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Wednesday May 21, 2008 It's here!
You can purchase MISSED EXPERIENCES on DVD using the link below: Friday April 25, 2008 Well hello out there! I am so sorry that I haven't posted anything - but it is because no one knows what is going on around here. For starters, it doesn't appear that they are doing The Experience this year - seems they can't find a place to put it on. But I think the real reason they aren't doing it - is because of this - click here.
They aren't doing The Experience because they have a new project that sounds INCREDIBLE! That's all I know for now... I'll be back Monday December 31, 2007 They posted a sneak peek of Missed Experiences on the front page today! It looks good - can't wait to get one. Below is the blooper reel.
Monday October 15, 2007 We got the word today from the State of Ohio. The building that houses the attraction is just too far out of code to be open to the public. So sadly - the Experience will not be re-opening this year. Is it me - or have they really had 2 years now of setbacks??? Some of you will remember the untold amounts of rain of last year.
It turns out that they did pass the fire inspection but the building itself had sat abandoned for so long that the structure was unsafe. I am hearing whispers that the fire chief suggested the attraction stay outside. I would assume that is because Ohio code is very strict when it comes to Special Amusement Buildings.
I did hear that they are going to do a DVD of the attraction because (in my opinion) it is the best attraction in the area. So if you didn't get a chance to experience it for yourself - you can pick up the DVD which will contain a complete walk-through of the attraction and special effects as well as interviews with the designers, the video introduction used in the attraction and some bonus sound tracks from previous attractions.
So there ya have it - a pre-mature ending to the 2007 season. But rest assured that they will be back next year and probably with a vengeance. I'll keep ya posted - and if you have strong feelings about the shutdown - let me hear about it... I am making a case against the code - there should be exceptions made when all chances of risk have been taken into account and the attraction has a spotless record.
Catch ya all back at the woods!
Sunday October 7, 2007 Wow what a rollercoaster ride last night was! Great crowds and then an impromptu inspection from the Clinton Township Fire Department. Because of the inspection we were limiting the amount of people to go through the attraction. Unfortunately - as is often the case, the Fire Inspector did find a few things that were potential hazards so the designers have been given the opportunity to correct them so that we can re-open this coming weekend. Now from what I hear - the designers do intend to re-open but I think due to their time constrants with the upcoming Rocky Horror Show - that they don't think they can get all the changes done by this weekend. Although they are going to make every attempt to do so. What would really help is if any of you out there are trained in fire safety or are fire people - we could use your assistance!
Again the comments are fantastic - the designers out did themselves this year with a truly unique and entertaining attraction. I heard a mention about it coming "out on video" after the Halloween season. Can you imagine? Experience the legend of Hanna Bagley - in your own living room!
Saturday October 6, 2007 Just home from another successful evening at The Experience. They got their first rush tonight... do you remember me saying their goal was to improve the line? They DID IT! Even though they were hit with more than expected - the line never lasted more than 12 minutes!
Couple of things... they shut off online sales around 4pm daily - so if you don't get your tickets in advance - you can still purchase them at the door. And don't freak out if you get the feeling you are the only ones in the building - they designed it that way lol. Tuesday October 2, 2007 If you are ever given the opportunity to watch behind the scenes at The Experience - you should jump at the chance. I got to do so this past weekend and had a blast. First - everyone helping with the attraction is a lot of fun to hang out with - down to earth and happy... Second - it's so much fun watching people get scared. And no matter how many times you see someone get scared in the same way - it's just as funny as the first time.
Speaking of behind the scenes - the designers of this year's attraction were really smart about capacity. I didn't realize it on the walk-throughs but they created two exact same finale rooms. It was pretty cool to see two groups exiting the attraction at the same time and looking at each other wondering where the other group came from. I guess the designers realized they needed more than one well ;)
All in all - it was a successful weekend and another one is coming quickly! See ya there! Sunday September 23, 2007 SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS - "IF YOU ARE DRINKING OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ANY DRUG YOU WILL NOT ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE." Now say that 13 times fast.
It never fails - you arrive drunk, you go through the attraction and then you attack the ticket crew for a refund. We will not issue refunds - especially if you are under the influence. In fact, the front door staff asked one particularly rowdy group to leave last night instead of allowing them to go through the attraction. Let me make it very clear - we don't want you at The Experience if you are going to be drunk, belligerent, loud or rude. Got it? Good!
