Imagineering for Halloween 2007

[DisneyDellsDude]

Halloween 2007 is a long ways away, but just like planning for a WDW vacation, you have to start planning early. Now I know that the Halloween 2006 thread just completely died, but I thought I would start fresh.

Feel free on this thread to post ideas that you have for Halloween 2007(if you like to decorate inside or out). Whenever or if you do start construction, if you can want post any pictures, that would be cool.

For me, once Halloween 2007 is over, I'm going to post video of my finished product on here.
It should be fun!

For me, I know I'm tossing a few themes around in my head as of now.
Once I decide on one, I'll post my ideas.

 

[Darth Plank]

The plot for Haunted High School Musical shall be done and all my friends are going to dance like crazy!

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Ok. It's been a while, but updates will become more frequent once summer comes along and we get closer to October.

I've decided on my theme, and this year I'm going with the Haunted Mansion's attic.

That's all I'm telling for now, I'll update again...
sometime:lookaroun
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Remember, if any of you want to give updates or tell us if your doing anything for Halloween 2007, this is the thread to post in!!

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Bringing this thread back from the dead...

I've started some of the work, as well as buying some of the stuff. I've planned many things on paper, and progress is well under way.

Infact, I just bought a fresh rose today, and now it is sitting in my closet, in the dark, with no water. I'm testing a rose to see how fast it becomes "old-looking".:lol:

I plan to give some specifics, as well as some pictures sometime this up-coming week! Should be exciting!

 

[raven]

This yeahr I will be holding my 4th Anual Halloween Bash. We out-grew my apartment last year when we had 35 guests in it at one time. I will be moving it to a larger location this year.

Each year I start to decorate around the 2nd week of August for my party. I am very picky about the look, feel, sound and scents of my party so a lot of planning goes into it. I am also a special effects and lighting designer for theatrical companies so I am always looking for the right angle and look of lighting effects at my party. (This is why it takes me 10 weeks to get ready!)

Sadly, I don't have pictures from my past parties as the lighting levels were too low and the haze didn't help matters either.

My jello shots last year were in small coffin nut cups that I bought at Walmart. These plastic re-usable coffins are going to serve as my invites for this years event.

 

[Master Yoda]

Halloween is by far my favorite time of year. I will be taking the day off to prepare the house this year. Here are some pictures from last year.

http://picasaweb.google.com/macleod57/HouseAtHalloween10_31_06

This year it looks like we will not only be doing the front yard but the back as well. I will also have a second 700w fog machine and chiller as well as music to add to the creepiness. We are debating doing kind of a haunted trail around the house but with the number of people too afraid to walk through the inflatable haunted house we had in the front yard last year chances are we will not.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

http://picasaweb.google.com/macleod57/HouseAtHalloween10_31_06

This year it looks like we will not only be doing the front yard but the back as well. I will also have a second 700w fog machine and chiller as well as music to add to the creepiness. We are debating doing kind of a haunted trail around the house but with the number of people too afraid to walk through the inflatable haunted house we had in the front yard last year chances are we will not.

Do you make your own fog chillers, or do you buy them premade? I know there's a lot of different variations of them, and I was just wondering what kind you would recommend.

 

[Master Yoda]

Do you make your own fog chillers, or do you buy them premade? I know there's a lot of different variations of them, and I was just wondering what kind you would recommend.

I custom made mine. All of the store bought ones were very lacking in performance and overpriced to boot. I used this for my base design but quickly found out that there was one major design flaw. There was really nothing for the fog to contact with to cool it down except for the small pocket of cold air in the mesh pipe. What I did to fix this was take some 3/8 flexible metal conduit I had lying around and cut it into 18" lengths then threaded these pieces through the wire mesh so part would be inside the mesh pipe and part would be inside the ice. This worked perfectly producing the very low lying fog you can see in some of the flash pictures I took of the jack-o-lanterns. Another idea I had was to build a heat exchanger consisting of a coil of copper pipe and a submersible pump but the price of copper put a nail in that coffin.

Not including the hole saw (which was about $30) you can build thease for less than $50 a piece and the more you build the less they cost. After building 2 chillers I still ahve enough pipe and mesh to build about 2 more. All I would need is a cooler and the fittings.

 

[DisnFanatic10]

So is this like a thread for stuff you made for Halloween?

If so last year my family hosted our 3rd haunted hayrack ride, we have such a big family that everyone gets a part in the story as the hayrack travels around the 200 acre farm and timber. We had over 255 people this year and it gets bigger everytime. At the end I was so happy because people walked up and said this reminded them of a Disney ride because we had the story and a narrarator. Then since we do it every other year this year I am planning on making a scarecrow and putting an automatic intercom in it then letting trick or treaters "talk with it" on my friends porch.

Anyways I thought I was the only one who passed time away from the world doing this stuff.

 

[raven]

I custom made mine. All of the store bought ones were very lacking in performance and overpriced to boot. I used this for my base design but quickly found out that there was one major design flaw. There was really nothing for the fog to contact with to cool it down except for the small pocket of cold air in the mesh pipe. What I did to fix this was take some 3/8 flexible metal conduit I had lying around and cut it into 18" lengths then threaded these pieces through the wire mesh so part would be inside the mesh pipe and part would be inside the ice. This worked perfectly producing the very low lying fog you can see in some of the flash pictures I took of the jack-o-lanterns. Another idea I had was to build a heat exchanger consisting of a coil of copper pipe and a submersible pump but the price of copper put a nail in that coffin.

