Oct. 31, 2024

From Farm to Fear: The Evolution of Halloween at Maan Farms

From Farm to Fear: The Evolution of Halloween at Maan Farms

Discover how Maan Farms in Abbotsford, Canada, transformed Halloween from a simple corn maze in 2013 into one of Canada’s largest multi-attraction events.

Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Soundcloud podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconSoundcloud podcast player icon

Discover how Maan Farms in Abbotsford, Canada, transformed Halloween from a simple corn maze in 2013 into one of Canada’s largest multi-attraction events. In this episode, Farmer Amir Maan shares the family’s journey, diving into the design of their signature attractions—The Slaughterhouse, The Way Down, and Homestead—and how each offers a unique level of terror. We explore the farm’s evolution and different businesses, balancing tradition with innovation and the strategic decisions behind their Halloween event’s explosive growth. Join us to uncover the business and creativity fueling the scariest corn maze in Canada.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.759
This family owned farm in Canada has turned Halloween into

2
00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.640
one of its most popular seasons, growing from a simple

3
00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:18.440
corn maze into a multi attraction experience over the last

4
00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:26.160
eleven years. That's coming up on today's show from the

5
00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.160
Haunted Attraction Network. I'm Philip and this is our annual

6
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.039
Hauntathon where we're counting down to Halloween by celebrating Haunted

7
00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:35.719
House's daily via videos, podcast, articles, and more. To stay

8
00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.759
in the loop, subscribed to our weekly newsletter linked in

9
00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:42.439
the show notes. Man Farms in Abertsford, Canada began as

10
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.600
a traditional family farm, but has expanded over the years

11
00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:50.000
to become a diverse agritourism destination with Halloween offerings at

12
00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:53.719
the forefront. Originally starting with a basic Haunted corn maze

13
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.320
in twenty thirteen, the farm has now developed into a

14
00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.960
full Halloween experience featuring three main attractions in twenty ten

15
00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.399
twenty four the Slaughterhouse, the Way Down, and Homestead.

16
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.319
Each attraction offers.

17
00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.439
A unique level of intensity. Slaughterhouse is a white knuckle

18
00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:12.239
experience complete with chainsaws and intense scares. The Way Down

19
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:16.079
immerses guests in a blind, disoriented journey with sensory deprivation

20
00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.920
Tactics and Homestead is the most intense experience where groups

21
00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.200
of eight experience six rooms of challenges over a twenty

22
00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:26.719
minute show. All three attractions operate alongside in midway with food,

23
00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.400
games and an opening ceremony, making Man Farms holding event

24
00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.879
one of the most intense and interactive experiences in the region.

25
00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:36.599
That is, of course, in addition to their other businesses,

26
00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.719
which we get into in this interview. Today, I'm joined

27
00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.799
by a mere Man who shares insights into the farm's evolution,

28
00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:46.239
the challenges of running a haunt within a working farm,

29
00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:49.599
and how they've continued to innovate every year. This interview

30
00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.560
dives deep into their design process and the families approach

31
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.840
to agritourism, so be prepared to take notes. And most

32
00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:59.519
of the interview was left entirely raw and unedited because

33
00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:01.200
there's a lot going on here and I thought it

34
00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.680
would be fine to kind of just leave the conversation.

35
00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:05.560
In its natural flow.

36
00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:09.080
Here we go in three two one.

37
00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.240
My name is amry Man, also known as Farmer Meir

38
00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:17.319
Farmer Director. I do business strategy and agriculture innovation. Month

39
00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:22.960
Farms is agriculture forward company that we cultivate over one

40
00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:26.919
hundred and sixty acres. We focus on strawberries, raspberry, bruberries, pumpkins,

41
00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:30.800
and corn. We wholesale, we sell direct to the public,

42
00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:33.759
and then we also use our products and different types

43
00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:37.280
of value added items along with the fourth part, which

44
00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:41.319
is maybe as big as everything else, is experiences we

45
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.039
offer on farm, So that's our company as a nutshell.

46
00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.639
In February and March is when we start working on

47
00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.520
strawberries inside of greenhouses, and then in April we're focused

48
00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.400
more on Easter events, and then May and June we

49
00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.479
get into strawberry season, which is a big bulk of

50
00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.439
our agriculture farmwork, and that carries all the way throughout

51
00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.479
the summer. As school ends, we start pushing and we

52
00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.800
start seeing a lot of public participating in our on

53
00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.840
farm experiences along with our events and zester, which is

54
00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:13.879
very popular as well. And then throughout all this we're

55
00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:17.159
selling wine to over four hundred diferent liquor stores throughout

56
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:20.719
BC and Alberta and a little bit in the States.

57
00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:24.400
And then near September and October we have our daytime

58
00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.599
offering for fall and our nighttime offering for falls well

59
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:31.080
for Haunted. Our business is categorized, and I would say

60
00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:35.280
revenue streams is our strawberry production, our on farm experiences

61
00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:36.800
in our winery.

62
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.520
And then of course it is a multi generational family.

63
00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:43.159
That's right business. You know, your grandparents started it originally, correct,

64
00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.240
then and then it's your parents and then now you

65
00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:47.639
and you have three siblings one hundred percent.

66
00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:50.319
Yeah, this is it's a family farm operation. And then

67
00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.639
there's my sister Prina. She lives in Richmond, which is

68
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:55.759
about an hour and ten minutes away from here. She's

69
00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.759
still involved in the managerial side. And then I have

70
00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.680
another older sister name is Grileen. She does more of

71
00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.319
the retail side, the food innovation, and she's like our

72
00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.319
celebrity spokesperson. She's been on all these different shows. She

73
00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:09.639
does got yoga. And then my brother who's younger than me.

74
00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:11.960
I'm older my brother he does all the winery side

75
00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:14.879
of things and also helps with economics and financial planning.

76
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.720
And myself I focus on the agriculture of the innovation

77
00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:20.000
and on farm experiences.

78
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:21.439
And then my father and.

79
00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:23.600
My mother are very much involved in pretty much recentle

80
00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:27.160
aspect and yeah, and recently we just purchased another properties

81
00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:27.959
while down the road.

82
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.600
Okay, we're here talking because you do a massive Halloween

83
00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.600
event that has both a daytime and a nighttime component.

84
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.000
So give us the very broad strokes of the daytime

85
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:38.079
and the nighttime components.

86
00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:38.920
Yeah, definitely.

87
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.600
Our daytime starts in her first week of September. We

88
00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.560
like to follow the Starbucks transition of pumpkin spice lattes.

89
00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:48.920
We love to follow that earlier and earlier, and we

90
00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:53.360
love to do that and that involves our farm attractions

91
00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.480
which we have. We're eleven different farm attractions from a

92
00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.240
zip line, to animals, to pedal trikes to you know,

93
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.839
jumping pillows and whatever. But then along with the main

94
00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:06.040
items is like our pumpkin patch in the forest, which

95
00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.800
is very important. That's one of the first in Canada,

96
00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.639
along with a merry goldfield which is brand new this year.

97
00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:12.839
So it's Marygolds that.

98
00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.079
We like to celebrate our heritage of being from India

99
00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.399
and sick and also our Hispanic culture that we have

100
00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.759
in BC as well is very prominent. But in the nighttime,

101
00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.720
I say six o'clock, we really get into spooky spirit

102
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:29.600
twenty one nights out of the year. This year, the

103
00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:33.000
first night for that was a twenty seventh of September

104
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:37.959
and then that that is a operation which entangles three

105
00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:43.399
different attractions along with a midway opening ceremony and over

106
00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.920
about one hundred and ten employees, about six c seventy

107
00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.120
five of them are actors, almost eighty of them are

108
00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.360
actors and the rest thirty are mixed in with support

109
00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:59.279
employees ticketing a managerial and insistent management. But our nighttime Haunt,

110
00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.800
because we're focused all that is mostly based off of

111
00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:06.079
actors and as actor based, so we take great pride

112
00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.240
in learning from some of the best hunts in the world.

