selling tickets to drunks

[WickedWoodsHaunt]

This is always a hard question. You don't want to have an intoxicatd person or group in your haunt, yet it seems 50% of the patrons are drunk, and You don't want to start a problem that leads in violence if you don't sell them a ticket. Sometimes drunks act nice and the sober ones are the violent ones so it's hard to red flag them. Who has had to turn down people at the ticket booth and how do you deal with this?

[damon carson]

Ask Jim Warfield he deals with them on a daily basis. LOL!
Damon

[Howie Slobber Erlich]

If we see people who are obviously drunk or under the influence of drugs we will not sell them tickets. I would rather deal with upset customers before they enter than have to deal with them once they get inside. We simply tell them that we believe that they are not in any condition to enter and for the safety of our other guests, our actors and themselves, we reserve the right to refuse them entry.

Howie "Slobber" Erlich
Deadly Intentions Prison Escape
www.deadlyintentionshaunt.com

[Motograter]

This brings up a good topic. Last night we had a group of adults who where very drunk. They where giving our ticket sale ladies a hard time about paying and wanting to go in. Plus I guess they where upsetting other costumers waiting in line. So we gave in and let them in but the police where called out which they arrived super fast because 4 cops were waiting for them at the exit of the haunt. 3 of them took a trip to the police station after blowing a breathalyzer test being under the influence and driving drunk.

[Jim Warfield]

"It's Dark, time to drink and go see a haunted house!"

It's really kind of insulting. We do all this work to entertain people and they goof up half their senses and reflexes and minds with chemicals.
"Now entertain me!?"
Then there are the non-stop talking, 2 secdond attention span drunkards that are loudly hyper-critical. "I thought this was upposed to be "funny"!?
To which I have replied:"If you stopped talking for 5 seconds you might hear something "funny".
We all design and build our haunts as foolproof as we can, then pray the fools don't come in.
Many years ago I attempted to keep everybody happy by asking one of the drunk's friends to take responsibilty for their staggering, screaming drunk friend.
(Looks good on paper!)
About a minute later the booze they had just chugged would hit the seemingly sober responsibilty taker, now two screaming, staggering idiots are loose!
Like Howie said, you have to keep them out! (Unless this is the cheap way to efect a tare-down a few minutes before the last hurrah? = last few moments of the seasonal business.

[Haunting Copy]

If I were drunk waiting in line to go through a haunted house, and I saw a "loud" drunk get turned away (in a professional, respectful manner), I would strive to behave better so that *I* wouldn't get turned away. I think the ruckus of turning one (or a few) away is a good thing. It puts people on notice: We will not tolerate your crap!!


I wonder what the total would be if we added up all the damage drunks did to haunted houses each year. Anyone venture a guess?

Sarah

[Uptown Haunts]

Flagging Drunks

My plan includes having a high Police presence. Meet with your local Law Enforcement Officials, Mayor, City Council, Township Supervisors, etc. Present the idea of allowing patrol officers to stop in for coffee and whatever you serve your staff or if you have concessions, offer a basic free snack/meal when they go on break in return for their presence. With a high police presence, this could deter potential trouble in one form or another. If a problem does rear it's ugly head, you've got the local police to handle it. Make it very clear that you have a "ZERO TOLERANCE" policy for drugs, alcohol, fire arms, etc. and that you will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Don't forget to install and use video surveillance so that you have evidence of any 'alleged' bad behavior.

Many police departments equip their patrol officers with breathalizers. Or at least their supervisors have them. This way, if you have a suspected drunk, they can do a breath test. Police officers are also trained, and have some level of experience, in spotting suspected drug use by some of your patrons. A police presence is like having sprinklers in your building. It doesn't do any good to start installing them after a fire starts. Think about it....

Steve....

[mindtumor]

This brings up a good topic. Last night we had a group of adults who where very drunk. They where giving our ticket sale ladies a hard time about paying and wanting to go in. Plus I guess they where upsetting other costumers waiting in line. So we gave in and let them in but the police where called out which they arrived super fast because 4 cops were waiting for them at the exit of the haunt. 3 of them took a trip to the police station after blowing a breathalyzer test being under the influence and driving drunk.

Half of our customers are drunk. Trying to stop drunk ladies from grabbing and fondling me is starting to get real annoying. At least you have a table between them and you.

