In line entertainment

[Gregory Grim]

I manage two haunts. Unfortunately, I am the new guy and my opinions don't hold much merit until I have a few more years under my belt. One thing the haunts are lacking entirely is entertainment for the patrons waiting in line. I want to stress this to my employer because our lines can be hours long with nothing to see or do. The haunts I manage are themed around a lost temple (mummy/underworld) and Dr. Psycho's estate (mad scientist/butcher). I would love to hear some ideas!

[Bansheette Morningstar]

I love having strong improv actors work the que line. A good actor can bounce between scary and entertaining, which is a must when dealing with a massive line where people will see the actor for long periods of time. They can also "engage" the customer more.

For the mummy house, you could have archaeologists in the line hunting for mummies and trying to solve the puzzles to gain entry to the lost temple.

The mad scientist house would be great if you had a deranged medical staff in the line: a dead nurse could be collecting patient information on clipboards, a doctor could attempt to give examinations, an orderly could demand everyone needs to take their medecine, security guards could inspect the line to make sure none of the patients escaped.

The whole idea is to immerse the crowd into the show before they even enter the house. It creates a more fun and believable atmosphere.

[McZomburger]

Here's an idea I'm tossing about in my cranium. I'm going to have actors with low-powered sling shots- stand at an appropriate distance and fire knotted up t-shirts into the queue line. Inside 1 or 2 or 3 shirts a night will be passes to come back again or "move to the front of the line passes" something like that. Also- its used a lot but works- Zombie Thriller dance- Time Warp dance- Monster Mash- I'm going to do a Monster 'YMCA' dance with arms falling off etc as they try to do the letter stances.
;)

[Bansheette Morningstar]

The t-shirt idea is cool, you jsut have to be careful that the crowd doesn't get overzealous and fight or trample each otehr trying to catch the prize.

[sc0rp]

"I want to stress this to my employer because our lines can be hours long with nothing to see or do."

Try this. Go to Websites of other Haunts and look for the "Reviews" page. Most of them have those; I know SpookyWoods does-- for instance-- having found them (may be under "feedback" or "m4d pr0ps" or "let us know" or some other term) you then cherrypick through for comments about how much better it was, or worse it could have been, because of the weirdos harassing people in the waiting line.

N.B., "cherrypicking" data is not strictly scientific... if however your sole purpose is to show the mere existence of something then it works just fine. You could also note the numbers and percentage of times "line actors" are mentioned, as in "Hey boss, 80% of the comments on {{some Haunt}} talk about how great the line entertainers were..."

Of course, you should do an Al Gore and only exhibit the data you "like". Consider, though, you may not have to. Line entertainers are quite commonly mentioned in reviews if they're A\ good and B\ present at all.

Also of course, you might find comments such as "Man, I wish we'd had something to do while waiting in line, like that other place we went last year." Stuff like that's golden for a cost/benefit presentation.

But enough biz. On a personal note, some of the most fun I had in the 2000 season involved profoundly disturbing the mental peace of the people waiting in line for the Monster Plantation ride at Six Flags. Captive audience, y'know? You haven't lived till you get some "tough guy" on his knees apologising and begging...

...OK right. I was about to smack him with a shovel. I admit that helped. That doesn't dilute the moment for me.

[Gregory Grim]

Thanks for the great tips! Convincing the haunt owner how important line entertainment is has been exhausting because he doesn't want to pay more actors. If I put some actual numbers together, maybe I can convince him otherwise. You have all been a big help! Thanks!

[Damien Reaper]

We have actors out there working the Line and A In Line Video
Here is what we had http://www.youtube.com/v/1qJXE6iFvAY which yeah that me dancing on the back right the big ass that dances bad. and the Big Guy in the car shop not as Damien Reaper but I do the same things.

I say The Mummy-Have some type of skit like the old Mummy coming after a person that touched the Book of the dead

Dr. Pyscho's do the same thing but have him built a Monster and come to life

Always show the main villians as in the video
like at the end of Ours We have Charlie McFree Our Masscott say "Damn kids and there hip hop music"

[James McGuire]

use some of the allready hire actors to work the line kinda like an outside break we like to get outside have them work the line with the story of what the haunt story is.