# Hayride or Walkthrough? I'm torn.



## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

I've been giving serious thought to operating a haunted hayride for 2015, but I've also been exploring significantly expanding/moving my outdoor walkthrough, while concurrently tallying a budget to build an indoor "dark attraction" with a classic gothic theme. 

If all goes well I will have all 3 and hopefully more in the coming years but considering 2014 was my first year I don't want to get ahead myself. I also have learned I need to focus my time and money on one thing at a time or I end up doing nothing. I need to choose ONE and go balls deep  I need your help deciding which to move forward with cause I'm waffling. I'll lay out some details.

Before I get into details on each attraction I should tell you a bit more about my situation and Autumn's Gate. We're located in a rural area in Western New York rich with fall activities such as pumpkin patches, apple picking, and other misc stuff but no real Haunted Attractions to compete with. All the farms do great. We have 60 Acres of mixed terrain. We opened up a Horse boarding/riding lesson facility last May. We have a 70x250ft approx. indoor riding arena fully equipped with a sprinkler system. Last June I purchased a brand new Kubota 55hp tractor (I may have chosen Kubota because they're orange and want to affix a metal JackOLantern face to the grill ) 

Outdoor Walkthrough- I would likely cut paths in the brush, hay/corn, and woods and have folks walk through scenes with actors. If any of you seen some of the pics I posted for 2014 it would likely include a similar concept but I was thinking I'd build some structures to provide better locations for scares/actors. 

Indoor Walkthrough- I have negotiated with the boss (my wife ) the use of the indoor arena for 3/4 months to build and operate through October. I would likely be building hundreds of panels and frequented lots of thrift stores and junkyards for materials. I have already built out the preliminary 3d layout in Sketchup. I would have the most fun with this one 

Hayride- I've been seriously considering this and its currently the front runner. This mainly to do with marketing. It seems that people are hesitant with "haunted houses" but I've seen them come out in hordes for hayrides (as crappy as they are around here). I think I can really attract a lot of people. Also, I think I can control and even schedule ticket sales to control traffic. I would likely use a main road on the property that goes to the back and cut another road to circle back. I would have to purchase/build a hay wagon, and likely have to purchase a few generators from what I read. I have neighbors I could get to drive as well adding a second or third tractor if it gets really busy unexpectedly. I'm lost with concepts and ideas for this. I'm all about thematic motifs and story lines behind why people are experiencing what they are experiencing. From what I've seen, most hayrides are very much a hodgepodge, which is fine if it must be done this way. 

I have talked to people about the options but honesty nobody gets it. I'm leaning on your POV to make a decision, and will likely lean on it more once I've come to one. Thanks much in advance.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Also... For reference you can satellite my property here:

http://www.google.com/maps/place/19...1s0x89d36191477b8fc3:0x77a1e2ec545242ae?hl=en


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## Abunai (Oct 28, 2007)

NemesisGenesis said:


> Indoor Walkthrough- I would have the most fun with this one


I think you answered your own question. 

We've been doing an outdoor walkthrough for many years. We can get very creative, but we are dependent on the weather. Also, we have to put it up and take it down every year, which greatly limits the amount of detailing we can put into it.

I know you said you'd only have it up for 3 or 4 months...but I'm sure you could sweet talk it into a year-round thing with your boss 

I've heard horror stories, I think from New York, of ambulance-chasing lawyers who specialize in suing Hay Ride attractions.


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

> I think you answered your own question.
> 
> We've been doing an outdoor walkthrough for many years. We can get very creative, but we are dependent on the weather. Also, we have to put it up and take it down every year, which greatly limits the amount of detailing we can put into it.
> 
> ...


Haha, thanks Abunai but I also want to be among the first to colonize Mars. I've learned to "earth" my ambitions (to some degree).

