# What are your plans for handling Trick Or Treaters during Covid-19 lockdown for 2020?



## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

I’m rural so having to many kids at one time won’t be a issue. I put treats in a zip lock bag so they are individual . I really look for tot to be cancelled but I did but some Halloween kids face mask as a treat I need to buy some more I got all they had at my local dollar general.


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## Melanormal (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm still planning to decorate my yard as usual. It's something my neighborhood kids enjoy driving by and seeing. As far as ToT, unless it's officially cancelled, I'm going to let my kids go, wearing masks (all of their costumes require masks). For handing out candy, I heard an idea somewhere (sorry, don't remember where!) about how someone was going to have a big PVC pipe decorated and slide treats through it into kids' buckets. That sounds fun. 

I'm guessing there will be fewer ToTers this year, though, whatever happens.


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## Snickers (Apr 20, 2008)

I bought some Halloween ziplock bags to make treat bags, but still working out how I will pass them out. I may set them on the porch or a table outside and have them grab and go. But I’m loving that PVC pipe candy slide, that is hilariously practical


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

I was thinking I'd slide treat bags down a ramp or tube from an open window into a bucket when I see how many kids are there.
BUT I could just wear gloves and drop the bags directly into their bags from the open window too.


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## Michael__Myers (Sep 8, 2019)

We will make goodie bags as usual. Whichever family member is designated to hand out candy, they will have a mask/face covering and gloves. We wont be making any contraptions to hand out candy. The kids will come up to the porch and the goodie bag will be placed in their bucket/bag by our designated person. The goodie bags will be prepared about 2 weeks ahead of time and put away til Halloween night. We will be outside the entire time too so no touching of doorbells etc for the kiddos.


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## fowldarr (Sep 25, 2017)

Undecided here, I have a few ideas that will allow us to social distance and still hand out candy. Haven't decided which way to go as of yet. Whatever we do, we will do everything we can to keep people safe.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

theworstwitch said:


> I was thinking I'd slide treat bags down a ramp or tube from an open window into a bucket when I see how many kids are there.
> BUT I could just wear gloves and drop the bags directly into their bags from the open window too.


I had seen this idea on YouTube here:






It is a good idea and it did have me thinking back to my own Magic Mirror and it was chute based. However, moving into a new home last November, pretty much rendered the prop unusable. I initially wasn't going to do it this year as I wanted to 'feel out' the new neighborhood, but given that it's design is inherently separating the candy giver from the candy receiver, and it is inherently social distanced. So I am thinking of revamping it anyway. Besides, the kids seeing this this year, will probably spread the word around. But I am curious to see what others are doing which is why I made this post.

At any rate if you or others are curious, this is my Magic Mirror set up from 2013 :






You can see the chute exit at the large pumpkin's mouth below the mirror. I was inside the vestibule behind the mirror providing the voice and interacted with TOT's as I dispensed candy out the chute.


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## ceo418 (Jun 15, 2016)

Michael__Myers said:


> We will make goodie bags as usual. Whichever family member is designated to hand out candy, they will have a mask/face covering and gloves. We wont be making any contraptions to hand out candy. The kids will come up to the porch and the goodie bag will be placed in their bucket/bag by our designated person. The goodie bags will be prepared about 2 weeks ahead of time and put away til Halloween night. We will be outside the entire time too so no touching of doorbells etc for the kiddos.


I'm pretty much doing the same thing, but I don't care if they ring the doorbell or knock. I will wear a mask and hand out treat bags. I really hope they let people go trick or treating. With just a little bit of caution, kids could have at least one mostly normal thing this year.


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## bobby2003 (Oct 5, 2017)

There has been several threads about this and my answer has stayed the same. I will not be changing anything or handling anything differently.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Making goodie bags. Putting them on a table in front of my for easy grabbing to avoid any issues with being too close. Will probably also put tape X’s for distancing to make it easy. IF we get trick or treaters. Still waiting on an answer.


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## NormalLikeYou (Oct 2, 2011)

We picked up an old worn-out plastic slide for cheap. We plan to paint it reddish pink and make a huge vintage-style cat face, cutting a hole where the mouth is and using the "tongue" slide to distribute treat bags. I'm really excited about this - I think it will be fun!


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## Verne Hollow (Aug 24, 2020)

We plan on decorating as usual and Halloween night do a haunted walk through a decorated 10x 20 tent. Having my semi adult kids funneling the kids and family through one at a time. I plan on being a fortune teller with barrier sheild on my tarot table and the husband plans on being Zoltar with accompanying box and chute for the beverages. Hope this helps happy haunting!


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## Tyrant (Aug 19, 2013)

Probably not going to change anything, other than just tilting the bowl over the kids' bags to let the good stuff drop down into their containers so nothing gets touched.


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## deadhouseplant (Aug 10, 2011)

I am going to do treat bags like I normally do but plan on staying outside so there is no door congestion/ touching. Weather permitting I am thinking about putting up a covered area with our propane fireplace so I can try to stay dry/ warm. I might make it a witch lair and the have the treat bags in a cauldron where I can make sure kids are taking one but don't have to get too close to them. I haven't heard anything one way or the other about tot allowed or regulations.


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## Engineerchic (Sep 6, 2017)

I am really liking the pvc treat slide idea. I'm not sure I want to go with a mummy theme but that looks like a lot of fun for the kids to catch their candy or toy through that.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

I may have a clothesline with treat bags clipped to it. Kids will just walk up, and unclip a bag.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello everyone and thanks for the chime ins on this.

It seems like it is mostly looking at a toss up between those doing things normally and going with the bagging method. 



Meadow said:


> Making goodie bags. Putting them on a table in front of my for easy grabbing to avoid any issues with being too close. Will probably also put tape X’s for distancing to make it easy. IF we get trick or treaters. Still waiting on an answer.


Yes, I have seen the table idea mentioned before. If you could please let me know the if the tape you are going use sticks well to concrete because I am definitely going to use my garage as the handout point for candy and just want to make social distancing marks. I seriously doubt I am going to get many TOTs this year, being that it is a new neighborhood for me and I am sure the Covid crap is going to keep some kids away on top of it. 



Engineerchic said:


> I am really liking the pvc treat slide idea. I'm not sure I want to go with a mummy theme but that looks like a lot of fun for the kids to catch their candy or toy through that.


That chute isn't my idea, but a post I came across on You Tube. For me it was a reminder that my Magic Mirror routine has a candy chute much like that, but as I mentioned above, because of my selling my parent's house, I no longer can set up the Mirror in that vestibule that is in the video above, so if I set it up in my garage, I am going to have to revamp the whole thing.


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## jjordan931 (Aug 7, 2017)

I am making a slide using some vinyl downspout from home Depot. ($10) and a giant skull from Joann's ($12). You can use the same brackets you would use to attach the downspout to your house to some stakes in the lawn. I will paint the downspout black and try to make the skull float in the air?


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## HexMe (Jul 23, 2009)

Unless NYS cancels us altogether, I guess we're just doing as usual? We always do goodie bags, I'll just make sure to wipe down my doorbell periodically, wear a mask, and wear some gloves. The only thing I'm very much unsure of at this point, is how much candy to buy. If TOT has the green light, can I expect the same numbers as last year, or will less people be out? I've run out of candy before and it's a horrible feeling, but I don't want to end up with a ton of leftovers either.


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## Engineerchic (Sep 6, 2017)

HexMe said:


> Unless NYS cancels us altogether, I guess we're just doing as usual? We always do goodie bags, I'll just make sure to wipe down my doorbell periodically, wear a mask, and wear some gloves. The only thing I'm very much unsure of at this point, is how much candy to buy. If TOT has the green light, can I expect the same numbers as last year, or will less people be out? I've run out of candy before and it's a horrible feeling, but I don't want to end up with a ton of leftovers either.


 I am expecting fewer TOTers, but will buy candy I like frozen (Milky Way Dark, etc) and just use the extra as dessert or cookie bits all year. I love frozen nougat, makes everything better.


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

bobby2003 said:


> There has been several threads about this and my answer has stayed the same. I will not be changing anything or handling anything differently.


Lucky you. I work in a school, so I need to keep myself distanced from everyone.


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## SLCGirl (Jul 23, 2020)

deadhouseplant said:


> I am going to do treat bags like I normally do but plan on staying outside so there is no door congestion/ touching. Weather permitting I am thinking about putting up a covered area with our propane fireplace so I can try to stay dry/ warm. I might make it a witch lair and the have the treat bags in a cauldron where I can make sure kids are taking one but don't have to get too close to them. I haven't heard anything one way or the other about tot allowed or regulations.


That's basically what we are going to do - sit out front with a fire and hand stuff out. We usually put the items/toys on a tray, anyway. We will probably do the same with the candy bars instead of the bowl.


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

I did buy kids Halloween face mask as part of their treat


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

jjordan931 said:


> I am making a slide using some vinyl downspout from home Depot. ($10) and a giant skull from Joann's ($12). You can use the same brackets you would use to attach the downspout to your house to some stakes in the lawn. I will paint the downspout black and try to make the skull float in the air?


That's great! That is pretty quick how you acted on that one suggestion I found on YouTube. I see how you could put that near a porch window and then lower the window from the top and put the candy down it and it would end up right in the TOT's bag.




HexMe said:


> Unless NYS cancels us altogether, I guess we're just doing as usual? We always do goodie bags, I'll just make sure to wipe down my doorbell periodically, wear a mask, and wear some gloves. The only thing I'm very much unsure of at this point, is how much candy to buy. If TOT has the green light, can I expect the same numbers as last year, or will less people be out? I've run out of candy before and it's a horrible feeling, but I don't want to end up with a ton of leftovers either.


I have check locally with my town and they specifically said they are not cancelling anything and they are not putting any restrictions on Trick Or Treating save for the standard social distancing rules. So Halloween is definitely on. With me, when I did a display at my parent's house, the first time in 2009, only had 50 to 60 kids, then the following year that went to about 70 to 80. The third time I did it, I received a whopping 150. And it hovered around that save for the year Hurricane Sandy hit. So when I put the display on at my parent's house, I was regularly buying 4 or 5 of the large 80piece + bags. I would give one piece of candy to small kids, 2 pieces to grade school kids and 3 to teenagers on up. I (typically) run my display from 4-9pm on a weekday and 12 to 8 on a weekend and I was almost out of candy. But when I switched to an apartment in an adjacent town. The first time I bought 4 bags of the same 80 piece bags and I only used 1 and a half bags. In the end I was giving 3 pieces of candy to everyone. Last year, just after Halloween, I moved into a new house and this is my first Halloween here. As I mentioned to jjordan931 above, I already have foreknowledge that not a lot of TOTs come down this street. So given that AND The pandemic issue on top of it, I am only going to buy 2 80 piece bags and do the same 1 piece toddlers, 2 piece Grade School kids, 3 piece teens and adults. If I see things are slow moving and I am sitting on a full bag or more by night fall, then I will increase the amount.


I spent a good portion of my night taking inventory of my Halloween decorations and given how this is going to be a social distanced Halloween, I am not going to go too crazy with props. It is going to be mostly lights and as I said I am planning on reworking the Magic Mirror prop I been using (almost) regularly since 2009. Sadly though, I had a nice long talk with my next door neighbor and she told me that they don't get many TOTs. So that isn't good. So whatever I do, it has to be quick and easy and not cost a lot of money. So I am just crossing my fingers.


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## Mathias_Bras (Apr 4, 2019)

Kids are already in school and the activity is outdoors. I wont change anything.


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## Daphne (Aug 11, 2007)

I live on a corner in a cul-de-sac and we decorate both our side and front yard. That won't change. Contemplating the PVC chute also but my issue is there are multiple kids that have been coming here since there were small and get their picture with me every year while they are outside the fence and I am in the cemetery. Its a tradition that we all really enjoy and I have a couple new costumes this year. A little witch was really sad last year because the weather was so bad it was the first year I didn't dress up so she didn't get her picture. I still feel bad about it. She was so excited. Not sure how to handle that this year because while a chute will keep us from getting too close, the pics are us only separated by the fence. Guess this year that won't happen or maybe I can stand way back in one of the lights so we are 6 foot apart but can still do the pics. We don't do goody bags because one year we have had close to 400 although numbers are typically nowhere near that high. We had very little out last year due to weather being the worst we have ever had so barring weather issues I have all the new stuff that never went out last year plus I've built all year long so hopefully it will be the biggest year yet decoration-wise even if numbers are way down. Fingers crossed everyone has a great Halloween wherever you are!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Daphne said:


> I live on a corner in a cul-de-sac and we decorate both our side and front yard. That won't change. Contemplating the PVC chute also but my issue is there are multiple kids that have been coming here since there were small and get their picture with me every year while they are outside the fence and I am in the cemetery. Its a tradition that we all really enjoy and I have a couple new costumes this year. A little witch was really sad last year because the weather was so bad it was the first year I didn't dress up so she didn't get her picture. I still feel bad about it. She was so excited. Not sure how to handle that this year because while a chute will keep us from getting too close, the pics are us only separated by the fence. Guess this year that won't happen or maybe I can stand way back in one of the lights so we are 6 foot apart but can still do the pics. We don't do goody bags because one year we have had close to 400 although numbers are typically nowhere near that high. We had very little out last year due to weather being the worst we have ever had so barring weather issues I have all the new stuff that never went out last year plus I've built all year long so hopefully it will be the biggest year yet decoration-wise even if numbers are way down. Fingers crossed everyone has a great Halloween wherever you are!


Hmmmmmm, I am trying to think here....yes a dangerous pastime...I know. Well, what you could do is some trick photography in which you have a kid stand in specific spot and you are at least 6 feet behind and make like you are putting your arm around the kid. They will look bigger in the shot and you could title it as a "Who shrunk Daphne for Halloween!" Or could be the attack of the 7 foot trick or treaters? Just trying to figure out something for you as a solution to the situation this year. You had 400 kids one year? Oh my! I thought I did will with about 150 that showed one year. But I seriously doubt I would do numbers like that here. My new home is on a road that is parallel to the railroad tracks and as such, there are only half as many houses on this street when compared to a normal street. I am north of the railroad tracks and the street that is south of the tracks gets the main through traffic. While it does make for a quieter road (save for when the trains go through), it makes for less traffic not only by cars, but also by people walking around. I had already confirmed it with a couple neighbors that they don't get many TOTs. So I will be kicking myself if I totally revamp my Magic Mirror routine and only 10 kids show up!

Anyway, good luck this year and hopefully you can come up with solution with taking your pictures and try and enjoy Halloween in light of the situation.