113
00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:10.319
One of them that always set out to me from

114
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:12.560
the very beginning, I think because of how they did

115
00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.839
the managerial side of things was Eastern State Penitentiary.

116
00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.680
I've always taken some of the cues and how to

117
00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:20.639
break up operations.

118
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.000
And we first started with just a scariest corn maze

119
00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.199
in Canada, and even before that, it was just me

120
00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:29.279
running around in a cornfield with my mom and my

121
00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:30.759
dad with my friends when I.

122
00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:32.879
Was a great time and it wasn't really anything, but

123
00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:33.639
it was fun for us.

124
00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:37.199
And then we dropped it for a few years, and

125
00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:39.680
then it came back and I said, Okay, let's really

126
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.920
give this a proper goal and refigure out how to

127
00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.040
make a corn maze into a haunted corn maze.

128
00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:46.920
And that was twenty thirteen, that's right.

129
00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.560
It was at that point it was really just you

130
00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.279
put actors in the corn and let people kind of

131
00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:51.800
wander through.

132
00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:52.040
Right.

133
00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:54.319
Well, I was in university and I knew we had

134
00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:56.319
this area of land available because we had just bought

135
00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:58.959
this property right next door and we did our daytime

136
00:06:59.000 --> 00:06:59.480
corn maze.

137
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.240
But doing the whole whole thing into a corners didn't

138
00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:01.879
really make sense.

139
00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:06.240
So I mapped out a path, singular path that kind

140
00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.040
of went as far as I could and coming back

141
00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:12.240
through the cornfield, and I built just shacks out of

142
00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:14.879
two by fours and tie deek because I wanted to

143
00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.279
figure out the cheapest and easiest way for us to

144
00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:19.720
prevent rain from falling in on the actors. I hung

145
00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.240
some fake bodies radiostrand wrap and straw which we still make,

146
00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.079
and put a little bit of lights and sound in there,

147
00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:29.240
and every time a group of show up, I'd whistle

148
00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:32.160
to let other actors know that hey, someone's here, and

149
00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:34.040
we promoted it on newspaper.

150
00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:36.800
Social media was just becoming a thing. We made a

151
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:37.600
couple of posts here and.

152
00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.040
There, right, it would have been yeah, yeah, it was

153
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.279
just just becoming Facebook, right, that's what it was, what

154
00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:44.920
it was, and so we put it in a newspaper

155
00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.519
and then I think maybe we had four.

156
00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:51.920
Hundred people come. Right. We were happy, we were beyond happy.

157
00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:55.079
And then the following year we just expanded and tried

158
00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.040
to make it a little bit better every single year.

159
00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.759
And then I can't remember what year it was, but

160
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.240
decided to call it Scariest Corminations in Canada because after

161
00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:06.079
of doing it a few years, I really realized that

162
00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:10.399
people want to adhere to some sort of niche and

163
00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.240
that's what they want to pay for something that's really

164
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:14.399
particular and they're really.

165
00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:15.000
Easy to understand.

166
00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.240
Yeah, sometimes humans need to a box so they can

167
00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:19.920
understand what it is very quickly, you know. And your

168
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.160
job is to different your business from the other businesses,

169
00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:24.279
and part of that is being like, you know, it's this,

170
00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:27.639
but this We mentioned Eastern State. But when they rebranded,

171
00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.959
they called it a Halloween Festival because they wanted to

172
00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:32.679
take it out of the box of a haunt.

173
00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.039
They want they want they want to know the expectation

174
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.240
of what they're bying for right, and so we had

175
00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:39.679
a hard time really conveying that with some of the

176
00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:41.759
social media and marketing that we did, and I don't

177
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:42.720
really know how to do it better.

178
00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:44.519
I knew if we give it a really strong name

179
00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:45.679
and we really.

180
00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.039
Focused on that's what we did every single night, then

181
00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:49.960
we really come across as something.

182
00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:51.679
Different and it gives you a north star. Yeah, you

183
00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:53.480
know exactly, because you're like, we want to.

184
00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:54.000
Make it scary.

185
00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:57.039
So it helps you with your decision choices because you know,

186
00:08:57.080 --> 00:08:59.840
if you're trying to tell a story, you're doing something different,

187
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.399
and if you're just trying to startle a guest, there

188
00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:05.159
are different building techniques, right, Yeah.

189
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.120
So I didn't want to be as crazy as some

190
00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:09.320
of those people where it's okay, you get through this,

191
00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:11.480
we might pull your teeth out, but you win twenty

192
00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:11.960
thousand dollars.

193
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.240
I don't want to do anything like that.

194
00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.159
I really still wanted where people walking through and they

195
00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:18.600
have a blast. So the first year we called it that,

196
00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.120
we had a two and a half hour lineup for entrance.

197
00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:24.200
I was like, oh shit, now I got something here.

198
00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.120
I got to do something about this. And then I said, okay,

199
00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.200
what can we do next. Number one need to increase

200
00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.320
to take a price. So my mom, she's very business savvy.

201
00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.919
She's very strong with we need to charge more, becauxistently

202
00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.759
continuously charge more throughout the years because our costs are

203
00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.639
always going higher, and she's always looking the numbers. And

204
00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.080
along with that, you can't just charge more, but you

205
00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.320
have to also add more. So we started adding more

206
00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:50.559
attractions into play and then we did the forest, so

207
00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:51.440
the force was great.

208
00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:55.639
Then we added Homestead. Homestead was great, which is more immersive.

209
00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.080
But then I really thought about, Okay, how can we

210
00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.320
separate ourselves from the local competition and how can we

211
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.720
really be more of the fun haunt. That's what I

212
00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.960
want to do is people laugh and giggy giddy, and

213
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:13.360
when they leave focus on experiences. I want them to

214
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.159
feel like they get a different experience. So that's why

215
00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.399
I always say the scariest corme is counted Out Slaughterhouse.

216
00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:20.960
That's our iconic attraction. It's a white knuckle experience. It's

217
00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.879
the one where you run away from chainsaws okay, the

218
00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.039
way down. It's the one where you get bag over

219
00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:30.799
your head right away, boom different. And then Homestead it's

220
00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:34.080
interactive it's immersive, so you still do get touched the

221
00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:36.679
way down. You do get touched at Homestead, but you'll

222
00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.039
get tied to a chair, you'll get put into a coffin,

223
00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.159
you'll get separated from your group, you'll get fed, you'll

224
00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.320
get you have to drink something. You'll see someone get

225
00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:46.840
cut in half, and you'll see blood getting gushed out,

226
00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:47.559
almost hitting.

227
00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:47.919
You in the face.

228
00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:51.600
So that's where we've really tried to hit interactivity in immersiveness.

229
00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:53.320
The way Down is where we put a bag over

230
00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:56.000
your head, and then Slaughterhouse is where your white neckle.

231
00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:58.799
Experience, essentially where we are now in twenty twenty four.

232
00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.159
So we started in twenty thirteen, now in twenty twenty four.

233
00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.799
In twenty twenty four, you open twenty one nights, you said,

234
00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.639
and you have three attractions that are separate.

235
00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:08.679
It's not a continuous line.

236
00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:12.279
There separate attractions, plus and midway that ties them all together.

237
00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:16.080
And that is in addition to the regular items that

238
00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.000
they could experience during the day, but also open at night.

239
00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.000
So you have the food, you have that those elements,

240
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.080
and of course the farm itself. So right now it's

241
00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.919
in a situation very much like a regional park where

242
00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:29.159
you can come and spend a whole day conceivably, because

243
00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:31.679
you could do the daytime experience and then you know,

244
00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.559
you could also stay for the night time, but they

245
00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.840
are separate because the nighttime obviously is appealing to older people.

246
00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.919
Ticket Wise, can you is it all one ticket or

247
00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:43.679
do you buy each attraction separately?

248
00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.919
It's separate, Okay, your daytime ticket and your nighttime ticket

249
00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:49.519
are different. Yeah, but when you get a nighttime ticket,

250
00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:52.120
there's three different ticket options. It's Slaughterhouse, the Way Down,

251
00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:56.279
and Homestead. It's Slaughterhouse or the Way Down. And because

252
00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.440
Homestead is more interactive, it's homesteaded on its own.

