Opening in the rain?

Last night, we were hit with a pretty big storm, and it brought lots of rain with it. My haunt managers still decided to open the haunt, though. Being stationed in the outside portion, I can't say I had a really great time. We didn't get a whole lot of customers, and had to shut down before 10:00 because the building was beginning to get flooded. All in all, it was a pretty miserable and unproductive night. In your opinion, should haunted houses close down for bad weather, or should they remain open and tough it out?

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Originally Posted by Dr.Mandrake

Last night, we were hit with a pretty big storm, and it brought lots of rain with it. My haunt managers still decided to open the haunt, though. Being stationed in the outside portion, I can't say I had a really great time. We didn't get a whole lot of customers, and had to shut down before 10:00 because the building was beginning to get flooded. All in all, it was a pretty miserable and unproductive night. In your opinion, should haunted houses close down for bad weather, or should they remain open and tough it out?

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It really sucks to have to act in the rain, but the people who showed up, showed up in the rain as well, and arguably might be just as wet as you are. If a haunt commits to "rain or shine" they commit all the way, or risk incurring the wrath of the negative word-of-mouth gods, just as with the wrath of the rain gods. "Man, we drove all that way out in the rain, got soaked, walked up to the gate, and the sign said 'closed for weather'!! WTF!?!"

C.

Dr.Mandrake, you sound like a standup guy. I run an outdoor attraction and would never operate during the rain for the mere torture it would put on the actors. I wouldn't ever expect them to put up with it. Pretty cool that you are committed enough to stay with it. We all want more of you. ;)

IMHO,
A haunt, like any other business should stay open during good or bad weather (excluding outdoor haunts) if they are advertised to be open during that time.
Gotta take the good with the bad.
Obviously if it's a safety factor, then any business should consider that risk and close. But if safety isn't a concern, then press on.
If anything, the actors get paid and get a break before "hell week".

we added an outdoor addition this year, and our first night open it poured for the first hour. and we had people "WANTING" to go thru it in the rain and we gave them the option to go out early before, or go thru it all. and i was suprised that people enjoyed the effect.. now if it was STORMING I would not let it open.

mrfoos, thanks! I love doing the haunt so much in general that a couple not-so-great nights don't really dull the experience too much. What I was most worried about was that my new $100 mask, which was made mostly of sponge and hair with a little bit of latex, would be damaged by the rain, but thankfully that was avoided.

Tom, we learned the next night that a tornado actually had touched down somewhere in our area, but we weren't affected at all, thank God. Also, we're a charity, so we don't get paid at all. We just show up because we love to do what we do ;)

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Originally Posted by Dr.Mandrake

Tom, we learned the next night that a tornado actually had touched down somewhere in our area, but we weren't affected at all, thank God. Also, we're a charity, so we don't get paid at all. We just show up because we love to do what we do ;)

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Dr,
Thank goodness the tornado didn't hit ya.

Wish there were more folks like you that do this for the "love" of acting in a haunt. :)