June 29, 2025

The Modern Halloween Event: Gaming IPs, Immersion, and $350 previews

Universal leans hard into gaming IPs for Halloween Horror Nights while Winchester Mysery House doubles down on immersion.

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UniversalHalloween

Universal is doubling down on pop-culture firepower with the enormously popular gaming IPs of Fallout and Five Nights at Freddy’s confirmed for this year's Halloween Horror Nights. They're also charging superfans $350 for “Premium Scream Night,” a ticketed dress rehearsal. With massive IPs and superfans willing to pay premium prices just to attend a dress rehearsal, how can smaller attractions compete? Thirteenth Floor and Winchester Mystery House might have an answer with "Festival Fright Nights." The event will transform the labyrinthine Winchester Mystery House into a Halloween event with three haunted houses and entertainment. The key is the immersive storyline, which sets the event in 1924 and utilizes the mansion's backdrop and history, showing that smaller venues can out-maneuver giant budgets by weaponizing authenticity and location. Philip and Scott unpack what these parallel strategies signal about Halloween’s next arms race—premium previews, IP one-upmanship, and how regional haunts can lean into their unique assets instead of chasing billion-dollar licenses. Catch the gloves-off follow-up in Green Tagged Unhinged on Patreon.

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From our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. This is

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green Tag at Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip. I'm

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joined as always by Scott Swinston and Scott Swinton, Creaty Development.

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On Green Tag, we break down the latest week's big

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news in theme parks and explain why it matters to

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business professionals. However, today we're recording this early, So if

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we're not talking about something that is really really big news,

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that's why because.

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Because we don't know it yet, we don't know what's

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happened yet. You're actually you are in our future right now.

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We're time traveling. Yeah yeah, but this is a but

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in all fairness, we are traveling, and that's why we're

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we decided to instead of just leaving you out to hang,

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because we know how much you rely on your regular

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schedule of Green Tagged to make certain that your weak

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proceeds in a positive manner.

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This is one of those specials.

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So if it was the old days, you'd see that

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little special thing kairoun along the bottom of the screen

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that went.

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Special. Okay, yeah, what Scott said. So so, so we're

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going to be talking about stories in that we didn't

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cover in previous weeks, and the first one is news

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that I broke about the new Festival Fright Nights, which

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is coming to the Winchester Mystery House. So this is

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I think it's an interesting story for several different reasons,

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but the basics here is that thirteenth Or Entertainment Group

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has partnered with the Winchester Mystery House and they are

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bringing a new Halloween event called Festival Fright Nights. And

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there are several elements that they have announced for this

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event already, although we don't have all the details. So

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the first thing is that it's going to be like

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an immersive story driven experience. So it's going to take

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place in nineteen twenty four on Halloween Night, two years

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after Sarah Winchester's death, and the plot centers around a

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theatrical massquarade ball hosted by the mysterious newcomer who claims

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to have opened a spiritual portal within the mansion. So

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as evening unfolds, visitors will discover whether this Darien ritual

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has revealed hidden truce or awakened something far darker.

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So there's that idea.

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That it's the whole thing in its I guess in

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that way is like kind of like a Sleep the

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more S type of thing where it's set in a

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time period where there are activities and things happening, but

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there are separate from that, there's also haunted houses. So

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I assume the haunted houses are going to be also

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set in that time period, because that's the whole idea.

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So there's three haunted houses. There's also going to be

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the theatrical performances that tie into the story. There is

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newly renovated areas in the mansion, and then of course

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there's thing food, beverage, and retail offerings. So this is

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very interesting, right because Thirteenth Floor, we know they have

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a proven track record, and of course then the Winchester

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Mystery House, which is a historic iconic property in the

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Bay Area. This is interesting to me because I love

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the idea of putting it kind of like story locked.

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It's very similar I think to what they did when

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and they took over La hay Ride and they created

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the town of Midnight Falls there Thirteenth Floor did, and

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so you it's similar where you arrive on Halloween night

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and you know it's all these the creatures and there's

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this whole storyline where you can talk to creatures and

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they all have different stories and they tell you different

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elements about what's going on that night. So they've proven

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they can do this where they can create narratives and

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train characters to have narrative shells and whatnot. So I

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don't doubt any of that. It's interesting that they're going

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to put three attractions there because I've covered Winchester Mystery

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House for many years and I've gone to several versions

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of Halloween, and it seems like they haven't quite figured

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out what Halloween is there for the Winchester Mystery House.