253
00:11:58.519 --> 00:11:58.679
Yeah.

254
00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:00.440
I was going to ask about that because clearly it

255
00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.240
sounds like there's a difference in the through puts.

256
00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:03.720
That's right.

257
00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.960
So you know Homestead is like low through put, that's right.

258
00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.519
The Slaughterhouse is high through put, that's right. And so

259
00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:11.799
you have to limit the capacity of homes that I

260
00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:12.720
assume exactly.

261
00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:15.440
Yeah, so that's limited. So it's twenty minute experience for

262
00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:16.480
a group. How does that?

263
00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:19.759
Yeah, it's a ten to twenty minute experience based off

264
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:21.639
of what night it is this year. You get six

265
00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:26.120
different scenes, including the entry scene and there's about twenty

266
00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:26.840
different actors.

267
00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.080
The first scene is more of a cave, and then there's.

268
00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:32.559
Stairs that never supposed to be stairs, or someone walks

269
00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:33.720
down the stairs.

270
00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:34.799
Which just blows your mind.

271
00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.679
And then I try to make every single scene completely

272
00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.039
different to where when the door opens, like holy craps,

273
00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:41.879
a brand new world.

274
00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.919
And are you there with other people or is it

275
00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:44.519
just your group?

276
00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.879
So you're there with on a busy night, we'll put

277
00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:48.639
you up to maximum seven people.

278
00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.320
Oh wow, we do almost almost.

279
00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.200
Five hundred and fifty people there at night, okay, yeah,

280
00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.600
and within three hours. We try to make the savings

281
00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.559
dramatic enough to where it's a no brainer to purchase

282
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.519
to all three pass and then so we always tell

283
00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:03.159
that out first.

284
00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:05.679
Then we have to start selling the slaughterhouse and the

285
00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.720
way down. Yeah, because then your home set is maximum

286
00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:08.519
homess maxed out.

287
00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:10.759
Yeah, and so then always happens yeah, correct, So it

288
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:11.840
increases per tap.

289
00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:15.159
So basically your that ticket is limited to your home seat.

290
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:16.480
That's right, Yeah, that's right.

291
00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.720
The second reason which is so annoying about Homestead is

292
00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.679
that the set, deck and experiences have.

293
00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:24.440
To be brad new every year. Oh yeah, because.

294
00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.639
People spend time in there, they'll remember, do you remember

295
00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.840
if there's only six rooms? Yeah, right, you're going to remember, Yeah,

296
00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:31.960
which is a good and a bad thing. I mean,

297
00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.799
you want them to. That's why they're paying a premium

298
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:36.720
really honestly for that that room. And it is a

299
00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:39.120
premium because if it's twenty five dollars and it's you know,

300
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.840
a twenty minute, that's a dollar minute. I mean that's

301
00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:43.919
a that's a pretty high caliber. Yeah, it's a high caliber.

302
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.200
So but yeah, you're right, it does require you to

303
00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.440
change sets, and then you could use that time instead

304
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.080
to expand attraction, which could overall expand your potential ticket sales. Yeah.

305
00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.679
Yeah, Yeah, it's making me think as we talk, because

306
00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.559
I've had these thoughts. I haven't been able to articulate

307
00:13:57.559 --> 00:13:59.159
them to anyone but by myself.

308
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.039
But it takes me but four weeks to prepare homestead

309
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:03.200
to the.

310
00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.919
Way it is, and we really only have maybe six

311
00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:07.679
and a half weeks for the entire haunt to prepare.

312
00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.279
That's all we have because of how busy we are

313
00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.639
with our strawberries or fall and then everything else happening.

314
00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.840
Yeah, plus for people listening, it is outdoors, and so

315
00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.159
we're here the day we're recording. You can do the

316
00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.879
event with the ring because there's too many risks involved

317
00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.360
in it. It's money and whatnot. But that's another thing.

318
00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:28.120
Those of you that do outdoor haunts understand, you get

319
00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.919
less build time because the weather can set you back.

320
00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.679
Not only can it impact your operating schedule, but you know,

321
00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.559
the people in Florida will know the hurricane comes through

322
00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:40.720
and then you have to go and fix your haunt.

323
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.480
I mean, so it really is difficult when you have

324
00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:46.080
an outdoor experience, very difficult because.

325
00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:46.240
Of the weather.

326
00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:51.320
But as as years go by, we're learning that we

327
00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.679
need to focus on what people love to do and

328
00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.039
what's sufficient for us to put on and for us

329
00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:00.519
to actually also exceed expectations because it's so while putting

330
00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.799
homestead together, it's always so much work, and it's always the.

331
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.279
Number one contingency of why I love Haunted.

332
00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.279
But then I'm like, shit, I'm going to sleep with

333
00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.440
my eyes open, and I want to sleep with my

334
00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:13.600
eyes closed, you know what I mean.

335
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:20.600
Ever, so, essentially started off as a regular as a farm,

336
00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.559
and then a little bit of selling produce, and then

337
00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.919
you expanded into aggritourism with the daytime and the nighttime offerings.

338
00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:30.240
But I think we talked already about you know, you're

339
00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:33.799
balancing that because essentially the different people are working on it.

340
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.639
You have a full multi generational family, and then you

341
00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:39.080
have your other managers, and so you're able to you know,

342
00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:41.080
you're able to focus on this stuff and it's not

343
00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.039
going to impact the rest of the business because you're

344
00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:45.559
working on this. Yeah, right, So you're balancing it in

345
00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:47.960
that way, because I think sometimes it's it's difficult.

346
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.399
We jumped over a lot. Let me, let me just

347
00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:50.600
kind of reframe that. Yeah.

348
00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.759
So when I was going through Universe or high school

349
00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:56.120
in grade nine, my mom put the pettings you in

350
00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.240
and I thought, mad, this petting zoo is.

351
00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:01.759
Going to be ating stock of als. I didn't really

352
00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.679
like it. I was a great to have a grade EID,

353
00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:05.039
and I told my parents that. I was like, what

354
00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:05.480
are you doing?

355
00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.600
My mom had already experienced, and my dad she always

356
00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:10.600
had a different idea. She put the Gotel six in

357
00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.279
and everybody kind of learned about the Gotel six. Then

358
00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:17.000
we started charging two dollars per entry for the gotel

359
00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.320
and all that. And then in twenty fourteen, after we

360
00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:22.679
had built the farm marketing and we were already selling produces.

361
00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:23.480
That was our focus.

362
00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:25.600
We had ended up having a fire that year because

363
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.320
I was fourteen and someone came and built an entire

364
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.679
farm market down. So this is this is actually as

365
00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.080
you walked inside, it's a greenhouse, because that was the

366
00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:35.200
quickest thing for us to build and get permitted. But

367
00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.320
before this, we had a second story facility which was

368
00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.039
I think it costs back then to one point something

369
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:40.759
million to build.

370
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.080
Someone just lived on fire the first year and so

371
00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:43.720
we lost it.

372
00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:46.480
And then that was the same year where my brother

373
00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.039
and I were getting more involved. This was I was

374
00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:51.120
fifteen now than January, and I said, what are we

375
00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.600
supposed to do? And I learned about this organization called NAFTMA,

376
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.080
and my mom said you should go.

377
00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.279
So I went to it.

378
00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:58.840
My dad, my brother and I went to it, and

379
00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:03.039
we learned expanded what our eyes of what averaturism is

380
00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.119
and what on farm fun experiences are. And I did

381
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.079
some of my business research of learning about where there's

382
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.440
gaps in the market and where are you swat analysis

383
00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:14.400
and how.

384
00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:15.079
To really be different.

385
00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:17.599
And we started putting in a couple of attractions in

386
00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.640
which was a jumping bill that used to be here,

387
00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:23.000
a zip line, a go court trap, and a play

388
00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:23.240
for it.

389
00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.400
We did it all within two months and we opened

390
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.960
it and we were busy every day, every day busy, and.

