Another haunt tour for March?

[brad]

Allowing people to drive is just asking for pure chaos and for sure constant gripes later. I think 90 plus percent of people who would choose to do a tour would prefer a bus and the entire trip be organized for them, pay one price and you do the rest. Its just a bad bad idea not to do this by bus only.

I think most if not all the past tours have been a totally controlled situation, especially when traveling this far.

If I remember correectly, when Dreamreapers was open during TW, they would have busses going back and forth, plus they allowed people to drive up themselves... I guess as long as those people proved that they were in the industry. The few times I went there, things seemed like they ran smoothly.


And in all honesty, just like Adam said... theres enough tech stuff out there, that anyone that wanted to drive themselves should be able to find it.

I really dont see a huge problem in this, but I havent ever put on an event like this myself.

[SomeThingInTheIce]

We'll go, I don't care about the bus, we'll drive. If you charge a few more bucks for the bus trip we'll pay it but I'm going to drive I don't like the idea of being at the whims of a bus driver.

[Bill Schnell]

Right now Greg and I agree that we would LIKE to do this tour. We are definitely not 100% sure that we WILL do the tour. We are actively checking into the details right now and seeing if we can get things arranged for the tour to happen. As soon as we are sure one way or the other we will let everyone know. I realize that we need to decide for sure soon, but I don't want to do this unless it is done right. Thanks.

[drfrightner]

Brad,

The difference with Dreamreapers is that they are not that far away, and they where open the entire night. These guys are over two hours away, that is two hours there and over two hours back. That means you have a very TIGHT window to open and get everyone through and back to their hotels.

It has to be bus only.

Larr

[N2SPOOKINU]

As Bill stated we are working out the final details to make sure we have everything organized and ready to go before we say yes. I know many of you want to drive and I understand. Bill and I will discuss the options. Personally I dont have a problem with people driving to our haunts. Fearfest is very easy to find we are just off hwy 70. Necropolis is a little harder to find but it's just a few exits up from us. We will let everyone know asap so things can get moving. thanks Greg

[Haunted Illinois]

There is nothing wrong with letting people drive to the haunts themselves. We’re all grown-ups, after all. I’m driving all the way from the Rockford area to St. Louis for the show (5 hours) and I can guarantee that I won’t get lost. Traveling two hours to haunts will be a snap, in comparison. Especially considering I've got it all mapped out. LOL.

As I said before, people can map these events on many available mapping programs. I have already done so and now I have both haunts programmed into my GPS unit.

I agree with SomeThingInTheIce, who made a really good point. Part of the reason I like to drive to these events myself is that I like to live by my own schedule. If I want to stay, I can stay. If I want to leave, I can leave. It can be such a pain in the butt to have to sit around and wait for the next bus to arrive. If indeed it does arrive on time. Need I mention (again) the TW Vegas busses getting lost? LOL.

Thanks, Greg, for at least considering the idea of giving patrons the option of driving there themselves. I really appreciate it and I’m sure others do to (based on the messages in this thread).

[Murphy]

"Transworld caught wind of this situation, and they want to know"????? Larry, what exactly does this mean? This does not have to have anything to do with Transworld, does it?

[drfrightner]

They read the posts here, and people emailed them. They want to know if other functions are going to happen. The are at the center of this whole thing...wouldn't you agree? There are other events planned for Friday, but in America people can do whatever they want. As I stated I'm more than willing to lend all my support to them, I just think they should really think this through.

Larry

[Speculo]

The haunts involved need to work the numbers. If BOTH will open this is can be done. Two haunts make it more compelling to drive 2 hours.

They need to decide - is it worth it to open for 50 people? Obviously many more might attend. But that is roughly one bus full.

If they are not doing renovations, and they are not paying tons of actors and they want to host haunters this might work.

If they charge $20 for the haunt and get 50 people thats $1000.

Can you open on $1000?

Of course they can charge more or less and more or less folks can come.

Would you haunters who want to visit pay $20 per haunt ($40) plus bus fare or gas/car rental to do this?


It could be on the cheap without actors of course... Then opening isn't as big of a deal. But you still need to fix broken stuff, clear the halls, fill water gags, get foggers back on line, get your key staff lined up for tours etc.

Actors ALONE It would cost me OVER $3000 to open these days -

I can never say this enough - RESPECT the Haunter that opens a show off season! Thank you guys and Larry and EVERYONE that has ever opened a haunt off season for haunters!


We all await details in the coming days...


Thanks!

