Oct. 22, 2023

Fear Factory 2023 in Salt Lake City, UT

Fear Factory 2023 in Salt Lake City, UT

Now in its thirteenth season, fear factory in lake lake City has added a new storyline throughout their haunt - plus a new mocktail lounge. Spencer Terry explains what fear factory has planned for 2023.

Now in its thirteenth season, fear factory in lake lake City has added a new storyline throughout their haunt - plus a new mocktail lounge. Spencer Terry explains what fear factory has planned for 2023.

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Now entering its thirteenth season. Fear
Factory in Saltlake City has made many renovations

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to its haunt and added a new
mocktail lounge to the midway. That's coming

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up on today's show from the Haunted
Atrastion Network. I'm Philip, and this

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is our sixty one day Haunted On, where we're counting down to folloween by

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celebrating haunted houses daily via videos,
podcasts, and in person experiences. Since

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this podcast is only one part of
our Haunt Upon and we're really focusing on

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video this year, the best way
to follow everything is by subscribing to our

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newsletter where we'll get weekly updates,
or checking our Haunted On page on our

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website that's Hantedattrastion network dot com.
Okay, today we're gonna hear from Spencer

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Terry, who is the GM at
Fear Factory in Salt Lake City where they

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just entered their thirteenth season. Here's
Spencer. My name is Spencer Terry.

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I'm the general manager and equity owner
at Fear Factory hundred House here in Salt

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Lake City, Utah. This is
our thirteenth year. Lucky thirteen. Fear

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Factory is an abandon c Meent Factory
downtown in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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It is made up of six different
buildings and two underground passages. It's about

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ninety thousand square feet of interactive scaring
space, so there's lots happening. There's

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eighteen flights of stairs, which makes
for a very eventful show but also a

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very operationally logistic show. We have
on average about one hundred staff here each

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night, one hundred actors and try
to make sure that we do a really

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great job. This year, you
changed a lot, There was a lot

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of renovations, and there's also story
talk to me about all of that.

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Yeah, for our thirteenth year,
we wanted to do something that we essentially

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could ride that wave for the next
five years to a decade. And in

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doing that, some of our team
thankfully attended a trans world seminar from the

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one and only Alan Hopps, and
it got them thinking about how do we

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better tell the story? And so
after some time we spent with Alan,

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we decided to kind of unroll these
ideas that we've all kind of had in

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our head for the last couple of
years, and we went from idea to

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brainstorming to pen and paper to sketches
to pulling the trigger and hiring four extra

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people to help us build a lot
of new sets, new costumes. We

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have thirteen new very specific intellectual property
characters that help tell the storyline to essentially

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where the storyline is simple, which
is that the factory is alive. It's

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no longer this like just old abandonedment
factory. People used to always say it

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was abandoned for a reason. It
was empty for twenty years. Here in

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the sal Laic city, it's known
as like the bad Luck Factory. And

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so we're running with the storyline,
and the storyline is very simple, which

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is that in twenty twenty in Covid, Utah had an unprecedented earthquake. Those

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do not happen in Utah, and
that left a crack in our foundation of

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our tower, and we realized that
there was a small space behind that was

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covered underground. And when we finally
got back to that space, crazy enough,

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there's this massive heart that's back there
beating, and we realize the factory

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is alive and that the monsters and
the boogeymen who are here are really feeding

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and capturing people to where the factory
lures customers and lures people to come face

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their fears, and if they don't, if they don't succeed in facing their

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fear, they are consumed by the
factory to create more fear. And it's

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a really fun storyline. We're able
to not only spin our costumes and our

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characters, but certainly our merchandise as
well as a lot of really fun marketing

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to just immerse people into that experience
and give them a chance to really step

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outside of Salt Lake City and into
a very real entertainment space where we've now

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paired our monsters with our merchandise,
with our new venue that we're opening up

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a drink venue, to our show
itself, and everything in between. Basically,

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there are thirteen zones and the premise
is that the guests are trying to

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face their fears and each zone is
like a different fear exactly, okay,

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and then if they don't make it, then they get fed to the machine,

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the fear factory. Correct, Okay, So each fear literally, so

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you have a fear of being buried
alive, you have a fear of religion,

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you have a fear of hell,
we have a fear of clowns,

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a fear of death, a fear
of drowning, all of those different fears,

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and so each of those different fears
then have their own build out,

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their own characters, their own storyline, and everything from there. So I

