Scream Team Weekend

I was one of the members of a Scream Team group that worked the Pharaoh's Secret haunted house this past weekend. I thought I would give you guys a little behind the scenes account of how it works as I am sure most of you have not had the experience. Our group worked a different house last year.

First, the groups need to be at the park at 6pm on Friday to check in and get there costumes and listen to the rules in the ballroom. We then are taken to our houses and given a tour, shown where the common hiding/scare places are and then assigned areas to work. For those of you that complain that it shouldn't take people time to learn how to scare, I disagree. I have experienced it twice now, to do the best job possible, we needed quite a few hours to be creative and think of the best ideas and ways to scare guests.

Saturday we were able to get into the park at 11am to ride rides before having to be back in the ballroom at 3pm. The house opened at 5pm and closed at midnight. On Sunday we were able to get into the park at 10am to ride rides until noon when we have to open the house at 1pm and work till 8pm. Saturday is a long day and your excitement/energy starts to wear off toward the end of the day. Sunday is also a very long day. After working the previous two days and getting to be late along with trying to get up early to ride wears on you quickly. Sunday is hard for most people to stay motivated. The lack of attendance and the fact that it is still light outside makes it harder to scare people on Sunday then other days.

Over all, it is a great opportunity to make money for your organization. By the end of the weekend you are more than ready to get home, but by this time next year rolls around, you are ready to do it again.

One thing that was nice was that park management kept addressing our group and telling us what a wonderful job we were doing in Pharaoh's Secret. If you don't know, Pharaoh's Secret is the oldest haunted house in the park (1996or7) and is out dated compared to the rest of the houses. Yet from management and guest alike, we kept getting complements that we were the best house in the park that weekend. Bill Spehn talked with us a few times and even told us that it was the best he has experienced in that house since the few opening seasons.

So if you visited the park and happened into Pharaoh's Secret this weekend, I hope you enjoyed it. And to the Team Leaders and other employees that work there this season, I hope we helped win you the best haunted house award this weekend. If anyone has the information about which house won the “Best House” for the past weekend, please let me know. I know my guys would love to find out if Pharaoh's Secret ended up getting it.

If you have any questions about this, let me know.

you guys did a great job we need more like you.

Good example of how a group can make or break the house. It's not all about the effects, but more the efforts put forth by the scream teams. The Pharaoh's groups did an exceptional job this past weekend!

Can I take part in your group!