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And so you know, it used to be where it

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was just ghost tours, and then they did try a

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festival thing it was more family friendly, and they've tried

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some haunts. They've tried all sorts of different things throughout

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the years. But the thing though, is that it's not

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a it's a house, right, it's a mansion. It's not

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a theme park, and so them trying to fit three

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haunts in this it's interesting to me. I don't know

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if it's all Maybe they're gonna expand it on more

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of the grounds or I mean, because it's not a

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big space. So I'm that part's interesting to me. I

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love the story idea, and then you know, tying all

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that together, I'm not sure how it's all gonna fit

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there because it's a small space, But overall, I think

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it's good. When I broke the story, there was a

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lot of people that kind of like shared a lot

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of negatives, and I think if I'm gonna characterize the

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negative or the pushback that I read about it, first

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of all, the pushback is like worry about damage to

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the historic property, and second is about thirteenth four basically

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just being like a corporate entity. Basically that kind of

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like the Chipotle of haunted houses, which was my favorite comment,

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where they kind of just like come in and do that.

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But I guess I would push back just in the

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examples have already stated in that they've proven they can

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do this before, and I I think they do good,

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do good work, and that they've they've worked to historic

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properties before and they haven't damaged them, and they haven't

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damaged the Queen Mary Ship. I mean, so I don't

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know whatever I mean. Any even the local Winchester team

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when they're doing hont attractions could damage their own properties.

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Like I feel like that's its own thing, so well.

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I think it's exciting to see that somebody who knows

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how to do Halloween is coming in to do Halloween. Yes,

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you mentioned that that Winchester has a Winchester Mystery Houses

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has tried in the past to do Halloween. They couldn't

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quite figure out what Halloween looks like for them. Well,

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then it sounds like they've made exactly the right choice

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to bring in Thirteenth Floor, who does know how to

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do Halloween. And you know, I I love this. I

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love this story for so very many reasons. Number one,

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it is one of my favorite things to do, which

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is to bring Halloween, bring fear, bring terror.

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To a historic landmark.

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I always think that is so much fun and it

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opens up so many doors for creative Having done things

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like the Volta Souls in Tampa or the undead in

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the water on the American Victory Ship, these are the

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kinds of things that I just I just eat up.

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I love doing this kind of stuff, and so I

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think that's very exciting. There's also the fact that it

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is the nineteen twenties, which is an era that I

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think lends itself for It lends itself to a really

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interesting theatrical version of horror because it's a time in

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history where things on the surface are so buttoned up,

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and so you know, it's during prohibition, so they're so

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very conservative. But just below that veneer there is all

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kinds of crazy happening. And spiritualism and mentalism were incredibly

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popular at this time. People were having their cards read,

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people were going mystics, people were going to seances. There's

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so much to play with, and that is not outside

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of the world of the nineteen twenties that they're trying

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to create. Plus, you're going into a place that already

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has really cool, rich history, and it doesn't take a

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whole lot of fabrication to expand upon that existing history.

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You know, this is what we tried to do with

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the Bald Souls is we took a few basic ideas

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and created history around it. And it was very funny

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because when we started to do because this was brand

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new for Tampa, they had done it, they hadn't done

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anything like this really anywhere. And when we started to

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do media for it, I would have people. I'd start

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to tell the backstory and people say, is this true?

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And my response, honestly is parts of it, But I

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don't remember which parts. You know, when you can integrate

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a story into such an existing rich tapestry, all you're

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really doing is replacing the threads that got a little threadbare,

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you know, and maybe replacing them with something a little sparklier.

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Well. Also, I like too, what you're talking about, and

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you've said this before about the idea of not fighting

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or using your assets and not fighting the environment, and

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it's what you did with Vals of Souls as well.

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I mean, like when you went into valt of Souls,

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you were in a different time period and everybody was

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dressed appropriately, and this is you know, Winchester Minstry House

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is like, I mean effectively, they're like, we have this

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great asset that is already in the backdrop for this

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time period, and so we could just always It's like,

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it's so much easier to just dress your actors in

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period appropriate garb and give them period appropriate characters than

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it is to also have to do that plus make

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a whole you know, fabricated mansion. Right, you already have

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the mansion, and then you're not fighting the environment when

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you set it in this time period. All it takes

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is a little bit extra work from the storyline and

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the actor training, which I think is then it's going

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to create a more unique experience as well.

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And it's interesting because there are people who have have

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been offered different spaces at different times and they they

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let their own i'll call it creative ego for lack

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of a better description, they let they let their own

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creative ego get in the way, and they'll say, great,

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I've got this this super creepy haunted mansion. I'll finally

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get to do that that sci fi spaceship alien haunt

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that I've always wanted to do. Doesn't make any sense.

