I can't imagine how Haunt could be feasible, but I could be wrong. Perhaps the way to go is do a scaled down version with one or two mazes included with standard admission?
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All things Knotts Berry Farm
- Thread starter Phroobar
- Start date
Nirya
Well-Known Member
Yeah, the economics of how you make it economically feasible while also keeping around guidelines (and keeping those practices in place so that people feel safe enough to come) seem extremely difficult to figure out.
Some people at Cedar Parks HQ are going to earn their paycheck if they figure it out.
I get the regular theme park and how it can be made profitable with the guidelines, but things like Haunt have tons of extra labor that have to be paid for somehow. Like I said, I think making it part of the normal operating day on a very much scaled down version may be the way they will end up having to go.
Darkbeer1
Well-Known Member
Problem is that Haunt activity are targeted to a different crowd, and after dark.
Plus the economic model, including passes, won't cover expenses.
The regular SP's nor the Meal Plans are not valid during Haunt.
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Nirya
Well-Known Member
I think there is probably a way they could do it. If I had to guess, it'd look something like:
1. Much lowered capacity - Maybe the biggest issue is just how packed the Haunt is normally, and especially so the closer to Halloween you go (I honestly usually end up going the weekend before out of tradition). Even if capacity numbers are raised by that time, which is no guarantee by any stretch, Knotts can't really afford the negative publicity if they go with their usual "pack it in" strategy. I'd guess they cut the normal capacity in half to stay safe.
2. Price increase - I mean, this was probably going to happen anyway, but with the lowered capacity they can charge a more premium price to try and offset costs.
3. Virtual queues - This may be a bit harder to pull off, if only because my experiences at Knotts have always seemingly included poor cell coverage for some reason, but limiting the amount of people who can physically be in the queues at any one time could go a long way to satisfying the public.
4. Less mazes - Part of the cost cutting, but paring the roster down to a solid 6-7 mazes can cut down on production and labor costs. To that end, they could also limit the areas that will run mazes to only backstage areas if they so choose, and theoretically consider going the Magic Mountain path of having the park just continue operations into the night, but with an extra charge to go through the mazes.
4b. Less focus on scare actors and more on atmosphere/animatronic scares - Doing this as a sub-idea because it would lower labor costs for scare actors by requiring less of them. It's not something I would enjoy, as I'm more a fan of the way Knotts utilizes their scare actors instead of the "boo box" style you find prevalent at Universal, but for a one-year fix, this could help.
5. More ride overlays - This would be a simple workaround to less mazes, which is to add more special ride theming. We already get the Log Ride, and they could bring back a Calico overlay rather easily. The new Bear-y Tales should be open by then, right? They could program a switch (similar to what Disney does with Guardians during this time) for a "spookier" version of the ride. Maybe something for Bigfoot as well?
There's probably some other changes you could make that I'm not thinking of (maybe regarding how food/drink is done or creating premium dining experiences to bring in more money) but as a base, I imagine you'd see something like this.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
That Tony Clark is a regular Bob Chapek aint he?
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
July 31st
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
I doubt they will have scary farm this year. Probably for a different purpose.
Darkbeer1
Well-Known Member
Multiple Associates have told me they are actively working on Haunt, this is the time of the year they traditionally start preperations, to be ready for early September.
Remember, Haunt brings in about half of Knott's yearly income. Cedar Fair needs the money, so Haunt will happen. Will be interesting to see how they handle it.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
I don't see it being done. You can't have actors in costumes getting close to guests or vice versa and all you are doing is building new surfaces for the virus to attach itself too. If they do open it its not going to resemble how it has been in the past in any way shape or form. If someone thinks that, they are fooling themselves. I bet it gets cancelled. You can't charge for a premium experience guests wont be able to fully take advantage for.
Nirya
Well-Known Member
That one will be especially interesting because Shadowlands was set to end its run last year, which means a new maze was planned to go in that spot to begin with. I'd almost imagine that will be the only new maze this year, and they may trim a few more spots.
A lineup of the new maze, Origins: Curse of Calico, Dark Ride, Paranormal Inc, and Wax Works would be rather strong while spreading the mazes out.
A lineup of the new maze, Origins: Curse of Calico, Dark Ride, Paranormal Inc, and Wax Works would be rather strong while spreading the mazes out.
The more I think about it, the more I realize they have to come up with something because they have already sold Haunt add one for season passes and it is the one add on that isn't varying over to next year, so it would be a PR nightmare to not run it at all. But I am with you, I don't see how to run it.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
They can refund it or it carrys over to next season.
joerodriguez
Member
The Infected maze ended its run last year also. So there is another spot for a maze. They could use the inside of the Mystery Lodge since we are never seeing that show again.
Also don't forget the best one The Depths and maybe space alien one.
I think you are giving the virus super powers now.
Nirya
Well-Known Member
The reason I went with only one new maze is because I assumed they’d want to cut down on mazes to save on production/labor costs. They could add another new maze if they wanted to, especially to drive interest, but I’m not sure how required that is from a cost and savings standpoint when they could keep it in the chamber for next year.
Similarly, the reason I said they’d cut The Depths (which I think is fine though still needing work) and Dark Entities is because Knotts would want to spread out crowds, which would necessitate spreading out the mazes. While having a dedicated maze corner is nice normally, it also leads to a huge crowd that would seem to be the antithesis of what they’d want. I picked Paranormal to stick around out of that group because it’s the strongest maze of the bunch.
At the end of the day, though, I think they’re in a rough spot in figuring out how to balance things.
The Depths, Paranormal, wax works and Entities are in the same backstage area. They are also not exacly near each other. I don't think that is a concern.