391
00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.759
I was like, Okay, this is because of that competency

392
00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.000
that I knew earlier on in school. Now I'm getting

393
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.279
confidence in my business decisions that I can make because

394
00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.319
at this point, this was almost ten years ago, so

395
00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:41.799
I was twenty one when we decided to do this.

396
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.559
And then I learned that.

397
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:48.920
Having fun form things and experiences are great, and my

398
00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.559
mom I really bought into my mom was saying, and

399
00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.480
that's what really kind of put me into the driving

400
00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:57.400
seed of on farm experiences at Man Farms.

401
00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:59.599
And then at the same time, my brother was kind

402
00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:01.599
of getting through university and he did his business and

403
00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:02.519
economics degree.

404
00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.960
My sister was working somewhere else at that point, and

405
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:06.359
my dad said, well, what are we going to do

406
00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:07.240
with all this extra fruit?

407
00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:09.720
Let's make a winery. Who's going to run this winery?

408
00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:11.799
All right, GOREV, You're going to do the winery to

409
00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:12.599
my brother.

410
00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:18.000
And my brother really I'm not sure if he loved it,

411
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.400
but when he started getting into the intricacies of what

412
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.559
wine making is and the business side of things.

413
00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:25.519
He loved sales, so he really.

414
00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.599
Spearheaded the sales side of things of the winery.

415
00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.119
And if you have great sales, you have to push

416
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:31.000
to have more product.

417
00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.839
So we've been pushing that all the way up until

418
00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:37.039
now to where we're at four hundred different data stores

419
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.480
and it's a large revenue source for our business. And

420
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.920
then my sister came back into the picture in two

421
00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.200
thousand and maybe seventeen, I think it was, and that's

422
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:50.200
when she transitioned from her corporate job in Vancouver into

423
00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.400
on farm living and the goat yoga and all that

424
00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:52.799
kind of.

425
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.240
Camera to be.

426
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:57.720
And over those years of traveling the world and looking

427
00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.359
at different experiences of being to Eastern State Penitenttry and

428
00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.960
some of the best haunts in the world and some

429
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:05.680
of the best farms in the world. Because now I'm

430
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:08.880
a Board of Directors of NAPTIMA member, third year serving,

431
00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:17.000
I've learned that farming has to be farming. It can

432
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.519
be sorry, farming can be agriculture based, but it can

433
00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:23.079
also be fun. And for me as a person, if

434
00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:24.119
it's not fun.

435
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:24.680
I won't do it.

436
00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.079
I won't do it if any part of the business

437
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.839
becomes Okay, I'm not having any fun anymore.

438
00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:30.599
I just won't do it.

439
00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.319
Doesn't matter how lucrative it is, it's really not worth

440
00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:37.119
it because your heart's not in it, and then it

441
00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:37.799
does fail at the.

442
00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:38.359
End of the days.

443
00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:40.359
That's kind of where I've seen it, and I've been

444
00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:42.799
so blessed and grateful, and my family has been so

445
00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.960
blessed and grateful to be a part of this journey

446
00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:47.200
the last ten years to see where Man Farms has grown.

447
00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:53.279
Yeah, got it. So I think what I'm hearing is

448
00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.240
just from my perspective. I am hearing that you all

449
00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:02.000
are able to expand and keep multiple revenue streams because

450
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.319
you have the talent to do so, and also that

451
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.400
you trust each other.

452
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:06.640
I mean it helps to your family.

453
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.000
I mean, you know it's not you know, other corporations

454
00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:10.799
can do this too, but it also helps that you

455
00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.920
have the family, and all the family wants to be involved.

456
00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:15.599
You know, you when your sister came back and she

457
00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:17.440
wanted and so it's if it was just one of

458
00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:19.359
you and you had to run make sure you're doing

459
00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.680
the strawberries and the winery and haunted daytime and night

460
00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:25.200
time and be impossible, but so you're you know, it's

461
00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:27.720
kind of like your grandparents and then your parents, they're

462
00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:30.559
able to grow because of you guys, because your spear

463
00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:33.480
heading whole new sectors of revenue, and then you're able

464
00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:35.359
to do it in a way that doesn't impact Haunted

465
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:39.039
is not interfering with the winery.

466
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.680
Do you think they don't even know anything haunt?

467
00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.039
I think that's what I'm trying to say, because the

468
00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:45.920
reason I point that out is actually because that's not

469
00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:49.279
the norm normally, because you know, there are many haunts

470
00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:51.680
that have bars, but then they need to close the

471
00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.519
bar to open the haunt because they don't have enough parking,

472
00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.680
or because they need to take the bar backs and

473
00:20:57.720 --> 00:20:59.599
they have to go and run the alcohol to that

474
00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:04.119
I mean they need, so they end up cannibalizing each

475
00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.960
other side, or even just the time, if it's only

476
00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.839
one owner and the owner doesn't have a team, they can't,

477
00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:14.039
you know, they can't deal with the updates and the

478
00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:16.960
liquor license and then also open a hanted house. Right,

479
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.799
So it's interesting to me that you're able to maintain

480
00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:23.400
that the farm. You know, your family is able to

481
00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:27.240
maintain different businesses because you have a sibling that is

482
00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:28.839
spearheading each leg.

483
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.799
Yeah yeah, he's the director of that. Yeah yeah, yeah.

484
00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:38.559
Okay, so let's see we only briefly touched on this,

485
00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.839
but just the design process for the mazes and you

486
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.480
you introduce new elements, but it sounds like a lot

487
00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:46.640
of the new elements come from Homestead because it's the

488
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:50.680
one that's most intensive. But the but as everyone knows

489
00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:54.000
with outdoor experiences, one does not simply reopen the maze, right,

490
00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.880
It doesn't stay constant. You have to redo it each

491
00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:00.000
year basically, So how does the design process work?

492
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.240
Though?

493
00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:03.240
In terms of when you're sitting out to plan out

494
00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.759
whether or not you're going to add a new attraction

495
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.079
or retire one? Is that holy you? And are you

496
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:13.200
doing it based off of customer feedback and sales or

497
00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.000
are you doing it based off of you know, you're like, well,

498
00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:17.599
I'm tired of Homestead now, so we're not going to

499
00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:18.000
do it again?

500
00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:18.920
Or how does that work?

501
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:22.920
I think it comes down to the best interest for

502
00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:26.400
the business as a whole, and it has to do

503
00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:31.559
with I think it's zero emotion and it has to

504
00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.680
be a business decision. In my opinion of how to

505
00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:40.480
how much to invest in, what attraction and how And

506
00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.599
I think over the years we've done a great job

507
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:48.359
of doing this and really stepped up the farm and

508
00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:53.000
the haunt hand in hand one year the next and

509
00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:59.240
I've really really am very seeing how very much, like

510
00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.079
I just want to says it so much is that

511
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.119
innovation and continue to innovation, but really serious and meaningful

512
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.200
innovation is your north.

513
00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:12.400
It's your ticket if you innovate strong enough.

514
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.000
For say, I just want to give the pumpkin pats example,

515
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.240
the pumpkin pats in the forest that no one's seen

516
00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.759
here on the West coast of Canada, and then also

517
00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:25.079
in all of Canada. It will beat through your recession,

518
00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.960
it will be through your election, it will beat through

519
00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:32.880
shitty reviews or anything you've done in the past, because

520
00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:36.319
that one experience that someone shares that first year, ah,

521
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:37.519
let's go try it looks good.

522
00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:38.559
We've had some media here.

523
00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:42.400
Then the next year, which is this year, we are

524
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.880
blowing through our numbers of how many people have been here,

525
00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:48.480
where I'm seeing every farm in the in the area

526
00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.480
down and I think that is that's just an example.

527
00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.039
But I think we've done a great job on our

528
00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:56.759
farm side of things are full side of things because

529
00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:57.319
they needed it.

530
00:23:57.880 --> 00:23:59.759
And the number one person that's Spearheads, that is me

531
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:01.880
of like where we need to innovate, how hard we

532
00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:02.440
need to innovate?

