Halloween Haunt 2022

[disco2000]

40 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

I would assume If this goes well they will implement it next year during regular season operations.

There is nothing in this that isn't already in place or was in place for the past several years...

I have heard a few ride ops call out guests for profanity and said they would call security if they didn't stop.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/code-of-conduct

 

[Coasterteam]

On 8/2/2022 at 12:04 PM, Orion13 said:

there's always that one family that brings their baby into the scare zone and gets angry when the scare actors do their job

[disco2000]

10 minutes ago, Coasterteam said:

there's always that one family that brings their baby into the scare zone and gets angry when the scare actors do their job

Or enter a maze with a stroller! 

It is always more than one family complaining at guest services that there single digit aged kid was too scared. 

[Orion742]

3 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Or enter a maze with a stroller! 

It is always more than one family complaining at guest services that there single digit aged kid was too scared. 

They have signs everywhere that also say to buy a glowing necklace If you don’t want to be scared by the scare actors who do their job.

[disco2000]

1 minute ago, Orion742 said:

They have signs everywhere that also say to buy a glowing necklace If you don’t want to be scared by the scare actors who do their job.

One shouldn't go to a scary event if they don't want to be scared LOL...plus it ruins it for those around them that want to be scared.

[Snowball]

2 hours ago, DoomPlague said:

I would like them to add "trying to scare other guests" to that list. I saw it a couple times last year and was like "No one is impressed that you can startle someone when you're obviously just another guest"

Fully agreed. Leave it to those of us who are trained to do it as our jobs. Not only is it annoying to other guests, but you're putting yourself in danger by attempting to scare people. Some people react violently when you scare them, and if you're not trained on how to deal with that, it can end badly for you, and I've seen it happen many times. I'd even change it to "Don't try to scare anyone". Trying to scare the actors just makes you look foolish when it inevitably doesn't work, or you get security called on you.

  

1 hour ago, Orion742 said:

They have signs everywhere that also say to buy a glowing necklace If you don’t want to be scared by the scare actors who do their job.

What really gets me is when people buy them and then either don't have them on, or hide them under their shirt, and then get all up in my face when I scare them because they/their kids didn't have the necklace visible.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Snowball
Quoted the wrong post.

[rotag]

24 minutes ago, Snowball said:

Fully agreed. Leave it to those of us who are trained to do it as our jobs. Not only is it annoying to other guests, but you're putting yourself in danger by attempting to scare people. Some people react violently when you scare them, and if you're not trained on how to deal with that, it can end badly for you, and I've seen it happen many times. I'd even change it to "Don't try to scare anyone". Trying to scare the actors just makes you look foolish when it inevitably doesn't work, or you get security called on you.

  

What really gets me is when people buy them and then either don't have them on, or hide them under their shirt, and then get all up in my face when I scare them because they/their kids didn't have the necklace visible.

Another reason I retired. I got a long list of reasons. 

[thatbandguy8807]

Another reason I retired. I got a long list of reasons. 

Still my favorite usher and one of my fav actors. Man I do miss those days working haunt.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[XGatorHead 8904]

On 8/22/2022 at 8:21 PM, Snowball said:

What really gets me is when people buy them and then either don't have them on, or hide them under their shirt, and then get all up in my face when I scare them because they/their kids didn't have the necklace visible.

One of the reasons I'm still in a house and never went to a scarezone... No Boos don't work in the houses, so everyone is fair game. 

[rotag]

17 hours ago, thatbandguy8807 said:

Still my favorite usher and one of my fav actors. Man I do miss those days working haunt.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

thank you. i do miss the job, the staff, and the good clientele.

[Stoan]

[Timchat2]

It appears that The Drums of the Dead set is being repurposed for Terror Rising.

The Off the Rails set is also transitioning to NyteWalkers, including what might be the addition of a long trampoline run like the original NyteWalkers at CGA along the front of the stage area. Since this show likely won't feature live singing like Off the Rails this should provide even more space for the stunt performers.

[BB1]

Actually somewhat surprised that we don’t have a lot of theming up yet. A few stages but no major sets from what I’ve seen. 