Diaval


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## Daphne (Aug 11, 2007)

Your suggestions are great and the Magic Mirror is super cool!! I had 400 one time. Typically it’s 150 to mid 200 give or take. We also have a bunch of adults that don’t want candy, I’ve offered, they just come to see everything. We also get around 4 dogs and a couple of hayrides. Because there’s only a couple of houses in our cul-de-sac, people rarely came to our house so I would sit on the steps yelling “I have candy!” when they went down the main street. Yes, it was pathetic. I could see them but they wouldn’t come because it wasn’t worth the walk. I started building and you know how the saying goes... now my building has just kind of gotten out of hand ha ha. Lots of new families in the neighborhood this year so really excited!


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## Batley (Sep 18, 2019)

Social gatherings of 7 or more are currently banned here in England so its unlikely its possible dispite children socialising in groups of hundreds at school.


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## Windborn (Oct 10, 2011)

Still decorating and I bought a small catapult to toss the treat bags I will be making to the end of the driveway!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

This guy's "invention" for dispensing candy to ToTers at Halloween has gone viral:








This Dad Invented A Candy Chute To Make Halloween Safe Amid COVID-19


Photos of the chute have now gone viral as people are figuring out how to have a contactless Halloween.




www.buzzfeednews.com





They clearly haven't visited this thread yet:








Touchless Candy Delivery System?







www.halloweenforum.com





Or this one:








Ideas for Ball run "Candy delivery" system...


Ok, so trying to think of something a bit unique rather than just a long PVC pipe for touchless candy delivery this year and I thought of a "ball run"? I purchased some 2.5" plastic container balls (for large toy vending machines) so I can stuff candy in them and I could make/build a "ball run"...




www.halloweenforum.com


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Daphne said:


> Your suggestions are great and the Magic Mirror is super cool!! I had 400 one time. Typically it’s 150 to mid 200 give or take. We also have a bunch of adults that don’t want candy, I’ve offered, they just come to see everything. We also get around 4 dogs and a couple of hayrides. Because there’s only a couple of houses in our cul-de-sac, people rarely came to our house so I would sit on the steps yelling “I have candy!” when they went down the main street. Yes, it was pathetic. I could see them but they wouldn’t come because it wasn’t worth the walk. I started building and you know how the saying goes... now my building has just kind of gotten out of hand ha ha. Lots of new families in the neighborhood this year so really excited!


Thank you, although I cannot claim credit on the concept of the Magic Mirror, only the execution of my iteration of it. The concept behind it is all Imagineerieing. I just loved the idea and gave it my own personality. One of the later additions was that I have Vlen tell one liner Halloween themed jokes, such as "What does a Jack-O-Lantern use to fix a hole in his side? A= A Pumpkin Patch!" Jokes like that. But yeah, my hat goes off to you for getting that many TOTs in one year. Even the 150 - 200 is very admirable. For me the 150 was pretty much like your 400 fluke. It was a one time thing and after that year, the typical numbers were about 80 to 100. But that was at my parent's place. Here, in the town I am now, I have not been so lucky. The new house I bought is in the same town as the apartment I had. In fact it is the same style house. I just replaced the main road with a railroad and I don't have any idiotic deadbeats living above me now. It is overall nicer and it is mine. 

Sounds like an interesting area if you have hayrides this time of year. Over here in NY, the only place you will get a hayride is if you go to a Halloween event on a farm or a pumpkin picking. A big thing for families with kids is Schmitt Farms:





__





Fall FAQ - F&W Schmitt Family Farm - Melville, Long Island NY







schmittfarms.com





As you see right with the main picture, they feature a hayride, pumpkin picking, a huge haystack pyramid for kids to climb over, there is a treasure hunt style corn maze and a playground of all huge wooden trucks and other styles of farm equipment. They have the billboard face cutouts for pictures. It is a pretty nice place. And at night they open up the haunted house for the older kids and adults. They also have haunted maze at night. It is an awesome place. I have not gone there in a couple years because there is kind of a gap between the kids events and teen/adult events at night. So the daytime events become too old for the 11-14 year olds, but that is still a bit young for the scarier events at night. Sadly my kids fall in this range and that is why I have not been there in a while. But I think next year, hopefully this Covid crap will be over and then I will take my family there again. 

There are a few more farmlike places that hayridess and even haunted ones. I have not tried them yet, but there is plenty to do here around Halloween.

Well, good luck and hopefully you will have a decent turnout this year. I am not sure how I will do, but I know it will not be like past years at my parent's place. I am starting all over and fresh here.

Cheers!

Diaval


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

RCIAG said:


> This guy's "invention" for dispensing candy to ToTers at Halloween has gone viral:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


RCIAG....why do you sound familiar? I see that screen name and it is ringing a bell for some reason. Were you one of the haunters here that also had a Magic Mirror? Forgive me if I did forget, I have not been here since 2016, so that is a long time to be away and my memory might be leaking a bit.

Anyway, I do like that idea for the chute to tie it right to the handrail. It is also nicely decorated. As for the other ideas, the clothesline idea is cool and original, but it is going to be very slow to execute. I mean think about it; you clip a SINGLE piece of candy to a clothes pin, then winch it out to the TOT, it releases the candy (hopefully) into the TOT's bag and then you have to winch it back and rinse and repeat. It just will take too long. And forget the candy cannon, that is a lawsuit in waiting.



Windborn said:


> Still decorating and I bought a small catapult to toss the treat bags I will be making to the end of the driveway!


As I JUST finished saying above in regards to the "candy cannon", please be careful and make extra sure the candy bags cannot hit anyone.

Going back to the chute, I like the way that guy had it decorated, and perhaps I will go with that to fancy up the chute for my Magic Mirror. As of now I am still trying to determine a good layout of how I am going to place things in my garage.

Anyway, these are nice finds and thanks for the submission, I am sure it will help others out as they are trying to figure out ways to hand out candy this year that is safe and compliant with the rules associated with social distancing this year.

Cheers!


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## The Haunted Casa (Jul 18, 2020)

Diaval said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I had figured there would be many topics here in regards to how people are going to handle Trick Or Treating this year in lieu of the pandemic, but I have not found anything so far.
> 
> ...


I’m planning to set up my graveyard in the front yard as usual, but gate off the walk to my front door and place the candy bowl stands at the gate; I’ll sit up in the graveyard in a festive costume So I can be socially distanced from the trick or treaters yet still greet them and see their costumes. The only risk I see in this is having to refill the candy bowl much more frequently — what kid doesn’t want a huge double fistful of candy? You might have a more elaborate set up than me (love that you have a ‘main attraction’ among other things— how cool!). I do far more decorating inside than out, but my haunted graveyard and hearse will still strike an eery mood! Good luck and have fun!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

The Haunted Casa said:


> I’m planning to set up my graveyard in the front yard as usual, but gate off the walk to my front door and place the candy bowl stands at the gate; I’ll sit up in the graveyard in a festive costume So I can be socially distanced from the trick or treaters yet still greet them and see their costumes. The only risk I see in this is having to refill the candy bowl much more frequently — what kid doesn’t want a huge double fistful of candy?


I am big on signs and I you put a sign to take 3 or 4 pieces of candy AND you are there, they might think twice about doing that. But if you are not there, then I can see that happening. If you are worried about that especially if you have to walk a way for moment, don't put a whole bag full of candy out at once. Just fill up the bottom of the bowl. Some kids might think you are running low and again, think twice about taking so much. And for those that don't have scruples, if they end up double fisting it, at least it will not be your entire candy supply.



> You might have a more elaborate set up than me (love that you have a ‘main attraction’ among other things— how cool!). I do far more decorating inside than out, but my haunted graveyard and hearse will still strike an eery mood! Good luck and have fun!


Thank you. Early on, I had a lot of hand made stuff in my display. The smaller stuff I bought, but when it came to larger things like the Magic Mirror, Singing Pumpkins, and the Creep Machine, I made those all myself. Again, giving credit where it is due, the Magic Mirror is Imagineerieing's idea. But the facade was my own creation. Haunted Graveyards are always fun and you say you have a hearse as well? THAT's cool. I find those that go the extra mile with lighting is what makes a graveyard display stand out. Fog machines, or better yet, dry ice machines really make things eerie. The back yard of my new home has much potential and the further back you go, the eerier it looks. In the far corner of the backyard is my shed and that thing is screaming mausoleum and I could stuff a flying crank ghost in there. The only bad thing is that there is no power back there, so either I have to run a long extension cord or go battery operated. But that is for another year. Since this is a new home, I am not going to go too crazy. As it is I am wracking my brain out on creating a new facade for the magic mirror. I already ran into a few problems and I am just in the early planning stages. But I am still a whole month early so I am sure it will come together.

Hope things go well for you this year. 

BTW, if you could post some pictures of your graveyard this year and show how are you are social distancing yourself, it might help others get some ideas as well.


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## LV2HLWN (Aug 24, 2020)

audience may change.. But the show must go on. We are putting up our usual yard display (starting this weekend). But, no indoor haunted house and no party. Booo!

Then hand out candy bags via a candy chute.

Fyi: I came across this "Halloween Safe Map" sponsored by the Hersey's candy co.

Check it out... www.halloween2020.org

Happy Haunting!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

LV2HLWN said:


> audience may change.. But the show must go on. We are putting up our usual yard display (starting this weekend). But, no indoor haunted house and no party. Booo!
> 
> Then hand out candy bags via a candy chute.
> 
> ...


That is cool, thank you for sharing. I looked myself up and I am in a Yellow Zone and that certainly makes sense as my town is not cancelling any Halloween events. Ironically the famous NYC Halloween Parade is the only thing that was cancelled. 

So far it does seem like the candy chute is the favored plan here so far. "Yeeting" candy (either by hand or machine) has its risks and unless it can be done safely, I don't recommend it.


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## Windborn (Oct 10, 2011)

One the catapult gets here i will be deciding the best option. Actually considering small soft squishy toys as an alternative - that way if I dont have a lot of kids, they will keep until next year. There won’t be kids in the “landing zone” regardless. I’ll have a large container for the items to land in and then the kids can go retrieve their goodies.


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## Rocky7 (Dec 9, 2019)

The ideas for the chutes are great but I am just planning on reaching out of a window on my porch with a large full length monster glove on my arm( I found one on eBay that is very easy to grasp things with) and there will be 2 layers of see through black material between me and the kids and behind me blackout curtains. The light will be on them so hopefully they cant see me. I will also wear a mask of course, I also got some of those bloody footprint decals I will place every 6 feet up my walkway, I think everyone now a days knows what decals on the ground stand for. I will also be using a voice changing box so I can talk to the kids with a scary voice.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Rocky7 said:


> The ideas for the chutes are great but I am just planning on reaching out of a window on my porch with a large full length monster glove on my arm( I found one on eBay that is very easy to grasp things with) and there will be 2 layers of see through black material between me and the kids and behind me blackout curtains. The light will be on them so hopefully they cant see me. I will also wear a mask of course, I also got some of those bloody footprint decals I will place every 6 feet up my walkway, I think everyone now a days knows what decals on the ground stand for. I will also be using a voice changing box so I can talk to the kids with a scary voice.


This is also a good idea. Yeah the key to using a scrim is to make sure the room you are in is pitch black and highlight the front where the TOTs are with good lights, then you can see out, but they cannot see in. It DOES work very well. Oh! I would appreciate it if you could let me know if those footprints stick well to concrete. As of now, I was thinking of putting down chalk lines. 

Be careful with the voice changers. While you can alter your voice on a computer and it will sound great, doing it in real time is a different ball game. The thing with voice changers is that you have to use a really good one, otherwise the cheaper ones will either sound terrible, or there will be a delay in processing and that is annoying. When I say a decent voice changer, I am talking a commercial grade one, like they use in recording studios. While I found something I thought was suitable the second year I did my Magic Mirror (when I did Gordo instead), I found I was constantly being asked to repeat myself. Halfway through the night, I turned it off and went back to my own voice. By all means try what you have on others and see if it works. Much could have changed since 2010. I just know it didn't work well for me.


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## Rocky7 (Dec 9, 2019)

Hello, thanks for your info, I did try a small blood spatter piece on my concrete to see and it seemed to stick ok, my concrete is not real smooth and that kind of holds it in place, I certainly don't think they will last if I get a lot of traffic but I do have extra sets if needed. Anyway they look pretty cool, I have both bloody skeleton feet and bloody human feet sets.
The voice changer I got is not the best but it's OK for creepy laughter or short phrases, I am a very quiet talker so it helps to amplify my voice.
I will keep what you said about the scrim in mind, this will be my first time time trying it. Thanks again


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Diaval said:


> RCIAG....why do you sound familiar? I see that screen name and it is ringing a bell for some reason. Were you one of the haunters here that also had a Magic Mirror? Forgive me if I did forget, I have not been here since 2016, so that is a long time to be away and my memory might be leaking a bit.


I was here in 2016 but never had a Magic Mirror. 

RCIAG stands for RogerClyneIsAGod & I use that name other places. In a past life I was JasonLeeIsAGod but that was a lifetime ago in another land & several other message boards ago.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Rocky7 said:


> Hello, thanks for your info, I did try a small blood spatter piece on my concrete to see and it seemed to stick ok, my concrete is not real smooth and that kind of holds it in place, I certainly don't think they will last if I get a lot of traffic but I do have extra sets if needed. Anyway they look pretty cool, I have both bloody skeleton feet and bloody human feet sets.


Do you have a link to where you picked those up?



> The voice changer I got is not the best but it's OK for creepy laughter or short phrases, I am a very quiet talker so it helps to amplify my voice.
> I will keep what you said about the scrim in mind, this will be my first time time trying it. Thanks again


When you look for suitable material for a scrim, bring your cellphone with you. If you lay the cloth over it and can read the screen through it, it should work fine. What I usually do is use two layers of it in the daytime, but at night I peel one layer back so I can see the TOT's better. Remember to keep the front well lit, but do not allow the light to enter through the scrim directly. So angle it a bit away or perpendicular to the scrim so the light just grazes the surface. If you aim a light right at it, there a good chance the beam could make it to you and if you light up, the TOTs will see you.

It is a pretty cool parlor trick that has been used for eons. Even Disney uses it in their theme parks...noteably the Haunted Mansion.



RCIAG said:


> I was here in 2016 but never had a Magic Mirror.
> 
> RCIAG stands for RogerClyneIsAGod & I use that name other places. In a past life I was JasonLeeIsAGod but that was a lifetime ago in another land & several other message boards ago.


Your forum ID rings a bell though. We might have talked about something else. Did you have an electric chair prop? I know that was something I been wanting to do and asked about it.


