[scaringyou]

I'm working on a layout for a garage maze haunt. I've been playing with different layouts of a 16 x 16 space, using typical 4' panels/walkways for simplicity. Anyway, as I've been drawing and re-drawing possible paths through the space I drew 2 layouts that caught my attention. Granted there's a limited number of paths in a 16 x 16 space, but one of the differences between the 2 was just the direction of the scene and where the wall was. These are the 2:

So depending on where one wall was a scene could be scene 1 or 2 on their path. It got me thinking and I came up with maybe a crazy idea, hence the request for input. Perhaps numerous people are already doing this or have tried it with success or failure. This is my idea:

They enter the maze and encounter scene 1. They continue on and as they round the corner to scene 2, scene 1/scene3 which are built on a slightly raised floor with casters under it slides over while they are looking at scene 2. Then they continue on and encounter scene 3 on their way out. Then scene 1/scene 3 slide back into place for the next group. Is this a good idea? It would give me an extra 4 x 8 space and a 3rd scene in the same 16 x 16 layout, but perhaps it's an issue cutting off people for coming back out the entrance that may not want to continue through the whole maze or something? I'd love to have it pneumatically/electrically driven, but it'll probably end up with me moving it manually each time. What other downsides could I be missing?

EDIT: I'd also be limited to 1 group going through at a time, but as its a small space I don't think that's too big a problem. I'd like to do that anyway to keep the audio from the different scenes carrying over to the others and potentially spoiling scares or distracting from where they should be looking(I don't want them hearing the audio from scene 2 while they are at scene 1, and before they get there already know what scene 2 is and what's going on/what audio will happen).

 

[Trex]

You just really need to be sure the design allows for crowd flow, and safe egress for actors (if any) and patrons. I am not sure of the number of visitors you get through your haunt, this sounds like it may have some crowd contol issues. It would have to be very closely monitored, which is doable if you are not putting through hundreds in a couple of hours.

 

[halloweenfan5]

Nice start to your layout. This is honestly one of the hardest steps of the haunting process is nailing down a game plan. It used to take me a few weeks and several drafts to plan out our large walk-though. One of the upsides to the smaller space is it allows you to focus in on priorities. Be sure to take into account what kind of scenes and scare you will have and plan around that.

I am a big fan of creating scenes that people have to walk through (see below) as well as scenes that people can walk past. Our laboratory scene has always been one people come around a corner and walk past like your scene 1 shown above. We also did bedroom scenes where you would have to walk around the bed and between some furniture to pass through the scene - eliminating the 'designated path' while still keeping a straight, clear, walk-through automatically makes people more on-edge, so don't be afraid to explore it. Best of luck - you're on the right path!