533
00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:05.920
The midway idea was me as how to expand those

534
00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.240
areas in there was me and then standing strawberry, you

535
00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.640
pick it was me and then like now the haunted

536
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:15.359
side of things from we had Pitch Black before we

537
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:19.119
had a home set. Right, Pitch Black was something great

538
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.640
because no one's ever seen it before.

539
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.000
But the reason why I did Pitch Black is because

540
00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:24.920
I built it in a week and a half.

541
00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:29.200
Because it was fucking eight containers put together completely dark.

542
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:30.400
You can't see what you're going through.

543
00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:34.960
Oh now you can't see some actors yelling at people, right,

544
00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:36.319
But people will pay for it?

545
00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:38.359
And is it a competitive experience?

546
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:41.720
Don't discount it because now you haven't spent bested two

547
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:44.599
hundred thousand dollars into it. But think about the experience

548
00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:46.680
side of things, and if everyone thinks more about the

549
00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:49.680
experience side of things, is that a win for the industry?

550
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:54.000
Maybe? I think it might be great. Is it a

551
00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:56.119
knock at anyone that has beautiful sets?

552
00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:56.400
No?

553
00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:58.359
I think they go hand in hand. I think you

554
00:24:58.440 --> 00:24:58.920
need both.

555
00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:03.039
So yeah, I think kind of what I'm hearing from

556
00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:06.519
what you're saying is that you need to you reference

557
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:09.319
this earlier, but I think it applies in this instance.

558
00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:14.279
But basically, you're aware of your demographics and your competitive landscape,

559
00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:17.079
and you are aware of where the gaps in the

560
00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:20.279
market are. Continues every year, you're aware where the gaps are,

561
00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:22.079
and then you're able to say, Okay, you know what,

562
00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:27.000
blackout cannot differentiate it enough anymore because X, Y, Z

563
00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:29.039
or whatever, this farm over here is now doing it,

564
00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.319
and so now there's market confusion or whatever. So actually

565
00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:33.240
we're going to change it over into homestead where it's

566
00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.279
not blackout anymore. It's homestead and it you know, we're

567
00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:38.240
going to take the pumpkin pass and we're going to

568
00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:40.079
put it in a forest because all the other farms

569
00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:42.000
have pumpkin patches, but nobody has them in a forest.

570
00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.160
So that's how So everything we do has to be

571
00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.160
the only has to be differentiated where the customer knows

572
00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:49.200
if it's this thing, it's only here.

573
00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:52.079
That's right, one hundred percent, and that's yeah, that's a

574
00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:55.119
great way to articulate it's that's literally it. And so

575
00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.240
last year what we did is what I've been struggling

576
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.440
with haunted houses for being a seasonal operation and having

577
00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:06.799
to recreate, like as you said, on an outdoor farm.

578
00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:08.400
Is that what's the theme going to be?

579
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:09.480
Right?

580
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.440
Because Okay, you did aliens this year, brand new set

581
00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:14.680
of mass, brand new design, brand new everything.

582
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:19.480
Now you're doing clowns, brand new everything. You know, but if.

583
00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:25.160
You use your environment to your advantage, now you've done

584
00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:29.039
a synergiestic leap towards being more sustainable from year after

585
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:30.400
year of redesigning.

586
00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:33.480
So what I decided to do was to find something which.

587
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:38.200
Was very ingrained in our culture of being a haunt

588
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.240
but then also being lending itself to the farm in animals.

589
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.359
So I thought, which is would be great? Right? So

590
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:45.720
that's why we invented Agatha.

591
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:47.720
And we're going to continue to keep the Agatha theme

592
00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:49.519
going year after year after year because that's like the

593
00:26:49.559 --> 00:26:53.359
North Star, like the storyline. But then we have animal hybrids,

594
00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:56.319
we have grunts, we have farmhands. We do have some

595
00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:59.200
clowns because we like we love clowns. Yeah, I fucking

596
00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.279
love clouds. People love clown like the consumers like clowns. Yeah,

597
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.759
and so it makes it, yeah that they're one of them.

598
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.720
Have to have it. You have to have either clowns

599
00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:09.839
or zombies. Yeah, gotta, you gotta really gotta. I mean

600
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:11.720
you don't have to. There are money that don't, but

601
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:14.880
it is, it is, you know, their staples must have.

602
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:19.720
Yeah, So tell me a little bit about looking into

603
00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.119
the marketing side, who is the primary audience for the

604
00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:27.880
Haunted corn Maze and is that different from your day offering?

605
00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:30.960
And then in my brain and I'm just giving you,

606
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:32.960
you know, more context while you think about this, but

607
00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:36.440
basically generally how it works is that your your daytime thing.

608
00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:39.200
You know, you have a wider net with that because

609
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:42.680
it's it's a wider demographic thing. You know, usually scary

610
00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.279
stuff has a closer one. And then usually the goal

611
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.359
is how do we expand both circles? You know there's overlap,

612
00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.640
but how do we expand both of them? So I

613
00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:53.079
guess who is your audience with Haunted? And then do

614
00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.720
you notice that you're able to pull in people that

615
00:27:56.200 --> 00:27:58.559
don't normally do Halloween stuff because of you know, your

616
00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.480
proximity to your day Yeah, yeah, if that makes sense,

617
00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:03.000
I kind of know what I'm asking.

618
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:04.319
Yeah, yeah, what do you so, what do you mean

619
00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:05.079
about pulling in?

620
00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:07.720
Well, so you know, I mean, you have the daytime experience,

621
00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:10.559
and you can you can then kind of like potentially

622
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:14.400
you can upsell your daytime guests right into your time experiences,

623
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:17.799
even people who maybe never would have gone. But I mean,

624
00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.319
I guess, so we'll start at the first one. It's

625
00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:20.920
just who is your audience, you know?

626
00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:27.839
For Haunted, Yeah, our audience would be like younger, right, yeah, teenages, teenages, teenagers.

627
00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:30.519
But we have people that I would say is.

628
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:33.799
Teenagers or middle aged folks anywhere with thirty to forty

629
00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:35.839
is our main focus.

630
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:39.799
And your daytime is is fame time is families. Got it.

631
00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:43.039
But what I'm seeing now is that there's different types

632
00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:45.400
of aggaturves and operations out there. Some of the aggaturism

633
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:49.440
operations are focused more on photo opportunities, where others are

634
00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:51.279
focused on farm experiences.

635
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:53.279
So where do we kind of fall on that? I

636
00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:55.880
think man farms is getting muddy and that needs to

637
00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:56.400
be sorted.

638
00:28:56.839 --> 00:28:59.240
But if it gets sorted, there's an opportunity there, one

639
00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.960
percent opportunity there, and if that opportunity is synergestic with

640
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.880
the demographic variants. Then I think man farms can evolve

641
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.200
into the next stage what man farm is supposed to

642
00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:11.920
be for the next five to ten years. And that's

643
00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:14.799
where I think this new asset that we've purchased down

644
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.960
the road, the seventy acres and with the old buildings

645
00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:22.640
comes into play. So it's it's really really making a

646
00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:25.319
long term decision of where our growth factor is going

647
00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.799
to be and how we're going to service that big

648
00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:31.279
variance in demographics. The families who have kids that want

649
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:35.519
an on farm farm experience, between adults which are teenagers

650
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:36.880
to forty five.

651
00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:37.920
Which don't brings kids with them.

652
00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:41.319
Yep, what do those two different demographics want Because they are.

653
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:43.680
Different different, They're very different.

654
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.599
And they're so different enough that that family will come

655
00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:49.400
with their kid and then leave their kid at home

656
00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:51.599
and then come back for then a time stuff because

657
00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:54.359
they have a different vibe but sometimes the same It's

658
00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:56.400
like the same person, but it's a different.

659
00:29:57.640 --> 00:29:58.759
Day. Yeah.

660
00:29:59.079 --> 00:30:01.599
Well, and I guess to the larger point, right, the

661
00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:06.359
only well, I'll just ask it, we'll ask it a

662
00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:11.039
different way. But basically, how looking at Haunted, what would

663
00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:13.960
you do to double the attendance? Oh?

