# 2009 "Kiddie" Haunt



## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

Seeing as our haunted house grows more and more into an adult attraction, I'm feeling like I'm leaving out the kids.

We started off as a display, which was very kid friendly. Then we added the haunted house in 05 and it still was pretty kid friendly, but I find that as I grow up, so does the haunted house. We are getting more and more intense and less and less kids come...

So I'm thinking about putting together a little kiddie haunt for 2009 on our front porch. It's a wraparound porch with two sets of stairs (Entrance and exit) so that's in my favor. It's not very wide, so it'd have to be more of a "walk" thing... So would it be worth it? 

I have a lot of pirate themed stuff because I planned on doing a pirate ship for 08 but things didn't work out so I'm thinking it would have a pirate theme to it...

What are your suggestions? Do you know of any haunts/displays with a pirate theme? I need input!
.


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## Monstermaker (Aug 4, 2008)

FYF that's a really cool idea and a really nice gesture. With a Pirate theme, why not do it like a "Treasure Hunt", with the candy being the treasure. It could be set up more as a display (think Disney's Pirates ride). Just a thought....


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

FYF, I think it's great that you thought of that. Most would have just kept moving on into the adult haunts. But you stopped and remembered the the younger members of Halloween.
I agreee with MM, a disney style display of pirates would do well. It is a current theme that the younger ones would be aware of and there should be a ton of stuff to look at and modify to your set up. Keep us posted on the progress.


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## Cassie7 (Sep 16, 2007)

This year we did a kiddy haunt in the front yard and hard core adult haunt in the back. 99% of the adults dragged their kids through the back haunt. I wouldn't call the kiddy haunt a waste of time though as the kids really did enjoy that. But the parents just totally didn't 'get' the purpose of the two separate haunts.


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

Thanks for your input guys! After thinking about it last night I started to put a list together of stuff I'm going to have. I also found this video and thought I could do something similar using the new Light-O-Rama program my dad got for this year's Christmas display.






I'm excited to get to work on this thing!
:jol:.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I do a child friendly area of my yard every year, where the kids know nothing will jump out and scare them. They know that the zombies can not cross my driveway to get them because there is an anti zombie potion that I pour onto the driveway that will make the zombies melt if they go near it. I have my photo op area over there for the parents and one for the moms and one for the dads. I also have my "band" over there playing Halloween songs. This year the band was the Village "of the Damned" People with special guest Scarey Garcia. The kids love knowing that they can enjoy the stuff in the yard without getting scared. They can look over at the cemetery in the other part of the yard and enjoy it without getting scared.


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## Creeper (Nov 7, 2008)

I have a walk through with some animated props and pneumatic ones too. I let the younger kids go through as a group for a tamer version and I didn't trigger any of the props so it was more of a scary display. Parents seemed to appreciate the choice.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

I had a similar discussion with my mom a few weeks ago... she said something about adults "taking Halloween away from the kids" and I disagreed at the time but now I think I understand better what she meant. I loved Halloween more than Christmas as a kid and I never once got scared when TOTing, so I think the whole "scaring is the entire point" theory has some holes in it. Little kids don't get scared watching Scooby Doo but they love the spooky stuff in it, so clearly kid-friendly works.

FYF, I think that's an awesome idea and you should run with it. It's good that you're making your main haunt better all the time but I think it's awesome that you want to keep it fun for the little ones too by giving them their own haunt. It should be easy, you don't have to put as much work into the detail. Go for it!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

trishaanne said:


> They know that the zombies can not cross my driveway to get them because there is an anti zombie potion that I pour onto the driveway that will make the zombies melt if they go near it.


OMG and LOL, that's great, trish!

FRF, I agree with everyone here that it's a great idea and thoughtful of you to consider how to appeal to the little ones (BTW, that was a fun video you posted - loved how the lights flashed to look like guns going off on the house). Other people on this site have used the pirate theme with great success - it seems to be a perennial that many people of all ages enjoy.


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## p3ppy (Sep 18, 2008)

That is the coolest thing ive ever seen, and i like the originality, creativity and overall design.


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## hoffie08 (Nov 18, 2008)

that is vary nice of u i had kids run out crying cause it was to scary i want to do a kid walk through maze thing with cob webs and 2 by 4's it the grown. so the cob web will be the walls for the little maze.


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

Since we run our haunt the week before Halloween, we do a kiddie haunt on Satruday afternoon. Since it is done durning the day, the lighting is not as scary and where there are scaractors, instead of doing somehing to scare the TOTs, they hand out treats. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback on this. The adults and older kids usually come back at night for the real scare.


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## fearmonger (Dec 8, 2008)

Awesome! Does anyone know what program they're using to make the lights change color on cue?


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

We have a Light-O-Rama setup that I plan on using. I'm sure it's something really similar to that. Visit light-o-rama.com for info!
:jol:.


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## Bethene (Jan 19, 2008)

very thoughtful idea FYF, some kids might be able to handle the scarier stuff, but it is nice to have the parents have that choice, and a pirate theme would definately fit the bill!
love the Zombie potion idea! what a great idea!


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## BoysinBoo (Dec 10, 2007)

I too had a number of parents that dragged TOTs that were absolutely terrified (in a bad way) through. Our solution for next year was a much tamer front yard area. We have started the planning on a mini blucky playground for the front display this year. Picture see-saw, jungle gym, swings, terror-go-round, etc. All filled with 2ft mini bluckys. Maybe a full size mom or two on the park bench. If we do it right it should be fun.


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## fun69ohguy (Sep 12, 2008)

I don't know if you guys saw my post from earlier this fall. I did a pirate ship on the front of my house and it was all done with light-o-rama controllers and software. The kids loved it, it was fun, exciting and not gory at all.


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