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## Rocky7 (Dec 9, 2019)

Thanks for the great tips on the scrim material, hopefully I can pull it off. As for the bloody footprints , here is the info:








Amazon.com: SaPeal 42PCS Bloody Footprints Floor Clings - Halloween Vampire Zombie Party Decorations Decals Stickers Supplies : Baby


Amazon.com: SaPeal 42PCS Bloody Footprints Floor Clings - Halloween Vampire Zombie Party Decorations Decals Stickers Supplies : Baby



www.amazon.com


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Rocky7 said:


> Thanks for the great tips on the scrim material, hopefully I can pull it off. As for the bloody footprints , here is the info:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You're Welcome! They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so here is the backside of my Magic Mirror attraction:



https://www.halloweenforum.com/attachments/halloween-2016-046-jpg.392449/



In that picture to the right you can see where I would be sitting on a folding chair and the microphone is there too. I would sit on that side and you can see a Playstation controller there too. That is what I use to control the magic mirror face, which you can see on the small notebook computer all the way on the left. That face is duplicated on a screen that has a mirror frame built around it and that is what the TOT's interact with. The tall thing in the middle is the mixer/amp/speaker. Ok, now if you look the right of that speaker you will see an area where there is a curtain that is pulled back a bit and you can see to the other side of it. THAT is the scrim. As you see, I have it folded over double and the reason for that was in the daytime, it blocked more light from getting into where I was. You can see that the 'walls' of the vestibule are blacked out with blackout cloth, as to not let any light in that area I was working. It also goes without saying that if you are using any electronics in your work area, that any bright LED's should be covered and if you have a computer (like I do), turn the brightness down as much as possible and face it AWAY from the scrim. 

I hope that helps and thanks for the link to the footprints. While I have decided to use a chalk line instead, I am going to get the footprints anyway in the event light rain is predicted as rain would wash the chalk lines away. 

Take Care!

Diaval


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

Mathias_Bras said:


> Kids are already in school and the activity is outdoors. I wont change anything.


Just don't risk picking up anything from the little germ bags! Kids are notorious germ spreaders!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

theworstwitch said:


> Just don't risk picking up anything from the little germ bags! Kids are notorious germ spreaders!


That is a good point to add. That is why some have mentioned not even letting TOT's on their property and just handing out bags of candy at their gate or driveway. But I think it should be mentioned that when it comes to cleanup, probably use gloves and if you do let kids on your property to disinfect anything that they would touch. With me, I love signs and I am intending to put up rope barriers near my main attraction, you know the kind you see in movie theaters? The whole setup is going to be as contact-less as possible. I know it is hard to gauge that when dealing with small children, but I believe it is possible to put some safety measures in place. And anything you think people have touched can be cleaned down between TOT bursts.


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## MrF_ (Jun 21, 2018)

Not changing anything with my plans. Doing everything as normal, and handing out treats at the door. Most folks around here are getting back to normal with life. I expect fewer trick-or-treaters, probably not large groups at the door. There has yet to be, "Suggestions" for trick-or-treating around here. All I am expecting, is some reasonable suggestions being announced such as at your own risk, avoid crowding at the door, etc. Reasonable stuff. Halloween is still a bit further out, 6 weeks or so. I'll be decorating the outdoors soon, I do that the last week of September, normally.


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## LabMama1 (Sep 22, 2020)

I want to set up a candy chute, but the cardboard tube stuck to a railing doesn't float my boat. I want to set up a clear tube and bend loops into it like a roller coaster. My house has a long sloping driveway down to the street, so gravity should work if I can get the right weight on the candy. I'd like to get light sticks/bracelets and sticking them on the candy so you can see it whizzing down the chute. My problem is getting a clear tube that is bendable and a big enough diameter for candy, at a reasonable price. I'm going to experiment with a clear fluorescent -lightbulb storage tube. It is only 1 1/2" diameter, but is less than $1.50/foot. Any suggestions would be welcome!


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## sumrtym (Aug 16, 2008)

MrF_ said:


> Not changing anything with my plans. Doing everything as normal, and handing out treats at the door. Most folks around here are getting back to normal with life. I expect fewer trick-or-treaters, probably not large groups at the door. There has yet to be, "Suggestions" for trick-or-treating around here. All I am expecting, is some reasonable suggestions being announced such as at your own risk, avoid crowding at the door, etc. Reasonable stuff. Halloween is still a bit further out, 6 weeks or so. I'll be decorating the outdoors soon, I do that the last week of September, normally.


CDC just officially recommended against traditional ToT this year.


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## Shyra (Feb 18, 2020)

I am going to set a long rectangular table and allow the kids to take a goody bag off the table... I’ll just replace as they go. It will be like a grab and go treat! lol


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## Illysium (Jul 15, 2016)

I'm not changing anything. Our town is doing the usual as well.


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince (Sep 4, 2009)

Love all the ideas but alas I don't think any would work for us. We take the retired hearse we own into town for the chamber's ToT event. Town saves us a great parking spot in the middle of main street and we hand out treats from the back of the hearse next to the open coffin. In the past we've been surrounded with kids, parents and the occasional dog for nearly the entire time the event is happening. I don't know how we can safely do ToTing with a crowd surrounding us. And of course this is all assuming that town won't cancel the actual ToTing... they have already canceled the kids party in the welcome center.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Sounds good all around and it seems there are some unique ideas as well as some that others will be doing as well. Given that my Magic Mirror involved chute from the get go, that seems the best route for me. I am just gathering some materials together to make it happen at the new location. I will probably make a separate post on the construction of that and just will link to it from here.

Just whatever everyone does, just be safe!


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## Verne Hollow (Aug 24, 2020)

Stinkerbell n Frog Prince said:


> Love all the ideas but alas I don't think any would work for us. We take the retired hearse we own into town for the chamber's ToT event. Town saves us a great parking spot in the middle of main street and we hand out treats from the back of the hearse next to the open coffin. In the past we've been surrounded with kids, parents and the occasional dog for nearly the entire time the event is happening. I don't know how we can safely do ToTing with a crowd surrounding us. And of course this is all assuming that town won't cancel the actual ToTing... they have already canceled the kids party in the welcome center.


 Could you sit on top of the hearse and then do a mini chute from the roof? You can put the chute in a big stuff animal or something along those lines or have a skeleton hold the bottom of the chute while you guys are on top?Just a suggestion hope it helps.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Diaval said:


> Your forum ID rings a bell though. We might have talked about something else. Did you have an electric chair prop? I know that was something I been wanting to do and asked about it.


Nope, not a big prop girl. Were you ever on any Kevin Smith forum way back in the day? That's where I got my message board start.


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## MrF_ (Jun 21, 2018)

sumrtym said:


> CDC just officially recommended against traditional ToT this year.



I think many people will approach Trick-or-Treating this year as a, "Do at your own Risk" type of thing. I am still doing the same thing I do about every year. Trick-or-treaters go to the door, they get treats. Considering the kids, and people around here hang out, outside together, play around on bikes, basketball, visit other's homes, etc, most folks around here are a bit back to normal. Many kids back in school, also. I do anticipate less trick-or-treaters than other years. Probably similar to how it would be if it were raining. Also, not big crowds around the door, if there is a group out Trick-or-treating. I have actually heard that mentioned locally, for trick-or-treaters that go out, not to crowd around at a door.

If other people want to sit this year out, use a chute, throw bags of candy, that's their thing. Myself, I look at how many people are acting around here, and while not totally normal yet, it's getting there. It's still about 6 weeks out, and I'll be able to better gauge how things will be when October rolls around.


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## gcbike (Aug 9, 2018)

really LITTLE GERM SPREADERS! Fact they don't spread covid. Ohio just allowed bars and restaurants to fully open,I see no restrictions on trick or treating. And at what point has the CDC ever been honest since last March?


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## Jerseyscare (Oct 2, 2012)

Ripped from the Headlines:
"U.S. sales of Halloween candy were up 13% over last year in the month ending Sept. 6, according to data from market research firm Information Resources Inc. and the National Confectioners Association. That's a bigger jump than the usual single-digit increases. Sales of Halloween chocolate alone are up 25%."

So is this just home use and home consumption OR since people expecting to be HOME (no where to go) on the 31st they want to be prepared for TOTer's? Now, I'm not sure whether to buy more, less or the same amount of candy??
Jerseyscare


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I'd imagine a lot of that candy is for home consumption these days!


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

gcbike said:


> really LITTLE GERM SPREADERS! Fact they don't spread covid. Ohio just allowed bars and restaurants to fully open,I see no restrictions on trick or treating. And at what point has the CDC ever been honest since last March?


I work in a school trust me, they do spread it.


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

Shyra said:


> I am going to set a long rectangular table and allow the kids to take a goody bag off the table... I’ll just replace as they go. It will be like a grab and go treat! lol


I think I'll do that too. They will have to walk past the display to get to the table. Win win!


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## MT_Grave (May 23, 2014)

I'm looking at doing the magic mirror thing also. Normally we sit next to the fire pit just outside my graveyard and hand out treats. (I'm in Montana, so the fire pit is a necessity, not just for ambiance - LOL) I'm going to use foam insulation board to make a faux stone facade that I can then attach to the table I will sit at. This will be outside next to my graveyard that I do every year. Going to make a drawer that I can slide through the wall - like the one at the drive through teller at the bank. I figure if checkers are OK with small plexiglass shields inside of a store I should be OK behind a 4X8 (or bigger - depends on set up) sheet of 1 inch thick foam board while outside. Will probably use it to close up one side of pop up canopy I have and use black fabric on 2 sides.


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## WitchyKitty (Sep 20, 2012)

The chute idea is cool, for sure, I just don't understand how you go about using it successfully when you have a whole group of kids run up at the same time. We, too, have a person in the neighborhood who drives a hayrack around and drops everyone off at each block area...it's like a stampede, lol. I don't think it would be safe for them to do the hayrack, this year, as everyone would be on it, close quarters, for much of trick or treat time...but who knows what people will choose to do?
I wasn't even going to pass out candy, this year...which completely crushed my soul to think of...but we both lost our jobs due to Covid and we don't really have the money for as much candy as we'd need. Plus, I have health issues and try to keep away from large groups of people with Covid going around. However, my mom decided to buy our candy, for us, so I guess we either pass out candy...or we all eat a LOT of candy, lol. (Considering I had already been stocking up on our own candy stash for us, I don't think we could eat what we have AND huge bags of Trick or Treat candy, lol. I warned my mom..."Okay, you bought us candy...but if Trick or Treat gets canceled or we can't pass it out for some reason, expect to be eating a lot of this candy, lol." She told me to just freeze it and use it for all of our Christmas stocking candy should that happen, hahahaha!!!!!!)
If we do have Tot, I am not 100% sure how we will pass it out. I know, for sure, I am making candy bags up weeks ahead of time and just putting them away until Halloween so they can sit and not get germy by us. I'll bag them up while wearing gloves and a mask, too, probably. As of right now, unless we come up with something better, I think we will sit in our usual spot, in our costumes, at the bottom of our porch stairs, but I may take some of our old cemetery fencing and set it up on either side of us, decorated, with a table out down the walk a ways at the end of that fencing, and the candy bags either set out on the table or in my cauldron like it usually is with a sign to grab a bag. This will let us sit out there to enjoy all the cute costumes and kids and chat with people (and keep an eye that no one runs of with half the candy) while caged in our fencing at a safe distance away from them. We will have our masks, on, of course. I'll keep some Clorox wipes handy to wipe down the table/cauldron area every so often if needed, too. I won't put all the candy out...I'll set some bags out at a time, that way there is less contamination between bags/kids and if it does end up being slow and we have a lot of bags left over, we won't have to worry about a whole bunch of germy bags, lol. (If it rain or snows, though, and we have to sit up on our porch, we will have to doctor this set up...)
I am thinking I may put X's of tape on the ground, too...but if I know our area kids, they won't pay attention. The adults don't generally come up with the kids, either, as we are on a slight hill...they just stand at the end of the long sidewalk at the corner at the bottom of the few stairs and let their kids run up....so they won't even see the Xs, more than likely...
I know out area just set up a "safe", drive through Trunk or Treat at the local college area on Halloween, so there's a good possibility we may not even have near as many kids if they all go there, instead...though it's in a different town, but open to the whole area (we are all smaller towns). It's a good idea, though. I guess I'm just torn on the whole Trick or Treat thing, this year...


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## Stinkerbell n Frog Prince (Sep 4, 2009)

Verne Hollow said:


> Could you sit on top of the hearse and then do a mini chute from the roof? You can put the chute in a big stuff animal or something along those lines or have a skeleton hold the bottom of the chute while you guys are on top?Just a suggestion hope it helps.


Rotted minds think alike... kinda. Going to have to give this some good thought cause unlike house to house ToTing where kids come in small groups. The town event is a MOB of people crowding the sidewalk. We've been surrounded with people for up to 2 hours straight with no breaks. Still no word if town is doing it's thing yet, IF they do we'll ask them to save 2 parking spots for us on the street. Park the hearse normal and one of our pick-up trucks with the rear end facing the open back of the hearse. That was we can keep an eye on the hearse, Earl, his bride and their coffin while we sit up in the back of the pick up and slide candy down to the kids.


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## Shadow Panther (Apr 4, 2013)

My youngest Daughter and I have planned a Halloween bucket for my Granddaughter in case it's called off. Then I had the idea to have a Halloween hunt. It works for Easter so why not Halloween.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

The candy chutes are definitely cute. And like any prop or decoration, it definitely allows for customization. But, as others have said, it’s not really ideal if kids are backed up waiting for candy delivery or heaven forbid a treat bag gets stuck in the chute. Plus, is the chute really effective if every house doesn’t do it? 

We haven’t gotten any word from our village on Halloween and won’t until mid October. There is normally always a parade, a trunk or treat night and Halloween and sometimes a fall festival. By waiting till mid month, it doesn’t allow much in the way of planning for any of those events.

So, sticking with my table idea. Not putting everything out on it. Just a few baggies at a time and then of course wearing gloves and a little Lysol between candy collections. I’ve also been toying with getting washable glow in the dark sidewalk paint and doing pumpkin stencils 6 ft apart for crowd control. Ultimately, none of this will matter if TOT’ing is canceled.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

Still debating. I've decided to not put any fall/Halloween decorations (scarecrows, cornstalks, door wreaths, garden flags) this year before Halloween. I live in 'that house' so many of my TOTers are people who go out of their way to visit. Hopefully, not seeing decorations may keep the numbers down. I am still debating on a 'night-of' display. However, since I've always done a One Night Only display, the numbers might not shift all that much.

I think that even if I had no display and kept all the lights off, some TOTers would still show up - and that's fine. But then not having lights would make the landscape dangerous since there are no streetlights. Will probably go with the chute - and more importantly, good fans blowing a cross-current between me and the kids.


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## scarenoob (Aug 17, 2017)

As of now Halloween events in my town are still on. Heard nothing about TOTing yet. Several towns around me are advising against TOTing.

I still want to do decorations (weather permitting) even if the TOTing is off.


Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

RCIAG said:


> Nope, not a big prop girl. Were you ever on any Kevin Smith forum way back in the day? That's where I got my message board start.


While I like to go big on props, the area I live is notorious for bad weather in October and particuarly the week of Halloween. While I have had my fair share of rain, the biggest issue is wind. So I usually do not put out the big props until the day of Halloween. In 2012, we got hit with Hurricane Sandy and I was almost done with putting up my lights and I had to take them all back down again. So now, I don't put out big props and now that I have my own house with a garage, I am looking to use that to put my larger props in. If I have bad weather, I just close the door! 

No, I wasn't on that forum. 



Jerseyscare said:


> Ripped from the Headlines:
> "U.S. sales of Halloween candy were up 13% over last year in the month ending Sept. 6, according to data from market research firm Information Resources Inc. and the National Confectioners Association. That's a bigger jump than the usual single-digit increases. Sales of Halloween chocolate alone are up 25%."
> 
> So is this just home use and home consumption OR since people expecting to be HOME (no where to go) on the 31st they want to be prepared for TOTer's? Now, I'm not sure whether to buy more, less or the same amount of candy??
> Jerseyscare


Those are interesting figures. As for me, I am actually going to buy less candy this year than normal because I am in a new location and I was already tipped off that this block isn't hot with TOT's. So I figured I will start small, like I did back in 2009 and then, hopefully in subsequent years, I get more TOTs. So I just intend to keep it simple this year and only have the Magic Mirror and a few small props out. Since my driveway is going to be a 'staging area' with spots marked off for social distancing, I am just going to have Halloween music playing in that area. I might put a mild 'bush shaker' scare in the bushes, but again, that is something small and I don't have to worry about that if it is windy that day. So I think if I got the two large 80+ candy bags, I think that will be more than enough.


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## sumrtym (Aug 16, 2008)

Poll went up for my neighborhood. Currently 19 going on as usual, 4 canceling, and 2 hoping for social distancing options. Sounds about right and explains why our state covid cases are so high.


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## gcbike (Aug 9, 2018)

6 to 8 Oct 31st it's ON now if it just has no rain in forcast


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

gcbike said:


> 6 to 8 Oct 31st it's ON now if it just has no rain in forcast


Indeed, bad weather has plagued many a Halloween where I live. Either it was rain or high winds marring the evening. One time we even had snow (2011), but it didn't stick around long, but by the time the evening came, it was gone. However, the following year, we got hit with Hurricane Sandy and lost power to the location. So I just thought of something fast to do for that year. My lighting and props were all battery operated. 

I know when bad weather is predicted, the TOT numbers do take a hit. However, if you can set up your candy hand out point to have some cover, that will help. This year, I intend to set up in my garage.


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## MT_Grave (May 23, 2014)

Diaval said:


> Indeed, bad weather has plagued many a Halloween where I live. Either it was rain or high winds marring the evening. One time we even had snow (2011), but it didn't stick around long, but by the time the evening came, it was gone. However, the following year, we got hit with Hurricane Sandy and lost power to the location. So I just thought of something fast to do for that year. My lighting and props were all battery operated.
> 
> I know when bad weather is predicted, the TOT numbers do take a hit. However, if you can set up your candy hand out point to have some cover, that will help. This year, I intend to set up in my garage.


In MT you always allow extra room in the costume for a coat because you're probably going to have snow...LOL


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## HiGuy (Sep 29, 2020)

Hi everyone,

All your ideas sound great! I will definitely try some. I just saw this in the news and thought I'd post it here for anyone who might be interested. Have a happy Halloween everybody. Covid Safe Halloween Kit


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## pradis25 (Oct 15, 2018)

Diaval said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I had figured there would be many topics here in regards to how people are going to handle Trick Or Treating this year in lieu of the pandemic, but I have not found anything so far.
> 
> ...


My yard haunt has been running for 24 years now and we have built up quite a community following. We average about 1700 TOT's, so including parents and others there is always well over 3000 people on our corner Halloween night. It helps that our entire historic neighborhood has gotten in the spirit and people literally come from hundreds of miles away to walk the neighborhood. I have the corner lot so we use both the front and side yards. But of course this popularity is also a real concern for me.

We have decided to run the haunt but we will not give out candy this year. The candy entails people crowded, standing in lines coming and going down the same small walkwaycrowding our front walkway. You can plainly see this in the second picture below. We usually just sit on the porch and give out candy. We have to take turns as arms get tired. It is basically 5 hours of solid TOT's. I thought about putting a tube from the upper windows but there are so many TOT's it won't work. There would be crowding and kiddos all knotted up by the end of the tube waiting for candy. I am also putting up placards all over the haunt asking for mask wearing and social distancing. 

Here is my haunt:
The first is during the day before foggers and lights. The second shows the crowds and why it will be difficult to keep people from crowding too much. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated1


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## Jerseyscare (Oct 2, 2012)

hula Hoops - might help with distancing?
I'm doing a one-way path and keeping TOTers at the bottom of my steps and going to do a open chute, thing, so they can see and time the candy sliding down. BUT, leaving the rest to parents. I only get about 500, but typically when school lets out there is a line and the same path in and out gets crowded. But since this year is a Saturday, assuming smaller surge and with one way path, up walkway, down driveway and numbers maybe reduced, I think I'm okay.
But if we get a hurricane, heavy rain, loss of power or we get a snowstorm, social distancing will be handled by mother nature.
Jerseyscare


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

@Jerseyscare love the idea of hula hoops! Please proceed to your nearest circle and go stand in it! Ha! Do you think there’s a possible trip risk? Always tricky with little legs.

Looks like a lot of 30 day forecasts are finally up. Shocker! My forecast shows rain again. Warmer than last year. And yes, I know as the holiday nears the forecast will or can change, but it does seem the “fates” are more inclined to keep me from decorating the yard. Looks like if it’s not a virus then it’s Mother Nature. Can a spooky loving gal catch a break? 2020 definitely keeps on swinging!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

MT_Grave said:


> In MT you always allow extra room in the costume for a coat because you're probably going to have snow...LOL


Well, that's one thing we've never had in MD on Halloween, snow.

As a kid I used to hate wearing a coat under, or worse, over a costume but I never had a Montana level of coat wearing as a kid.

We get warmer every year here in MD yet oddly enough, this year right now it's pretty temperate. Today is beautiful & in the 70s so I'm hoping this streak continues & we stay this way. All I know is that it will be windy. It's been windy on Halloween every year for many years now.

As for my candy, I will do my treat bags as usual, maybe not as many as usual, & put them in a cauldron in my driveway & decorate around it some fashion, I really haven't decided yet.

EDITED TO ADD:
Just clicked over to my Washington Post Weather Gang's outlook for October & this was the headline:
We predict the coolest October in five years in Washington with plentiful rainfall



> We predict 2020′s temperature will fall somewhere between 57.5 and 61.5 degrees, whereas the normal is 59.5 degrees. The last time the average temperature was below normal was 2015 when it was 58.9 degrees.


That's OK, I can live with that but then there's this:


> We predict between 3.2 and 3.8 inches of rain compared with the average of 3.6 inches. The month’s first substantial rainfall could occur Monday.


We are not amused.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Looks like the Illinois Dept of Health gave the green light on most of Halloween with some minimal revisions. They approved the table idea so that’s promising.


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## anchor (Sep 10, 2020)

I'm planning on passing out candy like normal as long as there is no major outbreak between now and Halloween. For those that aren't comfortable with it, then they are free to celebrate in the way they feel safest.

I do know that I am going to go all out with candy and have full size candy bars and just extra things that I don't normally do. Not that I've ever been one to skimp, but I feel like young people have suffered a great deal this year so I want to do above and beyond. If there is an opportunity to bring some joy to the neighborhood then I'm all for it.


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## Keltset (Oct 1, 2020)

We usually do a large pirate themed walkthrough, we got around 3000 kids last year and usually you can expect around 6000-7000 when it lands on a weekend like it does this year. So many people the streets are not driveable and are filled with people. 100% confident social distancing will be difficult if not impossible and everyone in our neighborhood is just going on like usual. We have decided to do the same, we will be wearing masks and gloves as well as providing masks to anyone who does not have one and requiring them on entry. In addition we are creating a hand sanitizer station at the entrance and at the exit area's of our property. We will limit the amount of people we allow to walk through and hand out candy at the end. This time we will hand out candy at the end without requiring people to walk through the walkthrough if they chose not to. We altered our audio files outside to request that people maintain social distancing and to inform them that we are limiting access to the walkthrough to one group at a time. That's really all that we can do on our side, the rest will be up to the ToT'ers and their parents to determine what they do and do not want to do.

That said, I seriously have no clue how anyone is going to be able to manage the groups. If the polls in our area are correct, roughly 38% of people can be expected to not participate this year.... Take that against 6000-7000 people then you can still have a reasonable expectation of 4000 ish people at minimum. Candy shoot? Not going to work at all... bagging each kids candy... Not gonna happen!

This is my place last year (Halloween not on a weekend day) from the streets.


















-K
Arrrrrr ye best not be bringin' any shovels to be diggin' up me treasure!


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## wolfmanyoda (Jul 30, 2017)

A few years ago I build a small trebuchet to launch water balloons at my kids. It was a lot of fun but it's been gathering dust. I'm thinking I should bust that out to launch candy at kids this year. Maybe put a big chalk X in the street.

Not sure if I should do baggies or just hurl a handful at a time. The kids may scramble into each other fighting over the single pieces, but the baggies would hurt more if someone not paying attention takes a shot. Of course, I'll try not to hit them intentionally. I guess it depends on how crowded the street is. It's really hit or miss here, the weather can be in the low 60's or freezing rain/snow.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

We just got the update! My town has voted to do Halloween. Reduced hours are 6-8 but we have a green light! And my town is having a competition on best candy delivery system! Ha! There is an obscene amount of happy dancing happening this morning!


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## Jerseyscare (Oct 2, 2012)

Meadow,
Was there any reason why the reduced hours?
since it's Saturday, I would've increased the hours, spreading the TOTers out more.
My math says if normally 3 hrs and you get 300 TOTers, so this year only half come out 150, but now its only 2 hrs of TOTing that would be 75 per hour instead of the normal 100 per hour, but if 3 hrs it would be 50 per hr.
My vote would be to increase the hours.
Jerseyscare


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Jerseyscare said:


> Meadow,
> Was there any reason why the reduced hours?
> since it's Saturday, I would've increased the hours, spreading the TOTers out more.
> My math says if normally 3 hrs and you get 300 TOTers, so this year only half come out 150, but now its only 2 hrs of TOTing that would be 75 per hour instead of the normal 100 per hour, but if 3 hrs it would be 50 per hr.
> ...


I honestly don’t know as to why. I agree with you but also understand it might have been a compromise for those who think it might be a risk. I do know our mayor was a huge supporter of Halloween happening so I’m not going to fuss. 

But, there is new drama in my village. Apparently the Champaign-Urbana area has decided to NOT have Halloween so my village Facebook is a lot of people voicing concerns about those community members possibly coming to our community to Trick or Treat. If safety is an issue, that could have an impact. I don’t know if I should overshoot the mark and plan for larger than normal or go with less.

Thoughts?

Also, it’s still Illinois and Mother Nature is our last wild card. We could definitely get rained out for sure.

I am toying with a series of candy bowls on tables for limited contact. Thinking I can wrap them in lights and do something cute. I also saw a plastic pumpkin with a mask on that made me giggle. Might incorporate that but no final decisions yet.

My husband wants us to put out the display early and post as an event. Yes, displays are much more interesting and dynamic well lit at night, but since we pretty much stay outside all day watching our props, maybe alerting people it is up and viewable is smart and ultimately safer. We are situated on a side street so no one really sees us but they often text each other to come see us. I think more than ever kids need a spark of fun and seeing as how we actually have the village approval to move forward, my husband and I are in total agreement to make this the best display we can for the kids who need some spooky magic. Since most of our props are not rated for outdoors and wind is always a factor, we are still doing our pop up Halloween. Fingers crossed for us and all of you that we pull of something amazing this year!


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## Jerseyscare (Oct 2, 2012)

Oh NO. Now I have a NEW worry. It was only what will MY town do! Never gave a thought to town "X" cancelling TOTing while town "Y" allows and an increase in town "Y". May need to go to the BANK to withdrawal MORE candy monies!
Jerseyscare


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Jerseyscare said:


> Oh NO. Now I have a NEW worry. It was only what will MY town do! Never gave a thought to town "X" cancelling TOTing while town "Y" allows and an increase in town "Y". May need to go to the BANK to withdrawal MORE candy monies!
> Jerseyscare


Yeah I’m right there with you now. Like part of me is the more the merrier, but again you would have to be “in the know” to find my house. I also don’t know how many parents will decide to skip it. Based on the Facebook posts it seems to be very much PRO Halloween.


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## scarenoob (Aug 17, 2017)

New Jersey








Coronavirus won’t stop Halloween trick-or-treating in N.J., but officials issue safety guidelines


Gov. Phil Murphy said Halloween costume masks won't cut it for trick-or-treating and that face coverings could help prevent the spread of COVID-19.




www.nj.com


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## Seimonster (Oct 7, 2019)

Ive seen the slide tube idea...I was thinking of some more hands- on ideas for passing out candy. Kinda make it like a fun carnival game for the kids. I decorate the front lawn each year with a cemetery setup & was debating hiding the candy in "easter eggs" & letting the kids walk thru the cemetery & find their candy. I was also thinking it'd be neat (if time allows) to make a giant "Operation" board game on the front lawn & have the kids try to pick their candy up from the holes of the board. Like with one of those dollar store claw grabbers or a magnet or something like that. This would probably only work though if it's a low traffic neighborhood. To refill the holes in between treaters.


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## vinny186 (Aug 27, 2009)

Meadow said:


> I honestly don’t know as to why. I agree with you but also understand it might have been a compromise for those who think it might be a risk. I do know our mayor was a huge supporter of Halloween happening so I’m not going to fuss.
> 
> But, there is new drama in my village. Apparently the Champaign-Urbana area has decided to NOT have Halloween so my village Facebook is a lot of people voicing concerns about those community members possibly coming to our community to Trick or Treat. If safety is an issue, that could have an impact. I don’t know if I should overshoot the mark and plan for larger than normal or go with less.
> 
> ...


