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  • Timed Ticketing

    Anyone experiment with timed ticketing this year, if you did, could you provide some feedback.

    Chris
    Chris Stafford
    1331 Entertainment Group
    Denver Haunted Houses - The Asylum & 13th Floor Haunted House http://www.getscared.com
    13th Floor Haunted House - San Antonio, Texas http://www.13thfloorsanantonio.com
    13th Floor Haunted House - Phoenix, Arizona http://www.13thflooraz.com

  • #2
    I flew to Philadelphia on Sunday to visit Brett and Jason on closing night at Terror behind the Walls. They use timed ticketing and it looked to be extremely efficient!
    You might want to touch base with either of them for more info.
    Mike "Tattoo" Krausert

    Senior Project Manager

    Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group

    www.thirteenthfloor.com

    President - Bad Boys Scenic Design

    Comment


    • #3
      We used Click n Print and it worked out extremely well. We only sold 100 Speed Pass tickets per hour and weaved them in with our general admission and site Speed Pass and we sold out just about every time slot. They were a pleasure to work with too. Contact them if you have any questions.

      We normally have up to a 5 hour wait and even our Speed Pass is up to 3 hours. We also sold out at around 8:00 each night just so we can get out by 2:00 am. So the people who participated in the program were very happy.

      Hope it works out for you Chris.

      Wayne
      www.trailofterror.com

      Comment


      • #4
        Spookywoods Timed Ticketing

        I have been using timed ticketing for 4 years. The best way to make more profit without adding a new attraction is timed ticketing.

        We only use VIP for sponsor now and reservation is very well accepted and you can up charge as much as VIP and control the flow and increase the customer service at the same time.

        See www.spookywoods.com for how I use it.
        Tony Wohlgemuth,
        Comes up with the fun stuff!
        Kersey Valley, Inc.
        www.KerseyValley.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks for the feedback

          Tony,

          What is the percentage of your timed tickets that are purchased online vs. your vip tickets bought onsite?

          We have been selling vip tickets for years, and until this year we have never had a problem from a service standpoint, at an approx. $5 differential in price.

          This year our GA line could be as long as 3 hours, our vip line, even after increasing the price to an additional $10 over the cost of our GA could still be as long as an hour.

          So although I know we will make some sort of shift to timed ticketing, I want to be able to promote this as an alternative to waiting, and with an hour vip line, that's not a good incentive.

          Do you give priority treatment to the online timed tickets? Do you charge more for your onsite vip tickets?

          I have some ideas, but I'm curious what others are doing.

          Also, this year we used interactive ticketing for online sales, nothing but good to say about our experience. Their scanning situation, not as easy to deal with as Screampass (Ticketweb), but their service was outstanding.

          Chris
          Chris Stafford
          1331 Entertainment Group
          Denver Haunted Houses - The Asylum & 13th Floor Haunted House http://www.getscared.com
          13th Floor Haunted House - San Antonio, Texas http://www.13thfloorsanantonio.com
          13th Floor Haunted House - Phoenix, Arizona http://www.13thflooraz.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi Chris,

            It has been my experience that our General Admission customers look at VIP as a negative experience. I posted VIP as sold out on line and only sold it when our reservation line was empty. VIP is also good to save for your true VIP, your sponsors.

            The reservation ticket was sold in 15 minute time slots of 50 tickets only. I'm moving to 100 tickets per 15 minutes in 2009. Our GA ticket is $22.00 and our reservation ticket will be $30.00.

            I do not discount online tickets, in fact they cost $2.00 more for the service fee.

            We wrote our own ticketing solution, you will see more of that in St. Louis at the next HauntShow. Box Office, Gift Shop, Food, and Online in one database that is licensed and affordable.

            I also used Interactive this season for our online tickets and I was pleased as well. I want 100% timed ticketing so I can sell reservation at my box office and online and have total control in one database. That is why my IT team has been working on this for the past 3 years. I own an information technology company and a major haunt for 23 years, put the two together and you got the experience needed to bring a solution to market.

            Example: Customer walks up and says, "How long is the wait". You say 3 hours for General Admission or you can look at your touch screen and see you have 4 tickets left for reservation coming in in the next 15 minute time slot. These ticket cost $8.00 more, but you can get in the haunt in the next 15 minutes.

            You and I both know what they will do, pay the upcharge and leave with a much better experience. The ticket is printed out through the desktop just like at the movies with a bar code and you not only have a fraud prevention solution, but also the ability to have custom messages and coupons on the back.