664
00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:18.319
So, this is. I love that question, right because I.

665
00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:20.839
Think it's similar to what we're talking about, right, because essentially,

666
00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:24.000
it's almost like sometimes you are capped out in a market, yeah,

667
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:24.720
and there's nothing.

668
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:26.680
It's not it's not bad marketing, it's not whatever.

669
00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:28.480
It's just like you're tapped out in a market just

670
00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:31.359
because of the amount of people that are interested in

671
00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:33.920
a spooky event. I mean, so, I don't know how

672
00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:35.720
close you are, but I'm just curious what you would

673
00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:40.160
do to double it because it's also infrastructural problems, parking,

674
00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:43.640
logistics of how how long people spend on site, there's

675
00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:44.960
a lot of Yeah.

676
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:48.200
So honestly, i'd love that you to benchmarking because I

677
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:50.519
want to learn more about where people are and so

678
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.079
I can get a better understanding because I'm a bit confused,

679
00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:53.680
to be honest.

680
00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.720
So it's you know, how how I would see why

681
00:30:57.839 --> 00:30:59.839
would you want to double? That's the number one question,

682
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:02.519
and so I would see that. Okay, if we.

683
00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:04.799
Want to gain more revenue as a company, and you

684
00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:07.279
feel like that's what you need to do to service

685
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.680
your stakeholders, meaning whatever it is, I think that we

686
00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:13.599
need to either add more products or services or we

687
00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:14.599
need to get a new market.

688
00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:16.799
Okay, Okay, that's where I kind of see your business

689
00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:17.160
kind of.

690
00:31:17.079 --> 00:31:18.680
So you kind of think you're kind of like where

691
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:22.160
you're thinking, you there's not as much growth potential in

692
00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:24.559
expanding the amount of people coming too haunted from your

693
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.119
current that current market.

694
00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:28.480
Yeah, I think there's two to two point five million

695
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.720
people that live within about two hour drive from here,

696
00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:36.240
and we are bringing in people from Oregon, Seattle, and

697
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:38.920
New Mexico. People flew in from just for this that

698
00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:42.240
we've seen. So I think that our marketing is spectacular.

699
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:44.839
We're probably one of the leaders for marketing on daytime

700
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:47.240
opportunities for sure, and on nighttime. I think that we

701
00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:49.839
do great job. We can probably do better. I think

702
00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.480
some of the areas where we could excel for adding

703
00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:57.680
maybe a percentage of increase of five to ten percent

704
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.000
is definitely there. Like we can make some meaningful differ

705
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:03.160
to increase our revenue by five to ten percent. But

706
00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:07.160
by doubling a revenue or doubling attendance, I think that

707
00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:10.119
we have to have a new.

708
00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:12.039
Product or service or we have to have a new

709
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:17.279
market share. Yep, exactly, Yeah, I think what does that mean?

710
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:19.839
I think, well, I think that's generally the right Well,

711
00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:21.200
I don't know if it's I don't know if there

712
00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.079
is a right approach because markets are different, right, But what.

713
00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:25.759
Does that mean though? It means scaling?

714
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:30.720
Yeah, so scaling, Okay, Now that's what kind of person

715
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:31.000
are you?

716
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:32.000
Are you ready to do that?

717
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.000
You know, that's the question. And I've been wanting to

718
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.400
scale for the last three years. Land acquisition around here is,

719
00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:43.799
like we spoke about earlier, is quarter million dollars per acre.

720
00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.079
And I would think that for us to have a

721
00:32:46.119 --> 00:32:50.400
meaningful impact and be closer to downtown, which Vancouver Downtown

722
00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:52.680
is an hour away, would be our ticket. And to

723
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:55.279
find something out there, you'd have to It's like a

724
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:58.240
needle in a haystack. So we do have some cards

725
00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:01.000
on the table. We're really working for it. And because

726
00:33:01.119 --> 00:33:02.440
you don't have it right now, it doesn't mean that

727
00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:05.279
it's going to happen not gonna happen later. So we're

728
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:08.599
young and we're dumb enough to give it a shot.

729
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:11.279
So why not try? And if it's not Vancouver, what

730
00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:14.359
are the other markets that we can do practically?

731
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.559
We're looking at those, Okay, we're.

732
00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:21.759
Meaningfully making a strong commitment to hopefully have something set

733
00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:22.319
up by next year.

734
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:24.039
It's not next year twenty twenty six, but.

735
00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:26.720
You're thinking it's gonna I mean you you would think

736
00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:30.039
it would be like an experience at a property, right,

737
00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:32.880
It's not going to be like opening a restaurant. R.

738
00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:34.480
I mean you know what I mean, Like it sounds

739
00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.200
like experience.

740
00:33:35.240 --> 00:33:38.200
Yeahah, it sounds like everything you're saying would be like

741
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:39.960
almost like an fec or.

742
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.279
You know, we're doing like a type of thing.

743
00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.000
Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, still still themed entertainment, yeah,

744
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:46.519
is what I mean.

745
00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:48.160
And then how do you how do you scale on

746
00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:49.640
multiple locations?

747
00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:52.039
Correct? Right, it's it's like the next thing.

748
00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:54.839
And so I think from all the research I've done,

749
00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:57.000
you need to have an operator who has an equity

750
00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:00.160
stake because you cannot spend time and effort to being

751
00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:02.640
that next location as you can at being both.

752
00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:04.359
You know, at being one you have to be.

753
00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:07.799
So you almost have to have an operator who builds

754
00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:10.599
himself up to have an equity steak or a small

755
00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:14.599
equity steak, something meaningful, or it's someone who's in your

756
00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:17.400
in your circle or even in your extended circle, that

757
00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:21.320
show's potential to almost be an equity stake position over

758
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:23.239
there to where they give a shit as much.

759
00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:23.519
As you do.

760
00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.519
Well, I think that's why you guys have been so successful.

761
00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.119
We talked about that earlier. I mean, everybody that has

762
00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:32.920
every major revenue stream in your business is headed by

763
00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:35.360
a part of the family, so it kind of gives

764
00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:39.880
them an incentive inherently. But in order to double a thing,

765
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:43.079
I mean, you can't. You don't have enough children.

766
00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:44.599
Years old.

767
00:34:44.599 --> 00:34:46.800
It's going to be a while. It's going to be

768
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:49.199
a while, but yeah, there's not enough. Yeah, you would

769
00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:51.880
need to you know, the amount of staff even involved.

770
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.199
I mean, yeah, there's a lot of.

771
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:54.880
And then you have to have the right person.

772
00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:58.000
You have to have the well, especially I think in

773
00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:01.239
markets like these, you need to have the right person.

774
00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:03.920
Yeah.

775
00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:08.400
Okay, so we already talked about the different revenue streams,

776
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:12.639
but I'm curious to talk about premium options or VIP experiences. Ye.

777
00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:16.880
You know, we talked a little bit earlier offline about

778
00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:20.480
the per cap and you're able to increase a little

779
00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.559
bit and then initially you had fast passes.

780
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:25.119
But do have the PA experience as a premium Yeah,

781
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:26.800
we do. So we do have a VIP experience. It

782
00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:29.400
gets you immediate access, so we had I needed access.

783
00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:31.360
Then we said, okay, let's put a VIP in. And

784
00:35:31.559 --> 00:35:32.760
it had to do with some.

785
00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:34.960
Of the advice we got from one of the haunters, Tullies,

786
00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:36.920
you know shocktober Fast and do you know them?

787
00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:39.280
They're incredible people. Yeah, I love them.

788
00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:41.519
So he said, just why are you not doing a

789
00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:43.960
VIP experience which is extremely highly ticket a price. It

790
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.039
will make everything look lower and then you're automatically increature

791
00:35:47.079 --> 00:35:49.599
per cap. So we decided to do that and it

792
00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:52.119
was actually a successful offering and it got you needed

793
00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:54.159
access so you don't have to wait in line at all.