[brenthodge]

2 hours ago, BB1 said:

Actually somewhat surprised that we don’t have a lot of theming up yet. A few stages but no major sets from what I’ve seen. 

Good. That’s one thing that always bugged me when they “haunted” too early. I like how they are focusing on the sets for shows right now. Personally I wish none of this appeared till after this weekend. I know it’s a staffing thing, but I really think the park looks much cleaner without the mixing of seasonal stuff. 

[rotag]

46 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Good. That’s one thing that always bugged me when they “haunted” too early. I like how they are focusing on the sets for shows right now. Personally I wish none of this appeared till after this weekend. I know it’s a staffing thing, but I really think the park looks much cleaner without the mixing of seasonal stuff. 

sounds like someone has a case of the mondays. the way i see things is if xmas can overtake halloween, then halloween can overtake 4th of july. this coming from someone whos a cross between a grinch and a snow miser with a dash of scrooge.

[brenthodge]

1 hour ago, rotag said:

sounds like someone has a case of the mondays. the way i see things is if xmas can overtake halloween, then halloween can overtake 4th of july. this coming from someone whos a cross between a grinch and a snow miser with a dash of scrooge.

Nope-someone just thinks there’s no reason when the park is closed 7 days a week after today, they can’t wait till then to start the conversion over. Dollywood makes the swap from harvest to Christmas in a week. Sure there’s a lot of prep already done down there but it’s barely visible. RETAIL season creep is totally different than event creep. You have a limited time to sell through product. Christmas has not overtaken Halloween in terms of activity and event- only in terms of sales. 

[Snowball]

1 hour ago, brenthodge said:

Nope-someone just thinks there’s no reason when the park is closed 7 days a week after today, they can’t wait till then to start the conversion over. Dollywood makes the swap from harvest to Christmas in a week. Sure there’s a lot of prep already done down there but it’s barely visible.

Come set it up and see what really has to happen then. You seem to enjoy talking about it and saying it’s doable, so why not join the team?

[disco2000]

And it isn't closed 7 days per week between now and Haunt lol.  Private parties and one public day tossed in.

[Snowball]

13 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

And it isn't closed 7 days per week between now and Haunt lol.  Private parties and one public day tossed in.

Exactly. Between large private events like pride night and P&G day, public operating days on the weekend, a small team, and a gargantuan amount of work to be done including tons of work for those private events, there’s much less time than you think. Seeing people come on here talking about how easily it could be done and how we don’t need time is quite annoying, really. There’s so many things that happen behind the scenes that the general public has no idea about. None of this is as easy as it seems.

[brenthodge]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

Come set it up and see what really has to happen then. You seem to enjoy talking about it and saying it’s doable, so why not join the team?

Send me hiring info. My comments are (of course) based on what happens at other parks-not at KI. I’m not saying with current staffing it’s doable, I’m saying if they wanted to-it could be done as it’s done at other parks. The comment about being closed 7 days a week was a generalization. I am well aware of buyouts. Maybe I should’ve said 4-5 days a week since you would like the most accurate information possible. 

 

59 minutes ago, Snowball said:

Exactly. Between large private events like pride night and P&G day, public operating days on the weekend, a small team, and a gargantuan amount of work to be done including tons of work for those private events, there’s much less time than you think. Seeing people come on here talking about how easily it could be done and how we don’t need time is quite annoying, really. There’s so many things that happen behind the scenes that the general public has no idea about. None of this is as easy as it seems.

Never said it was easy, and sorry if the comments minimize your efforts. The point is the park doesn’t prioritize quick flips with seasonal events if they have such a small team. You DO need time, but the guest experience should also be kept in mind. I personally think they should probably have a larger team to make these pivots so quick, especially with all of the private events that Dollywood doesn’t contend with during the pivot times. 

[Snowball]

19 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Send me hiring info.

Gladly! There’s open interviews for entertainment tech at the park on Sept. 11 from 12pm - 4pm.

 

16 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

I personally think they should probably have a larger team to make these pivots so quick, especially with all of the private events that Dollywood doesn’t contend with during the pivot times. 

Definitely agree with this. Finding technicians has been quite a struggle for a lot of entertainment companies ever since Covid hit. I’ve seen estimates of up to 20% of the workforce leaving  the industry.

