What should come and go for Halloweekends?

It seems like you and I could have a nice long conversation about this kind of topic Ralph.:)

The reason why there's so many pneumatic scares in Ghostly Manor is because only one guy runs the whole thing (there might be a few more, idk). I've been through it 2 times so far and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised at the length of it and how well themed and proped (sp?) the sections are. And while I give it too you that they could trade in a few of those animatronics for some scareactors, I think their reasoning is mostly due to space. I heard that there's one main walkway through the whole maze that the scareactor uses to get from scare point to scare point. I will however never say to get rid of their opening skit or the giant gorilla pneumatic. Both of those actually managed to startle me.:)

In terms of scareactors vs animatronics, I say it can go both ways. A haunt with too many scareactors can sometimes be bad if you don't have motivated actors. A haunt with too many animatronics can lose the variety of effects that only scareactors can give. But a haunt that can properly balance the 2 is where it's at. Again I have to reference Halloween Horror Nights. So far IMO, they do the best job, not just at making amazing sets and mazes, but also balancing both scareactors and animatronics. This can also include a scare involving both a scareactor AND a animatronic.

I personally don't use animatronics when I do my haunts (considering I can't really afford them). I rely on my actors to....well put on a good act. And it must be working because I was getting comments last year from people saying what I did was better than the ones they paid $18+ for. Makes you feel accomplished hearing those kinds of comments.:)

And while I realize CP can't go to the lengths that Knotts or Universal does (I don't even place Halloweekends in the same bracket as them), I do think there's still some things they can learn from them. My only request ever was to change Undertaker U and Pharaohs Tomb. Hopefully they get some love this year ti make me change my mind (ie a revamp). Last year was the best yet, I can't wait to see what's new.

So walking through the Starlight last night, I got to thinking. In the fall sunset happens fairly early, so its twlight by 7:30ish every night. Why not make it so that the Frontier Trail goes Starlight mode (minus the floats) from 7:30-8:00 and then a loud record skip plays and the lights go out and the fog goes on. How fantastic would that be?

TTD 120mph said:Hopefully they get some love this year to make me change my mind

I think your mind will be changed come this September;)

^I really hope that Undertaker U. won't get removed (or re-themed)! It is my favorite house. I went through it 57 times last year. Nobody seems to like it, along with Fear Faire, another one that I liked. I must think different than everyone else :)

Although, I love HalloWeekends, and I'm sure that anything that the park will do will turn out great!

TTD 120mph said:
The reason why there's so many pneumatic scares in Ghostly Manor is because only one guy runs the whole thing (there might be a few more, idk). I've been through it 2 times so far and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised at the length of it and how well themed and proped (sp?) the sections are. And while I give it too you that they could trade in a few of those animatronics for some scareactors, I think their reasoning is mostly due to space. I heard that there's one main walkway through the whole maze that the scareactor uses to get from scare point to scare point. I will however never say to get rid of their opening skit or the giant gorilla pneumatic. Both of those actually managed to startle me.:)

As someone who until recently was one of these "scareactors" (we just called ourselves actors) I can say that Ghostly Manor used to have more of us. They used to have as few as 5 and as many as 30 every night. But recently, due to issues, their staff has shrunk considerably so there is just plain not enough people on staff to operate with more actors, which I personally think is a BAD thing. But if you go on weekends in October expect to see the number back up to 20 or so actors.

There is one large L shaped actor hallway that runs down the middle of the haunt. If you watch the first half all the actors come from the left and the second half all the actors come from the right. But do to the design it does not impede the actors as much as you might think. When I was working there we would "leapfrog" over each other and hit the scares, you could have 2-3 actors in the front and 3-4 in the back and they would hit every space.

I have recently started my own Haunted House company (see my sig line) and prefer the actors to props, but at the same time I now realize why so many places use props instead of actors.

Ahh I see, so that's how it goes. I had only read that one guy runs it. Both times I went through, it did seem like there was a few different actors minus the one guy I knew kept going to different spots.

