[Eblore]

After

Thought I would throw in an after photo. Almost done cleaning up the outside. In the photo you can still see part of the support wall for the town of Tortuga. Since the photo (taken on Wednesday evening), I have manged to take it down also. Its been a slow November. Our weather has been challenging to say the least, starting with 3.5 inches of snow and 70 mph winds on 11/1. Followed by bitter, record breaking cold. I still have some inside stuff to clean up. Hopefully I will have it all down by this weekend. This year its taken me longer to take it down than put it up.

 

[PirateDex]

Thanks, Punkineater.

It was one of my bigger builds. Ill bring it back in about 3 years. I'm already revamping the idea for next time. I would like to build another ship and have them battle across the yard. I have also thought about taking the center 4' section out and replacing it with a shorter 8' stage section. That way we can do the skits from the deck of the SS Fabulous! I'm also considering adding a Mermaid.

But at this rate, I'm not sure if I will have enough room left in the warehouse. Pirates took up far more space than I expected. All the buildings come apart and lean flat against the wall, the board walk stacks one on top of another and the creates all stack in one another and on top of the board walk. However, the ship comes apart but doesn't stack. Not to mention the 24' masts are sitting in the floor. I need to figure our some way to hang them from the ceiling with out sagging.

Eric

That was an amazing build and excellent work throughout. Sorry to hear about the weather damage. I was setting up and tearing down each day. The Wednesday before Halloween, I checked the weather and it said the worst winds had past and would decrease into evening. So I setup and went back to working on props in the garage, not 10 minutes later I hear the wind whistling through the garage door and have to go chasing lighter props down the street and trying to get the mast down before I lost something.

I too am thinking of battling ships for next year, my neighbor's son mentioned that they should build a british ship so we could do battles. That would work great as then I only have to concentrate on my ship, otherwise my other neighbor (who does not decorate) said I could plunder into his yard for a second ship, Just wish I had a big place to store it all, my stuff has to fully dismantle down to survive the "where are we going to store that" questions from her ladyship. I also need a bar with a firepit or place next year, it was 30'ish F here and not no Caribbean island.

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[Eblore]

Almost Done!

It's almost over! After a long November, I am almost finished packing away Halloween. I only have a couple of strings of lights and the fog machines left in a pile in the garage.

I noticed yesterday that my neighbors still have their blow mold pumpkin and 3' tall store bought scarecrow out on their porch. Come on people - If I can take down an entire town and Pirate ship in one month, you should be able to take up your 2 Halloween decorations.

I am attaching a couple of pics of the warehouse. Several people have asked what i do with all the stuff in the off season. I am very lucky that my parents have several empty warehouse. I have commandeered one that they can no longer rent so I have free storage. The only problem is it's over an hour away from my house but beggars cant be choose. I often think it probably looks like the back room at a Spirit Halloween store.

Not only will you see this years Pirate theme, but you can also see 2013's Hearse (dissembled and leaning against the wall), 2012's Mayan pyramid (stacked high in the middle of the room), 2009's Carousel, and boxes boxes boxes of other random decor.

Hopefully Jack Skellington will put something creepy in your stocking.
Happy Other Holidays!
Eric

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Eblore, what an amazing set up! First time going through the thread and your facades and structures came out so well. Loved your pirates ship and masts. Really the town, ship and whole set up blow me away.

Saw that you had purchased a Gemmy Lightshow blue Kaleidoscope fixture. I bought one this year but haven't used it yet. What did you think of it in your set up? Any photos of it at night?

So jealous of your garage organization BTW!

 

[thenightmarefamily]

Well i'm in the minority of people who absolutely hates everything about the pirates of the caribean movies, i have to say you really knocked it out of the park, your setup was absolutely amazing. Keep doing what your doing.

 

[Eblore]

Thanks Ghost of Spookie,

The lights were great! They actually did better than I expected. I hung them in trees and on the corner of the bar and pointed them down at the yard to make it look like water. They were brighter than I expected. Even with other spot lights, they didn't wash out. I went back to Lowes to get some more but they had put them on clearance and sold out before I could get them.

Unfortunately, I didn't get very good night shots. I'm always so busy with the display and TOT's that I never even pick up a camera. Luckily others take some photos for me, so I always end up with really random shots. I have a friend who is a professional photographer, so maybe one day I can talk him into shooting my Halloween.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Thanks for the comments on the Kaleidoscope. Good to know. I'll probably pick up more when I can. I ordered one early online before halloween from HomeDepot (and received my email from them telling me I got caught up in their hacking issue as a result--thanks so much), and like you found them sold out when I decided to order a few more. I have a water effects projector for lighting up my pirate ship area but can't afford to do that kind of lighting in other watery spots of my haunt. These Kaleidoscope fixtures are pretty reasonably priced and are made for outdoor use which I find very appealing. I just picked up another pirate costume and ordered a cool eye patch from e bay the other day, so a pirate bay is getting closer to reality. Thanks again.

oh and I totally understand about not getting a lot of photos. I wish I could rely on my husband to help out but he hates taking photos, even digital which I don't get, and while appreciated what he does take many shots I'd love to see are missing. I set up that day and we take down that night so not much time to grab the shots. The kids start coming around 5:30-6 in my area before it even gets dark! Having a photographer friend sounds like a godsend and I would ply him with food and drink for the effort!

 

[Eblore]

Just came across this pic and had a good laugh. This was my work table the week of Halloween.

 

[rmayer121]

Just stumbled across this thread...holy smokes what an incredible setup you had. Lots and lots of ideas I will be utilizing in my growing pirate setup. You mentioned that you thought you were going to resurrect this beast 3 years later....