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It's just the dumbest thing in the world. So yeah,

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let the let the space inspire you. I've even done

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that with like neutral spaces, if we can find if

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we can find warehouses. There was a project that I

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worked on for a short period of time in Canada

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that ended up unfortunately not happening. But one of the

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things that was so cool about it is I actually,

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after walking through all of the warehouse the old warehouse

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spaces that it was going to take place, and I actually

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changed the theme of one of the haunts that we

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were going to put into a quote unquote neutral space

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simply because there were assets there that I couldn't have

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afforded to build, And I was like, well, why are

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we just putting a wall in front of this. Let's

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use this, this is this is an amazing tool, an

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amazing part of something we can build upon. So yeah, this,

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this whole concept excites me an awful lot. And the

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fact that, you know, the fact the thirteenth Floor is

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doing it. You know, on the one hand, you can

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if you want to, if you want to be snarky.

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I don't know who in the haunt industry would ever

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want to be snarky. That never happens. Oh but yeah,

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I don't know who'd want to be snarky about it.

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But if you did want to be snarky and you

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do say, you know, yes, they're the the Chipotle of

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of of of haunted attractions, I would fight back on

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that really hard.

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Yeah, me too.

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They're they're I mean, yes, they're a big company, and

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yes they do a lot of haunts, but Chipotle, the

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difference is Chipotally you go into every single restaurant and everything,

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single thing is the same. I've not experienced that with

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thirteenth Floor.

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I agree.

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Yeah, I think I think that This reminds me of

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the episode that we recorded at this point several weeks ago,

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when you're only hearing it but about Disney and the

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whole idea of it being like a corporate you know,

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you have, you know, the the individual layers of the

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individual employees, but then you it also is part of

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a big political thing that's part of it. And I

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think to me, it's like thirteen Floor has to operate

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like a real company, right, that that might be some

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of the pushback is that, like you know, I've been

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to a lot hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

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of independent hire tractions, and I think not all of

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them operate the way that you would have to operate

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a company that is based in almost every state you know,

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and and work to so many partners. Right, you need

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a real HR department, you need a real tax department,

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you need you need to be able to track assets,

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and you need to run it like like a real business, right,

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And I think a lot of haunts are not run by.

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00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.000
And then and then I just think about a company

231
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.200
like thirteenth Floor. They can pull, they can pull ideas

232
00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.559
concepts that have worked in all of their other locations

233
00:11:56.919 --> 00:11:58.519
that are appropriate for this location.

234
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.000
They have there there.

235
00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.879
Their box of crayons isn't sixteen, it's sixty four. I

236
00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:06.000
mean there's they have a lot to pull from. They

237
00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.559
have a lot of different experiences. They also have a

238
00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:13.279
lot of purchasing power, which is great. So yeah, to me,

239
00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:17.159
this seems like a really smart, really smart move really

240
00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:20.840
on both sides, because this also provides thirteenth flor the

241
00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:25.360
opportunity to do something a bit more theatrical, and they've

242
00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:29.039
you know, they keep adding uniqueness to their portfolio, and

243
00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:30.879
I think this is just another great step for them.

244
00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:31.360
Yep.

245
00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:33.799
Yeah, and a good expansion into that market too, where

246
00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:36.000
it would have been hard to do. Again the cost

247
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.120
of a building in that market, it would have been hard.

248
00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:39.600
So this is a good way.

249
00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:46.279
So let's okay, So keeping on the Halloween vibe at

250
00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:48.080
this point, I'm sure there's a new announcement out, but

251
00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:52.200
a few weeks ago we heard that the first two

252
00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:57.480
confirmed ips for Halloween morn nites, So as of when

253
00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:01.679
we're recording it, they have they announced Jason at both parks,

254
00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:05.039
just Jason, you know, the Jason from Friday thirteenth, and

255
00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:08.279
then they announced Fallout and five nights at Freddy's, so

256
00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.080
they did not they were not specific about five nights

257
00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.279
at Freddy's yet, and they might have since we've recorded this,

258
00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.120
but basically they said that five Knights at Phrays would

259
00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.639
come out, would be involved in Halloween horror Knights in

260
00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:25.399
both at both coasts in like a new way, like

261
00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.720
they said, just a new way during a panel presentation

262
00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.639
they gave at one of the Horror conventions. They during

263
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.039
the panel, they seem to refer to it as a

264
00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.720
hide house, but they did not like an officially announced

265
00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.440
so who knows what they mean by new, But it's

266
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.200
going to be involved in a landmark way, kind of

267
00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:44.320
like a Marquee way in the event. And then of

268
00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.519
course Fallout based off of the series, not the game.