794
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:56.639
It gave you like a witch hat. You got all

795
00:35:56.679 --> 00:35:58.760
of our treats that we get. It is included in it,

796
00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:01.079
like one of each or something, and it's you got

797
00:36:01.079 --> 00:36:05.199
a reserve seating. That's and you got reserved lineups like everywhere. Right,

798
00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:07.880
So that's all it is. And people love it.

799
00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:10.400
People love it. They're on a busy night. It is

800
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:12.360
one hundred percent worth it in my opinion, because you

801
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:13.159
get to do everything.

802
00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:15.119
You're here for an hour and a half, two hours,

803
00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:17.039
go for dinner and go do whatever you want. You're

804
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:21.199
gone right, Yeah, so that's that's definitely works. And I

805
00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:23.800
think the next evolution of that would be to do

806
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:24.760
what Universal does.

807
00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:26.760
I think the Universal nots where its you.

808
00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:31.920
Have your completely separate entrance, completely separate buffet, you get

809
00:36:31.960 --> 00:36:33.559
to go back to as many times as you want,

810
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:36.280
You get to get everything you want. You have even

811
00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:38.960
your own tour guide would be great to show you

812
00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:41.079
a little bit behind the scenes and what the farm is,

813
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:44.079
you know, just some people want to go for a walk,

814
00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:46.519
right and learn more about what works in the business

815
00:36:46.599 --> 00:36:48.000
business owner's mind.

816
00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:51.599
There's different versions of that, but yes, yes, KNOTS does

817
00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:55.360
not have Nots have a universal the Universal has Universal

818
00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:57.760
Orlando has a private entrance for.

819
00:36:59.519 --> 00:36:59.840
They do.

820
00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:05.719
They do private tours and they do like public rap tours.

821
00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:07.800
One is you just buying one ticket. One is you

822
00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:09.679
have to buy ten minimum or you know, pay for whatever.

823
00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:11.280
Oh yeah, and then but either one of them you

824
00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:14.199
get a private entrance and you can do that whole experience.

825
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:17.559
Not does have a buffet option, or you can go

826
00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.559
early to do the buffet and then get in a

827
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:23.800
separate entrance. However, even smaller haunted houses do something like that.

828
00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:27.159
So for example, feel the screams. You know, those guys

829
00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:27.760
are great.

830
00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:30.079
That was inspiration for me as well, hopefully also listening

831
00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:34.039
in you bags better be they do they this year

832
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:37.119
have a chainsaw bar and it has they do have

833
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:39.639
a buffet option where you can enter an exitent sure

834
00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:41.159
and it has got separate entrance.

835
00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:41.719
Sure.

836
00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:43.000
I want to get one more shout out cause then

837
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:46.280
a little people listen reapers over in Pennsylvania.

838
00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:46.639
Is that right?

839
00:37:46.760 --> 00:37:50.280
Philadelphia? Where are they? Yeah? In Philadlia. That's where I.

840
00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:52.519
Learned about the experience side of things because I was

841
00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:55.079
on a haywagon and then I went inside a freaking

842
00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:55.719
police station.

843
00:37:56.360 --> 00:37:56.960
Then I went.

844
00:37:56.840 --> 00:38:01.159
Into the clown funhouse and it was like a military

845
00:38:01.239 --> 00:38:05.280
splace only shit, the brand new world. So I really

846
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:07.039
wanted to do that experience out of things that really

847
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:08.679
kind of capsulated my mind of what.

848
00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:09.079
I was doing.

849
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:13.039
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do a They do a great

850
00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:13.599
show out there.

851
00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:14.400
Pepers.

852
00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:19.000
So we talked in passing about the food and beverage

853
00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.199
and obviously I ate some of the food and beverage options,

854
00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:24.599
but there are a lot of food and beverage options,

855
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.519
So tell me about how that plays into it. I

856
00:38:30.760 --> 00:38:33.960
know It's like we talked about the winery as a

857
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:35.320
whole revenue.

858
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:36.960
Line, but this is separate from that. I mean here

859
00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:37.559
you have.

860
00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:41.239
The masala, you have a pumpkin pizza, you have I

861
00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:44.719
mean you have savory and sweet items that are available

862
00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:47.000
for the daytime and also the nighttime.

863
00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:47.679
So what.

864
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:53.199
Like, how impactful is that you know, for for your

865
00:38:53.360 --> 00:38:55.480
your revenue for the haunted side.

866
00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.679
Yeah, it's having a food offering which can go viral.

867
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.880
I think it really blows up. And ice cream, yeah,

868
00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:03.320
it goes bay.

869
00:39:03.400 --> 00:39:05.239
Yeah, the pumpkin ice cream is served in a pumpkin.

870
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:07.760
It literally served in a pumpkin, which is yeah, it's

871
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:11.400
and I I'm the only one, I think in Western

872
00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:13.480
Canada that grows with pumpkins. I don't know anybody that

873
00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:16.400
grows that, specially pumpkin. But my sister thought about doing that,

874
00:39:16.760 --> 00:39:18.360
and then my mom and my sister do it. And

875
00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:21.440
then my dad being an engineer, he runs all rice

876
00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:23.800
cream machines and make sure they work perfectly, cleans him

877
00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:26.119
out every single night. He has helping hand for it.

878
00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:28.679
But it's I would say it's a six figure plus

879
00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:32.800
side of our business, which is incredible to see freaking

880
00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.480
ice cream and a pumpkin do that, but it's people

881
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:37.760
will come just for that and then they learn about

882
00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:38.159
everything else.

883
00:39:38.199 --> 00:39:38.880
It's the same thing.

884
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:43.199
It's like it's like that one item which is in

885
00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:45.000
your company.

886
00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:46.280
That people come just for and wow, they have this,

887
00:39:46.360 --> 00:39:49.679
they have that. Yeah, and it makes money. That's great,

888
00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:49.920
you know.

889
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.320
And we charged fifteen dollars for it, I think, which

890
00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:54.800
is really high in my opinion, but people do not

891
00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.760
mind lining up for it because it's the price doesn't matter.

892
00:39:59.039 --> 00:40:01.960
We're back in the rain is a line yeah, you know, yeah.

893
00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:06.000
In ice cream right, yeah, it's cold, right, yeah, I

894
00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:07.719
barely want to drink beer today.

895
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:09.199
Yeah, it's really I think.

896
00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:12.760
What's interesting to me is that the menu is not

897
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:15.920
extensive because you don't have like a very large kitchen.

898
00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:17.920
It's not like a restaurant, you know, it's not a restaurant.

899
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:21.760
You don't have the enormous, you know, commercial kitchen. But

900
00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:25.039
all the items are unique in that it's pumpkin pizza,

901
00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:27.360
like where else you're getting pumpkin pizza. It's pumpkin ice

902
00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:30.280
cream served in a pumpkin. It's like things that tie

903
00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:32.800
to the fact that you have a pumpkin patch and

904
00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.440
also a Halloween experience, so you know there there are

905
00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:38.000
a lot of very extent I.

906
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:39.400
Don't want to downplay anyone's food.

907
00:40:39.400 --> 00:40:42.119
I mean, you know, like the Ocean Park team, they

908
00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:45.519
do a great job at creating an entire menus designed

909
00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:47.039
around their horn houses. I mean there's a lot of

910
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:50.920
really cool food experiences and so you know, but it's

911
00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:56.880
just I like how it's thematically they hide Yeah, right, yeah,

912
00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:58.920
it's And also something we were talking about we I

913
00:40:58.920 --> 00:40:59.840
think we even texted you.

914
00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:01.719
It's kind of I was kind of like, you know,

915
00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:02.440
like you never.

916
00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:06.320
Know, right, You're like, is there food food or is

917
00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:07.119
it like doughnuts?

918
00:41:07.239 --> 00:41:07.440
Right?

919
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:09.800
And so you know it's like food, do we get

920
00:41:09.800 --> 00:41:12.519
something on the way? And I think that's that is

921
00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:16.840
essential to making it a night, a full experience, because

922
00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:19.000
if they have to leave to get food, well, first

923
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:20.559
of all, they have to leave to get food, then

924
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:22.920
you know you're losing revenue. But second, you know, you

925
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:25.119
want it to be good food and you don't want

926
00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:27.360
to be sharing the margins if you're bringing in a

927
00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:29.760
food truck or whatever. I mean, it's better if if

928
00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:31.320
you can make it a thing, because you can charge

929
00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:33.400
a premium. And the ice cream is a perfect example

930
00:41:33.639 --> 00:41:36.519
being able to charge a premium for a regular product. Sure.

