is it good or bad to have a carnival at haunt?

[hauntedghost]

well i have been thinking about this for awhile and i need some input on this. is it good to have a carnival at your haunt? not a big one but a small size one. has any one looked in to this?


thanks
HG

[soultrkr]

Depends on if it fits your vision of the haunt if you think it fits into the story then go for it.

[damon carson]

I would suggest a one ticket price including the rides and the haunt. Otherwise your rides are just gonna sit with no one on them. You could use punch cards ect and have them buy extra rides as well. But also sell single ride tickets if people are interested. Work it both ways. It may work.
Damon

[hauntedghost]

i was thinking more on the lines of having this as a side attraction on a haunted house..


say you have the rides, food, games, tee-shirts, etc... then your haunt would be the main deal of all. the rides would only to help you get more people to come thats all.


most of the ride would mostly be little. your basic fair rides not to big.


what do you think?

HG

[Phil Miller]

Carnival

we have had about 20 Amusement rides and games at our event for 13 years now. I would recommend not doing small rides only. you want to target teens so go with a few Major rides with a few kiddies. tying in you ticket with the amusements are a must for us, we sell an all 8 haunted attractions ticket and give them an unlimited amusement ride bracelet. one thing to consider is our amusement company use about 3 acres. also we have to have 20+ acres for parking to accommodate the people that stay all night and some just show up to ride the rides.

[hauntedghost]

we have had about 20 Amusement rides and games at our event for 13 years now. I would recommend not doing small rides only. you want to target teens so go with a few Major rides with a few kiddies. tying in you ticket with the amusements are a must for us, we sell an all 8 haunted attractions ticket and give them an unlimited amusement ride bracelet. one thing to consider is our amusement company use about 3 acres. also we have to have 20+ acres for parking to accommodate the people that stay all night and some just show up to ride the rides.

just one thing i have to ask you about that, dose it make better place for it? as in makes more money to you or dose it cost more to run one of those?

and one more thing to ask how much dose it to run or cost to have them come out there?

[unihaunter]

hey ghost here you fall under a different set of rules if you have carnival rides more inspections and permits just something to think about.

[screamforadream]

it all depends on where you get your rides. i've dealt with a GREAT carnival company in Connecticut that actually brings everything for free and give you 25% of the overall ticket sales they bring in. but not everyone does that, so find a company first. also, size matters (haha) no but really, if you can fit it and you have a clown or carnival haunt, it's perfect. and go for the giant scary ones too, it will only get their adrenaline pumping even more. oh, one more thing i forgot to mention, most rides/carnival companies control ticket prices and how they're sold, they want to make sure they can still profit off their carnivals, so you may not be able to do that card system, and may need to settle for just a ticket booth specifically for the rides, unless you can work something out with the company. also, you will need permits from your town/city, theres a ton of legal issues that go along with having carnival rides at your location, but if you haven't pissed anyone off they're usually really good about it. hope i helped. =)

[hauntedghost]

well right now i don't want in right now...


I was thinking about having it in my 10th year. thats if all gose well..

[damon carson]

What year you even in? Or are you yet? Just wondering? Damon

[chuck weber]

what the heck

put a spook (dark) ride in the ride assortment to keep pace with the halloween theme. We went to a haunted house with a carnival type midway, and the spook ride did KILLER business. It was trucked in, unfolded but actually had a small roller coaster type hill in the middle of the ride- strictly gravity driven- chain lift hill 2 in and outs up top and then DOWN. Not bad for a trailer. live actors inside and out filled the bill. it can work!!!! $3 bucks a ride and they were lined up on a thursday night

[Phil Miller]

carnival at your haunt

just one thing i have to ask you about that, dose it make better place for it? as in makes more money to you or dose it cost more to run one of those?

and one more thing to ask how much dose it to run or cost to have them come out there?

Yes, It makes a better place, makes us more money and there is no cost to us as far as inspections.
how it works is.......
Haunted Hayride, Prison, Haunted Woods, Asylum and Ghost Town $20 or Manor, Barn Of Horror and barn attic $20, Unlimited Amusement ride bracelet $18, Buy our Fright Pass and get all 8 haunts and unlimited amusements for $30.
We get 25% of any food, games at the amusement midway and of the $18 ride bracelet, if they don't buy the haunt side. we buy the ride bracelets from the amusement company for $5 and only give them to our patrons if the buy the $30 FrightPass.
one major point why we brought in an amusement company was to get noticed, we're on Rt.13 and 62,000 cars a day pass by and they still wouldn't have noticed us, they would have just sped by our farm. the amusement ride are far less money that sky tracker lights.

you said for your 10th year, why not now? we did 20,000 people our first year and having the 40' ferris wheel and other amusement rides was one of the reasons.

We provide entertainment for the whole family not just the teens and older. the older kids will go thru the haunted attractions while the parents and younger kids will spend the night at the midway. we don't allow ghouls in the midway and we do not sell a kids ticket for the haunted attractions either.

[PAT MATTHEWS/HOUSE OF WAX]

We had a carnival many yrs ago. I would never do this again. We thought a carnival would be a huge draw (which it was) The problem the carnivals have the art of fleecing cash from customers down far greater than any haunters. Our result was bunches of people who showed up but lost all cash before they got thru the parking lot on the way to our haunt. I guess it could be done if there was a pay out agreement between haunt and carnies

[chuck weber]

just watch the movie

FUNHOUSE (lol).. Deal with a reputable amusement/midway/carnival attraction company with new quality rides and a great SAFTEY record. You don't need any more problems. There are deals out there. shop around. remember, your haunt IS the MAIN ATTRACTION. Let this economy work for you ! quote: Charlie Kerbeck

[Jim Warfield]

Haunt, Carnival, Ski Lodge.

Sure why not? Illinois now requires these three businesses to get criminal backround checks , may as well combine the three, although the snow might become a problem.
I know, criminal backround checks for snow would come back lilly-white!