A great opening weekend for The Experience. They worked out some timing issues and didn't have any major issues last night. Means they are well-prepared for the crowds to arrive this coming weekend.
I got to tour the attraction for the first time with actors last night - it's really cool. They did up the scares this year - with doors banging, actors jumping out at you and objects moving that shouldn't move. And with a stronger storyline everything works to tell the Legend of Hanna Bagley - which as it turns out - we didn't get the complete story - you have to go through the attraction to find out the rest.
The Director of Sales let up on the reservation system this week and basically said they would operate with a standby line. With the layout of the attraction the line won't back up nearly as bad as last year. Still though - the attraction is now located within easy reach of over a million people - so do yourself a favor and buy your tickets on line and pick the date and time you wish to tour. Other wise you may find yourself standing in line for over 2 hours. For some - that is all part of the Halloween tradition!
See you all this coming weekend!
P.S. for this weeks' gossip. The designers are talking about an additional promotion in celebration of 5 years of The Experience. They mentioned having a lock down, lights out tour where you and your group will be locked in the building alone for 1 hour to tour the attraction with the lights off and only a dim pen light to navigate by. Of course the actors would have free rights to do whatever they wanted... Interested? Click here and let us know if you'd be interested in attending such an event. Friday September 21, 2007 It's here! The 2007 Experience Haunted Attraction opens in less than 24 hours! I am posting this at around midnight because I was at the attraction all night. They were doing some practice runs and testing out the endurance of some of the equipment. The building is awesome - they totally put you into the legend of Hanna Bagley and when you leave you will be asking yourself many questions in an attempt to understand it.
They really did up the scare level this year while keeping the really awesome special effects and storyline.
They officially open tonight (saturday) at 6:30pm. There are still reservations available so get there and get yours! Wednesday September 19, 2007 Your's truly was assigned to cleaning duty today - so I was placed in the middle of the final push to be ready to open on Saturday. Actors were coming and going all day trying on costumes and learning the ins and outs of their roles. A couple designers were around off and off finessing some of the special effects and of course the clean up crew was hard at work.
Tonight brings another rehearsal and one more crew to come in and repair anything that has been damaged throughout the construction period - then the newspapers, radio/tv stations and reviewers come in on Friday to get a first look at the attraction - then it's open to the public - can't wait! Get your tickets ahead of time and save $2 per person plus get a reserved time slot! Monday September 17, 2007 Here we are - less than a week away from opening for the 2007 version of the Experience. As I have sort of hinted to throughout the past few weeks is that The Experience has evolved into a hybrid between their traditional theatrical style presentation and the larger more intense thrill attractions. This one has many more jump out scares than years past but they also ramped up the story as well. Each room in the attraction tells another part of the story - so by the end you will find yourself and friends discussing it.
Most of the programming has been completed and cleanup work is almost complete. The actors meet for rehearsals this week and there are still a few artists in the building putting on the finishing touches. They are running the private previews on Friday so that Saturday will actually be a grand opening. Tickets have taken off and the banners and signs have appeared. I'll keep ya posted throughout the week! Tuesday September 11, 2007 With the temperatures quickly dropping - there is a fall Halloween nip in the air - makes me even-more excited about The Experience! The final construction projects happened this weekend and the cleaning crew has moved in. While the site is being prepped for it's first round of visitors another team has started the finer detail work to tell the story of Hanna Bagley.
Only 10 days to go! Monday September 3, 2007 Can you believe there are only 19 days until the 2007 Halloween season? Where did the year go? For the designers of The Experience - the year was spent unearthing a long-forgotten tragedy that happened in a building near the Lennox Towncenter.
The construction crews are starting to dwindle and a lot of cleaning up is taking place. Now the dressing crews will come in complete the "look" of the attraction.
Many of you are probably wondering what to expect this year? I know I am... From what I can gather - The Experience made the transition into a building very well. While it doesn't have the natural ambiance of the woods - they do still have a very powerful true story behind them - and that makes it just as creepy. The attraction is still very theme/story based but they have "upped the ante" with live performers. As always you will experience the signature special effects that they have come up with and they always use music and sound effects quite nicely. They have shrunk the size of their groups this year to 4 people (because of the finale) and they will only let 4 people in at a time - probably because it is more interesting and creepy when there are less of you.