A few years back I put out a large bowl of candy then left for a 15 minute run and when i got back it was completely empty ( Deerfield, Il). Mind you, this was during the day! I think there will be more people this year leaving candy in bowls which is fine if you're outside monitoring the ToTers but what if it's 30 or 40 degrees outside? We actually had snow last Halloween


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

vinny186 said:


> A few years back I put out a large bowl of candy then left for a 15 minute run and when i got back it was completely empty ( Deerfield, Il). Mind you, this was during the day! I think there will be more people this year leaving candy in bowls which is fine if you're outside monitoring the ToTers but what if it's 30 or 40 degrees outside? We actually had snow last Halloween


You know every candy bowl I have ever seen left out without monitoring resulted in being wiped out. And yes, the weather in Illinois last year was insane. We got winter temps in the fall and winter started off somewhat warm. Down state it was all rain. As far as cold temps, we stay outside. We have a fire pit I just put in our driveway and that keeps us toasty warm. I can brave two hours for Halloween!


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Saw these ideas pop up. The “candy sticking” is interesting but would the sticks be problematic in a bag carried by the child? The clothesline idea is super cute. I do wonder if someone would walk straight into it though.


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## vinny186 (Aug 27, 2009)

Yeah kids would literally get clotheslined!😁 I appreciate the creative efforts but all these ideas seem like too much work for giving away free candy. If they want to hold their bags open while I essentially "shoot hoops" with their Snickers bars that's fine but that will be the extent of my efforts.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

vinny186 said:


> Yeah kids would literally get clotheslined!😁 I appreciate the creative efforts but all these ideas seem like too much work for giving away free candy. If they want to hold their bags open while I essentially "shoot hoops" with their Snickers bars that's fine but that will be the extent of my efforts.


Totally agree. The thing about all the ideas (which I do appreciate cause really it’s just people doing all they can to celebrate Halloween) is you might be able to maintain the 6 feet of distance but there’s still a contact component. 

If you do the clothesline, people are touching the clothespin. If you do the sticks, well you still touched them. Even my candy bowls spread out. People are still taking the goodie bags and I’m putting more goodie bags back in the bowls. I can try to clean them between “takings” but I am sure it will be managing efforts for sure. Same with the chutes. You touched the baggy when you put it down the chute right?


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

We’re not planning on handing out candy this year although I’ve been thinking about at least decorating somewhat to celebrate Halloween. The dilemma is “if you build it would they come and be disappointed if no candy?” Really just thought of giving them something fun to drive or walk by Halloween Day and hopefully be back with a walk around yard haunt next year. Still hard to believe all this is going on and just want the kids and their parents safe. We’re in kind of a small town and over 600 have tested positive, not sure about hospitalized/deaths.

So inspired by @3pinkpoodles movie theater and signs this year, having done a drive-in movie theater recently ourselves and have items from it still, and falling in love with HD’s dancing aliens (and have a number of alien props), it’s likely I’ll end up with a closed down movie theater setting. Idea is Movie Theater has been invaded and overrun with space aliens (props and projections I have and glad to use), wanting to watch the current offering, and I’ll chain off the driveway so it’s clear it’s closed and don't walk up to house. Maybe a No Admittance sign on it. The movie theater signage will reference “Closed due to Invasion” and “see you next year”. Okay so figured I’m all set. Simple idea and relatively easy set up.

Until I ran into this poster today...








And of course I have a number of spider props including a 5-6 foot guy and the HD gigantic 9’ spider. OKAY, so Plans are now getting bigger...much bigger. I ordered the poster which is huge too, 27x40”, and definite larger than my prior 3-4 monster movie posters signs (24x36). I was hoping to use one of them for mounting this new one to but now not sure what to do with it. Should be here by Oct. 20 so I’ll have a few days to plan.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

@Ghost of Spookie is the plan to do a closed movie theater overrun with spiders? Just making sure I understand your next brilliant display.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Meadow said:


> @Ghost of Spookie is the plan to do a closed movie theater overrun with spiders? Just making sure I understand your next brilliant display.


haha ask me 10/31!

Honestly right now in my mind it’s a movie theater showing a space alien movie and shut down due to an invasion from outer space. Space aliens and/or giant spiders from outer space I’m not sure how I’ll spin it but it’s really both at this point, assuming poster arrives. I’ve never watched the movie from the poster, “The Strange World of Planet X”, circa 1958 I think. No idea if radiation from space made the spiders grow. Think I’ll see if I can find it to watch.

I recognize the actor Forrest Tucker. He played on F Troop as Sgt ORourke. He also was in the Crawling Eye. Hey I have one of those Tekky or Gemmy big crawling eyeballs.

ooh just found a movie trailer for it...giant bugs and screaming women...something to do with earth's magnetic field (yes, it's been moving), and some alien. I have a giant cockroach and ant props that could find there way onto our cars roof or inside them, hmm. the plot is growing.


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## vinny186 (Aug 27, 2009)

"If you do the clothesline, people are touching the clothespin. If you do the sticks, well you still touched them. Even my candy bowls spread out. People are still taking the goodie bags and I’m putting more goodie bags back in the bowls. I can try to clean them between “takings” but I am sure it will be managing efforts for sure. Same with the chutes. You touched the baggy when you put it down the chute right? "

You're going to drive yourself crazy worrying about which hands touch what. The very fact that ToTers are coming to your door to get candy suggests they understand that your hand will come in contact with the candy wrapper at some point and have accepted the "risk." I don't think there is great concern among the experts about transmission through surfaces.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

@vinny186 that’s my point exactly! I am all for being safe. I would hate to think anything I did put someone at risk. It’s just you can seriously make yourself bonkers the more you think about how to safely distribute candy.


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## kuroneko (Mar 31, 2011)

Nothing will ever be 100% safe. The idea is to minimize the risk by reducing the number of people in contact with a single treat and keeping physically far away. So only you and the person receiving the treat are touching it and by using a slide or other contraption then you reduce the risk of live aerosolized droplets from breathing/speaking (like yelling "Trick-or-treat!" or "Happy Halloween!") being passed between people.
I'm still working on how we're going to manage our treat delivery system. I've already planned on moving to the driveway which is much wider than our walkway. How exactly we hand out treats will be more difficult. I give out full-sized bars and we've always let the ToTs pick which one since we pick up a variety pack. I should have just stuck to a single type or two this year, but we've already picked up our first box. I was thinking maybe pull tickets or a menu board. If nothing else, we'll just give them a bar/bag of something and they can deal with it. It depends on how bad the cases are by Halloween.
I'll also probably be putting out bags of non-candy items as a grab & run thing for people that don't want candy or are uncomfortable with the idea. I have tons of little stuff I've gathered from over the years so I'm not spending any extra making the bags. It will likely be super popular and I don't care if kids take more than one.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

The only issue I see with the candy chute is if you have many kids at once. That may be very time consuming.


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## nicolita3 (Jul 4, 2014)

It sucks but I made a decision. I decided not to decorate out front because it would cause people to come to our front door to trick or treat. I am a nurse who works in management, and recently I have been working from home, but every now and then they call me in last minute and some places I go to have high positive covid numbers. I was afraid I would put it up and a few days before Halloween they would call me in and I could be potentially infectious. I do not want to cause anyone to get sick, I also have several comorbidities and do not want to catch it either. My husband and I talked it over and the families (they all know us) with kids who live on our block, we will deliver a little package of Halloween goodies so they know we didn't forget them. Its sad but Halloween will still be around next year.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

nicolita3 said:


> It sucks but I made a decision. I decided not to decorate out front because it would cause people to come to our front door to trick or treat. I am a nurse who works in management, and recently I have been working from home, but every now and then they call me in last minute and some places I go to have high positive covid numbers. I was afraid I would put it up and a few days before Halloween they would call me in and I could be potentially infectious. I do not want to cause anyone to get sick, I also have several comorbidities and do not want to catch it either. My husband and I talked it over and the families (they all know us) with kids who live on our block, we will deliver a little package of Halloween goodies so they know we didn't forget them. Its sad but Halloween will still be around next year.


You do what you need to do and yes, Halloween will be around next year. Personally, thank you for your service and your courage.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

nicolita3 said:


> It sucks but I made a decision. I decided not to decorate out front because it would cause people to come to our front door to trick or treat. I am a nurse who works in management, and recently I have been working from home, but every now and then they call me in last minute and some places I go to have high positive covid numbers. I was afraid I would put it up and a few days before Halloween they would call me in and I could be potentially infectious. I do not want to cause anyone to get sick, I also have several comorbidities and do not want to catch it either. My husband and I talked it over and the families (they all know us) with kids who live on our block, we will deliver a little package of Halloween goodies so they know we didn't forget them. Its sad but Halloween will still be around next year.


Sounds totally reasonable to be cautious to me and nice idea on the little packages. We have a few neighbors who have decorated like previously and I wonder if they are going to hand out candy. As mentioned above somewhere I think on this thread, we will do some decorating (looks like more than I first anticipated) but trying to work in the fact it's a closed down house. If at last minute we change our minds about having candy, we can run out but as of now just decorations to look at. But I totally get your thoughts. Staying safe should be number one priority and as said there will be more halloweens once we get through this one. It's hard though when you normally want to be a part of it. I had the flu one year at halloween time and it was the worst I ever felt. Really don't want to get it again; and covid and it's potential long-lasting and still unknown down-the-road effects aren't anything I want to experience either. Hope you and your family and neighbors stay safe and still find ways to enjoy the night.


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## Savage Night (Jan 11, 2008)

We are just not doing anything. For the first time in 22 years. Last year, in the new place, we had maybe half a dozen TOTS. We used to have several hundred. Now with Covid, I feel we cannot decorate, because that would imply that we are giving out candy--not that we are at all sure there will be any more children than we had last year. A part of me is broken. Here's to a happier 2021!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Well this is the message our county in MD sent out on Oct. 2





__





Montgomery County Maryland






www2.montgomerycountymd.gov







> As Halloween approaches, Montgomery County officials are offering advice on how to minimize risks associated with the event during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the traditional ways of celebrating do not allow people to minimize contact with non-household members so it is important to plan early and identify safer alternatives to avoid the risk of spreading COVID-19.
> 
> *Due to the challenge of maintaining proper physical distancing on porches and at front doors on Halloween, traditional, door-to-door trick-or-treating is not recommended. In addition, the sharing of food through activities such as “trunk-or-treating,” where children go from car to car instead of door to door is also not recommended.*
> 
> ...


So while not a BAN on anything, just recommendations which seems like an "out". They don't want to use the word "ban" but they "recommend" stuff so there's some plausible deniability going on there.

I think some news outlet reported that they stated "HALLOWEEN HAS BEEN BANNED!" & that was wrong on the news outlets part.

And for every story I read that states "HALLOWEEN HAS BEEN BANNED!" I say "Nope, that's not what's happened. You can't ban the holiday, you can ban ToTing or the activities associated with it, but you can't BAN the actual day because this isn't the Roman Empire & the Catholic Church taking over the Celts & changing & rearranging things to fit their narrative."

Us Halloween loving folks will always celebrate Halloween, it's just that this year will be different & we may or may not hand out candy & do the stuff we normally do.

gotdangitonedayayearonefreakin'dayayeargrumblegrumble...*sigh*


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## ceo418 (Jun 15, 2016)

"I think some news outlet reported that they stated "HALLOWEEN HAS BEEN BANNED!" & that was wrong on the news outlets part.

And for every story I read that states "HALLOWEEN HAS BEEN BANNED!" I say "Nope, that's not what's happened. You can't ban the holiday, you can ban ToTing or the activities associated with it, but you can't BAN the actual day because this isn't the Roman Empire & the Catholic Church taking over the Celts & changing & rearranging things to fit their narrative."

Us Halloween loving folks will always celebrate Halloween, it's just that this year will be different & we may or may not hand out candy & do the stuff we normally do."


[/QUOTE]

I was just ranting about this to someone the other day. No, Halloween is NOT cancelled. You can shut down activities related to it, but the 31st is still the actual holiday.


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## Windborn (Oct 10, 2011)

After lots of trial and error with the catapult, I had to scrap that idea. So instead I made a 7ft spooky hand and arm that we will hang candy bags from for the kids to pick up.


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## kissedazombieandlikedit (Aug 24, 2012)

I am making treat bags and setting them up on a table, zero contact.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

I just noticed that NONE of my neighbors have any Halloween OR fall/harvest decorations up.

My neighbors always put out a fall flag. door wreath, cornstalks or _something._

I am not putting anything either in advance of Halloween to discourage TOTers. Not sure what I'll do if the whole neighborhood puts their lights out on TOT night. I really want to skip this year - but don't want to turn anyone away and will probably still have some sort of display.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

HiGuy said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> All your ideas sound great! I will definitely try some. I just saw this in the news and thought I'd post it here for anyone who might be interested. Have a happy Halloween everybody. Covid Safe Halloween Kit


Great ideas! Thanks for posting. I see there is another style of chute that was posted in that message along with the one I put up here. So far I like the chute idea a lot and will adopt that method myself. 




pradis25 said:


> My yard haunt has been running for 24 years now and we have built up quite a community following. We average about 1700 TOT's, so including parents and others there is always well over 3000 people on our corner Halloween night. It helps that our entire historic neighborhood has gotten in the spirit and people literally come from hundreds of miles away to walk the neighborhood. I have the corner lot so we use both the front and side yards. But of course this popularity is also a real concern for me.
> 
> We have decided to run the haunt but we will not give out candy this year. The candy entails people crowded, standing in lines coming and going down the same small walkwaycrowding our front walkway. You can plainly see this in the second picture below. We usually just sit on the porch and give out candy. We have to take turns as arms get tired. It is basically 5 hours of solid TOT's. I thought about putting a tube from the upper windows but there are so many TOT's it won't work. There would be crowding and kiddos all knotted up by the end of the tube waiting for candy. I am also putting up placards all over the haunt asking for mask wearing and social distancing.
> 
> ...


OMG! That is some impressive display / haunt you have there. 1700 TOT's! Remove a zero and that was the MAX I ever had for Halloween. It must cost a fortune in candy to hand out to that many on Halloween. 

Even though I am in favor of a chute set up, I agree that if you have that kind of crowding issue, it will not work. 

Well, good luck this year and hopefully you will have a sound solution to keep people distanced. That is certainly a large number to deal with. Also congrats on 24 years! This is my 11th Halloween as I been doing some sort of display since 2009.



RCIAG said:


> Well, that's one thing we've never had in MD on Halloween, snow.
> 
> As a kid I used to hate wearing a coat under, or worse, over a costume but I never had a Montana level of coat wearing as a kid.
> 
> ...


I hear you, I am no stranger to bad weather for Halloween here on Long Island in New York. October is notorious for bad weather. If it isn't wind, it is rain. But occasionally we do get some good weather, but it is rare. I would say that since I been doing this going back to 2009, perhaps I had four decent days. While I have had more good Halloween nights, generally I have had it where MOST of the night was good, but then close to the end, it started to rain. It did that two of the years. Finally in 2012, we were hit with Hurricane Sandy....I mean really? A hurricane? So we were out of power that year and I had to improvise something else in which all my lights and props worked from batteries.