            Timed ticketing makes so much sense that I predict all major haunts will go to this system. It makes parking easier and not to mention it generates tons of extra revenue for no more work!!
            Last edited by twohlgemuth; 11-05-2008, 12:05 AM.
            Tony Wohlgemuth,
            Comes up with the fun stuff!
            Kersey Valley, Inc.
            www.KerseyValley.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Tony,

              I can't wait to see what you bring us at Transworld! Ticketing solutions is one thing we're looking at right now! Thanks for the posting! -Tyler
              Chris Riehl
              Sales@spookyfinder.com
              (586)209-6935
              www.spookyfinder.com

              Comment


              • #8
                if you dont mind, im gonna bring this topic back up.
                been toying with the idea of timed ticketing for this year. however i was thinking all tickets sold were timed ticketing, so that people go through the haunt at different show times. have a preshow that starts in in a designated room for the groups showing and then let them in a few at a time. then wait for next times slot...

                if you do timed ticketing for all the tickets, will that still produce more revenue, i understand how the vip timed ticketing will, just wondering if all would.
                thanks
                Owner of The Fear Experience Haunted House in Cleveland, Ohio, voted the #1 haunted house in Ohio, and #14 in America by Funtober. The Fear Experience Haunted House was called the premier haunted attraction in northeast ohio by cleveland.com and #1 in cleveland by metromix.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Time is money!

                  Over the past 5 years this is how my timed tickets have evolved. The first several years we offered both GA and a timed ticket with a 30 min wait for a 5.00 upcharge. After educating our customers over several years the added value we cut down the time slot to 15 min wait. In 2009 we increased our GA to 25.00 and offered the time slot as the only online ticket at the same price. We own our online ticket app, so we make an extra 3.00 per ticket for this timed ticket. The customers love the added value and our timed tickets are keeping a nice wave of cars coming in instead all at once. We sell 100 tickets per 15 min time slot.

                  My goal is to go 75% timed tickets by 2011.

                  Overall timed tickets make you more and increase the customer experience. Logistics are key, my haunt is one ticket gets all attractions in a row. Separate queue line for resevations, VIP and GA. I limit the VIP to only 5 per 15 min slot. The VIP has turned into a option once the 100 sell out. I'm sure you have more questions or doubts, but I have seen this setup work very well for me. Imagine getting 75% off your customers email addresses as well when they buy online!
                  Last edited by twohlgemuth; 01-12-2010, 10:39 AM.
                  Tony Wohlgemuth,
                  Comes up with the fun stuff!
                  Kersey Valley, Inc.
                  www.KerseyValley.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I experianced timed ticketing this year on a visit to Scream at the beach. I thought they handled it very nicely. You were given a number, when thatt nuer came up on one of the dozen or so screens around the halloween town they had set up for you to visit while waiting, you got in a very short line bought your tickets. After that you went into the preshow, then into a highly themed queue for the haunted houses.

                    If we ever need to go to a timed ticket system this is how I would do it, but we need to have stuff for people to do while waiting around or it wouldn't work.

                    Right now I am able to get through about 400 to 500 an hour without groups bumping into each other. any more than that and it ruins the show.
                    Ed Roberts
                    Founder
                    The Nightmare Factory
                    www.nightmarefactorysalem.com
                    www.westcoasthauntersconvention.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nightmare,

                      That process is cool if you have the space in the parking lot. My main reason for timed ticketing is the get the customers coming in waves to the property to avoid traffic and long waits. We can park 500 cars onsite and we move 900 people per hour. With timed ticketing the customers park and go direct to the reservation line since they print their ticket at home and the total wait is less than 15 minutes.

                      Our bottle neck is the scanning of the bar codes, even with the fastest scanners we could find this is the point of slow down. Moving the validation process further away from the door resolves this, but opens up more chances for people to rip you off.

                      I personally don't want people hanging out at my haunt, I want them to get in quick have a great show and leave. We do have a midway with shops, but I don't have places for people to sit and hang out. We make the most money selling tickets, so that is our focus. Even though we do a great bussiness with T-Shirts and food, no where near the profit from tickets.
                      Tony Wohlgemuth,
                      Comes up with the fun stuff!
                      Kersey Valley, Inc.
                      www.KerseyValley.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Tony, I sent you an email on the subject.

                        Thanks,

                        -Joel-
                        Heartstoppers
                        Haunted House

                        Sacramento, CA

                        www.scaredyou.com

                        www.fb.com/heartstoppers
                        www.twitter.com/heartstoppershh

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Is anyone doing timed ticketing this year as a way to control attendance and lines?
                          Larry
                          Larry Kirchner
                          President
                          www.HalloweenProductions.com
                          www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                          www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                          www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Larry,
                            We do timed ticketing. It has stopped most of the complaining about line wait. It has been so successful we are changing it to 30 minute intervals from 1 hour.
                            It was the best thing we ever did and has been well received by our customers.
                            With so many other things to do at the farm, pumpkin patch, corn maze, escape rooms, paintball shooting gallery, zombie paintball, pedal carts, fire pits, tennis ball cannons, pumpkin shooter, food trucks and many other activities, we have customers staying all day AND night to have an all day experience with us. Best thing is theres a 30 minute max wait to get in.
                            Greg Allen
                            scarygreg@andersonfarms.com
                            www.andersonfarms.com

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Im just wondering if you go timed ticketing will you lose a lot of customers who come on a spur of the moment. Do you still sell tickets at the box office?
                              Larry Kirchner
                              President
                              www.HalloweenProductions.com
                              www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                              www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                              www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                              Comment

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