Q: Have you ever had a customer admit to peeing themselves because you scared the living daylights out of them? How many?
A: We keep an official Pee Chart and mark down how many and which attraction they go in. We insist on visual verification, and those who really wet themselves get a free tee shirt that says “I pissed my pants at the Bates Motel” We usually get 30 to 40 per year.
Q: Can you share you experience regarding the start-up of Pennhurst?
A: Starting Pennhurst was a very interesting experience. I had tons of contacts for every facet of my business so I just duplicated much of set up for the Bates Motel. The really hard part was writing a complete business plan and budget for a complete attraction. Then we had to work with the local government and get inspections and permission to proceed. I spent most of my time in the office instead of in the haunt, which made it that much more difficult, as I love the build out. To me, Pennhurst was more about seeing if I could build a world class haunted attraction from the ground up. We had to do everything from scratch. The buildings had to be remediated of asbestos and lead paint, They had to have all life safety devices installed; fire alarm systems, exit signs, emergency backup lighting, and video surveillance systems. Then we had to actually build the attraction, including installations of compressors, electrical grid, queue lines, ticket booths and POS systems, digital scanning stations, and the list goes on and on. It was a very busy time for us.
Interview with Randy Bates!