931
00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:39.519
Yeah, yeah, Well if you're if you're big enough and

932
00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:41.480
you get enough numbers, come to your door because I

933
00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:42.559
want touch the food truck thing.

934
00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:45.440
Tully's has a great way to do that. Yeah. Have

935
00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:46.079
you interviewed that.

936
00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:50.039
We've talked in the past. Yeah, you know, I've interviewed

937
00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:50.880
him a long time ago.

938
00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:54.840
Okay, it's been a while, it's been a while. They're nuts.

939
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.639
I know they're beyond nuts there. It's the most flattering

940
00:41:59.639 --> 00:41:59.960
wave pop.

941
00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:02.400
But also yeah, I think they get away with stuff

942
00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:04.519
that we couldn't get away with in the States.

943
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:05.559
You just got to give it a punt.

944
00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:08.360
You got to try, you got to try, and then yeah,

945
00:42:08.119 --> 00:42:10.679
you know, people come knock in for sure, they will

946
00:42:11.079 --> 00:42:12.599
just ask for forgiveness.

947
00:42:13.360 --> 00:42:15.559
So great. I love that about them. I love that

948
00:42:15.639 --> 00:42:17.119
about them. Yeah, we have.

949
00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:20.920
The last thing we didn't talk too much about, only

950
00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:25.000
a little bit, but just kind of the long term plans,

951
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.239
and we touched on it. But essentially what we touched

952
00:42:29.239 --> 00:42:30.679
on was if we were going to double the revenue,

953
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:33.760
we need to hold different business basically. But when it

954
00:42:33.800 --> 00:42:36.800
comes to just the Haunt portion of it, where do

955
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:40.599
you kind of see that evolving aside from just you know,

956
00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:41.639
switching out that one.

957
00:42:42.280 --> 00:42:48.639
Yeah, I would say multiple multiple locations throughout different regions. Okay,

958
00:42:48.679 --> 00:42:48.960
so that.

959
00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:51.320
Way it kind of spreads it, yeah, because you don't

960
00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:54.679
have you know, because again it's difficult. I mean, you know,

961
00:42:54.760 --> 00:42:58.840
it's it's essentially there, there's a cap. You're you're approaching

962
00:42:58.880 --> 00:42:59.199
a cap.

963
00:42:59.480 --> 00:42:59.880
Yeah.

964
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:04.320
But like the systems, which I think every business needs

965
00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:07.760
a system, the system we've created for management of the Haunt,

966
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:09.920
which I think is probably fifty percent of the battle

967
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:13.840
or more of managing your actors, managing payroll, managing safety,

968
00:43:14.039 --> 00:43:15.079
managing experience.

969
00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:17.639
I think the system we've made.

970
00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:21.239
It's so easy to follow, so easy anybody could do it.

971
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:24.239
So if we can take that system and put it

972
00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:27.440
in place in the next location, I don't know why

973
00:43:27.480 --> 00:43:29.840
it would not be as success if we follow some

974
00:43:29.920 --> 00:43:34.320
of the milestones that we we adhere to, that we've conquered,

975
00:43:34.679 --> 00:43:37.239
and we stay true to ourselves. I never wanted not

976
00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:39.119
to be fun. I never not want it to be

977
00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:41.800
something that we are known for, and I never wanted

978
00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:44.239
not to be scary, Like it's got to be proper scary.

979
00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:46.360
So yeah, got it?

980
00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:49.079
Okay, Yeah, is there anything I didn't ask you that

981
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:50.360
you think it's important.

982
00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:53.280
No, man, I think that what you do is incredible

983
00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:57.400
for the industry and more people in the haunt industry

984
00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:01.000
who are putting on a genuinely safe and enjoyable.

985
00:44:00.599 --> 00:44:04.360
Experience and need to be highlighted. And the industry is

986
00:44:04.519 --> 00:44:06.119
just beginning. Doesn't matter.

987
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:09.559
Fuck the election, fuck all the recession that people are

988
00:44:09.559 --> 00:44:12.679
talking about. They don't know what's coming around the corner

989
00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:16.480
because you don't understand. I do now because of my

990
00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:19.239
kid and other kids that he hangs out with, how

991
00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:23.599
much people love, like little kids love horror or things

992
00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:24.400
tied into horror.

993
00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:27.480
And those people are the first iPad babies.

994
00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:30.000
They're going to grow up and they're going to want

995
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:31.960
all these things to be in real life, which we're

996
00:44:31.960 --> 00:44:35.159
starting to see now, correct, And it's over. It's literally over.

997
00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:37.880
People don't realize what they're coming into the next ten years.

998
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:40.320
It's going to be a haunted landscape. And the people

999
00:44:40.320 --> 00:44:42.440
who are great are going to get better and people

1000
00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:44.280
who are shittier and to dissolved and you'll never see

1001
00:44:44.280 --> 00:44:47.440
them again, which rightfully so, because the market is a market,

1002
00:44:47.519 --> 00:44:50.400
a market is a siding factor, and that's capitalism. That's finest,

1003
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:53.320
and people who are genuine and take care of their

1004
00:44:53.320 --> 00:44:55.119
employees and take care of their staff will win.

1005
00:44:55.519 --> 00:45:00.559
And I think those people need more grace. Yeah, Okay,

1006
00:45:01.320 --> 00:45:03.599
I think that's it. You're the man. Thank you so much. Folk.

1007
00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:08.000
Today's episode was produced and edited by me Philip Hernandez,

1008
00:45:08.039 --> 00:45:11.559
with post production by David Swape and original music composed

1009
00:45:11.599 --> 00:45:15.679
by Chris Thomas. We're counting down to Halloween with daily podcasts, videos,

1010
00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:18.760
and events in our sixty one day Hauntathon. Follow along

1011
00:45:18.760 --> 00:45:20.920
at the link in our show notes. Our Hantathon is

1012
00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:23.800
made possible through generous support from Gantum, Lighty and Controls.

1013
00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:28.039
Gantum illuminates attractions worldwide with the world's smallest intelligent spotlights.

1014
00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:31.280
See what you're missing with the free demo. Sign up

1015
00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:34.880
at dantum dot com slash demo. That's gantum dot.

1016
00:45:34.639 --> 00:45:36.320
Com slash demo.

1017
00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:41.440
Our Hauntathon team includes Daryl Plunky, Emily Luis Rua, Megan Spells,

1018
00:45:41.599 --> 00:45:45.840
Gavin Burns and Omni Adventures, and our content partners for

1019
00:45:45.880 --> 00:45:50.760
this year include Attractions Magazine, Creepy Kingdom, Freaks of Ajjen Han,

1020
00:45:50.840 --> 00:45:56.000
Topic Radio, Kevin Heimbach News TV. On the Adventures, Scare Track,

1021
00:45:56.199 --> 00:46:00.000
Sharp Productions, that Halloween Podcast, The Horror of Being Emilie,

1022
00:46:00.400 --> 00:46:04.320
The Scare Factor, and This Weekend with Nick Peliocchini. The

1023
00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:06.480
best way you can support us this Halloween season is

1024
00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:08.840
by sharing our hanted on with someone you think we'll

1025
00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:11.079
enjoy it and the follow along to our honted On.

1026
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:14.360
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at Hanta Attraction Network

1027
00:46:14.719 --> 00:46:15.519
dot com.

1028
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:16.480
We'll catch you.

1029
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:20.440
Back here tomorrow and every day until Halloween. Until next time,

1030
00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:26.760
stay scary. This is a Haunted Attraction Network production
Amir Maan Profile Photo
Amir Maan

Director, Maan Farms

My passion revolves around agriculture and I am driven by innovation. I am fortunate enough to love what I do and I share my love of agriculture with communities by creating experiences.