So prepare yourselves now to Experience a brand new story in a new building closer to Columbus. The Legend of Hanna Bagley will stay with you for a long time - especially when you notice your closet door slightly opened.
Sunday August 26, 2007 Things are really moving along now at the attraction - the last of the painting happens this week and some of the special effects are in. There are a number of people that spend the day walking through the attraction with the lights off - probably determining light and sound levels. I got to sneak a peek of their pre-show video - and it is really cool - they have come a long way since the floating head image. As is often the case this time of year - the packages arriving here at the Nightmoves offices daily are mounting up - and my loyal readers will know how much I love to see all these packages coming in.
I did get to hear that the first round of revisions have been worked into the attraction. On July 27th - the designers locked in the design for the attraction - that included the build-out, effects, sound, lighting and story. But usually once things start to get setup - the designers like to tweak the design to make it better. I don't report on the tweaks because they usually consist of a change in color of paint or a brightness level of a light. But what you all want to hear about is the "major" revisions. In this case - they recently made a high-level revision in the story that caused a couple room designs to get knocked out. That's what the advance team's job is - to go through and prepare for the Designer team to complete the design. So while most of the attraction is complete - several rooms are undergoing another re-do.
Oh I almost forgot - they have the rules posted now:
We've had 1 day already sell out tickets - so you should plan on making your purchase soon! Get your tickets here!
Friday August 17, 2007 I got a tour of the building today - which is usually off-limits to all but the work teams. It's fantastic and really cool - they seem to have evolved into a mix between a haunted house and the Experience as it were in the woods. Lots of special effects and atmosphere tricks in progress and gallons and gallons of paint everywhere.
Our web programmer is currently working on putting up the online sales. All tickets are reservation only this year. Big Change! When you arrive you
will be given three options -
Another change this year is the group size - the attraction can only accommodate groups of four (4) people at a time - this is because of the "face your fears" segment of the attraction. Groups larger than 4 will be split up - be forewarned.
Also this year the attraction is handicap accessible - since they are now in a building and not on the uneven paths of the woods.
I have been trying to dig up some dirt on The Legend of Hanna Bagly and I thought I had figured it out - but it turns out there is a twist in the end that I didn't see coming. Sunday July 29, 2007 THE LEGEND
Have you hear the legend of Hanna Bagly? One night when she was only 8, her mother and father hid her and her brother Jace in the hall closet. From within the closet Hanna could hear yelling - "Was there an intruder in the house?!" After a few moments gunshots were heard and all fell silent. After a few hours Hanna opened the closet door and there in front of her were the bodies of her Mother and Father. She turned to wake up her brother Jace, but he wouldn't budge. She turned on the light in the closet and found Jace dead as well - from a stray bullet.
Hanna became a ward of the state and was sent to a boarding school for girls where she was taunted and teased by the other girls. One night Hanna went hysterical (so they say) and ran through the building looking for a safe place to hide - she ended up in a closet where she would be forced to face her nightmares.
After that the girls in the boarding school began to disappear one-by-one and the building was sealed up. Now 70 years later a new owner has purchased the property and opened it to the public in the hope that the mystery of this tragedy will finally solved before he tears it down early winter. Saturday July 21, 2007 The designer's are taking possession of the building today!
THE BUILDING
There is a building off Olentangy River Road with a tragic past. To see the building from the outside you just know that something really bad happened there. It was originally a warehouse of some sort, then a boarding school for girls, a brief danceclub but now has been abandoned for 5 years. Recently the for-sale building went into contract and the new owners went in and found a portion of the building that had been sealed up - some think it had been sealed for over 70 years. This portion of the building dates back to the Boarding school years. It was during this period that the first tragedy happened - it started with one student and then became one of the largest massacres of the time.
Now when people come into that building they instantly are aware they are being watched by something dark and terrifying, that this building is not friendly to them, and some people have been known to blink and find themselves in another room of the building. The feeling of being watched, missing time and all the other creepy incidents in that building will be open for the public to explore beginning Saturday September 22. Sunday June 3, 2007 Hello Haunted Attraction Lovers! We are now entering the final weeks of design for The Experience and will shortly begin testing. Just to re-cap, the Experience has moved to a location near Downtown Columbus, has a brand new storyline (the location was an old boarding school) and a new logo.