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noticed, as you're going through you'll
see doors for each like a factory door

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number one through thirteen. Yes,
and then you have a little bit of

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a story that's being told around the
door that kind of challenges you to get

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through that area. Yeah, that
was one of the fun things is we

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wanted to take people from just walking
through a factory almost a feeling like you're

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walking through a ride. In fact, people tonight customers have said that they're

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coming here a year after year,
They're always here. They said it felt

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like they were on a ride.
Because the idea is that you're just immersed

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so much that along the way you've
got this character who's talking to you and

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tracking you through the entire facility,
which allows us to then tell a story

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in a really fun way, and
it really does make them feel it's personalized.

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Obviously it's recorded, but the fact
that people were leaving here on opening

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night just absolutely blown away, but
also feeling like it was a personalized show

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means that we feel like we did
a pretty good job, but there's always

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tweaks. I think it was I
think the hardest part about an opening night

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is there's always things to work out. So here we go for tomorrow.

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Yeah, speaking of things to work
out, it does seem like it's a

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little bit different than in previous years
because you have I guess you would call

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it, I don't know what the
term you're using, but there's basically like

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a character in each zone that they
talk to you or they have something to

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tell you about the fear. Yeah, right, so that's different because I

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don't think you really had that many
like face characters, is what we call

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them, true, Yeah, in
the past. Yeah, Traditionally we don't

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like monologues yeh, because everything exactly
and then the delivery can change, might

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miss the group and then yeah,
the story, there's all the things,

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so much to so many things that
we don't like about it, and so

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we've really been careful about who we
are selecting for that and how they are

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portraying that in a clear and concise
way that gets to the storyline but also

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doesn't mess up flow and everything else
can the entire group period. And we

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invested a lot into like microphones for
example, and wireless mics that are connected

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to speakers so that they can,
like the customers can hear some of those

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things a little bit more. But
yeah, there's definitely a little bit more

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of that compared to other years.
It also seems like you've added a little

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bit more effects. I think inside
for the actors, hundreds I would almost

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probably even say close to one thousand
new triggers, animatronics, lighting, audio,

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The entire property go on an audio
overhaul, which was really cool thanks

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to Gantum, because we also added
some really cool lighting effects that have helped

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us there. It's really easy to
just put a light and call it a

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day, right, But when you
can flicker it, when you can really

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cue that light into the exact color
that you need, that tells the story.

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And it's been really great to be
able to use those. And I

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think those are all those like just
tiny little things that really do add up.

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We had a staff member who has
been a leader with us for four

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years and she came through tonight with
her father and they were just absolutely there.

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All this feels like a very different, almost new attraction because so many

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new things have been added. Yeah, talk to me about that dichotomy.

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It's interesting that you're adding something from
both sides, right, you're adding really

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what I would say, more jump
scares basically, or you know, maybe

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tools as what a better way to
say it, like tools to like you've

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always had actors, but now some
of the actors at least have tools either

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in the monologue with the equipment,
yeah, but then other ones have tools

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to trigger sound and lighting effects.
So it's just interesting, Like why it's

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interesting you've added on both angles.
Usually you have somebody go all story or

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they go yeah to one, yeah, one or the other. We really

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yeah, we really tried to make
you feel in the middle, like we

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didn't want to swing the pendulum one
way or the other. It was about

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getting the right thing the right way
and being able to give it to the

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customer in a way that helps them
hear the storyline, but also not bother

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them like they're coming to get scared, not go to a theater. It's

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it is theater. It's live theater, and we're very proud of it.

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But we don't want to deliver lines
that are so long that you're just like,

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wait, see it again. So
I didn't hear it the first time

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yet no that it didn't work,
so we just have to go back to

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the board. And the other thing
I thought going through it was interesting is

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you it took me a while to
pick up on that they were that you

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were trying to overcome your fears,
right, because I think I missed some

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of the audio cues or took me
a while. But really the doors really

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stand out, and I what's interesting
is they whereas before it was like you

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just wandered into the fear Factory and
you had no idea when you were going

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to escape. Yeah, this almost
gave it a timestamp. You're going through

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and you're like, oh, I'm
halfway through, versus before you had no

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idea true how long it is?
Do you think that changed? Does that

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change it at all? Because I'm
actually not sure. I personally preferred it

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to be to see the numbers,
because frequently I was like, we're only

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at this number. Yeah, it's
a place walking for a long time.

