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  • Rain and Seasonal Attendance

    Hey guys!

    We all know when it rains on a given night attendance is going to be lower. Especially if you run an outdoor trail / corn maze / hayride, right? But do you think it affects your season attendance totals? In other words, do you think the people that don't show up because of the rain never come back... or do you just end up with busier nights later on than you would have otherwise because those people come back on a different night. Obviously there is no way to know all this for sure, but what's your gut tell you?

    Thanks!

    (I wish I were better at making my questions funny so more people would respond. I should probably take a class for that after I finish Allen's DVDs on air brushing techniques.)

  • #2
    Rain

    For most smaller haunts rain kills you. Especially if it rains out a whole weekend. If you're only open 10 nights and it rains 4 of them then you will more than likely be off 40%. Some of the people will still come, some will find other things to do (movies etc.), some that would have come 2 weekends in a row will only come once. A lot of people may see a sign or hear an ad or see the hearse and come on impulse....you won't get those people back. Even an indoor haunt is affected if it is a downpour. People here just don't get out and do anything in the rain and even if you are open in the rain people will think you will be closed and decide not to come. Snow even affected some this past season. However, all that being said....some of the bigger haunts don't miss out on that much business because people want to go so bad they are willing to get wet. We had a good season in the South last year with it only raining one night of our season, so we will keep our fingers crossed for good weather again!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by SCfearfarm View Post
      If you're only open 10 nights and it rains 4 of them then you will more than likely be off 40%.
      Ugga ugga! That's a bummer. That identifies a major risk in my 1st year forest trail business plan for the bank loan or investor. But better to know it up front huh? Entrepreneuring isn't for the faint of heart.

      But thank you for the reply. Very important information for first year guys.

      Comment


      • #4
        I think it depends on your area and how many other haunted attractions are in it. For the most part people that go to haunts ( the fans ) are going to come back a different night. But when it comes to your family customers I think it will be harder, those people need to find sitters or have there months planned out ahead of time so if the night they plan is rained out it's more likely they will just miss out and try next year.

        Robert

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        • #5
          We got a foot of snow last year on our final weekend(also would of been our busiest) hopefully it won't happen for another 125 years, that's the risk you take with a outdoor event.

          Comment


          • #6
            I remember seeing an ad for haunt rain insurance in one of the haunt mags at some point, but I can't remember the name of the company. I'm sure some Google searching would yield answers.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by DarkTikiEntertainment View Post
              I remember seeing an ad for haunt rain insurance in one of the haunt mags at some point, but I can't remember the name of the company. I'm sure some Google searching would yield answers.
              We run pumpkin patch and a haunt. I checked out some insurance a few years ago for our pumpkin patch and to cover our busy weekend days they wanted something like 50% of what we would have made. Maybe things have changed.

              We were rained out 2 of our last days as well, the fri and sat right before halloween. We would have been open 11 nights all together we would have done 30% better if it hadn't rained. Because it was our last weekend, of course we had not one coming back. If only it rained our second weekend and not our last. Oh well.

              In my experience, some people come back. If it rains early enough you might not be down too much. If it rains late, it'll hurt. Its just the luck of the draw.

              Good Luck!
              Lucas Cox
              Cox Farms
              www.Fieldsoffear.com

              Comment


              • #8
                some what relevant

                Here is a question that some what relevant, what is worse two rainy weekends or your local baseball team making it to the World Series. The cardinals killed us last year!!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Cliff, we were down almost 2000 people for the season in 2006 when the Tigers made it to the world series. We believe we even took a small hit last year with them making it to the ALCS. You can however put on your advertisement that playoff games will be broadcast live at your event. If you have cable access, play the game, if not put it on the radio so people in line can here it.

