Okay this thread hasn't really been address so I thought I would bring it up. These kinds of comments have an impact on everyone from the tradeshow, vendors, marketing you name it. How did your season end up and what are you projecting going forward. Was your season up or down, flat and do you expect a growth going forward or a decline? I'm interested in comments for an article I'm working on for my magazine.
Let me go first... I'm not ashamed to say last season was a bust for us. Collectively our attendance was down nearly 30,000 guests and I heard that all the other haunts did horrible or where way down. We had about 5 or 6 other haunts open around here including Six Flags, and some didn't make it to Halloween while others won't re-open next year. Our Lemp haunted house was down the most, Darkness was way down, and Creepyworld was down as well but not as much as the other two. We had a lot of things working against us this year starting with the St. Louis Cardinals making the World Series ... they played 18 out of 19 possible games all in October. That was a KILLER... we had nights where attendance was down OVER 50%. Additionally I was told from other haunts in Missouri they also saw numbers decrease even in Kansas City. Missouri is a show me state the economy is bad here and its not a place where people go out on weekdays so overall people here just spend less money than before. I was talking with the retail people they also did worse. Overall not great for us.
Next year I see more of the same because the media will focus on the election and when that rolls around they will discuss the economy over and over again and about no jobs, or people living in their cars or whatever spreading fear throughout the country. Additionally I'm afraid for us anyway the St. Louis Cardinals will make the World Series again... yes despite the fact we lost Pujols I expect the Cardinals to make the WS again. Their best pitcher Wainwright will be back one of the top 5 pitcher in baseball, they picked up Beltran and now that Freese is a superstar plus they are signing Roy Oswalt I expect them to be right back in it again!
I'm planning for another bad season because of the Cardinals and the election...
I think if your cities baseball team makes the WS it causes you some issues but here in St. Louis this is a BASEBALL TOWN the whole city shuts down. If they make the WS again I don't know what I'll do ... LOL.
I heard in the east you got hit with a ton of snow... I heard mixed reviews some up and some down. I don't think your issues of a bad season are the same as ours but all the same I'm personally expecting things to go down for us again and maybe the year after going back up.
I heard most haunts around the country overall had great years in most states and some states like ours got ravaged.
So how did you guys end up and what do you expect next year?
Larry
Let me go first... I'm not ashamed to say last season was a bust for us. Collectively our attendance was down nearly 30,000 guests and I heard that all the other haunts did horrible or where way down. We had about 5 or 6 other haunts open around here including Six Flags, and some didn't make it to Halloween while others won't re-open next year. Our Lemp haunted house was down the most, Darkness was way down, and Creepyworld was down as well but not as much as the other two. We had a lot of things working against us this year starting with the St. Louis Cardinals making the World Series ... they played 18 out of 19 possible games all in October. That was a KILLER... we had nights where attendance was down OVER 50%. Additionally I was told from other haunts in Missouri they also saw numbers decrease even in Kansas City. Missouri is a show me state the economy is bad here and its not a place where people go out on weekdays so overall people here just spend less money than before. I was talking with the retail people they also did worse. Overall not great for us.
Next year I see more of the same because the media will focus on the election and when that rolls around they will discuss the economy over and over again and about no jobs, or people living in their cars or whatever spreading fear throughout the country. Additionally I'm afraid for us anyway the St. Louis Cardinals will make the World Series again... yes despite the fact we lost Pujols I expect the Cardinals to make the WS again. Their best pitcher Wainwright will be back one of the top 5 pitcher in baseball, they picked up Beltran and now that Freese is a superstar plus they are signing Roy Oswalt I expect them to be right back in it again!
I'm planning for another bad season because of the Cardinals and the election...
I think if your cities baseball team makes the WS it causes you some issues but here in St. Louis this is a BASEBALL TOWN the whole city shuts down. If they make the WS again I don't know what I'll do ... LOL.
I heard in the east you got hit with a ton of snow... I heard mixed reviews some up and some down. I don't think your issues of a bad season are the same as ours but all the same I'm personally expecting things to go down for us again and maybe the year after going back up.
I heard most haunts around the country overall had great years in most states and some states like ours got ravaged.
So how did you guys end up and what do you expect next year?
Larry
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