The Experience moved to be closer to their guests in the currently depressed economy of the area and in the process found a new story to tell. I personally will miss the woods but there is talk on the horizon about a new project that Nightmoves is working on that includes an outdoor haunted woods attraction. That project looks to be a few years in the future but for the meantime - we can enjoy what the designers have cooked up indoors. We can also enjoy not being in the cold wind while standing in shorter lines at the new site. If there is one comment that I hear consistently from the designers is that capacity and short lines are the goal.
In any account - sound files for this year's attraction are nearing completion and most of the room designs are complete. They also have a really intense finale description - sure to freak out anyone who might have been afraid of the ghost in their bedroom closet. But trust me - it's quite a bit more than that.
Saturday May 5, 2007 Just wanted to post a few things so everyone out there knows that designs for The Experience 2007 are running along smoothly. The designers did a walk-through of the building and settled on some structural changes that will be started on the building over the next few weeks and the sound editor has begun tinkering around with the various effects that they will need.
They released the schedule for the attraction recently - and it shows them opening one-week earlier then normal. I would assume this is because they are not at the woods - so the sun setting later would not interfere. In fact I've heard a couple intriguing things about the schedule of this version. Expect a new promotion going on at The Experience on the last weekend before Halloween.
I did manage to hear a few tidbits of conversation this past week as well. The storyline is brand new - Saran will not be making appearance this year. Which in my opinion is a good thing - I don't know about all of you - but she's gotten right up in my face a couple times, and its terrifyingly uncomfortable. Instead the designers are working on a story about an orphanage in the 1940s. Expect to encounter the Boogeyman, the Tooth Fairy, the Monster under the bed and all those other things we were scared of as children. Don't let that description mis-lead you however, this will not be like other haunts where you go room to room and meet various monsters that have no relation to each other - the storyline is solid - and you will be expected to FACE YOUR FEARS to get out!
Until next time ... Sunday March 25, 2007 Before they release it on here I thought I would earn my status of being an official leak for Nightmoves Entertainment Inc. They have released the slogan and description of this year's Experience...
Slogan = FACE YOUR FEAR Description = Believe the stories you were told as a child, they're real
I have been told that Saran will not be moving to Downtown Columbus this year with the Experience - instead the designers are working on a special effects stunt show to tell the story of Malcolm and Saran at Schmitter Creek. That should debut sometime around June of 2008. Meanwhile, work is progressing continuously here at the offices - they have a storyline, some new characters and are designing a new logo for the attraction. Most of the testing is slated to begin in a few weeks.
So there you have it, a new slogan, a new tagline, a new logo which mounts to an all-new Experience Haunted Attraction. Tuesday March 6, 2007 I never realized how fast the time goes until I checked out my last entry! Big news here today - one of the designers has a set of building blueprints on his desk. I didn't get a very long look (more of a glance as I was given my tasks for the day) but it is definitely a building and the address is very close to downtown. So yes the rumors are true - The Experience is moving to Columbus this year. More big news - they have developed a new character - he is standing motionless in the back corner of the warehouse - he's similar to the hooded figures out at Schmitter Creek but this one has a face - a terrifying face. And yes - The Schmitter Estate has been re-christened Schmitter Creek. They are starting on some additions out there very shortly - as I have seen some sketches lying about. So here we are the start of a brand new Experience - I am sure it will be quite a ride! Sunday December 31, 2006 I thought it would be appropriate to add one last entry for 2006 today. Things are beginning to heat up around the offices (though truthfully - not much work ever gets done this week of the year). The designers forum is about a week away in Florida and they are meeting regularly to put together their projects and quests that need completed. What do they do in Florida? Well besides visiting all the theme parks and studying every special effect they can, the designers use the trip to research the various companies that build special effects (as many of them are based in Orlando) and they use their time to start the basic structure of The Experience. The trip is early January so once they get back - I'll get into regularly updating you on what's going on for the 2007 run of the Experience. They updated the website recently as well - they added a page for the Volunteers. Check it out - and then sign up to come work with yours truly! Happy New Year all! for previous blog entries click here
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