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Yeah, there's still like halfway.
I'm like, oh, I don't think

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i'll make it. And so I
think that was it, but it but

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also I felt it made it harder
to really define like a big getting the

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middle of an end there's not like
those big scene you know, like kind

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of get that's harder. So essentially
you're making thirteen stories instead of one big

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story. Yeah. No, that's
a really good point. I don't know

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the customers, and we don't tell
the customers how many areas there are,

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so that allows us to then be
able to me. I think as they're

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walking through, it's almost that preface
of oh, what's coming next. Okay,

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so I've already done like this,
and this's what's behind the next door.

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But yeah, that's a really interesting
point. And I think as part

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of the audio that we were talking
about earlier, we have one of our

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main key characters who's ore caretaker of
the property, Karl Mossman, who's definitely

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a sketchy character but has a lot
of fun, but he is is audio

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helps to tell that story. So
for example, okay, you're about right

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ahead to the tower, don't look
down, and those small little cues that

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just help people almost question like why
in the hell am I here? We

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want people to question while they're here. But I think keeping them on their

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toes also is fund They don't really
know how many doors, but they know

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that the more doors they're seeing they're
like, Okay, there's something else here.

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And also I like to how nothing
scares you by the doors, so

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that it's almost like a we talked
about palette cleansers, right, like,

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yeah, it's exactly it. You
don't want black holeways, but you want

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something that is scenic and everything.
They're all designed, you can tell they

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all match, but it's you know
that, it's like it gives you that

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moment to think and like you said, prepare yourself for what's coming. Yeah,

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versus versus being in a reactive mode
for to a time. Yeah,

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exactly, And I think we all
need as designers of attractions. The roller

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coaster theme is always like oh great
when you're gonna have really high dips and

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really scary components, but then you
also have fun twists and curves, but

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then you also have a holy crap, I almost fell out and now I'm

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scared again, And so I think
having all of those is great. And

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yeah, like the doors were essentially
made to tell a story reset almost transitionary.

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But palette is a really good word. Is a palate cleanser to say,

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Okay, cool, you just made
it through that fear. Great job.

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Heads up, we got nine more
for you. So here's what's coming

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next. Yeah, and you mentioned
also renovating some of the areas. Tell

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me about some of the big scenes. To me, the thing that stood

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out the most because it was just
crazy, was the like you mentioned earlier,

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the heart scene when you walk into
a giant beating heart and you see

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the gears and you have a character
there that is talking to you about what's

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going on briefly, right, giving
a brief introduction. That to me stood

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out a lot because that's a big
new scene. What else did you all

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work on? Yeah, so that
is one of our bigger I'm gonna call

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it a prop because that's ultimately it. It's an eight foot high hanging from

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a ceiling that's twenty feet high.
Massive and the best part is that is

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in the exact spot, so as
as customers are coming onto the property,

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they actually up above the ground.
They walk over that. So you're walking

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into the property and we can preface
it a little, they hear the heartbeat,

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they hear the screams underneath them,
and they're like, whoa, that's

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new, what's going on? And
that has been really key. In fact,

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when we hosted a worldwide EDM concert
here a two day music concert and

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we had that heart on and just
beating and that was it, and people

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that were our seasoned pass holders were
like, what is that? And it

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was just a fun way for us
to be like something's coming, which has

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been really cool. Other big sets
the doors we've talked about. All the

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door we had, we really tried
to create something that was unique that we

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do not have at the factory,
and this was one of the ways that

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we were able to do that.
We also rolled out a new photo area

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as well this year, which is
a really fun set. Tons of really

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they've our team that hiring four extra
staff was pretty impressive, and they have

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been working on just tons of small
little things, everything from the right way

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to peel wallpaper, like there is
an art to that, all the way

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down to how do you light?
Which are you lighting and making sure that

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the detractors are there and that you're
lighting the right thing the right way so

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the customers looking the right way to
let the right scare. So that's always

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been fun to do. Our bar
has been really great. So we're opening

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up a non alcoholic bar, which
is really exciting and that's allowing us to

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again tell our story even more,
which I'm sure we'll talk about later,

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but yeah, just lots of small
little things that are adding up. Very

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briefly. The other one I thought
was very visceral speaking of lighting, was

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the cemetery. And it's one of
those where I really like the projection of

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the ghosts. You have projected ghosts
that are voting around, but a lot

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of lighting to make it appear like
even though you're underground. There there's moonlight,

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and there's crypt light coming through and
lighting the tombstones, and light that

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will turn off and stuff will come
out of the graves. So I thought

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it was I think you can definitely
tell from a lighting standpoint that there's a

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lot more to see, but that
doesn't make it less scary. It's it's

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I think being able to see more
is it's scarier in that way. Yeah,

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and it's. And the cemetery is
an interesting space because we designed it

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to make you feel like you're outside. First off, you're completely indoors.