Even though it usually doesn't get cold enough to snow here for Halloween, in 2011, it happened. We only received a dusting though and by the afternoon, when the TOTs came, it was all gone. That was one of the good years as the rest of the night it was very still and calm with no rain.

Hopefully we have good weather this year because that is all I need on top of it with the Covid crap going around this year. That all and a new home are all looking for a meager turn out this year. I guess I just have to wait and see.


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

We have a candy slide plus all candy is passed over with a UV light and sealed in individual bags that have also been hit with UV and will not be touched for over a week and covid cannot survive that long on plastic. We will wear gloves when distributing candy and the slide gives us social distancing.

Frankly I think this is massive overkill but we decided to do it so the parents and the kids feel safe.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Windborn said:


> After lots of trial and error with the catapult, I had to scrap that idea. So instead I made a 7ft spooky hand and arm that we will hang candy bags from for the kids to pick up.
> View attachment 740115
> View attachment 740116


That is another cool idea. I can see that easily being hands free as you can use gloves to put the candy on the 'extended hand' and then when it is over the TOT's bag, just twist it and let the candy bag fall in. The only thing is that controlling such a "long arm" might need some practice. You might try seeing if you can practice your 'aim' by dropping the candy into some container that has a small opening. If you can ace that every time, then you should be good.




texmaster said:


> We have a candy slide plus all candy is passed over with a UV light and sealed in individual bags that have also been hit with UV and will not be touched for over a week and covid cannot survive that long on plastic. We will wear gloves when distributing candy and the slide gives us social distancing.
> 
> Frankly I think this is massive overkill but we decided to do it so the parents and the kids feel safe.


Yeah, that is A LOT of prep work and I am not even 100% sure if the UV light will kill Corona. Putting the candy in bags and using gloves as to not touch the bags will probably be enough. Of course, if you are handing candy at arms length, then you would be needing a mask too. For me, I am my displays voice actor, so I cannot wear a mask. So my distribution point will involve a chute. And naturally I will be more than 6 feet away with my area being roped off so no one can enter it. 

Anyway, thanks for the input! This has turned out to be a really cool thread...glad I started it! LOL!

Diaval


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## BillTheTailor (Sep 5, 2020)

I was going to use a potato cannon, but my wife said "no." Said it wouldn't be "safe." Pfft. Safe, shmafe. _ding_ _dong_ "TRICK OR TRE---" *BLAM* Fun, right?


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## hjg0989 (Aug 19, 2019)

This year I am doing trick or treat bags for the first time. I just ordered invisible ink pens, small notebooks that say top secret, stretchy strings with eyeballs, and finger flash lights. I think I will have a lot fewer ToTers this year so I can do a bit more than usual.

I will also go to Costco and get full size candy bars then go to the dollar store and get some non-chocolate candy for those that prefer it.

I'm thinking I will let the kids choose the candy, if the parents think it is too dangerous they can hold the candy for 3 days then let them have it or do whatever they think is best.

I will also have cans of beer for the parents who want it.

We will put up the 10x10 canopy tent in the driveway and have the treats on a long table. We will then sit back away from the table.

What we won't do is have the party for friends that happens inside while we are out with the trick or treaters. It might be a lot more fun with just the two of us, we can focus more on the kids.

Now it is all up to the weather. If it is rainy and windy we will save the gift bags for next year and return the candy to Costco.


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## bobby2003 (Oct 5, 2017)

boo who? said:


> I just noticed that NONE of my neighbors have any Halloween OR fall/harvest decorations up.
> 
> My neighbors always put out a fall flag. door wreath, cornstalks or _something._
> 
> I am not putting anything either in advance of Halloween to discourage TOTers. Not sure what I'll do if the whole neighborhood puts their lights out on TOT night. I really want to skip this year - but don't want to turn anyone away and will probably still have some sort of display.


Strange, I've noticed houses putting out decorations, or small displays, that never did before.


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## BillTheTailor (Sep 5, 2020)

Our house is on top of a hill and because it's 90' from the street, we're sort of insulated from all the neighborhood around us, so we don't get more than a few trick-o-treaters each year in any case. I usually build a fire and sit out front in a cloak (huge; wool lined with linen-poly blend; very warm). I figure to put a bowl on a TV tray and just invite the kids to take a few pieces.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway. Apparently a family wanted to get a better look at my setup, and were in my driveway and on my porch. Made me a little uneasy, as we had our cars in the driveway, and not a lot of room to move around. The kids were young, so I didn’t have the heart to ask them to stay on the sidewalk, but I don’t know what would possess the parents to allow the kids and themselves onto my property? My husband seems to think that the pillars look like an entrance onto the lawn ( although they stayed in the driveway). My little site page clearly states that the haunt is visible from the street and sidewalk. Not sure what I should do? So far an isolated incident, which brings me to the next question- I was going to have the candy on a old fashioned farm stand cart that I made, but now I am thinking that it may get “swarmed” and all the candy taken in one fail swoop. Not sure still if there will be a good amount of tot’ers, but I may go to the chute system like so many of you are going with. I’m torn now.


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## djjerme (Oct 17, 2019)

bobby2003 said:


> Strange, I've noticed houses putting out decorations, or small displays, that never did before.


Same here. 

Someone had mentioned that as a byproduct of all adult parties canceling. I’m going under the assumption it’s going to be a big ToT year with lots of “older” kids participating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

Labfreak7 said:


> I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway.


Hmmm. That DOES sort of look a lot like an entrance. Maybe put some yellow caution tape up for TOT.

Then again - people are unpredictable and not always too bright. I've had parents actually _lift_ _their small children over my cemmy fence_ so that the tykes could run around my set-up. WTF?!


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## nicolita3 (Jul 4, 2014)

Labfreak7 said:


> I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway. Apparently a family wanted to get a better look at my setup, and were in my driveway and on my porch. Made me a little uneasy, as we had our cars in the driveway, and not a lot of room to move around. The kids were young, so I didn’t have the heart to ask them to stay on the sidewalk, but I don’t know what would possess the parents to allow the kids and themselves onto my property? My husband seems to think that the pillars look like an entrance onto the lawn ( although they stayed in the driveway). My little site page clearly states that the haunt is visible from the street and sidewalk. Not sure what I should do? So far an isolated incident, which brings me to the next question- I was going to have the candy on a old fashioned farm stand cart that I made, but now I am thinking that it may get “swarmed” and all the candy taken in one fail swoop. Not sure still if there will be a good amount of tot’ers, but I may go to the chute system like so many of you are going with. I’m torn now.


I would do as the other poster said and put caution tape where you dont want TOTs. Since you put out such a large display I would also expect you will get a large amount of TOTs and they will most likely swarm. I would do the chute idea.


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## Shyra (Feb 18, 2020)

Labfreak7 said:


> I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway. Apparently a family wanted to get a better look at my setup, and were in my driveway and on my porch. Made me a little uneasy, as we had our cars in the driveway, and not a lot of room to move around. The kids were young, so I didn’t have the heart to ask them to stay on the sidewalk, but I don’t know what would possess the parents to allow the kids and themselves onto my property? My husband seems to think that the pillars look like an entrance onto the lawn ( although they stayed in the driveway). My little site page clearly states that the haunt is visible from the street and sidewalk. Not sure what I should do? So far an isolated incident, which brings me to the next question- I was going to have the candy on a old fashioned farm stand cart that I made, but now I am thinking that it may get “swarmed” and all the candy taken in one fail swoop. Not sure still if there will be a good amount of tot’ers, but I may go to the chute system like so many of you are going with. I’m torn now.


We had a similar situation but it was an older couple taking video and pictures of our displays and they were all over our front lawn waking around. Luckily my husband boxed out where all the wires and cords are so no one can trip.
My husbands was spooked when he walk out to grab some food and saw people standing around in the dark. Lol 

I definitely think you farm stand will be swarmed by kids and candy won’t last.
I decided to do a table with goody bags and refill as they go.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

Oh, and if you need to use that entrance yourself until TOT night, you can use Velcro to attach one side of the caution tape(s) and put it up and down as needed.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

I think if it happens again, I’ll put up a little sign or the caution tape. Hopefully it’s an isolated incident. I think most people have enough common sense not to do that lol. Definitely for Halloween, that will be blocked off.


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## kristinms8 (Sep 8, 2014)

Labfreak7 said:


> I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway. Apparently a family wanted to get a better look at my setup, and were in my driveway and on my porch. Made me a little uneasy, as we had our cars in the driveway, and not a lot of room to move around. The kids were young, so I didn’t have the heart to ask them to stay on the sidewalk, but I don’t know what would possess the parents to allow the kids and themselves onto my property? My husband seems to think that the pillars look like an entrance onto the lawn ( although they stayed in the driveway). My little site page clearly states that the haunt is visible from the street and sidewalk. Not sure what I should do? So far an isolated incident, which brings me to the next question- I was going to have the candy on a old fashioned farm stand cart that I made, but now I am thinking that it may get “swarmed” and all the candy taken in one fail swoop. Not sure still if there will be a good amount of tot’ers, but I may go to the chute system like so many of you are going with. I’m torn now.


I’m thinking maybe you can tie treat bags on the fence line in front of the house so people don’t need to walk up to the cart or the pillars & then maybe move the cart in between the pillars with pumpkins / decor to block the perceived entrance. Keeps the candy on the sidewalk side & hopefully the people off the lawn. Good Luck!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

I was thinking of doing that with the cart. Still toying with ideas, but that is a good one!
I have another section of fence from the original configuration last year. I’ll probably just put that up and seal off the fence. Maybe if I have time, I’ll try and make it look like a gate. A LOCKED gate lol!
I just like how open it is for me and accessible, plus with two cars parked side by side, it is much easier to open the doors the way it is now. I wonder if this is an indicator that there will be more activity on Halloween this year.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

Could be part of the solution:








Kelsyus Canopy Chair with Weather Shield


Kelsyus Canopy Chair with Weather Shield




sellout.woot.com


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## LabMama1 (Sep 22, 2020)

We made a 60 foot long candy chute to give out candy (photo below) Now mind you, we rarely get more than ten TOTs, so crowding is not really a problem! I think the point of the candy chute is to protect the homeowner since they don't have to have close contact with the TOTs and the TOTs don't keep touching the doorbell, the doorknob, or other people's candy. So from that standpoint, even one candy chute works as intended. They aren't supposed to keep the TOTs away from each other, if that's what you meant.


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## LabMama1 (Sep 22, 2020)

Keltset said:


> We usually do a large pirate themed walkthrough, we got around 3000 kids last year and usually you can expect around 6000-7000 when it lands on a weekend like it does this year. So many people the streets are not driveable and are filled with people. 100% confident social distancing will be difficult if not impossible and everyone in our neighborhood is just going on like usual. We have decided to do the same, we will be wearing masks and gloves as well as providing masks to anyone who does not have one and requiring them on entry. In addition we are creating a hand sanitizer station at the entrance and at the exit area's of our property. We will limit the amount of people we allow to walk through and hand out candy at the end. This time we will hand out candy at the end without requiring people to walk through the walkthrough if they chose not to. We altered our audio files outside to request that people maintain social distancing and to inform them that we are limiting access to the walkthrough to one group at a time. That's really all that we can do on our side, the rest will be up to the ToT'ers and their parents to determine what they do and do not want to do.
> 
> That said, I seriously have no clue how anyone is going to be able to manage the groups. If the polls in our area are correct, roughly 38% of people can be expected to not participate this year.... Take that against 6000-7000 people then you can still have a reasonable expectation of 4000 ish people at minimum. Candy shoot? Not going to work at all... bagging each kids candy... Not gonna happen!
> 
> ...


That's incredible! No, social distancing is not likely.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Labfreak7 said:


> I don’t mean to derail the topic, but I had a question- last night I had friendly trespassers in my driveway. Apparently a family wanted to get a better look at my setup, and were in my driveway and on my porch. Made me a little uneasy, as we had our cars in the driveway, and not a lot of room to move around. The kids were young, so I didn’t have the heart to ask them to stay on the sidewalk, but I don’t know what would possess the parents to allow the kids and themselves onto my property? My husband seems to think that the pillars look like an entrance onto the lawn ( although they stayed in the driveway). My little site page clearly states that the haunt is visible from the street and sidewalk. Not sure what I should do? So far an isolated incident, which brings me to the next question- I was going to have the candy on a old fashioned farm stand cart that I made, but now I am thinking that it may get “swarmed” and all the candy taken in one fail swoop. Not sure still if there will be a good amount of tot’ers, but I may go to the chute system like so many of you are going with. I’m torn now.


The solution is simple. Put up signs. I am very big on signs for Halloween night as I usually have some kind of interactive display. I have a main sign that I put out that describes the interactive parts of my attraction, and I do make it clear that it is for Halloween night only.  I keep my gates closed until the big night. Even so, there are areas where I don't want people to go and I just put a chain across that area with a sign that simply says, "Keep Out."

You can easily make up signs on your computer, and then bring them to Staples to have them enlarged and laminated with a protective plastic coating so they will be OK if they get wet.

It could be that your isolated case, the family thought you had a walk through attraction. Putting a chain across that entrance with a keep out sign probably would have spoke volumes to that one family. Naturally, on Halloween night, if you chose to do so, you could invite people to see your display up close. But I understand that with the current times, that you might not want to do that.

As for candy distribution....that huge entrance with fence is screaming for a chute. So you could be in your display and TOT's could come up to that entrance. Put some paw prints or bloody footprint stickers on the ground 6 feet apart should keep the TOTs properly in line and socially distant. I, myself, am using spray chalk for this purpose and just spraying colored circles on my driveway which will lead TOT's to my garage where I have my interactive display and will hand out candy there.

Hope that helps!



LabMama1 said:


> We made a 60 foot long candy chute to give out candy (photo below) Now mind you, we rarely get more than ten TOTs, so crowding is not really a problem! I think the point of the candy chute is to protect the homeowner since they don't have to have close contact with the TOTs and the TOTs don't keep touching the doorbell, the doorknob, or other people's candy. So from that standpoint, even one candy chute works as intended. They aren't supposed to keep the TOTs away from each other, if that's what you meant.


That is some impressive length on that run, and the candy goes down all those twists and turns with no problems? In my case, I don't have to worry about crowding either as I am in a new home and I was already told that they don't get many TOTs for Halloween. Of course, I want to change that by introducing my Magic Mirror attraction and hopefully build it up. But between what I was informed about and the Covid crap going on, I wouldn't be surprised if I might see that number as well. 

Since the Magic Mirror has a chute to deliver candy anyway, I am just going to make it longer. I don't have to worry about crowding as I am going to put out chalk markers every 9 feet on my rather long driveway. I went with 9 feet, because that is how far the fence posts are spaced and I figured I would just eye up the spot locations with the posts on the driveway. This will also allow for small groups at each spot. I will have five spots out, in addition to the area in front of the Mirror, so I can handle 6 groups at once, which I seriously doubt I will get and one time.

