Unfortunately i dont have a place for all the kiddies to hang out without it being inside my house. And that is so not going to happen. I have way to much stuff that is breakable. I also plan this party all year long and i want to enjoy myself without worrying what is going on inside. Also if the parents are drinking i most certainly dont want them driving with the kids in the car either. while i always tell my guest if you have had to much to drink you can stay here or we will call you a cab or have a designated driver. Just trying to keep it safe and have fun also.
what about a parent donating in her house the space for all this to happen. or we have an old school here that can be rented out for one day for fifty bucks. the kids could all bring sleeping bags and crash there with a baby sitter. anything like that available?
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? coulrophobia ?
don't laugh, this fear is contagious
Just noticed the original date of the opening of this thread. I wondered why you were having a 'ween party in May - DUH.
Anyway your post made me realize - absurd, but you have forced me to realize we've never had an adults only party. Either parties for my son, or later including him and his friends. Regardless, this [was] YOUR party. The invitation specifically stated adults only.
It was EXTREMELY rude of this guest to challenge a clear condition of the invitation. It is the nature of some individuals to attempt to control any situation in which they become involved. It is frequently the nature of these individuals that they are only offended by a building falling upon them.
I suspect that the couple [did] show up, sans children, make a rude remark or two, possibly only by inuendo, during the evening, but [did] likely behave in a normal fashion (like it or not) at your party.
LTScare....welcome to the group & just wanted to mention....nice pictures guy. But on this subject of not bringing children to adult parties I have a question in regard to some people not following the rules.
I give you a standing ovation dude......how in the world do you get around the home association and allowance to do a display like this. Here on the forum we had a thread sometime ago discussing living in these types of groups & one of our members was actually fined for his display so I was just curious how yours reacts to your display.
I honestly don't know why we've never had association problems. Every year my son and I (his school work and my business travel allowing) start work in mid to late Sep. So Cal is usually pretty warm in Sep and much of the neighborhood walks outside with their kids and or dogs. Our work usually instigates more kid/parent walks. We frequently take a break or at least have a working conversation with passersby.
Now So Cal is not known for its great neighborhood camaraderie. Certainly there are exceptions, but I've known folks who have lived in their homes for 20 years and have no idea who their neighbor is two houses away. To be honest, I'm not that different from them ... except in the fall. Because of the display, I know Mothers, Fathers, kids and dogs from areas and neighborhoods from all around our house. Parents tell me their kids pester them to drive or walk by almost daily "... to see how the haunted house is going."
After the frame work is up and the possibility of falling 2x4s is eliminated, we welcome, even encourage the parents with little ones to let us show them all the gadgets and displays DURING THE DAY. My son is really good with the kids too. We tell them it's just plastic wood batteries and speakers and they can deal with it better at night that way.
If I had to guess why we can start in Sep and take it down a week AFTER H'ween, I'd say there must be three reasons:
1. Our house has taken on a sort of "celebrity status" over the years. We Californians tend to love Celebrities - sometimes way toooo much. But it helps us.
2. Our community has lots and lots of little kids and the large majority of them are drawn to the display. The parents like to see their kids in awe and excited, so I guess we have no complaining parents.
3. To the best of my knowledge, the association neighborhood inspectors are still people who live in the neighborhoods. I have no idea who ours is but I'm betting that he or she has kids.
Oh, maybe one last issue that fits in with the kids ... my son and wife have always protested stringently when I wanted to add significant amounts of blood and gore to our display. They don't want our home to be the cause of bloody, gory nightmares in the little kids. If you look closely at our display, you'll see lots of my restraint. I REALLY wanted that body in a bloody clear plastic bag hanging by its feet and wiggling, but I was out voted. So I hope we're not too wholesome, while still getting lots of screams from visitors.
I didn't have time to read through everyone's post, but here's my opinion:
IT'S YOUR PARTY...DO WHAT YOU WANT!!!
I have a Halloween party just about every year, and it is NOW understood that children are not welcome. In addition, since I usually have 150-175 people, everyone knows that they are only allowed one guest. Since many of our friends now have kids (3-5 yr old range), we have a pumpkin picking/activity party for the kids when we don't have our halloween party. Kinda evens things out a little. DO NOT leave it up to the parents to decide if it is a good idea to bring their kids, because they will be selfish, and bring them. You have to tell them "no". Sucks, and maybe you'll lose a friend, but hey, why can't they understand? I'm sure they have rules at their parties. On top of that, you have to tell them that THEIR kids might make ADULTS feel uncomfortable (drinking, joking, cursing). And them leaving early when the kids get tired...no, they'll probably let them fall asleep on a couch, floor, or maybe your bed!