It is interesting because I always thought guys said the most inappropriate things. I am learning that the stuff woman say is the raunchiest crap I have EVER heard. And when they are drunk it is magnified.

[Motograter]

Half of our customers are drunk. Trying to stop drunk ladies from grabbing and fondling me is starting to get real annoying. At least you have a table between them and you.

LOL so you have ladies grabbing you? are they hot? I had no clue this was going on. I think I still have you topped. Like 5 years back a drunk dude took out his unit at me.

[Jim Warfield]

Drunken Damages

Number one has to be the loss of other customers who if they wanted to be in the company, or earshot of drunks would have simply went to a roudy tavern.
I have had parents quickly almost clap their hands over their kid's ears when suddenly profanity fills the room for usually very little or no reason.
Nobody was startled, no scares just drunk.
I often return smart-ass comments back at "Drunky", make them look as stupid as they really are before they are kicked out, sort of a lesson for the younger people, maybe. I try to limit any innuendos in my reply to being no worse than I was given.
Maybe my personal favorite is to pretend you are a little hard of hearing and ask the drunk why he would want to "Lick my ass?"
"I said, Kick your ass!", Drunky says.
Goodby!
Sometimes we hold a quick vote from the others on the tour and vote Drunky out the door.
The longer I allow drunky to be in the house the much more likely others in that group will be wanting another tour free or refund, along with the wasted time it takes trying to be logical with an infected, alcohol poisoned mind, a no win situation.
If I was building a haunt just for drunkys , it would be a thickly padded hallway that could be hydralically tipped to slide them out with nothing for them to grip on to slow the process.
That's it, just one hallway, nothing else.

[Patti Ludwinski]

50% of your clientele are drunk? Wholly cow! Fortunately, I haven't had that problem. The drunks don't show up til near the end of the night...around 12-12:30am, so the majority of the night is pretty clean. I actually have more stoners than drunks. Sometimes I think I'm gonna get high myself just from smelling them. LOL. I think we have more problems with rude people or the occasional jerk trying to cut lines, moreso than drunks.

We hire off duty officers to keep the peace at our haunts. It's worked out through their precinct so they arrive in uniform. It's great. It works better than hiring "security" staff. No one wants to cross an officer, cuz the result is jail.

[mindtumor]

LOL so you have ladies grabbing you? are they hot? I had no clue this was going on. I think I still have you topped. Like 5 years back a drunk dude took out his unit at me.

That was just Charles going through and you asked to see it is what I heard.

[mindtumor]

50% of your clientele are drunk? Wholly cow! Fortunately, I haven't had that problem. The drunks don't show up til near the end of the night...around 12-12:30am, so the majority of the night is pretty clean. I actually have more stoners than drunks. Sometimes I think I'm gonna get high myself just from smelling them. LOL. I think we have more problems with rude people or the occasional jerk trying to cut lines, moreso than drunks.

We hire off duty officers to keep the peace at our haunts. It's worked out through their precinct so they arrive in uniform. It's great. It works better than hiring "security" staff. No one wants to cross an officer, cuz the result is jail.

On Fridays and Saturdays I would say half. Our attendance is a lot smaller than yours so really it is like 10 drunk people, LOL!

[monsterwax]

I tell them I smell Alcohol, but don't know how much they've been drinking. But if they ACT drunk at ANY TIME, they will be ejected. That means if they touch anyone, cuss, push or shove, or are rude, they are thrown out with no refund. Agreed?" (If they act tipsy and can't keep their balance, I don't let them in. I don't want them fall and blame us.)

[Ken Spriggs]

Bad way to handle but its fun

Ok so I will agree that we may handle this situation a little different than the normal folks but I know this way is funner!

Our line is usually pretty long and outside.
We run 10 actors or so outside to entertain.
As some of our guest actors will confirm....some people in chicago are real aholes.
Sooooo let the drunk ones drink......if they are drinking inline....they get bumped
If they are unable to stand they get bumped

BUT if they can walk we taunt them to the point of snapping........but we usually let them buy a ticket first....we have a no refund policy.
Then........just wait and they will do something stupid and you escort them out.
The crowd usually likes it when we send the gorillas after people in the lobby.
If they hit someone....they get a ride to the jail for a few hours and $250

See it can be fun!!!