Additional activities at your haunt

[Brckee1]

Hey everyone,

I have a lot of space at my location that is not being used. Aside from more haunts, has anyone brought in other events or activities that proved profitable at your attraction?
If not, does anyone have any ideas on what might work?

[MMManiac]

hay rides, punkpin patches, ghost in the graveyard game, laser tag, maze, concessions, carn-evil

Just a few i can think of on the top of my head.

[beardedbil]

When we went to headless horseman they had a dark magic side show by john shaw, and the galaxy lady doing spray paint art. Perhaps its not something you can profit from directly but by putting more out their for your patrons you can up your ticket price, or keep them around longer to buy food, walk your gift shops etc...

Or like Pirates of Emerson did, lease your space to a wanna-be haunt owner, let them try out their passion without all the hassel of having to start from scratch. Lease a tent space, let them build their attraction, staff, and manage it, and you now have more multiple elements to drive up your ticket price.

[damon carson]

We did a free horror museum. With horror movie posters and autographs and such. You might be able to charge a small fee for something like this seperate. Also we did a blacklight paintball arena. Also had a fortune teller. You can sell pumpkins in a pumpkin patch area. There are all kinds of things to do use your imagination! And goodluck!
Damon

[bhays]

Or like Pirates of Emerson did, lease your space to a wanna-be haunt owner, let them try out their passion without all the hassel of having to start from scratch. Lease a tent space, let them build their attraction, staff, and manage it, and you now have more multiple elements to drive up your ticket price.

Just make sure you have a well written and complete agreement. Been there/done that and it was a bad experience for me and the lessee.

[Greg Chrise]

Tell me more......

Tell me more about black light paint ball arenas and lazer tag.

[damon carson]

With blacklight paintball you can buy the florescent paintballs and paint everything with Dayglo or another known brand of florescent paint. We had zombies who jumped out from behind toxic barrels and they were the targets. They had protective gear on such as masks that cover there eyes, mouth and ears. Its at fairly close range less than a 100ft so you will take a few bruises from the hits. Wear enough clothing and it wont smart too bad. You could even buy 3-D Chromodepth glasses for the patrons to use. This brings out the depth of the 3-D Paint. We used fog machines and strobes along with blacklight to throw off the shooters as well. Our zombies took less hits that way. Have fun! But be safe with it too. Everything was enclosed, sides and back. And there was someone always at the booth when they shot. Only shots paid for were put into the gun.
Damon
Damon

[malicious_intents]

Freak Show

one of my friends did a freak show attraction where he had collected freakish
things like chipicabra, or 3 headed animals and such.....using a trailer he charged a small fee to go in and check it all out..... allot of people liked it.

Heres another idea

Ever thought of having a stage show? there are TONS of people out there to do stage shows with grinders etc...... hell they have susspensions, sword swallowers etc. nothing says scary like a freakshow - stageshow but thats just me. LMAO

[HauntedWebby]

I like the gitd paint ball idea. We also have tons of outdoor space not being use. Almost 90% of our property. The only thing outside is parking and a small maze.

Hmm, never even thought about something else other then more haunts.

[Lady Riggy]

my husband and I do a freakshow at a hayride. this was our second year. we talked to a few people after our shows who told us they didn't even go on the hayride, they came just to see us and see what kind of crazy stuff we'd be doing to ourselves this year. the owner of the hayrides didn't give us a raise this year (hint hint if your reading this) so he must be saving a ton of money

a good way to make money if you have a sideshow attraction is to sell "pitch cards" those are little pictures of the performers doing whatever it is they do with a short bio on the back. these are actually collectors items

[tot13]

We made and will continue to make changes to entertain our customers while they wait. Wait time increased to one hour and thirty minutes from the time our customers bought their tickets until they actually entered our Trail.

In 2007, we added a movie area where we showed classic b&w horror movies.

In 2008, I want to add "The Clearing". This will be a short trail through the woods just off the main waiting area, which will lead to a clearing with a campfire. I will recruit a storyteller to tell ghost stories every 15-20 minutes or so.

No charge for the movies or storytelling. It's just an attempt to keep our customers happy and entertained while they wait, with little or no expenditures on our part.

We are also discussing adding a corn maze for 2008, as we have plenty of field space not currently being used. Unfortunately, there is a for-profit corn maze in our area. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with going in direct competition with them as we are a fund-raiser attraction. Our maze would not be nearly as extravagant as theirs. This would be a paid but discounted attraction, though.

[Lord Barnabus]

I talked with our local Girl Scouts people this year after I went through their haunted trail. Basicly, they quit doing their haunted trail for several years, and this year they had about 5-7 people just wondering the trail. I offered to volunteer my time and props next year to help them out, and even put out some advertising to help them out. Their location amazed me as to what I could do with the space. Upon entering the area, you have to walk over a small bridge. You come to a cabin where they have activities inside, such as bobbing for apples, cookie decorating, crafts and more. Just on the other side is a large fire pit, where I thought of getting someone to tell ghost stories. Unfortunately, we can't have a real fire since it is autumn and there are dry leaves everywhere. Then there is a wooded area with an asphalt path that loops around and breaks off in another direction. Plenty of places to put stuff, and trees to hang various hanging and flying objects.

I can't wait to get this going, and it is only one night that they run their haunted trail. They usually only run from 5PM until 9PM. I've already talked to them about possibly running later, and having it scarier when it gets dark out.