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The lighting is the different mausoleums and
the gates and everything is designed to make

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you feel like you're walking through a
New Orleans cemetery, right, But then

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the lighting is definitely key, and
I think the realism in there helps a

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lot. And then to add on
top of that the projections, Like we

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really try and utilize new technology wherever
we can, and sometimes we're behind and

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sometimes we're not. But when we
designed that entire area, that area is

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now I think three years old.
Yeah, it was really fun to think

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about what projections are out there,
what animations are out there, how do

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we use those and build those into
our scene so that we can make sure

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that they get the right focus when
people come through. It's fun. Yeah.

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Yeah, let's talk about the bar
that you're adding outside. We talked

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last year because we came here last
year and we talked a little bit about

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your extension in the Q line area. So I guess for those that haven't

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been here before, there is kind
of a massive midway as you walk from

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the entrance through to the queue line. Yeah, and then like at the

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an immersive que line that you were
going through, So there's a lot of

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build up before you even get into
physically inside the hunt. Yeah. Right,

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and then you still have the music
area where you know, where people

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can listen as they're walking by,
and there's a photo area. So there's

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a bar now that's right at the
entrance. Is that right at the entrance?

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Yeah, And it's pretty fun.
So we're not we're because of our

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local market and the demographic. We
decided not to call it a bar,

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00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.440
but we're going to call it a
lounge. It's lurid lounge. Lurid for

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folks that are listening, is essentially
really bright neon like cool colors, but

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also very lurid details, meaning it
can be gruesome, it can be horrific.

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So we decided to put the two
together. So we have a it's

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a walk in think of if you
were to think of some large theme parks

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that have created beverages. It's the
same thing. So you essentially come into

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the lounge, you order through a
QR system. We've partnered with a third

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party here in Utah, a really
great coffee shop that also does selters,

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and we essentially went to them and
said, here's the deal. We want

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to have really specific drinks that were
made by great mixologists to make sure that

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we can tell our story in a
different way. So, for example,

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one of our first zones is catacombs, which is all about the fear of

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being buried alive, and so as
such, we have a drink that's literally

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called Buried Alive and it's a brown
drink. It's got green floating bubbles and

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moss to it. It's very fun, very earthy, but also sweet.

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You've got the electric chair e the
Electric Cherry, which is up in the

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tower to be able to again,
like that's an iconic component of our show.

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People always love it, and so
we decided to add that Midnight Raith,

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which is a queue to the Cemetery
that we talked about earlier. The

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Scarecrow, which is made with chai
and is essentially a pumpkin drink for our

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new farm area that's all about scarecrows. We integrated the drinks. Each drink

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represents a different zone and then folks
can also mix. We actually partnered with

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a Rockstar energy drink. We signed
a very large monetary sponsorship with them over

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three years that went all the way
to corporate to use them for naming rights

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as well as to get comp drinks
that we can then mix. And so

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now we're able to we have these
like base drinks and then you can add

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different flavors into it, like it
could be a Rockstar lemonade or a Rockstar

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grape or a silver ice or whatever
and do some really fun things from there.

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And then the fun part is that
we wanted it to also be a

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marketing opportunity. So all of these
lights or all of these drinks glow.

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They have led coasters on the bottom
of them, so everyone think, like

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00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:41.599
when you go to the circus and
you like see everyone with their cool glow

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toys. Same thing they're gonna be
walking up and down the fire aisle or

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00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.160
our area where this big midway to
have glowing drinks that are fun and flashy

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and different colors. And then we
created vignettes inside of our lounge that also

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are corresponding to the drink itself that
allows people to take fun pictures, sell

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00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:06.680
it up, put it on ig
on Instagram, and essentially do the marketing

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00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.279
for us, just to show that
they're having fun and it's all part of

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the experience in our drinks. We
decided some locations, some hundred houses are

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00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:17.440
selling drinks for nine, ten,
eleven, twelve dollars even for alcohol.