Diaval


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## NormalLikeYou (Oct 2, 2011)

Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.


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## FreakinFreak (Aug 27, 2010)

NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant


That is a REALLY cool cat.

You could get lunch bags and they'd be real easy to put candy in. Also they'd roll down the slide well. Now all you need is a cat "harking up" sound when you toss one of the bags down the slide. hahahahahaha


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.
> View attachment 741147
> View attachment 741148
> View attachment 741149




I can't even express how much I love this... I have black cats and I adore the vintage style and obviously Halloween... and then seeing it LIGHTS UP?!


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

My lazy susan idea is out and now Im making a partition with a mail slot type candy bag sized to pass through. I will drop bags through the slot and it will travel out and down about 2 feet from me to an attached base the tots can access. As it travels down on the other side from me there will be a half chute like thing to keep the bag from going off path. Still deciding on final design. 
So the chute idea is great but my walk thru will allow me to be essentially walled off from people.


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## Michael__Myers (Sep 8, 2019)

NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.
> View attachment 741147
> View attachment 741148
> View attachment 741149


Now that is awesome!


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.
> View attachment 741147


WOW!! Now THAT is a candy chute! OMG this goes above and beyond! Impressive artistry work! The idea of transforming an old kid's slide to look like a cat's tongue? Then the eyes light up too? 

This is a GREAT idea. I like that you went so far as to paint the slide red AND molded the end more to look like a tongue.

I can even see the ante being upped on this with someone creating a monster in place of the cat. Definitely some major thanks in sharing this as I am sure that some could use this idea for their display.

It is funny as when I did my Magic Mirror display, I had the chute come out of the mouth of a Jack-O-Lantern window decoration. So this definitely reminds me of that, but on a much grander scale.

The artistry is great as well. Something like this would be difficult for me to pull off, but many that are good with a paintbrush could definitely do this.



FreakinFreak said:


> ....Now all you need is a cat "harking up" sound when you toss one of the bags down the slide. hahahahahaha


Yes! Yes! This is a must do. You can use a program called Soundplant which uses the keyboard on a laptop (or notebook) computer to trigger recorded sounds of a cat meowing, hacking up a furball, etc. You can plug the computer into an amplifier with a speaker and then just trigger the sounds manually as you drop the candy down the chute. That is also a great idea to add on to this.

Great contributions to this thread! (Standing ovation, claps hands, bows in reverence). 

Diaval


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## kristinms8 (Sep 8, 2014)

NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.
> View attachment 741147
> View attachment 741148
> View attachment 741149


Absolutely amazing! Best treat dispenser I have ever seen! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## NormalLikeYou (Oct 2, 2011)

Diaval said:


> I can even see the ante being upped on this with someone creating a monster in place of the cat. Definitely some major thanks in sharing this as I am sure that some could use this idea for their display.
> 
> 
> Diaval


We haven't gotten any light on it yet, so right now when you drive up pretty much all you can see at first are the eyes. Now I'm thinking that we just need some huge sets of eyes down in our yard, and a dragon face next year with a fog machine set up behind the mouth.


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## LabMama1 (Sep 22, 2020)

Diaval said:


> The solution is simple. Put up signs. I am very big on signs for Halloween night as I usually have some kind of interactive display. I have a main sign that I put out that describes the interactive parts of my attraction, and I do make it clear that it is for Halloween night only. I keep my gates closed until the big night. Even so, there are areas where I don't want people to go and I just put a chain across that area with a sign that simply says, "Keep Out."
> 
> You can easily make up signs on your computer, and then bring them to Staples to have them enlarged and laminated with a protective plastic coating so they will be OK if they get wet.
> 
> ...


Well, the shoot may need to be tweaked on Halloween night. We got candy to come down pretty well when we set it up but of course what with weather and such we will need to test it again the night of trick or treating. But yes the candy mostly comes down by itself and slows down at the end when the grade is reduced. That way the candy doesn't end up shooting off the end and getting lost


NormalLikeYou said:


> Got it mostly done - just need to finish a few details. Now if only we had time to make treat bags that look like giant hairballs.
> View attachment 741147
> View attachment 741148
> View attachment 741149


Oh, that rocks!


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## bobby2003 (Oct 5, 2017)

How do people plan to handle all the filthy little hands grabbing and touching the bottoms of those candy chutes, and parents who decide they are going to sit their toddlers, with their dirty diapers, on the bottom of the chute because it will make a good photo op?


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

bobby2003 said:


> How do people plan to handle all the filthy little hands grabbing and touching the bottoms of those candy chutes, and parents who decide they are going to sit their toddlers, with their dirty diapers, on the bottom of the chute because it will make a good photo op?


Lol, that made me laugh because it’s true. I always find it strange how easily people can make themselves at home when they are at a strangers house.


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## Therewolf (Aug 31, 2015)

Diaval said:


> I had seen this idea on YouTube here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I already have a Candy Slide tube in the middle of build/Decoration. I'm responsible for making it stand up and work, my wife is going to handle decorating it. All my other decorating is proceeding as normal.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

NormalLikeYou said:


> We haven't gotten any light on it yet, so right now when you drive up pretty much all you can see at first are the eyes. Now I'm thinking that we just need some huge sets of eyes down in our yard, and a dragon face next year with a fog machine set up behind the mouth.


Great job! Go to Lowes (or Home Depot) and get some outdoor LED floodlights and some ground stake light sockets and shine some colored lights on that baby. Since the cat is red / black, go with green and orange or even green an purple lights. Also, as mentioned before, put an amplified speaker on a laptop computer running Soundplant. Then you could trigger various sound effects from the keyboard. The Dragon is a cool idea as well and definitely go with the fog machine.



LabMama1 said:


> Well, the shoot may need to be tweaked on Halloween night. We got candy to come down pretty well when we set it up but of course what with weather and such we will need to test it again the night of trick or treating. But yes the candy mostly comes down by itself and slows down at the end when the grade is reduced. That way the candy doesn't end up shooting off the end and getting lost!


That is great if you managed to get it to work like that. I am working on my chute as well, and before it used to be about 2.5' feet long and there were no issues with the candy getting too much speed. However, now that I have extended this to a 6 foot chute, my initial tests have had the candy shooting out the end at a ridiculous speed. While I wasn't concerned about candy getting lost, I was more concerned about it taking out a kids eye in the event that a TOT would stare right up the chute. So actually used the end of my old chute and that acts as both a speed and a view block. So now the candy just drops nicely down and all a TOT has to do is just hold the bag under the opening and it will drop right into the bag with no contact, which is what I was "chute-ing" for. Yes, I know...bad pun.

Since I know it works now, I just have to get some wood to support it in the proper position. 



bobby2003 said:


> How do people plan to handle all the filthy little hands grabbing and touching the bottoms of those candy chutes, and parents who decide they are going to sit their toddlers, with their dirty diapers, on the bottom of the chute because it will make a good photo op?


I was thinking about this too and I figured that with my chute being on a 33 degree angle, the candy would clear the opening and just simply drop into the TOT's bag. However, I found the candy was shooting out the end a bit faster than intended and I saw that as a safety hazard. So I went back to my old chute and removed the dryer exhaust I had on that and put it on the new chute. Now it slows the candy down and it is deflected downward right into the TOT's back. So they don't have to touch anything, just hold the bag under the chute. Mission accomplished! And yes, I am going to make a sign saying not to touch the chute. 

Diaval


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

Here is my cheap solution for the friendly trespassers. Put my GR prop in front of the entrance along with a sign made out of scrap foam. This should keep them out right?


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## Keltset (Oct 1, 2020)

Labfreak7 said:


> Here is my cheap solution for the friendly trespassers. Put my GR prop in front of the entrance along with a sign made out of scrap foam. This should keep them out right?
> View attachment 741354


Should do just fine I would presume....

-K


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Labfreak7 said:


> Here is my cheap solution for the friendly trespassers. Put my GR prop in front of the entrance along with a sign made out of scrap foam. This should keep them out right?


It looks great and with most people that should be fine. However, every so often I come across the strange and obtuse person(s) that needs to have things spelled out, word for word, "Please, Keep Out". I see you have a lot of space available in the lower part of the sign, so it is always something you can add if it still is an issue.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All! 

Well the time has come to finally put up my idea for this Halloween.

Here is my candy chute that I am incorporating with my Magic Mirror routine, of which you can see part of that behind the chute. The chute is made from standard 4" round heating duct material which is 5 feet long. and it is supported on a wood frame made from 2x4 and 1x6 material. The candy exit end adds another foot to the chute and has a vent cap on it. The main purpose of the cap is to prevent TOT's from looking into the chute and getting (potentially) blinded by a candy sliding down the chute. It also nicely deflects the candy downward, so all a TOT has to do is hold their candy back open under the chute and the candy will slide right into it.










Here is the candy chute set up with the Magic Mirror inside my garage:










This is mostly how it will be set up. I didn't have the light on the right in place, but that would be setup just outside the garage and it lights up too. There is also a sign on it with some instructions for TOTs when they approach the Magic Mirror. 

This picture shows the Magic Mirror setup at night and lit up:










This is how it is more or less going to appear on Halloween night. Ignore what the sign reads as I have still to make up my signs. But there will be one under that light and also one under the chute. The chain is as far as TOT's are allowed to go. They can talk and interact with the Magic Mirror, which, of course, is controlled and voiced by me. At one point I will ask (in character as Vlen The Magic Mirror):

Vlen: "Would you like a piece of candy?"
TOT: "Yes."
Vlen: "What do you say?"
TOT: "Please?"
Vlen: "No, that isn't the magic word on Halloween. It's Trick Or Treat!"
TOT: "Trick Or Treat".
Vlen: "Open your bag and place it under the chute opening to the left."

At that point I place a candy into the chute and it slides down to the end and drops right into the TOT's bag. 

Of course I do plan to do more interacting with the TOTs depending on if there is a line or not. Sometimes I even tell Halloween jokes, or if it is a really slow night, even a short story. 

Hopefully someone could use this information to create something like this on their own. The entire idea behind this along with the Magic Mirror digital puppet belongs to Imagineering.com. They sell the puppets on their site. 

The execution of the prop in the mirror frame, the facade construction, and the chute were all my ideas. 

Oh! As a cute little effect for Halloween, that lamp on the right flickers at 30 second intervals as if it has a short circuit. I did that effect with a micro-controller.

I will be posting a separate detailed post on the entire build in a couple days. But this is as far as I got for now.

Enjoy!

Diaval


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## Michael__Myers (Sep 8, 2019)

Looks like alot of fun for the kids to interact with


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Michael__Myers said:


> Looks like alot of fun for the kids to interact with


Yes, it has proven itself to be a hit over the years. I started it in 2009 as I illustrated above when I set it up in the side entrance vestibule of my parent's house. I have tried doing other things just to spice things up a bit, but every time I did so, everyone asked about the Magic Mirror. In fact, I initially didn't plan to do it this year, but because of Covid, it became a logical choice to do, since it was naturally socially distant. I just had to build a bigger chute...which is something I had to do anyway since this is the first Halloween at this new location.

I am not expecting too many TOTs this year, but I am hoping that those that come will spread the word around for next year and I will see much more then. But it will be a kick in the teeth if I see less than a dozen kids this year. After all, this took me a while to plan and set up. BUT I will just see how it goes.

Diaval


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## wychyways56 (Aug 29, 2019)

Diaval said:


> Sounds good all around and it seems there are some unique ideas as well as some that others will be doing as well. Given that my Magic Mirror involved chute from the get go, that seems the best route for me. I am just gathering some materials together to make it happen at the new location. I will probably make a separate post on the construction of that and just will link to it from here.
> 
> Just whatever everyone does, just be safe!


We're designing a fun "shoot" so the kids have to put their bag under to get the candy. It should be a hoot.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

wychyways56 said:


> We're designing a fun "shoot" so the kids have to put their bag under to get the candy. It should be a hoot.


Ever since I saw that one skeleton chute and given that Magic Mirror already had this, it was no-brainer to do this for a social distanced Halloween. It does seem like the chute idea is catching on in popularity and there were some cool ideas here. In another chute photo above, a fellow attached it to his stoop handrail, using the natural slope angle on it. So all you need is to decorate a 6 foot length of PVC pipe and you will be good. I ended up using a 4" heater duct because it came in a 5' length and the dryer vent assembly provided the hood and an additional foot of pipe. I just decorated that with a black ribbon, a artificial vine of autumn leaves and some orange LED lights. Of course, in my case, I am not near a stoop, so I had to build a frame to support the duct at the correct angle. The support was pretty easy to make using two lengths of 2x4 and 2 lengths of a 1 x 6 pine board. A hinge on the chute end and a pipe strap on the upper end holds the pipe to the frame. Very easy to make.


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## MT_Grave (May 23, 2014)

Diaval said:


> Hello All!
> 
> Well the time has come to finally put up my idea for this Halloween.
> 
> ...


I'm doing much the same - except my face will be a full 8'X8' castle wall. It will be 1 side of my pop up canopy and will have cloth walls on 2 more. My plan is to build a drawer that I will push out to deliver the goodies (kind of like the drive through teller at the bank). Will spray disinfectant in the drawer between kids.


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## Yodlei (Jul 13, 2019)

Many cute chute & other ideas on here. I shouldn't have much of a problem as our area is finally going to have nice weather for a change so no one will need to come to the door. I also am out in the country in a tiny Subdivision with only a few streets & don't get a ton of TOT's anyway...maybe 30 tops in over 20 years & never a bunch together. I will have my mask(s) on & sit at a decorated table behind the 20' black plastic chain I bought at Menard's. I hammered in the fence posts on both sides of the drive yesterday. Don't normally do the treat bag thing but found a package & will make some up & sit them on a separate patio table on their side of the chain or slide them down something if I find something to use. Will wipe down the table if need to between. Our yards are big so I can see how many are coming in a group ahead of them & put the appropriate amount out.

As I was typing...just thought I have a "grabby stick" & will test if that will work on the bags. I can drop them in at a distance & decorate it cute somehow.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

We had our TOT tonight (Thursday 10/29). Had 62 kids plus parents. * NO ONE... NOT ONE... NOBODY * (except myself) *was wearing a COVID mask.*

Glad I stayed behind a large fan that blew icy cold air on every TOT'er. Serves 'em right.


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

boo who? said:


> We had our TOT tonight (Thursday 10/29). Had 62 kids plus parents. * NO ONE... NOT ONE... NOBODY * (except myself) *was wearing a COVID mask.*
> 
> Glad I stayed behind a large fan that blew icy cold air on every TOT'er. Serves 'em right.