269
00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:52.159
So Fallout is going to be at both coasts. Now,

270
00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.639
a few things that are interesting about this. First of all,

271
00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:59.159
it's this thing where it's really becoming where they're just

272
00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.759
doing the same thing at both coasts, which is we

273
00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.679
just talked about the you know, the concept of like

274
00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.279
a corporate you gotta but I mean it makes the

275
00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:10.360
most sense fiscally right to kind of attack it from

276
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.879
both angle to just to do you know, you're already

277
00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:17.360
working with the IP holder like Fallout to just work

278
00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:20.480
it into both parks and to you know, reuse assets

279
00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:23.600
and reuse storylines and whatever, because the majority of people

280
00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:24.919
don't fly a country across the.

281
00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:26.240
Coast to go to both events.

282
00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:30.679
So just just me and all the other like you know,

283
00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:34.159
hornitted floggers. But but to me, I think the most

284
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:38.240
interesting thing is I think Fallout is an excellent choice

285
00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:42.200
because it is so popular and because it is it's

286
00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.399
such a good story. Again, like we were talking about

287
00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:46.799
drawing from that story, it's an excellent story. It's a

288
00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.679
popular game, so it has much more broader appeal, and

289
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.679
then it was created into a series that has done

290
00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:54.799
really well, and then five Nights at Friday is I

291
00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:56.919
think it is something we've been looking for for I've

292
00:14:56.919 --> 00:14:59.039
been looking for for years for them to do, and

293
00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.559
just because because the finance and phrase is so popular,

294
00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.159
it's so it is. It's like we talked about with

295
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:10.480
the anime thing, Like the amount of popularity that these

296
00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:14.840
two ips has is immense, and I think that's bodes

297
00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.919
very well for them trying to expand the Holy Mornings

298
00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:22.039
brand and to bring in overall new customers into the

299
00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:23.840
theme park to get them encourage them to go to

300
00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:27.320
the damn event. And then the only other interesting bit

301
00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:31.120
is that they are bringing back the Premium Screen Night

302
00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.120
in Orlando, And we talked about this last year and

303
00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:38.440
Scott made the point that it's essentially them monetizing their

304
00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.399
dress rehearsal, which is basically what it is. I mean,

305
00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.039
Premium Screen Night I think is three hundred and fifty

306
00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.879
or it's somewhere around there. And you get to go

307
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.480
to the event the night before it officially opens, and

308
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.519
you get unlimited food, and the way it was last year,

309
00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:57.360
they're not sample sizes, like you just go up, just

310
00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.480
get any dish at the full dish and that however

311
00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.679
many you want from whatever. All the food's just included.

312
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.559
And then you get to they have what they call

313
00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:10.799
phased openings of the houses, so basically they're like opening

314
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.039
a few at a time for certain windows and you

315
00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.200
just go through. And I did that experience last year

316
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.399
and it was honestly an incredible experience, Like it was

317
00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:22.919
my favorite Hollow Hornance experience because the lines, I mean

318
00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.840
it was, Yeah, you get to basically you've got to

319
00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:29.879
try everything and just go through the houses multiple times,

320
00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.480
and the crowds were so much more manageable than a

321
00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:34.240
regular night, So.

322
00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:35.360
I thought it was great.

323
00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:38.879
But it's interesting they're bringing it back, so clearly something

324
00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:41.879
about it worked or they just don't care because if

325
00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:45.039
they get you know, it's three hundred at three hundred

326
00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:49.559
and fifty dollars, it's it's pretty good. And presumably they

327
00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:51.639
need to test the mazes anyway, and they need to

328
00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.679
test the food anyway, so you're just you're just subsidizing

329
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:55.200
their testing.

330
00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:56.519
Yeah, it's there.

331
00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.279
This is something that is going to happen, whether they

332
00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:03.039
allow getsin or not. You know, and as from a

333
00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:08.759
creative director standpoint, I would embrace this with both arms

334
00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.000
and squeeze it until you couldn't breathe anymore, because this

335
00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.160
is I think brilliant and part of the reason for

336
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.839
the phased opening, I would guess, is so that the

337
00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:22.279
management team can go through all of the Haunt experiences

338
00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.680
with quote unquote real guests. Yes, they are high end

339
00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:30.119
guests who are going to you know, spread the spread

340
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.599
the virus of this year's event out.

341
00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:34.920
To the world.