As far as people who want to come over before the party starts - NO WAY!!! Too much last minute stuff to get done! If you've never had a big blow-out-bash, you're not gonna believe how much last minute stuff there is to do like: getting ice, changing last minute light bulbs that go out, fixing decorations that are out of place, or have fallen, not to mention getting your costume/makeup on!!!
I hope this helps!
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Whatta ya mean "no blood pressure, no pulse?"
LT I enjoyed reading your post...thank you so much for taking the time to explain in full detail. I feel you are very lucky that you are allowed to do what you do......your neighbors must really enjoy it & you are lucky you have no complainers.
You mentioned people walking pass your house & enjoying the activities of watching you put your display up.......I too go through that along with the amount of kids on halloween night that come & tell me.......I watched you everyday putting up your decorations when I rode by on the school bus! Its so cute when these little ones want to chat with you. There are really perfect strangers but we seem to have this bond because of what I do. Its heart warming to say the least.
AAhhh yes......not knowing our neighbors. That my friend is common in these times anymore all around the USA. Folks are just not into getting aquainted & getting together as they use to be. I too have been quite distraught with that in my new neighborhood. I'm here 4 yrs. this month in the new house and I only speak with the neighbors on one side of me as the neighbors on the other side want nothing to do with us. Across the road I speak with the cousin of the one neighbor I talk too & his Mother. Thats it!
It makes me very sad cause I would love to have a big fall festival of some type here at our home with a pig roast. I use to throw huge parties for up to 300 people when I had my Diner in Nebraska. Here ya just cannot seem to get anyone to want to get together. BUT...I'm working on it. As you....during Halloween they all come out of the woodwork, they come through my house with their kids & last season we honestly had more adults come through than kids. Thats when I meet all these nice people around here....but where are they the rest of the year?lol
Thats why this year I'm getting someone else to take pictures of my TOT's so I can free myself up more to get aqauinted with people. On Halloween everyone wants to talk but I'm just so busy keeping the line moving along there is no time to chat. This year I'm gonna spend a little bit more time on trying to figure out how to get these people together for something during the month of October & plan that get together for the 2009 season. I'll keep ya informed!lol
Lastly I kind of agree with your son & wife.......I too have to watch the gore in my haunt. We have over 200 kids that come that are small kids....maybe 12 and less. I would love to do a bit more gore but I have to figure a way to add it so the little ones could bypass it. I WOULD LOVE to have live actors but the truth is LT I don't know a soul out here, I'm really new to NC & have not had time to form any friendships.
We know this season that the 3 of us cannot handle this thing alone. SO I asked the gals at the beauty shop yesterday....hows about those ladies that wear the red & purple clothes, the Red Hat Society chicks......they claim that "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" so I'm gonna see if I can contact their group & get about 7-8 of them to come help us at Halloween. The front yard scene is getting bigger & with the line we have out there I just wish we had someone to help us out there.
Then we need a greeter when they come in the mansion. I would also like to see one live person in each room as we decorate all the rooms in the house. This season we are going to try & do 2 rooms in the garage so people can exit thru there.
Last year ya came thru the house & had to get back thru the house to get out the front door.....oh my GOD it was ridiculous with so many people standing in line to get in the mansion...... so we are in serious need of some traffic control.
So yes there is always more for us to work on & more to think about. I have great admiration for these folks that do these big haunt attractions where there is so much work on getting the haunt ready and worse is trying to hire actors you know you can count on to show up thru the season. The time it takes to dress them and apply makeup and make sure everything runs smoothly....oh yes and then there is the marketing......wow lots of precise work. Maybe we are lucky we just have these small haunts!lol
Kristian....I just wanted to say you have a the right attitude about the folks that want to bring kids to your party.......I also agree with you 100%........there is nothing I hate more than guests who arrive 2 hours early & say we came early to visit & see if we can help! You really just end up having to entertain them and I'm usually hopping in the shower 30 minutes before my guests arrive. Like you there are always 50 things to get done right before the party starts!!
Clearly Kristin is the voice of party experiance. Clear, reasonable, no exceptions, no bull. Anytime you have more than 150 humans together ... er maybe more that 1 for that matter ... guidelines and rules need to be clear in order to avoid misunderstanding and crashed expectations.
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