Not including the hole saw (which was about $30) you can build thease for less than $50 a piece and the more you build the less they cost. After building 2 chillers I still ahve enough pipe and mesh to build about 2 more. All I would need is a cooler and the fittings.

We use this simple, yet somewhat effective, device at one of the theatres I work for as well. I would add that regular for fluid will rise once it has warmed back up. A nice effect if you want it hazy as well. If you don't want that effect, get the Rosco Stage & Studio fluid. This fluid dissapates quickly after it has warmed back up so you only get the low fog effect. We also use this fluid for bursts of fog (like steam) so it doesn't hang in the air too much.

 

[Master Yoda]

We use this simple, yet somewhat effective, device at one of the theatres I work for as well. I would add that regular for fluid will rise once it has warmed back up. A nice effect if you want it hazy as well. If you don't want that effect, get the Rosco Stage & Studio fluid. This fluid dissapates quickly after it has warmed back up so you only get the low fog effect. We also use this fluid for bursts of fog (like steam) so it doesn't hang in the air too much.

Thanks for that bit of info. I have been looking for a better quality fluid. We have around 2 gallons of the store bought stuff left and once that is gone I wanted to get something decent. We got really lucky last Halloween. There was little to no wind and the temperatures were a little lower than normal. I also watered the yard a little to cool it off. I need to take my fog machines apart and go through and replace a few hoses as one sprung a leak last year. If I need to replace one do you have a particular brand you could recommend that will not completely break the bank? I would like to stay at 700w or better and under $100.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Anyways I thought I was the only one who passed time away from the world doing this stuff.

Nope. Not the only one.:animwink:

I'd love to see/hear how your scarecrow works out. Sounds neat!

And for Master Yoda and raven, thanks for the fog-chiller tips. I'll probably get around to making one next year since this year I'm pretty set on projects.

 

[DisnFanatic10]

Nope. Not the only one.:animwink:

I'd love to see/hear how your scarecrow works out. Sounds neat!

And for Master Yoda and raven, thanks for the fog-chiller tips. I'll probably get around to making one next year since this year I'm pretty set on projects.

Yeah I usually just try to do stuff with things I already have around. (intercom system, hay, etc) But for the Hayrack ride we have accumulated a disney like wardrobe collection we have boxes and boxes and a shed just full of props and stuff. It's a lot of fun to put on.

 

[Master Yoda]

Nope. Not the only one.:animwink:

I'd love to see/hear how your scarecrow works out. Sounds neat!

And for Master Yoda and raven, thanks for the fog-chiller tips. I'll probably get around to making one next year since this year I'm pretty set on projects.

Construction time on that chiller is really short. The first one took me lees than an hour. About the most time consuming thing was the mesh tube but a half dozen zip ties made even that a breeze on the second one.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Construction time on that chiller is really short. The first one took me lees than an hour. About the most time consuming thing was the mesh tube but a half dozen zip ties made even that a breeze on the second one.

Maybe I'll get around to doing that this year. Still not sure.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Update 1 - 89 Days till Halloween 2007

Wow. Only 89 days left!!
Well, I finally figured out how to post pictures on here.:lol:
So here's my update as I promised.

So, I'm doing a scene in my garage based on the Haunted Mansion's attic.
The first challenge I had to figure out was how to stop people from walking into my garage, so I made a little barrier that looks old and creepy.
http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/Barrier_pic_3.jpg

Umm. The bases are tiki torch holders that I bought at walmart for our new tiki torches we bought for our patio in our back yard. They were already black, and work out really well.

The main tube is a pvc pipe. I cut and painted it. The first coat I used on it was a black spray paint (for plastics) and then a second touch-up coat I did was use chocolate brown, spray a bit here and there, and then dap it away. It makes the final product look old, rusted, and dirty. It's a great detail.

Finally, the top little part is a railing topper (sorry, I forgot what they are called and don't have the container anymore). I painted them the same way.

And the chain was plastic chain that I spray painted black.
Here's a close up pic of one of them.
http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/Barrier_pic_2.jpg

I attached the chain to it using a washer, and a screw and just screwed it right in there. The chain is just hanging on a nail connected to my garage on the sides. All I have to do is lift up the chain for easy access into the garage.

It also stores up nicely, as I just take off the stands.
http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/Barrier_pic_1.jpg

(and no, that's not a ghost I captured on the camera, it's my camera strap.:lol: )

That's all for the updates today. I'll get more into detail as time goes on with many more pictures on the way.
Everyone else, feel free to post projects like this one if you have the time in this thread.:wave:

 

[Master Yoda]

Nice work. I am just hoping I can get into my garage by Halloween. Right now it is so messed up I can't walk from the front to the back.:lol:

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Quick question. When do you guys usually have T-o-T in your neighborhood? We usually have it the last Sunday of October. That always ends up being the day that we fall back an hour, so it gets dark sooner. We usually have it from 4 to 7, so it gets kind of dark by 5, but really dark by 6.

My concern this year is that with the new time change we're having, it will still be very bright out for T-o-T this Halloween if our village doesn't have it go from 5 to 8, which they probably won't.

This will affect all of T-o-T, since now I guess we don't "fall back" and hour until about mid-November.

Kind of bad news for Halloween decorators.:shrug:

 

[BiggerTigger]

Love the pictures and the ideas. I have been doing major decorations for the season as well. This year I am taking over the neighboring property as well.

As for your question, we usually do t-o-t on halloween. Haven't thought much about the time change this year and if you are correct, could cause some problems. May have to rethink some projects.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

^ I'd really like to hear your about your plans/progress. It's neat that your expanding over to two properties. That's got to be a lot of decorations!!