09-16-2010, 07:16 PM
That sucks about the hayride...but being mid sept. already, how late do they usually wait to set up? Don't you think it's a little late to start?
I designed, built and managed 2 hayrides over the years and it took us all summer to construct sets and things...Plus, they probably should have had the advertising in order all ready.
Posters and flyers take time to print and distribute. I'm in shanghai china right now on a consulting job for the Shanghai Nightmare haunted house...we started in May and thought it was a late start. But we had a huge crew.
I recieved a phone call just yesterday from someone in the states wanting me to help them start a haunt...I let them down easy, but I've been working haunts for 20 years...and know that even with an established haunt, if you just throw something together, it could be a death sentence reputation wise. One of the top grossing haunts in the country, is owned by a close friend. His first year he rushed the show...it wasn't good...took him 5 years to get customers to come back...bad word of mouth is a killer. If some one likes your haunt they will tell 2-3 people. If they hate it they will tell 10.
My best advice is to take a year off from that one, work a different one, see how things work there... every haunt does things a little different. You will learn new tricks and next year apply them to your beloved haunt. But don't bastardize it for the sake of opening if it's not top notch.
AND next year GET ON THOSE PEOPLE EARLY!
My haunt (of 4 years) lost it's location for this season...then we could have had a location in June. But knowing the amount of work we put into it, I decided not to sacrifice the quality of the show. So we shut it down for the season.
For my haunt the Lab, we had our first meetings for design and build about a week after halloween.
I have done every aspect of haunting...if you have any questions don't hesitate to Pm me.
mike
I designed, built and managed 2 hayrides over the years and it took us all summer to construct sets and things...Plus, they probably should have had the advertising in order all ready.
Posters and flyers take time to print and distribute. I'm in shanghai china right now on a consulting job for the Shanghai Nightmare haunted house...we started in May and thought it was a late start. But we had a huge crew.
I recieved a phone call just yesterday from someone in the states wanting me to help them start a haunt...I let them down easy, but I've been working haunts for 20 years...and know that even with an established haunt, if you just throw something together, it could be a death sentence reputation wise. One of the top grossing haunts in the country, is owned by a close friend. His first year he rushed the show...it wasn't good...took him 5 years to get customers to come back...bad word of mouth is a killer. If some one likes your haunt they will tell 2-3 people. If they hate it they will tell 10.
My best advice is to take a year off from that one, work a different one, see how things work there... every haunt does things a little different. You will learn new tricks and next year apply them to your beloved haunt. But don't bastardize it for the sake of opening if it's not top notch.
AND next year GET ON THOSE PEOPLE EARLY!
My haunt (of 4 years) lost it's location for this season...then we could have had a location in June. But knowing the amount of work we put into it, I decided not to sacrifice the quality of the show. So we shut it down for the season.
For my haunt the Lab, we had our first meetings for design and build about a week after halloween.
I have done every aspect of haunting...if you have any questions don't hesitate to Pm me.
mike