I definetly hear ya on weather, I've had a bunch of FML moments this year and last. Unfortunately we'd have to essentially shut down the lesson program in the winter to keep it up year round. In the summer/fall they can ride in the outdoor arenas. I don't want to be the one responsible for a room full of teary eyed 8 year olds when we break that news, plus it's lost revenue with a fixed monthly cost (damn horses need to eat regardless if they work )

Being in the equestrian industry, we're all to familiar with liability, and the business entities and insurance policies that can protect us (to some degree at least). I've decided to not let this be a factor in my decision making process. If I'm going to lose my shirt it will likely be from some kid quickly running up behind a horse and pulling its tail  (in this case they would likely be launched and not kicked, way less damaging and kinda funny provided nobody is seriously hurt)

Thanks much for the insight and input. Also, I wouldn't have to take down the Hayride sets or the Outdoor Walkthrough structures. This has def been a consideration as I'd like to make things more permanent and less foamular (we have a love/hate relationship)


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think the benefit of starting with the hayride would be building name recognition that will come in handy as you add future haunting projects. You could also use those lazy horses for an extended season so they earn the food they keep eating


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

You have a ton of ideas and thought going into this. You have 3 paths you can take it seems and Me being from Ohio am trying to give you advice on something I will never attend. So take what I say with a grain of salt but also think about a few things. 

I used to help build, run, and operate an indoor haunt. Here are a few things that I found during that time. Actors are hard to come by, at least good reliable ones. If you are doing an indoor haunt you need alot of actors as eye candy only goes so far with indoor workings. So many times we would be short staffed on actors as people just didn't show up. Always get contact numbers for your actors, never give out keys, and have two actors your don't need but can place somewhere just because in case you are short handed. A hayride can space out actors quite well and still pull it off. Eye candy here suffices well. 

Second, People are antsy. They don't like to wait around for much of anything. A good haunt will run 200 to 500 people in a night if word gets out that it is awesome. So a group of maybe 20 can sit on your wagon, you need how many wagons to keep up if a round trip takes 15 minutes? Same with an indoor haunt. You need groups of 6 or 8 at most for everyone to have a good scare. Any more than that and someone misses the scare. You need to space the groups out so they don't run into each other yet keep the line moving well enough to not have people leave. Logistics is key here, as well as entertainment in line to keep the crowd interested. A roaming monster, a tv playing a horror movie, sound piped out from the haunt are all helpful. 

Build time is also important. We began building in February to open October 1st. So many things have to go right and pieces have to come together. Throwing something together quick in a month or two really looks like it was thrown together as pieces and sets are not polished. If you can only set up for a short time, have somewhere else you are building scenes and just move them when time comes. 

The biggest thing is your first year is the most important. If you have a sucky show due to whatever the reason, weather, lack of actors, not long enough, price to high or whatever, word gets around and you are done. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you can pull it off well. If it is just the hayride year one while you build your sets for the indoor haunt for next year then do that. Don't open both with only half completed sets or both with be a let down. 

Also, I know this is adding to your decision making but paintball zombie courses seem to be extremely popular right now. A wagon with a dozen paintball guns mounted and your actors in full gear as to not get hurt by being hit repeatedly with paintballs can be an epic adventure. It just has to be set up right and made fun. But if you have the course all set up for the haunt already, then why not. 

Good luck on your decision. There are so many more things to think about but you are on the right track. Just figure out what you can do and what you have time for. The rest should fall in place.


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## TheDarkRideBoy (May 18, 2013)

I would personally go with the hayride option, as it's got the ability to keep things moving and to stop in front of different scenes. That's just my thought...


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## NemesisGenesis (Oct 4, 2011)

Thanks for the input and insight!!

Indeed I have much to consider and value everyone's opinion/experience on this forum.

-jimmy


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## RingMaster (Dec 9, 2014)

Your situation is alot like mine other then I dont charge to get into mine, actually i was really surprised by the turn out and the great reviews I got from everyone. I do one everyother year for a couple of reasons ... 1. It takes for every to setup and take down and 2. It gives me a chance to go see other haunts and to think about what I want to do for next year.

I have a walk through at my house which consist of a big yard and large unattached garage and a pole barn. This year I decieded to add a hayride to it. I live i a very small town which is really pretty neat and my sister lives a couple a blocks away on the other end of town. The hayride is going to be thru town showing all the houses that are decorated going thru dark allys and finally comimg to her house where the one and only major scare will be.

We will see how this works this yar and adjust accordingly, so good luck and do both.


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