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00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.559
We said, screw it, We're
into it for eight bucks. And it's

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just it's essentially it's a marketing opportunity, a lot of fun, and so

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that our capacity of that. First
of all, I think people maybe if

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a chaperone's coming and dropping out their
kids, or if there's some parents that

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don't want to go through, if
they can sit in the lounge totally.

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It's open, like, you don't
need a ticket, it's before you get

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00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:41.559
into the ticket area, right,
So you could just if you're hanging out

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00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.319
for a while, you can be
in the lounge. Yeah, yep,

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you can hang out there. You
can be on the fire lane on our

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00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:49.839
midway, you can hang out to
where the food truck areas are. There's

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00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:56.599
a lot to do and capacity of
that lounge. Are you worried about a

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new thing? That sounds amazing.
It sounds like people are gonna want to

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00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.359
hang out in there, but you
guys get really busy. Yeah, on

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00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.240
weekend, we're actually not gonna let
them stay in there. Oh okay.

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00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:10.640
We specifically turned it into a walk
in walk out. Okay, you're gonna

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00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:11.559
walk in, you're gonna order it. You can hang out there. There's

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00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:15.200
lots of fun things to do,
and we've really designed some just fun vignettes

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00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.920
like to take you. You could
spend an hour in there just taking photos.

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00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:22.599
The whole room is decorated it is
just decked to the t just to

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00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:25.799
make sure that it's over the top, because we know it. It's the

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00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:30.000
idea like, it's literally an entire
venue designed for cameras and we want people

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00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.200
to do that, and it's we're
very clear about it upfront. Get your

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00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:34.920
camera out, have some fun.
But the idea behind it then is that

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you also can do your thing inside
and then you come back outside to the

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00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:44.039
midway and you're back into the factory, back into the characters, back into

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00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:48.200
the monsters, and back into that
experience as well of being in an old,

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abandoned factory. Cool. Okay,
I think that's a lot to add

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00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.240
for water, and talk to me
a little bit about I know this is

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when we're recording this on opening nights. You guys just opened, Yes,

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00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.960
And is there are there any other
ticket options or things that you've changed for

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00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.880
this year? No, all of
our ticketing options are the same. So

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00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.279
a general emission starts at twenty nine
ninety nine, goes all the way to

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00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:12.960
our rock Star passes, which are
two hundred and fifty dollars a person.

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00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:18.519
We were surprised isn't the right word, but we were impressed that we had

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00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:22.240
two folks from Orange County, California
that we're here tonight, that both bought

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00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:27.359
a Rockstar pass and essentially wanted to
see what the factory was and what makes

315
00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.799
it so great. It's a really
fun opportunity, and we put the price

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00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:36.599
very high because we really want it
to be special. Like they we haven't

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even ruled out the public sizzle reel
or any information about our lounge yet,

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00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:42.640
and we gave them a little sneak
peak private tour ement and took some pictures

319
00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:45.960
inside. So it's a cool way
for us just to show like the people

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00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:51.759
who really want to like they want
something really unique, and that allows us

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00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.119
to do that. So yeah,
so our ticket ranges have stayed about the

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00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:56.799
same. We have decided not to
raise prices just because we're keeping a really

323
00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.759
close eye on inflation a business model, our targets look great. We're above

324
00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.680
We're about eleven percent up where we
thought we would be, which is great,

325
00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:08.359
and I think we'll hopefully stay on
trend to continue through the waves of

326
00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:14.799
inflation. Right. So we are
recording this, of course, on opening

327
00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:18.720
night, so you haven't really had
a chance yet to see how this year

328
00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.920
is going to fold it up.
It's just beginning to unfold. Indeed,

329
00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.400
a few hours in a few hours
in right, But tell me so far,

330
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:30.839
how was your attendance flicking And do
have any other things partnerships or whatnot

331
00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:33.920
that you're looking forward to. Yeah, attendance is great. With it.

332
00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.319
Back in March April, we were
very concerned about inflation. We decided not

333
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.720
to raise ticket prices, and so
we just said, let's just go with

334
00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:44.359
it. We're very happy to see
that we're above, way beyond what we

335
00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.880
thought we would be even with inflation. We did keep prices the same.

