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Huge problem at Michigan Haunts

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  • Huge problem at Michigan Haunts

    I may be the only one from Michigan who will admit this, but I am open to any suggestions. My haunt which by this time in the season is usually very busy is instead very slow.

    We did more advertising than we have in a few years. We have always had a great reputation. The word of mouth is great about this years show. All posted reviews and polls have us as one of the best attractions. The weather has been ok not great but we have seen much worse in the past. We are in a ten year established location. Our price is lower than almost every other haunt in the area. I have some of the best actors in the industry and with all that being said we are struggling to pay the bills.

    The beginning of the season started out pretty good, up 23% from last year. But the last 2 weekends have been pathetic. I, for the first time in our history had to let some of our cast and crew go this week. Pretty much anybody that we didn't absolutely need. I usually have to hire more people by now.

    I have heard about and from several other local attractions that they are in the same boat. Some of them have actually had to close early on some nights (Friday's & Saturday's) by 10:00 because they have no customers.

    My projection for the season is to be down about 30% from last year which was not a stellar season either by any means.

    So I guess I am wondering is this just a Michigan thing or this is happening in other parts of the country as well? Does anyone have any ideas why, other than the obvious poor economy?

    I have never been this frustrated and unsure of the future. I know we still have our best days ahead of us but it's hard to imagine we can make up the difference and still pull off a decent year.

    Puzzled and depressed,
    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)

  • #2
    Man I'm sorry about your struggles. Do you think it might be due to the Tigers in the playoffs?

    Jake

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    • #3
      Not really. So far the games have been pretty much over by the time we open! Thanks though!
      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)

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      • #4
        Sorry to hear it, sent you a pm Howie.

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        • #5
          Howie, look at the nights games were. The Rangers killed us the past two years. Even if the games are over they still drank during the game or want to talk about it. I bet it is the games. The Cardinals kicked Larry's but last year too.
          www.Stiltbeaststudios.com
          http://www.youtube.com/user/Stiltbea...s?feature=mhee

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          • #6
            No teams to worry about here!

            Man am I glad we dont have any teams around here ...... except the Panthers maybe ..... wait, are they a team?
            Travis "Big T" Russell
            President
            Big T Productions Inc

            Owner and Operator of "The Plague" and "Camp Nightmare"

            Customer Quote of the year: "Damn, I pissed myself"

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            • #7
              http://www.examiner.com/article/detr...-warn-citizens

              http://www.inquisitr.com/356432/detr...your-own-risk/

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              • #8
                RobfromErie, what does that have to do with anything? We all know that Detroit has problems. So does the entire nation. Just because the city of Detroit is full of coruption does not mean people won't go haunting!
                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)

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                • #9
                  I hear

                  I hear even the haunts around Pontiac are down too.
                  But I was thinking it may be the price of one and the gimmick at the other one.
                  The bars have been do well with the Tigers playing. There has also been home coming going on the last few weeks and lets face it most of the people with disposable income now days are between the age of 14 to mid 20s. To get a family of 4 to come out and spend $80 to $112 + parking in this economy is hard to do.

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                  • #10
                    Well when the city's police force warns tourists to stay away, it seems to me there are some people that would listen. And although you may not be in the middle of Detroit, you still share the state. I'm sure a good amount of your customers aren't local.

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                    • #11
                      Detroit has always had a bad reputation and a high crime rate. Although not in Detroit, we are actually the closest haunt to Detroit and that has never been a problem for us. Our customers know that we have ample security. We have also never had a major security problem in the 10 years we have been open in fact our Detroit customers seem to have great respect for our attraction and are less of a problem than our suburb customers.

                      The Tigers just had the biggest, pathetic, colossal loss I have seen in a long time and will probably be out of the playoffs tomorrow! So if that's the problem it should be over soon.

                      I agree that the price of haunts in the area may have a lot to do with it. One haunt is advertising single admission price for one attraction at $28.00 per ticket. People around here for sure can't afford that and I was surprised to see that price. I think that could hurt their attendance a lot this year, even though it is a very good haunt and the most attended around here for a long time. As far as the other haunt you are talking about, they have been known to have too high of an admission price for many years and pretty much everyone has figured out that their gimmick is just that. Actually, I thought that those reasons may give my haunt a bit of an advantage this year but it's not the case so far. We have kept our price lower than most of the other haunts and even lowered our kids price this year by $2.00. We also had many nights that we offered huge discounts, one coming up this Friday.

                      We have our fingers crossed for the rest of the season and will continue to provide our customers with a top notch show at a very affordable price. With all the things we are doing the right way, I am still hopeful that customers will still come out in force the rest of the season. I hope so because this is my last year and I would hate to go out on a terrible year. I put too much into it for that to happen.

                      So, wish us luck and the same to all of the other haunters out there!
                      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)

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                      • #12
                        Have any new haunts opened in the last year or so? I'm guessing it's a combination of factors.

                        Our haunt is starting to have the opposite problem; many haunts have closed so now there are only two major ones left in the metro area.

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                        • #13
                          Not really Toothpaste!

                          I noticed one major new one this year but not much else. Several well known haunts have disappeared around here the last couple years. We always have a few new ones pop up and go away after a season or two. I am pretty sure that we will see a few more not opening next year with the way things are going this year. We won't be open next year but it has little to do with our numbers and more to do with my health.

                          I talked to a couple more haunt owners yesterday and it seems like all the local haunted houses are having a really bad year. Even some of the "Scream Parks" & Hay rides that usually have huge numbers have been way down and are closing early on some nights. I have never closed early for any reason in ten years. I just could not do that to our customers who may have driven a long time to get here. I would never go back to a haunt that was closed when I arrived at a time when they were supposed to be open. But, I must admit I concidered it on a couple nights this season.

                          I am still hopeful that things will work out in the end. We have 3 more weekends and a couple huge special events still to come. Plus we have always done really good on Devil's Night and Halloween. A bunch of my crew has decided to either volunteer the rest of the season or only take gas money. It was hard to even ask them to do it but they are really awesome and dedicated. They feel horrible about what is happening this season. I love these guys. With a small payroll the rest of the way I am now confident that I will at worst, break even and not owe anyone once the season is over.
                          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)

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                          • #14
                            economy sucks big time

                            i think everybody is hurting, even here in pennsylvania. (from what i'm hearing....)

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by john haines View Post
                              i think everybody is hurting, even here in pennsylvania. (from what i'm hearing....)
                              I can't really say the same here in North Carolina. Many of the haunts in the region are showing upwards of 30% increases in attendance. From what I hear, Tony of Spookywoods is saying that this year is the best one in several. I honestly can't tell you how many requests me and my parents get to reserve tickets(which we don't do) for our haunt! Last year we sold out every night(around 850 tickets) and this year we're looking to do the same. But then again, we're a charity haunt and thus only open for six nights a year.

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