342
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.559
Excuse me, but I think it's important to recognize that

343
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:41.599
this is something that they're stress testing they're stress testing

344
00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:43.839
the experience. And the only way you can do that

345
00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.799
is with real guests. I said it when we reported

346
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.440
on this last time, and you've probably heard me say

347
00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:50.480
it if you've ever listened to anything I've ever talked about.

348
00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:53.039
When it comes to Halloween, the missing cast member is

349
00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:55.839
always the audience. And when you put the audience in

350
00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:59.119
there and you have the opportunity to experience it full out,

351
00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:02.000
not just a part ten audience, not just half the cast,

352
00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:05.559
you know, who is just basically placeholders for the audience.

353
00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:07.759
When you can put real people in there, you can

354
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.119
see how real people are going to respond, and you

355
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.759
can make tweaks. You can make You know you're not

356
00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.200
going to make radical changes, but you can make tweaks.

357
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.079
You can reposition performers, you can change the timing on

358
00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:21.279
special effects. You can add more or less. You could

359
00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.240
add more fog, you could take fog away. There's a

360
00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:26.839
million and one things you can do, even in a

361
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.039
one night turnover. You know, you just change timing and

362
00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:30.960
everything and it and.

363
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.680
It you know it gives you.

364
00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.200
It gives you a beta test that you can't really

365
00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:37.319
get any other way. And if you were to open

366
00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:39.319
it up and make it free. I mean, yes, you

367
00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:43.079
can do that, but why you know, or it has

368
00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:50.279
such a has such a rabid fan base that they're

369
00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.079
willing to they're willing to pay this. Obviously it worked

370
00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:56.279
for them last year. And uh, you know it would

371
00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.880
be really if I weren't, if I weren't usually working

372
00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:00.920
on the night that had happened, I would I would

373
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:01.559
go as well.

374
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:07.599
So it's yeah, I like your point about really you

375
00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:08.799
need to test with the real audience.

376
00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.000
I think that's a really oh.

377
00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:13.640
Yeah, and hardly no one does that. I mean that

378
00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:18.680
that's the other thing too. It's really rare because haunts

379
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.079
generally have such you know, a few operating nights and

380
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.240
it's you know, the whole thing. But you're right, even

381
00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:25.000
when you have friends and family there, it's not real

382
00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.480
because they're not you know, they're not damaging the sets,

383
00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.359
you know, I mean, real guests are crazy and they're

384
00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:33.200
unpredictable and you need to be able to see that

385
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:34.160
to change your show.

386
00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:37.519
Yeah, and it's and it's interesting because you know people

387
00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:39.559
are listening, are going to go, well, you know, nobody

388
00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:41.599
would come to our nobody would pay extra to come

389
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.240
to our our dress rehearsal night.

390
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.559
Nope, we're not. We don't have the Halloween Horn.

391
00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:51.880
Night's clout and you probably don't. But I'm guessing if

392
00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:54.200
you put it out there, you might find that. No,

393
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:56.400
you're probably not gonna get three fifty a pop, but

394
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:57.759
you might be.

395
00:19:57.720 --> 00:19:59.559
Able to do it. And even if you don't.

396
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.119
One of the things that we used to do at

397
00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:05.039
Bush is because we had six or seven Haunts per season,

398
00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.920
we would bring in half the cast to play guests

399
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.200
on the first dress rehearsal night and the other half

400
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:14.720
of the cast to play guests on the second half.

401
00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:17.440
But again, as Philip said, it's still not the same

402
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.319
as real guests. Sometimes they're better, sometimes they're worse. You know,

403
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.839
hot actors love to give other hot actors notes, So

404
00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.000
you know it can create, It can create your anybody

405
00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:34.119
who's done hont just laughed because you know that's true. Yeah,

406
00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:36.200
so you know it can it can be. We really

407
00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.880
had to manage it carefully when it was when it

408
00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.799
was internally in the cast. But but this the premium

409
00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:47.079
and basically all they've done from a production calendar standpoint

410
00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.039
is in their opinion now their opening night is their

411
00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:50.880
premium screen night.

412
00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:51.640
Yep.

413
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.480
And they just based the entire schedule around that. It's

414
00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:57.200
not considered, oh, we don't really open until next week.

415
00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:00.480
It no boom, that's your opening date. Everything has to

416
00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:04.359
be dropped dead done by there. And when I was

417
00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.920
at Bush, you know, we didn't have quite the the

418
00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:13.480
the role that that social media and guest voice played

419
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.319
was not nearly as important. It's essential now. So get

420
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:20.559
the people there who aren't necessarily going to come on

421
00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:24.000
press night because they weren't invited, but still want to

422
00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:27.559
go out and create organic content. You know, still want

423
00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:30.640
to go out and create organic content which benefits you

424
00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:33.799
like crazy, and you're.