And that's a awesome site too! Good luck with the business! I myself have plans in the next 5 years or so to start my own haunted house (small to start off of course). I bought a book a while back on how to properly make and run one (a bit dated but whatever) and it's really help me gear up for what to expect in the future as far as building codes and such. I try to do everything by the book when I design my mazes, but I don't have the kind of money I wish I had to get more detailed.

As of this year, I have my design plans are almost finished for my annual backyard maze (5th year) but I'm also in talks with a city's parks and rec to help design and build a haunt for them. I just hope it goes through soon cause I'm pretty excited to get a chance to do something of this magnitude at my age. If you have any advice about the industry that you've gathered so far, I'd love to hear it.:)

I am not sure if this has been mentioned in the past 15 pages of this thread or not, but what is going to happen to the Starlight Experience come Halloweekends? Is it going to stay the same, or is going to be Halloween themed?

Walking through the Autumn section reminds me of the Nightmare Before Christmas, one of my favorite movies. :) It would be cool if the entire trail was decorated in the orange and yellow lights.

^The park stated that some of the lights will be used in the Fright Zone. Not all of them, but some.

On the video posted on this site, they have mentioned that they have plans for plussing the Fright Zone with the new Starlight stuff. The string lights and floats will probably not be used but the background lights, improved sound system and electrical support system (for strobes) will defiantly be used.

^Hmmm, I never thought about things like the sound system. That will be a plus. And it will probably be easier to set up the other lights and fog machines this year too. I'll have to go through the Fright Zone more this year :) I usually only go through it to get across the park or before or after Cornstalkers.

TTD 120mph said:
Ahh I see, so that's how it goes. I had only read that one guy runs it. Both times I went through, it did seem like there was a few different actors minus the one guy I knew kept going to different spots.

Actually as of what I hear from people who still work there, at this time it IS only one person. They take your tickets, send you in, start the show and get in costume and follow you around the entire way.

And that's a awesome site too! Good luck with the business! I myself have plans in the next 5 years or so to start my own haunted house (small to start off of course). I bought a book a while back on how to properly make and run one (a bit dated but whatever) and it's really help me gear up for what to expect in the future as far as building codes and such. I try to do everything by the book when I design my mazes, but I don't have the kind of money I wish I had to get more detailed.

As of this year, I have my design plans are almost finished for my annual backyard maze (5th year) but I'm also in talks with a city's parks and rec to help design and build a haunt for them. I just hope it goes through soon cause I'm pretty excited to get a chance to do something of this magnitude at my age. If you have any advice about the industry that you've gathered so far, I'd love to hear it.:)

Thanks there is so much more that I wan to do with the site but I just don't have the time right now. Any questions you have feel free to ask, I have been in the industry for almost 10 years now, both as a home haunter and professional.

I do see how there could be a good mix of live actors and animatronics, I just haven't seen anything personally that does it right. Plus, I'm an elitist who favors a really good actor over any sort of prop. :)

I agree. Although the animatronics are cool, but you can't beat a good actor to provide the scare.

As for sliding, granted it was my first year in Terror Island, I utilized the gravel on the trail to just run and slide and manage to stop right in people's faces. Use this with addition to the fog then it creates a good scare in my opinion. Only problem is that you have to have enough gravel on the terrain and don't over estimate the slide because there was a few occasions where I accidentally bumped into someone.

CoastMani said:Only problem is that you have to have enough gravel on the terrain and don't over estimate the slide because there was a few occasions where I accidentally bumped into someone.

Which is why it's not to be done on the island.

We need more chainsaws

^Real chainsaws.

I really hope they don't cut the band in the Red Garter for the Halloweekends shows like they did for the summer. Going in there now without a band is rough but no band for Halloweekends? That would be a huge disappointment.

While not a fan of country (especially since God hates country music;)), RGS does have Got Country playing. I don't know if they use a band, but the venue is still being used for a live show, which is better than nothing.

I would be very dissapointed if there were not a live band playing the the Red Garter during Halloweekends.

Got Country is track music - no band.