336
00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:52.440
Our attendance is up easily eleven percent. Beyond that, to have a line

337
00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.519
at opening night and have hundreds of
people that are here on opening night for

338
00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:02.839
only a two hour window is pretty
unique. I've never seen that in my

339
00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:06.519
time here, so that's been really
great to see. Partnerships wise, we've

340
00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:08.240
brought on some really great new sponsors. One of the really cool things that

341
00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:14.240
we've done from a community perspective,
we've been talking about all the things that

342
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we've been doing on our property,
specifically all the new stuff that we've added,

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and so we extended that this year
to our community and I sit on

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our Grainery District Board, which is
essentially the neighborhood board here in this industrial

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00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:33.400
area of Salt Lake. And we
partnered with hotels and coffee shops and the

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00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:37.559
food hall across the street from us, and a mall that's not too far

347
00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:41.079
away where our zombie b bus picks
picks up. And so people when they

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come on property, part of their
admission is that they're given a wristband.

349
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.960
So that wristband essentially lets them into
the attraction, but then they can also

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00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:53.079
come back throughout the rest of the
season for fourteen bucks. Here's beend fifty

351
00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:56.119
dollars for a VIP and you can
come back for the same thing for fifteen

352
00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.640
dollars. It's a steal. So
people are able to them back to the

353
00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.680
property. And we thought, while
they're coming back to the property anyway,

354
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:07.279
how do we stimulate the economy,
brings some economic development and like really help

355
00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:10.319
give back to the city because the
city is doing a lot for us as

356
00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:12.359
well. And so we did that
and we partnered with folks. So we

357
00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:15.200
reached out to the local businesses and
just said, hey, these people are

358
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.680
going to be coming back to our
neighborhood anyway, would you be interested in

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00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.960
giving them ten, fifteen to twenty
percent off and in return, we'll market

360
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:27.279
that for you. And it has
been overwhelmingly successful. People are already using

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00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:32.400
it our staff obviously that those partnerships
have opened doors. Now. We just

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00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:34.400
gave away one hundred dollars in gift
cards tonight to our staff to a local

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00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:38.240
food hall just to get people there
and it brings people in the door for

364
00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:42.319
them as well, So that's been
really fun to see. Because of that,

365
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we actually picked up a sponsor,
a ten thousand dollars sponsor of wanting

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00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.559
to be part of the party.
They saw what we were doing and they

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00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:56.000
saw how we were able to continue
developing the economy locally for our our neighborhood,

368
00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.319
and they were like, we want
in on that. How do we

369
00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:03.000
help do it? I think that's
been really fun and certainly surprising to see

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00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:07.880
how the community has stepped up to
support us when sometimes where the spooky places

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00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:11.440
it only opens for two months.
Let's really not talk to the people over

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00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:15.880
there in the corner, and we're
a main staple and Salt Lake at this

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00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:19.480
point and we're happy to do some
cool stuff. Today's episode was produced and

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00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:26.039
edited by me Philip Hernandez with post
production by David Swape and original music composed

375
00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:30.160
by Chris Thomas. We're counting down
to Halloween with daily podcasts, videos,

376
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:33.799
and events in our sixty one day
Hantathon. Follow along at the link in

377
00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.440
our show notes. Our Hantathon is
made possible through generous support from Gantum,

378
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:41.519
Lighty and Controls. Gantum illuminates attractions
worldwide with the world's smallest intelligent spotlights.

379
00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:47.079
See what you're missing with a free
demo. Sign up at d'antum dot com

380
00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:52.480
slash demo. That's gantum dot com
slash demo. Our Hauntathon team includes Daryl

381
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:59.160
Plunky, Emily Luis Rua, Megan
Spells, Gavin Burns and omni Adventures and

382
00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.160
our content part for this year include
Attractions Magazine, Creepy Kingdom, Freaks of

383
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:10.200
Jgen, hont Topic Radio, Kevin
Heinbach News TV, omni Adventures, Scare

384
00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:14.599
Track, Sharp Productions, That Halloween
Podcast, The Horror of Being, Emily

385
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:18.319
The Scare Factor, and This Weekend
with Nick Pealiochini. The best way you

386
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.920
can support us this Halloween season is
by sharing our haunted on with someone you

387
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:26.240
think we'll enjoy it, and to
follow along to our Haunted on sign up

388
00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:30.119
for our weekly newsletter at hant Attraction
Network dot com. We'll catch you back

389
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:36.680
here tomorrow and every day until Halloween. Until next time, say scary.

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00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:41.000
This is a Haunted Attraction Network prod.