425
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.160
Not paying them to do it. They're paying you. Yeah,

426
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:38.279
And all you have to do is feed them.

427
00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:41.880
And I actually, if you remember last year, I thought

428
00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:44.599
that the food, speaking of the food, I thought I

429
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:49.160
was surprised that you So if we think back several

430
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.119
years now, my like gigginess is showing. But if you

431
00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.960
think back several years, they did the Taste of Terror

432
00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:57.799
or whatever, right, it was that event that was just

433
00:21:57.799 --> 00:21:59.960
in the catering building. It was just like a food preview.

434
00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.599
Clearly that wasn't enough or that didn't work out. But

435
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.160
I but I more I think about it, the more

436
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:08.319
exactly what you said, I think this is a better

437
00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:13.559
version because when you give them the real dish. To

438
00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:16.640
your point, now you have people that can talk about

439
00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.640
the dish and it's the real dish, and they can

440
00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:20.640
take pictures of what it actually looks like, and they

441
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.880
can start they can actually they can start the hype

442
00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.119
machine for the upsells, which is your food, and they

443
00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:28.640
can start, you know, regular people can start recommending food.

444
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.480
I think that's important. And then also it gives the

445
00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:35.960
food all the food people like stress testing because if

446
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.240
you remember last year, well I'm sure Scott doesn't ide

447
00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:40.599
ex I'm a crazy nerd, but last year there was

448
00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.160
a few dessert items that there was the marshmallow Man

449
00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:48.480
that just went like completely crazy and they you know,

450
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.480
and then there was the candy Apple. There were some

451
00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:53.400
items last year that like went super crazy and something

452
00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.519
didn't go well at all, and so I think they

453
00:22:56.599 --> 00:22:58.920
those items kept running out in the first few weeks

454
00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.680
and you I'm sure or what they were doing internally

455
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.680
was moving people from making this item to making this

456
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.160
item and to kind of unbalance it. And it just

457
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:09.599
it gives you all that data a day early and

458
00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:11.160
that can make a big difference.

459
00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.759
Absolutely, And it also helps it helps you with you know,

460
00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.599
ordering ordering stock for the remainder of the event. The

461
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.880
other thing it does is it it can also stress

462
00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:26.079
test the the employees availability and and and and timing

463
00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:30.759
to put this stuff together. Because usually when culinary folks

464
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:34.799
put together a seasonal menu of some sort, whether it's

465
00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:37.839
for Halloween Horonites or you know, Christmas Town at Bush

466
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.799
Gardens or whatever the stuff, they're not the process of

467
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.359
putting it together usually involves more steps you have to

468
00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:47.079
because they know they're not going to use it all

469
00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:49.079
the time, so they're not going to pre make everything.

470
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:50.799
So it's we have to put this on the plate,

471
00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.079
and then we have to add this to the plate,

472
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.400
and then we have to drizzle it with this, and

473
00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.160
then we have to add the dry ice.

474
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:56.200
And give it to the guest.

475
00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.160
This these kinds of stress tests allow them to to

476
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.720
test out do we have enough staff too? If we've

477
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:07.480
got a queue that's going out for you know, ten

478
00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:10.359
to fifteen people, how long are they going to have

479
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:15.759
to wait? And yeah, it's it's just it's super smart.

480
00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:18.920
You've got the you know, you've got the audience there

481
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:19.640
who's willing to.

482
00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:20.119
Pay for it.

483
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:22.640
There's absolutely no reason not to do it. It's a

484
00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.559
win win win scenario. And it's funny because I had

485
00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:28.359
forgotten about the taste of fear or whatever it was called. Yep,

486
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.960
I'd forgotten about that. I'm I'm I would not be

487
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:38.440
surprised if this is not strongly supported by the culinary

488
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.279
team to make sure that they have what they need

489
00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:44.839
to know and doing the full doing the full portions

490
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.920
is really important when it comes to training your staff

491
00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.319
and making sure you have enough staff to handley.

492
00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.400
And it's full portions in the real kitchens in the

493
00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:57.279
real locations right right, which is also important because taste

494
00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.759
a fear within the catering thing and it was samples,

495
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.519
so that's that's a whole different monster to make catering

496
00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:05.519
samples and move them to a cater you know, Like

497
00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:09.599
this is like, can we actually stock the real kitchens

498
00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.160
and the real locations with the real portion sizes in

499
00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:12.720
real time?