                  Howie "Slobber" Erlich
                  Deadly Intentions Haunted Attraction
                  www.deadlyintentionshaunt.com
                  1986-1997 (Mutilation Mansion,) 1998 (Screamers Haunted House,) 1999 (Evil Intention Haunted House,) 2000-2001 Concept Creator/Business Partner (Urban Legends Haunted House,) 2002 Floor Plan Designer and Consultant for a (Haunted Barn) Owners had city challenges & were never able to open, 2002 Floor Plan Designer/Construction (Fright Nights Haunted House) 2003-2012 Now retired Owner (Deadly Intentions Haunted Attraction)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    great idea!! i should have done that!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Howie Slobber Erlich View Post
                      Cliff, we were down almost 2000 people for the season in 2006 when the Tigers made it to the world series. We believe we even took a small hit last year with them making it to the ALCS. You can however put on your advertisement that playoff games will be broadcast live at your event. If you have cable access, play the game, if not put it on the radio so people in line can here it.

                      Howie "Slobber" Erlich
                      Deadly Intentions Haunted Attraction
                      www.deadlyintentionshaunt.com
                      Showing a broadcast of a major sporting event while charging admission and without the properly licensed equipment can leave you open to liability. Advertising that you plan too is even more dangerous. And seriously if you can stay under the radar and not have an issue with the league, team, local Tv affiliate, or sponsors, will all the work and risk be worth it? You will spend money and time to take attention away from your show, and seriously who's gonna say "You know what lets go to the local haunt, I wanted to stay home or go to a bar with the guys to watch the game, but I would rather catch parts of it in line for a haunt".

                      Instead look at the benefit. You now know that a major segment of your target audience are sports fans. Companies pay tons of money just for that analysis. Now you know where to target advertising, sports radio, the sports section of a paper, even local high school sports. Market the nights of the game differently, aim at people who might want to get out of the house if they are not fans. Advertise early ticketing to get people home for the good part of the big game.
                      J. F. Storm

                      Highland Farm's
                      Trails To Terror
                      Wakefield, RI


                      http://www.trailstoterror.com/

                      http://www.hauntminute.com

                      http://www.bigscaryshow.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Dam smart!

                        Mr. Storm!
                        hauntedravensgrin.com

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by storm View Post
                          Instead look at the benefit. You now know that a major segment of your target audience are sports fans. Companies pay tons of money just for that analysis. Now you know where to target advertising, sports radio, the sports section of a paper, even local high school sports. Market the nights of the game differently, aim at people who might want to get out of the house if they are not fans. Advertise early ticketing to get people home for the good part of the big game.
                          Another idea, along with advertising in those venues, they could get a discount (student or senior) if they bring their sporting event ticket stub.

                          C.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The only way you could get in trouble is if you make them pay to watch or listen to the game. It is no different than a bar doing a promotion during the "big game." $1.25 Drafts when the game is on etc. No legal problem with placing a small mention on your advertising that the games will be broadcast while they wait. Now with all the free cell phone aps, it really doesn't make a difference anyhow. They can get up to date video and score on their phone if it means that much to them. in 2006 the aps were not as available as today. Either way, do what you want and have a great season!

                            Howie "Slobber" Erlich
                            Deadly Intentions Haunted Attraction
                            www.deadlyintentionshaunt.com
                            1986-1997 (Mutilation Mansion,) 1998 (Screamers Haunted House,) 1999 (Evil Intention Haunted House,) 2000-2001 Concept Creator/Business Partner (Urban Legends Haunted House,) 2002 Floor Plan Designer and Consultant for a (Haunted Barn) Owners had city challenges & were never able to open, 2002 Floor Plan Designer/Construction (Fright Nights Haunted House) 2003-2012 Now retired Owner (Deadly Intentions Haunted Attraction)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Some Bars.

                              Do have to pay a fee to show certain things on their TVs, especially if the screen on their TV is over a certain size.
                              This is the case in the UK, awhile ago a woman bar owner got trouble because she bought a device that enabled her to suck in signals from a free off-shore source of the soccer games all England wanted to see. It went to court and the ruling looked as if it might go in her favor, which would ruin the big satellite company's massive business! (I don't remember how it ended)
                              hauntedravensgrin.com

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