Ben
NETHERWORLD

[Jim Warfield]

"Mean" Temperatures.

"Fill the water gag"...if is not going to freeze and break.
Clear any outdoor walkways ..unless they are buried under two foot of ice and snow....emergency exits snowed in too?
Off-season can be alot of work because you're operating in the wrong season.
I have done tons of plain old work here over the years maintaining those items during bad weather. (Being open year-round)
Pnuematics, air lines and compressors sometimes "complain" too.
Nothing is "Free"!

[drfrightner]

Well said Ben... I talked to these guys and I told them I didn't think it was worth it because they are late in the game and because I didn't know if they fully understood they could be opening and losing money. The one thing I would stress is NOT to listen to everyone who thinks you should do this for basically nothing. Charge enough so you don't lose any money, don't lose a dime on this deal.

You don't want to open for the industry, then be blasted for something, then turn out you didn't realize this or that and whamo you lost several thousand dollars.

That would suck! It will cost a lot of money to open and organize this tour and it will ruin your Transworld for sure. I still say I wouldn't do it, but if they do I'll be more than willing to help them on every level!

Larry

[N2SPOOKINU]

Bill and I understand everyone is waiting for our decision. There is alot more at stake here than just opening up our haunts. If that were the case we would already have told you ok. Transworld is promoting the big party on Friday nite. We need to know they support our tour because if they dont then whats the use of opening up? If we do a tour on Friday nite what percentage of you guys would rather go to our tour than the party and is it going to piss Transworld off? Another issue that brought this whole thing up in the first place is Larry said he didnt think he would have enough time to get the Darkness up and ready for the convention. If this is true and it wont be open on Saturday nite WE need to know so we can change our tour nite to Saturday so it wont conflict with the party or Transworld. As far as us getting things set up on our end I have already reserved the busses and they are holding them until further notice. We have started making plans for the tour, we just need to know if we have the support of Transworld because afterall, it is their show! Thanks, Greg

[Speculo]

Greg email me directly and I will get you in touch with Transworld.

Thanks!

speculo@comcast.net

[drfrightner]

Gregg,

The party is NOT a Transworld party, its an IAHA party. Typically no more than 50 to 100 people attend that so I wouldn't worry about that. Secondly HHA is also planning their first ever meeting on Friday night. We will hold the meeting DIRECTLY after the show. It shouldn't last more than one hour.

As I told Bill we should get these two events HHA and your tour on the same page because this HHA meeting is VITAL to the industry. You could load up your busses directly after our meeting.

As for Saturday night as I've already stated my plan is to open, I just have to get further along before I can start selling tickets. I need to know 110% what I can or can't do... IE I don't know if my new building will be done as an example.

Blah, blah, blah... we are willing to help you on every level! The next magazine is going to press soon so you should decide quickly.

But if you going to choose a night I'd go with Friday for sure! The NEW HHA WILL BACK YOU 110%, Hauntworld Magazine will back you 110%, Hauntworld.com will back you 110%, and I personally will back your event 110%. It is your choice! If you go for it lets get this on the agenda!

Larry

[The Ghoulish Gallery]

I thought I'd chime in here to help clarify a few things. First, the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA) Dinner and Awards Banquet IS on Friday night and Transworld IS sponsoring the event, meaning they are making a considerable financial contribution to this event in order to show their support for IAHA. I have no idea if that makes this Transworld's party or not but they obviously have invested in and want to see this event be a big success.

By the way, for those not familiar, this dinner/awards program is for haunters and vendors and the awards are based on recognition of individual effort in the haunt industry, not who is first, second, third best in the industry, etc.

Additionally, Creative Visions and I believe the Halloween and Haunt Vendors Association is putting together what looks to be one Hell of an open house/party at Creative Visions studio which, in my personal opinion, should be pretty damn cool. This event will immediately follow the IAHA event.

Final details on all this are still being worked out and will be announced soon, but for now, just know this many different groups from the haunt industry are working together to create one Hell of a party that you won't want to miss. Hope to see you all there.

As for the haunt tour, I tend to agree with Larry that this is happening so late in the game that it may not be worth the effort. In any event, I've talked to Jen at Transworld about all this and hopefully we can all work together to come up with a solution that allows for a haunt tour without stepping on any of the other events that have already been planned. If not, there's always next year.

Bill, Gregg, as promised I will get back to you soon on all this.


Sincerely,

Tim Turner
Member, 2009 Transworld National Haunt and Attraction Show Advisory Board