500
00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.000
Which and what do we have to do to transport it?

501
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.480
If it's something that can't be cooked there, what does

502
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:18.319
it stay warmed?

503
00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:23.599
Yeah? Yeah, no, it's it's again, it's brilliant. Yeah, it

504
00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:24.319
really is.

505
00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:27.119
But it's so smart, and I'm I'm actually this is

506
00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:29.680
one of the things where I'm really surprised that more

507
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:33.839
attractions haven't tried something like this. Like I'm again, I

508
00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.160
know people have a lot of criticism for Halloween Hornites,

509
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:40.720
but I feel like every year we talk about something

510
00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:44.559
they're doing that is really smart, that is testing that

511
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:47.119
other people don't do. And I think that this is

512
00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:50.480
something a lot of other attractions could incorporate, like you

513
00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:53.119
were saying earlier, in a different way, maybe a cheaper

514
00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.920
version or tweak some things to make it work for

515
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:59.200
your audience. But there's no reason that more, almost every

516
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:00.400
attraction shouldn't doing this.

517
00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:03.559
Like you're going to do a dress You're going to

518
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:06.680
do a dress rehearsal anyway, Yes, just working into your

519
00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.359
just working into your budget that your address rehearsal is

520
00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:12.160
something that is paid and guests can come out and

521
00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:12.960
experience it early.

522
00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:13.839
Yep.

523
00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:17.880
And then the only other interesting note about this is

524
00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:21.720
that they're doing the unmasking the fear or whatever they

525
00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:23.960
call it. They're doing the behind the scenes tours again

526
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:26.559
this year, which is a good idea. Again, it's you

527
00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:29.680
have the assets, they're just sitting there during the day.

528
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.480
If you can sell access to the to the mazes

529
00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:35.519
during the day for a tour and all your then

530
00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.880
basically it's just like Scott always talks about, all you're

531
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:40.680
doing is just paying the It's only the cost of

532
00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:44.400
the tour guide and one tour makes pays for that

533
00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:46.839
person's whole day. I mean it, it makes sense because

534
00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:50.640
these are eighty five to two hundred plus dollars walking

535
00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:53.000
tours per person. There's a group of twelve to fourteen,

536
00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:57.680
so it's eighty dollars times fourteen. It's just for one

537
00:26:57.799 --> 00:26:58.359
staff member.

538
00:26:58.440 --> 00:26:59.599
That's it. So it's pretty good.

539
00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:05.160
And so this year they're starting the unmasking the tours

540
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:08.480
a week before they open, so starting on the twenty second,

541
00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:11.039
they're starting the tours so you can actually go and

542
00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.079
tour the houses. Uh, they're only offering the three house

543
00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.400
tour and you can go and tour them. And I

544
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.440
think they did the same thing last year. But it's

545
00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:20.400
it's just interesting because we were talked about last year

546
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:25.000
where it's like you there's probably tension going on there

547
00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.559
between again the people that want to make the money

548
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:31.799
and the scenic team because we all know that the

549
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:35.279
houses you are still finishing houses until the people start

550
00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:40.279
walking through them, you know, and if you're taking time

551
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:42.960
out of basically then you're opening these up to be toured.

552
00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:45.920
And I get that's probably why only the three house

553
00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:48.680
tours being offered early instead of the six House and

554
00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:53.039
the three House because basically, whatever they're touring, I mean,

555
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:54.400
you're not gonna be able to be finished. You're not

556
00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:55.880
gonna be able to that. The scenic team has to

557
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.519
be out of that area while you are taking guests

558
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:01.720
through it to it, so they have to be done.

559
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:05.240
So let me ask though, is are these lights on

560
00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.599
tours or are these theatrically lit.

561
00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:08.799
Tours lights on tours?

562
00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:09.119
Yeah?

563
00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:11.480
Then I would I would even go one step further.

564
00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:14.559
I would make certain that when they're when the guests

565
00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:17.160
are walking through, there's an art direction team putting that

566
00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:20.799
last layer of fuss onto things so that guests can

567
00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:22.640
actually because let's face the people are going to take

568
00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.640
these tours, they're going to nerd out about you know, everything,

569
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:30.799
everything and and the details and get your get your

570
00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:32.920
set decoration team in there. I mean the real people

571
00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:35.519
who are doing it, and those of you who work

572
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:37.559
in HOUNT will know that the final.

573
00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:38.279
Art direction team.

