (1992–2002) Smurf's Enchanted Voyage (1982–1992) Enchanted Voyage (1972–1982) |
| Fast Lane available | |
| Must transfer from wheelchair | |
| Amusement Parks Portal | |
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is an Omnimover dark ride located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Originally opening in 1972 as a dark boat ride called Enchanted Voyage, the ride was converted to an Omnimover system in 1992.[1]
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A dark boat ride, akin to Disney's It's a Small World, was themed in a building shaped like a giant TV set taking guests through several rooms featuring animatronics of new and old Hanna-Barbera characters. A very catchy theme song played throughout the ride that recited themes from familiar HB characters such as Fred Flintstone, Scooby Doo, and Yogi Bear. Less common shows such as Wacky Races and The Banana Splits were also included. The first room introduces the song, while the second room changes to a western accent. The third utilized a Caribbean flavor, while the fourth had a "spooky" theme. The fifth and final room reverted to the original music with a circus-like ambiance. The rides final exit was at the "mouth" of a giant clown as each boat would travel a few feet up an inclined lift before splashing down into the water on the other side.
Starting in the 1984 season, the Enchanted Voyage ride was changed over to a Smurf theme. The animatronic characters were replaced with Smurfs and Smurf decorations, while the song was changed to a "la la la" song. The Smurfs Enchanted Voyage showed the smurfs during the seasons of the year celebrating holidays like Christmas and Halloween.
Phantom Theater was an Omnimover dark ride similar in style to The Haunted Mansion at various Disney parks across the globe. Phantom Theater was themed to a behind-the-scenes tour of a theater haunted by the dead. The exterior of the building as stylized as a dilapidated and crumbling opera theater. The ride itself featured seventeen separate scenes which the Omnimover vehicles slowly traversed through. The ride notably featured a Pepper's ghost trick, a famous and widely-used dark ride trick, for its stage production scene.
Kings Island displays a number of the Phantom Theater Omnimover vehicles that were removed in 2002 as Halloween displays during the park's Halloween Haunt. They are removed from storage each year and placed on the International Bandstand at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes the ride's original theme is played during Halloween Haunt.
In 2003, Phantom Theater was replaced with Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted Castle—a dark ride experience for families which involves shooting laser guns at ghosts and ghouls. The outside of the ride building was decorated with a fiberglass blue and purple castle with stylized turrets. Two circular windows resemble eyes while the entrance to the castle resembles a mouth. Guests entered the attraction by passing under a Gothic style arch bearing the rides name, and that was adorned on either side by the letters "GM," standing for Ghastly Manor. Kings Island's sister park, Kings Dominion, featured a nearly identical dark ride called "Scooby Doo and the Ghastly Manor." Despite the name change, the "haunted house" in which the ride takes place was referred to as "Ghastly Manor" by Shaggy in the queue line.
The ride, like its later incarnation, was shoot-em-up interactive laser tag dark ride, featuring traditional dark ride effects such as surprise noises, black light scenes, and triggers which initiate gags. The ride follows the same path as the buildings previous occupant, Phantom Theater. However, every other omnimover vehicle was removed so as to allow the laser targets time to reset between riders. Although the ride was typically thought to reside inside the Nickelodeon Universe area, it was technically part of International Street, as the Scooby Doo character is not related to Nickelodeon, but rather, licensed from Hanna-Barbara separately by the ride's creators, Sally Corporation.
During the off-season between the 2009 and 2010 seasons, Kings Island's Nickelodeon Universe area was re-branded using the Peanuts characters, re-named Planet Snoopy. The ride's name were changed to "Boo Blasters on Boo Hill" and Sally Corporation, the company responsible for the ride's Scooby Doo incarnation, were brought in to facilitate the removal of the Scooby Doo characters and the re-theming of the ride.[2] Incidentally, this change marked the first season since the park's debut in 1972 that the Scooby Doo character was not present in the park in any form.
The ride retains its status as a "shoot-em-up" interactive dark ride through a haunted castle. Riders battle Boocifer, a ghost who is also the villain in several Ghost Blasters rides. Riders use the "Boo Blaster" laser gun affixed to each seat to zap Boocifer and other ghosts as they travel through the ride. The ride is themed with graveyards, corridors, and dungeons. The riders collect points as they shoot targets along the ride. Despite mostly cosmetic changes from Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, Kings Island billed the attraction as new, and called it "the park's first interactive, 3-D experience dark ride."[3] Disposable ChromaDepth 3-D glasses are sold at the ride's entrance to enhance the blacklight paint effects in the ride.
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