[disco2000]

I think people would be surprised how many hours a tech works in a year...

[Snowball]

13 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

I think people would be surprised how many hours a tech works in a year...

Even with a 13 week break after last season, I’ve worked over 1600 hours since last October. And that’s on the lower end. I have friends in the industry that have worked 2800+ hours. It’s a fun job though! Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!

[disco2000]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

Even with a 13 week break after last season, I’ve worked over 1600 hours since last October. And that’s on the lower end. I have friends in the industry that have worked 2800+ hours. It’s a fun job though! Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!

Exactly!  That is what I was alluding to in my statement.  Most have no idea how many hours are put in.  Full-time work is considered 2,080 hours and part-time techs in the industry approach or exceed that.  I have friends that have left the industry to take a full-time job and work less hours than they did part-time at KI....

Now one could argue that means the park needs to hire more (and valid but some of this is short term type work that is hard to hire for), but it also shows how much effort goes into getting the park ready for these events!

[BB1]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

Even with a 13 week break after last season, I’ve worked over 1600 hours since last October. And that’s on the lower end. I have friends in the industry that have worked 2800+ hours. It’s a fun job though! Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!

I have several friends who have worked at KI's Haunt, everyone comments how it's a whole team effort. To actually set up and put down takes a lot of time and effort to get it rolling; the park isn't on the WDW budget, it's a regional park budget. I can be very critical on the park at times only because I love it and I seriously just want the best for the park to grow. I had the opportunity to work it several times when I was employed at KI, never took it and I still regret it. (Can't do it now because I finally landed a career but would have loved to in the past)

[brenthodge]

Here’s a few more reasons why Christmas preparations begin at Dollywood in the dog days of summer. It takes an estimated 15,000 hours by our 18 light crew hosts (that’s what Dollywood employees are called!) to install the more than 100 miles of Christmas lights. That’s at least half a dozen people working 24/7 in some cases every day of the week to get everything done in time. Approximately a half million staples keep those twinkling lights in place on everything from ride structures to trees to buildings, and the lighting experts utilize around 500 rolls of tape, thousands of black-out caps, specific colored cords and good ole intuition to make everything look just perfect for the opening of the festival on Nov. 5. Who knew that the installation of was so meticulous?! Well, you do now!
(and they’re fully removed each year unlike KI) 

and that’s just the lighting. But if you look at the number of people and the hours committed to this, you can see the scope of event “swaps” that KI is competing against, 

[Coasterteam]

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/haunt/conduct-policy-and-guidelines

[wolp]

2 hours ago, Coasterteam said:

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/haunt/conduct-policy-and-guidelines

Never posted much and forgot my account so had to register again just to say how INSANE this is.  Basically can only have a fanny pack.  They won't let you leave the park after 6/7 (also insane), and now you can't bring in a bag?  We always brought in a bag with more clothes (god knows the temperature swing from 6 pm until midnight), some light snacks, hats, gloves, etc and rented a locker so we could have a "home base" since stuck in the park.  Now we're expected to carry all of that around? how annoying.

[brenthodge]

3 hours ago, wolp said:

Never posted much and forgot my account so had to register again just to say how INSANE this is.  Basically can only have a fanny pack.  They won't let you leave the park after 6/7 (also insane), and now you can't bring in a bag?  We always brought in a bag with more clothes (god knows the temperature swing from 6 pm until midnight), some light snacks, hats, gloves, etc and rented a locker so we could have a "home base" since stuck in the park.  Now we're expected to carry all of that around? how annoying.

I would just make sure you bring anything in PRIOR to the gate switch at 6 9OR 7 (Whatever time it is). Doesn't sound like this will be an enforced outside of haunt hours. It sucks if you are coming on a Haunt ONLY Friday night though since doesn't the park essentially open with the no-reentry policy on those evenings?

[tink1470]

I'm contemplating becoming a scare actor this year. Can someone who's worked haunt give me a bit of an idea how it is? Like do you get any say in what maze you will be in? What should I expect with going into the audition? Ive scareacted at multiple haunts since 2014 (minus 2020 for obvious reasons) and have always wanted to take a shot at KI but super anxious to take the leap.