574
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:40.720
When they're doing stuff like this, they're covered in paint,

575
00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:46.240
they're covered in great stuff, and uh, and so make it,

576
00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:49.079
make it, but make it so that you can actually

577
00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:51.839
really see behind the curtain, because if you're doing a

578
00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.240
lights on tour anyway, you might as well show here's

579
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:58.319
the level we go to in order to meet the

580
00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:01.400
expectations of our guests. And I think it just it

581
00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:05.720
continues to provide value to the people who are really

582
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:07.839
going to be interested in these kinds of things. Yes,

583
00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:09.720
they want, and I wouldn't have it in every room,

584
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:12.400
and I wouldn't, you know, walk them through big empty spaces.

585
00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:14.880
But if you've got a team in there that can

586
00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:18.400
still be doing final touches, you know, last looks, I

587
00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:21.440
think that would actually elevate the experience as opposed to

588
00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:24.039
take away take away from it, because again this is

589
00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:27.680
truly a behind the behind the scenes tour, and so

590
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.880
again smart smart, smart, and and it's something something that

591
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.759
even though you may not be a Halloween Hornites, you

592
00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:37.240
may be an independent haunt, there's no.

593
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:38.119
Reason you can still try it.

594
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.839
You can, right, And I've seen so many smaller just

595
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:44.119
to finish off here, I've seen so many smaller attractions

596
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.920
do versions of this, and again it doesn't have to

597
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:49.039
be to the scale of Halloween Hornonites, but just take

598
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:51.480
the principle and see if you can apply it. You know,

599
00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:56.279
we like Fear Factory, you know, they do in Nether World.

600
00:29:56.359 --> 00:29:58.160
I mean, there's a lot of independent haunts that do

601
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:01.160
they do one day of behind the scenes, you know,

602
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:03.359
and sometimes it's before the season ends. Sometimes it's even

603
00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:05.960
after the season is over, and then you can they

604
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:08.640
can share all the secrets and you can take pictures.

605
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:09.400
I mean, yeah, and.

606
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:10.799
I want to throw out one more I want to

607
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.319
throw out one more opportunity for the smaller organizations. One

608
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:16.079
of the things we used to do at Bush is

609
00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:18.519
we did not do lights on behind the scenes tours.

610
00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:21.000
Usually there was.

611
00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:22.759
One time where there was a Hunt convention in town

612
00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:28.079
and we made one happen. But we did do a

613
00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:33.079
behind the scenes, no actor, theatrical lighting, audio at half tour.

614
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.680
For High School Journalism Day, what we did was we

615
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.839
invited because they don't get invited. The high school journalists

616
00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:42.519
do not get invited to media Day. They you know,

617
00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:45.680
don't necessarily get a media pass. But when you can

618
00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:47.799
get high school journalism people to come out, and we

619
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:50.599
would break them into multiple groups. So while one group

620
00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.160
was touring just one of the houses, just one of

621
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:55.680
the houses, usually the new one. While one group was

622
00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:57.759
touring the house, another group was talking to our costume

623
00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:00.920
and makeup team, and another group as being put through

624
00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:04.759
an audition so that they could understand what it takes

625
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.480
to become a hot actor. And we got all kinds

626
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.039
of really cool coverage in the in the high school

627
00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:13.039
market that way, so it gave us, it gave us

628
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.599
another another leg up. But I could go on about

629
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:17.960
that forever, and we don't have time because we're done. Guys,

630
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.480
thank you so very much. Once again, just to remind you,

631
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:23.400
this was recorded early, so if anything brand new has happened,

632
00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:25.680
please forgive us for not covering it, because well we

633
00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:27.799
don't know about it yet. But we will see you

634
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:30.480
next week right here on green tagged Theme Parking thirty
Scott Swenson, ICAE Profile Photo
Scott Swenson, ICAE

For over 30 years, Scott Swenson has been bringing stories to life as a writer, director, producer, and performer. His work in theme parks, consumer events, live theatre, and television has given him a broad spectrum of experiences. In 2014, after 21 years with SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Scott formed Scott Swenson Creative Development. Since then he has been providing impactful experiences for clients around the world. Whether he is installing shows on cruise ships or creating seasonal festivals for theme parks, writing educational presentations for zoos and museums or training the next generation of attractions professionals, Scott is always finding new ways to tell stories that engage, educate and entertain.

Philip Hernandez, ICAE Profile Photo
Philip Hernandez, ICAE

CEO of Gantom, Publisher of Haunted Attraction Network

Philip is a journalist reporting on the Haunted House Industry, Horror events, Theme Parks, and Halloween. He is also the CEO of Gantom Lighting and Founder / Publisher of the Haunted Attraction Network, the haunted attraction industry's most prominent news media source. He is based in Los Angeles.