Very few cities can support year-around haunts. Ripley's has some - I went through the one in San Antonio 4 times when I was there - but they'll tell you, they make 99% of their money in a few weeks in October, and most of that is in one night (the Saturday before Halloween aka Black Saturday). Which reminds me, I need to start a new thread... BRB
I subscribe to Haunted Attraction magazine,and the editor put out a call to haunt operators to really push for year round, or at least longer periods of, operation.
Since HW falls on a Wednesday this year, he says that staying open one more week may be worth it.
It's all about mindset. People want to go the Friday before Halloween. I think you can have a longer window of operation, you just need something else to offer. Mini golf, games, parties, sports bar... whatever... there has to be something.
I meant to add, the Jaycees no longer do their HH here, for whatever reason. A local farm has a huge hayride/haunted house/maze and xmas trail. They are far enough away and different from a true haunted house that both could survive. We are 350k in the metro area, with a huge military base nearby and only 90 miles from Atlanta too.
Would love to buy an old warehouse and build sets inside rather than have a stand alone house. Anybody want to help?
Wilbret...I would love to help but I am in Columbia South Carolina...GOOD LUCK!!!
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Originally Posted by DeadEnd
Here in Orlando we use to have a few stand alone haunts...Terror on Church Street and Skull Kingdom, both of which now are gone. There is a place in Kissimmee called the Haunted Grimm House which I have never been too...I think the reason they are still around is they are located in a heavily tourist traveled area and are within a shopping/eating setting called Old Town.
There is a new stand alone HH attraction down off of International Drive, I want to say it's called Haunted Orlando, but that sounds wrong. They just opened up this past month I believe.
I've often though, if a stand alone haunt can't last here year round, that speaks volumes as to how hard it must be to keep one up and running. I can easily see one being seasonal and being successful, but year round, i'm sure that's a different story altogether.
(Although personally, I think it'd be awesome...it'd be like Halloween, 365 days a year! )
I didn't plan on doing a year round haunt because it has been proven time after time they don't do so well in the off season...it would almost have to be a fully automated haunt...because actors being payed to stand around everyday is just not cool!
Seriously, in a big enough city, a "professional" haunt can make great money.
$15/ticket x 20,000 tickets/season = $300,000/season x 10 years = $3,000,000
$500,000 start-up expenses
$20,000/season overhead x 10 years = $200,000
$100,000/year owner salary x 10 years = $1,000,000
$3,000,000 - $500,000 - $200,000 - $1,000,000 = $1,300,000 in the bank
If you have a solid business plan, you'd be surprised. I had a recent deal for over 3 million, and people lined up to give money. The ROI is high, and it's what liquid investors prefer.
For those who are going into professional haunting, I feel it is important to start off as a "stand alone" haunt. Busting out your first year with concessions, bands, dancers, etc may cause you to bite off more than you may be able to chew -- I'm speaking from experience. There's already so much to worry about with the haunt itself, why add more complications to it?
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