As idiotic as it sounds, I don’t think many states are requiring kids or even adults to wear masks. In NY, it is required. Our governor has made it an imperative to do so. I expect that 75% of my TOT’ers will be wearing Covid masks.


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

I guess the whole candy delivery system is more important than my decorations. Neighbor kid basically just told me since we didn’t make one our stuff “wasn’t good”. I’m going to need a go fund me page for bail money if I get insulted by children all night lol


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

Meadow said:


> I guess the whole candy delivery system is more important than my decorations. Neighbor kid basically just told me since we didn’t make one our stuff “wasn’t good”. I’m going to need a go fund me page for bail money if I get insulted by children all night lol


I literally laughed out loud when I read this!


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## Michael__Myers (Sep 8, 2019)

Meadow said:


> I guess the whole candy delivery system is more important than my decorations. Neighbor kid basically just told me since we didn’t make one our stuff “wasn’t good”. I’m going to need a go fund me page for bail money if I get insulted by children all night lol


Lol, dont take it personal. "Kids say the darnedest things"


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Labfreak7 said:


> I literally laughed out loud when I read this!


Glad SOMEONE is laughing!


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Michael__Myers said:


> Lol, dont take it personal. "Kids say the darnedest things"


Oh trust me, I’m not. This is the same kid who told me they stole something off my porch and when I said, why are you stealing my things? She replied, quite snarky, well I put it back! Hahaha


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## Labfreak7 (Oct 31, 2019)

Meadow said:


> Glad SOMEONE is laughing!


It’s ok. For that one wise a$$ comment, I’m sure you got plenty more oohs and ash’s at your display. Happy Halloween!


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## Meadow (Apr 14, 2019)

Labfreak7 said:


> It’s ok. For that one wise a$$ comment, I’m sure you got plenty more oohs and ash’s at your display. Happy Halloween!


Haha totally! Just wasn’t so nice that it was the FIRST one! But yes, it’s been pretty much all positive!!!


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## kristinms8 (Sep 8, 2014)

We did individual boxes set up on a table out front with social distancing reminder stickers approaching our place. We typically get 45-60 TOTs but I suspect we’ll see less tonight. Happy Halloween everyone! [emoji316][emoji1665]











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Well, it is 9:49 on All Hallows Eve and I am back with an initial report from the day.

In terms of weather? Beautiful, but cold. In terms of turn out? Bad, but not terrible. 

After having a successful run the previous night, and having some road signs made up, I was confident that I might break the three dozen marker and get about 30+ kids. 

I got up at 9:00am this morning and started to set up, putting all my signs out and getting the equipment ready to go. So basically, all I had to do was turn everything on. I took a break for breakfast and then I went back out and turned everything on. Once I had everything in place, I opened shop on time this year at Noon. Then I waited, and waited. 1:00pm, nothing, 2:00pm, nothing. When 3:00pm just rolled over, I finally received my first pair of kids. My boys had left to go trick or treating themselves at 2:30. Then another hour rolled by before another group showed up and then after that I started to see something about every 20 minutes until about 6:00pm. So it seemed to me that this new neighborhood gets a later start...even on the weekend. Sadly, numbers are also skewed because of Covid. However, I would regularly go into the street and I could see at the end a girl and her grandfather walking by, and she noticed the sign. I tell you, I was about 5 houses down from that point and I could here her screaming, "LOOK Grandpa! Candy! Candy!" Yes, they came to the house. That moment right there made making up those signs worthwhile. Later on, I had noticed other groups coming from that direction and I figured it was because of the road signs.

I had Dominos deliver pizza today since you can place an order early in the day and have it delivered at a specific time. So they came right at 5:15. My boys were not back yet, and my wife wanted to wait for them, but I couldn't wait. I didn't have much of a lunch, and I just loaded up a plate and went out to the garage. At his point the sun was going down and it was getting colder out. So between meal servings, I started to put on my lights. 

Up to this point, I had remembered to turn on the Go-Pro and turn it off again when a group came, but I was a bit distracted when my sons came back home with their friends and off the times I forgot to put on the camera, it was then, and right after another group came and naturally the camera was off. It was my best group two with three adult ladies and I had a good time interacting with them. I knew two of them as they were both my adjacent neighbors. I mean REALLY?!?!? Of all the times to forget to put on the camera, it was then. Phewy!

Then after that I had a HUGE lull. No one until about 7:50pm. Then three more groups showed up, one of them at 8:36, when I was starting to wrap things up. I would say that definitely received more than a dozen kids...which I was dreading, but I don't think I had more than 20. 18 is more like it. 

I am thinking that had I not had those signs, that number would have been less. Had it not been for Covid, I probably would have had more.

Well, one of the neighbors was so impressed, she took pictures and posted it on Facebook. 

So I am hoping that this was enough to plant the seeds for next year and I am hoping to at least DOUBLE that figure.

In the slow time from about 7:15 to 8:20, one of my sons kept me company in the garage and we were talking for a while. The temperature was going down fast, but it wasn't as cold as last night. However, with the sun beating on the garage roof all day, and with the curtains up in the front, it was warmer in there. But it eventually got to my son and he didn't quite stay with me to the end. I would say about 7:50, I already started to take some of my props down, I pulled the fences down and all the signs except for the main one that was out front. Many of my effect lights I had also pulled down. Really all that I left out were the lights in front and the ones that were on the side fence by the garage. In terms of the garage itself, I pulled all of the electronics out and called it a night. I would say that by the time I took my shower, it was 9:30pm. So what I had taken down only took me an hour. 

My boys are taking their shower now and we are going to watch Ghostbusters later on.

So that is it for my All Hallows Eve!

I will be posting some pictures and videos, but I have a lot of footage on two cameras to go through. 

Overall, I still had fun despite the disappointing numbers, and yeah, I did overbuy candy. I would have been fine with one bag of Reeses and Kit Kats each, but I bought two. Oh well, I will have enough candy to last through Christmas once again.


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## Cephus404 (Oct 13, 2017)

We had individual bags out on a table but we realized, too late, that there wasn't enough light where it was and we had to keep directing people to it. We moved to a smaller table and much farther away from the house and didn't take that into account.


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## kuroneko (Mar 31, 2011)

We had both a set of tables with non-candy treats out front and a table with candy under a pop-up tent in our driveway. We made sure the street was well lit this year since everything is always dark and people treat our road like a highway. Unfortunately we didn't do the best job of letting people know we had candy in addition to the non-candy treats. I thought our treat tent was well lit, but a large portion of ToTs just skipped our tent. Part of the problem was I couldn't find my "Treats this way" sign which would have made it more obvious.

People also loved we were using tongs to hand out candy. We will likely make that a permanent addition to our candy handling. The person working the treat tent was in a full costume and wouldn't move so it looked like we just set up a dummy holding tongs. He'd move and gesture to our menu with the tongs. The kid would point out what they wanted and he'd tap the image to confirm before serving the candy. The tongs are a great prop/tool for us.

I actually really enjoyed having the treat tent. My porch is just a tiny cement pad with no cover and my foyer is tiny. At least the treat tent gave us space for a table and chairs which made it much easier to hand out treats. It would have also provided some cover if it rained (light rain only). The only drawback is it was cold, but the temperature isn't consistent from year to year. We may continue to use it in the future. Hopefully next year will be better.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Cephus404 said:


> We had individual bags out on a table but we realized, too late, that there wasn't enough light where it was and we had to keep directing people to it. We moved to a smaller table and much farther away from the house and didn't take that into account.


 I consider a Halloween display or event as a 'show'. Given the displays I put on and having a bit of a background in theater, I always make it a point to do a dry run or a 'dress rehearsal', the night before. This way if there are any issues, I can have time to take care of them. Since this year was a weekend, I was preparing mostly for a day Halloween, but knowing I was going to run into the night, I also did a test at night. Sometimes even with the most well prepared displays, something always shows up that needs addressing. This year I ran into a problem in which one of my signs wasn't lit well enough, and so I had corrected that in time for Halloween. Also, when I first started testing my "Magic Mirror" routine this year, the new setup had some issues, but I managed to iron out those problems long before rehearsal night.



kuroneko said:


> We had both a set of tables with non-candy treats out front and a table with candy under a pop-up tent in our driveway. We made sure the street was well lit this year since everything is always dark and people treat our road like a highway. Unfortunately we didn't do the best job of letting people know we had candy in addition to the non-candy treats. I thought our treat tent was well lit, but a large portion of ToTs just skipped our tent. Part of the problem was I couldn't find my "Treats this way" sign which would have made it more obvious.


Given this was my first Halloween in a new location and it was known ahead of time that my road isn't big on TOT's, I had plans to make up road signs even before Covid reared it's ugly head.

I had two signs made up...one for across the street of my home (there isn't a house there, but railroad tracks) and another sign I put on a main road and pointed down my road. Last night I actually witnessed my signs at work. One girl was with her grandfather and the street corner was at least 5 houses down. I heard her all the way down the street screaming to her grandfather as she pointed to the sign and screamed, "Look! Look! Candy!" And I saw them coming down the street and they stopped by. So yeah, I am big on signs and that right there proves they DO work. It is funny as many of the TOTs came from THAT side of my street. The other direction is further away and it is not an intersection. It is an "L" turn into the next street and the main road was too far in that direction. So I am sure there were others that saw the sign and came down.

However, despite my signs, at least THREE small groups just went right by my house. I was not happy about that. I have no idea why as the signs were right there, but they didn't even stop to read them, they just blew right by and I didn't understand that. Yet when I came up to investigate, they stopped at the neighbors house.



> People also loved we were using tongs to hand out candy. We will likely make that a permanent addition to our candy handling. The person working the treat tent was in a full costume and wouldn't move so it looked like we just set up a dummy holding tongs. He'd move and gesture to our menu with the tongs. The kid would point out what they wanted and he'd tap the image to confirm before serving the candy. The tongs are a great prop/tool for us.


That is a good idea for no contact. I just had a glove on my hand that was dispensing the candy down a chute. During a certain point in my routine, I had instructed TOTs to place their candy bag under the chute opening and "Say the Magic Words". Most figured out it was "Trick Or Treat", and I would place the candy in the chute and it would slide right down and into the TOT's bag without any contact.



> I actually really enjoyed having the treat tent. My porch is just a tiny cement pad with no cover and my foyer is tiny. At least the treat tent gave us space for a table and chairs which made it much easier to hand out treats. It would have also provided some cover if it rained (light rain only). The only drawback is it was cold, but the temperature isn't consistent from year to year. We may continue to use it in the future. Hopefully next year will be better.


You are lucky to have a porch. That was something I always dreamed of having on a home. However, I made use of my garage for my display, and if it rained lightly, I would have been good as well as the display, as well as I were well protected. In future years, the TOT's would be protected too as there is room to come right up to my display, but because of the need for social distancing, the chute extended way passed the garage door opening. 

Diaval


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## ceo418 (Jun 15, 2016)

I ended up putting treat bags on a table outside the front door of my apartment and checked on it now and then. I had to refill it a couple of times and heard a lot of kids coming up to the second floor, and it was nice to see the kids outside roaming around! Chilly, but a good evening.


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

Hello All!

I have posted the full details of my Halloween Display here:









Halloween 2020 - Socially Distanced Vlen The Magic Mirror


Hello all you spooksters out there! For starters, I hope everyone had a great Halloween for 2020! I had some fun this year, but I will explain that further on. But first, I have a little rewinding to do: Coming off the heavily successful thread I posted here back in September, I give you...




www.halloweenforum.com





Enjoy!

As a bonus, here are my twin sons as they are dressed up and ready to go Trick Or Treating:









And some reiterated pictures of my display for this year:




















































This was a bubbling cauldron effect and even though I had it in an actual cauldron, it kept splashing the water out and I had to refill it every 20 minutes. So I used this spider decorated candy bowl instead. This lasted 2.5 hours before I had to add water to it.










See y'all next Halloween...and hopefully under better conditions!


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## cody1073 (Jan 17, 2018)




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## englundisgod (Jul 12, 2013)

Halloween trick or treat was still on in Canada lots of people went all out, I saw a candy chute out in the wild.

I saw a genius no cost way to dispense candy. along their driveway they put a few wooden stakes with some plastic twine. They hung bags of cheesies and chips from the diy mini clothesline with regular old wooden clothespins 

People were really creative here, noone opted out because of corona there were 
lots of people still braving the storm


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## Diaval (Oct 19, 2009)

cody1073 said:


>


That is a very impressive display! It reminds me of a very well done dark ride, especially during that narrow path towards the end. That is the perfect spot to put someone with chainsaw! I envy your turnout of 350 people. I never even achieved half of that. This year was a VERY poor turnout for me with only about 18 TOTs. Yeah, I know...pathetic! 

I had always wanted to do something this big, but sadly, I lacked the help, and I am plagued with bad weather in October and either we have lots of rain, high winds, or a combination of both. We lucked out this year with a nice day with no rain or wind, but it was cold in the evening.

Because of the high winds, I could never put out anything near to your level. I would have to be outside everyday fixing what the wind blows over. So those tents that you have? While they are good for keeping out rain, the high winds here would certainly destroy them. I also don't have much help with setting things up and I am getting up there in age as well.

The biggest thing I had ever done was an attraction called the Creep Machine and that is here in this video:






The set up for this nearly killed me. It was an ambitious project and everything was hand made, save for the jumping spider, which didn't work with the display anyway. The Creep Machine was controlled via a computer in the basement and it is based off of one of those "Christmas Lights To Music" programs. All I had to do was push a button on the Creep Machine to start the show. Same for the Singing Pumpkins. They used a similar computer which was continuously running. Everything I set up myself with absolutely no help. So after I had put everything away, I was in bed for a whole day, with my back completely out. Now here was the kick in the side...the Creep Machine wasn't well accepted and many asked about the Magic Mirror. This was the first year I didn't do the mirror since 2009 (save for Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but that rendered my site with no power, so I couldn't do the Magic Mirror). Well, I had many people saying, "Where's the Magic Mirror?"

Needless to say, the Creep Machine was a one off and I probably will never do it again. It is just too much work for one person. Even this year it was the same thing. I have a pair of 13 year old boys and I received little help from them. They only helped with putting the spider webs in the bushes, and I ended up taking it all down myself. So knowing that I am mostly a one man show, I try to keep my displays simpler now. The Magic Mirror is mostly curtain based and the frame is mostly PVC pipe, so it is very easy to put it up and take it down. Since this is what most people like and come to see, it is really what I been sticking with.

But great job on your display and I tip my hat off to anyone that can put on a display as impressive as that. There was one fellow in my neighborhood that has a curved driveway and he has put up such a display. It isn't a walkthrough like yours is, but you can walk through the curved driveway and there are props on both sides and also on the porch of his home.

Keep up the great work!

Diaval


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