The more guests you can push through your haunt, the more money you can make…up to a point. If you’ve ever been stuck walking through a haunted house in one long conga line of people, you know that overcrowding can ruin the experience.
For haunted attractions, capacity is more than just the number of people your building can physically hold. It’s the constant flow of guests winding their way through your haunt at any given point in the night.
But just how many guests should that be? Let’s dig into the best ways to calculate your haunt’s capacity, plus some helpful tips on how to earn more money without creating that dreaded conga line.
Why Care About Capacity?
Capacity has a direct impact on revenue. The more guests you can host, the more money you can potentially earn. A haunt with low capacity may not be able to cover its costs.
A clear understanding of your haunted house capacity can help you make key business decisions, including:
- How much to charge for tickets
- How many tickets can be sold
- How many staff to hire
- What your operating hours should be
We’ll dig into each of those and how capacity affects them below. First, let’s start by calculating how many guests you haunt can accommodate.
How Many Guests Can You Accommodate per Hour?
Most haunts don’t let guests through the doors willy nilly as soon as they walk up to the front doors. The show is carefully timed to maximize scares, and that means separating guests into smaller groups, usually between 8-10, and spacing those groups out so that actors and props have time to reset in between groups.
How many guests will you let in at a time? Knowing this number will help you calculate your hourly capacity.
You’ll also need to know your Interval Time, or how much time you’ll wait before dispatching the next group of guests. That time will partially depend on how much time your actors need to reset, and partially on how fast you expect guests to walk through your attraction.
Not sure how much time to leave in between groups? Do a few dry runs with your team, then extend it to family and friends to get an average, keeping in mind that some guests will try to rush through while others will want to take it slow.
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
| Guests per Group | Interval Time (Seconds) | Hourly Capacity |
| 10 | 120 | 300 |
| 10 | 60 | 600 |
| 10 | 45 | 800 |
| 8 | 60 | 480 |
| 8 | 30 | 960 |
What’s the ideal Interval Time?
That’s a tricky one! I really depends on several factors, including:
- The size of your haunt
- How scenes or rooms are separated
- The number of scareactors and their locations
- How guests interact with props or other show elements
The best way to figure out the right Interval Time for your attraction is to test it out with real people, dress rehearsals with your actors and staff or a friends & family preview.
You can help create a more consistent interval time by placing scareactors at strategic points throughout the haunt and training them to guide guests into the next room. Sometimes that means jumping out from behind guests and ‘chasing’ them into the next scene. Or it might mean opening a door or curtain and using vocal queues to keep things moving. Other times, simply placing a scareactor in a corner and silently pointing in the direction guests are meant to walk can help avoid any confusion which could slow things down.
When are You Open?
Let’s say your haunt operates from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday through Sunday during Haunt Season. That’s five hours per day over four days; 20 hours per week. You can calculate your weekly capacity by multiplying your hourly capacity the total amount of time you’re open.
| Hourly Capacity | Hours Open per Week | Weekly Capacity |
| 200 | 20 | 4,000 |
| 300 | 20 | 6,000 |
| 400 | 20 | 8,000 |
Of course, most haunts don’t have an equal number of people visiting every hour of every day that they’re open. In reality, your crowds will likely peak between 8-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and be slightly lower at other times.
Is Your Capacity Profitable?
Take a look at your total business expenses, including things like rent and payroll. Then, compare that with the total potential revenue you could earn from the ticket sales. The chart below shows a few examples of how much revenue your haunt could generate on any given day at different hourly capacities with a $20 ticket price.
| Hourly Capacity | Ticket Price | Hours Open | Potential Revenue |
| 100 | $20 | 5 | $10,000 |
| 200 | $20 | 5 | $20,000 |
| 300 | $20 | 5 | $30,000 |
Keep in mind that the potential revenue is the maximum you could possibly earn through ticket sales alone. You may have some hours where you don’t sell every ticket available, which would lower your total revenue for that day. On the other hand, you may choose to sell add-ons like concessions, merchandise, or additional attractions, and that could increase your revenue.
Now, let’s take a look at how your operating hours and ticket price can impact your potential revenue.
| Hourly Capacity | Ticket Price | Hours Open | Potential Revenue |
| 200 | $15 | 6 | $18,000 |
| 200 | $20 | 4 | $16,000 |
| 200 | $28 | 5 | $28,000 |
There are plenty of reasons why you might need to adjust your operating hours or ticket prices, but it’s important to understand the impact it can have on potential revenue.
Theoretical vs. Actual Capacity
The formulas above will all help you calculate the theoretical capacity of your haunted attraction: how many people you should, in theory, be able to accommodate.
But that assumes everything goes smoothly and that guests move through your haunt at a consistent pace throughout the night. In reality, most haunts see a different number of guests than what they could theoretically fit. Many things could affect your ability to reach your theoretical hourly capacity:
- Guests walking slower or faster than average
- A power outage or prop failure
- Temporarily shutting down to clean up after a guest wets their pants
- A scare actor injury
- Miscommunication between team members dispatching the next group of guests
To calculate your actual capacity, you’ll need to account for any lost time that impacts your haunt’s regular operations.
To further complicate things, your actual capacity may not be equal to the total number of guests who visit your haunt on any given night. Most haunts don’t sell out every single night. However, if you’re using a ticketing system like HauntPay that shows you which tickets were redeemed each night, you can use your tickets report to see how many guests you hosted on any given date.
What Can I Do to Increase Revenue without Changing Capacity?
So what do you do if your capacity and ticket price aren’t enough to turn a profit? There are several ways you can bring in more money without changing your hourly capacity:
- Add More Days: If you’re currently only open on weekends, consider adding Thursdays or another weekday to your operating hours.
- Extend Your Season: Adding an extra week to your calendar either at the beginning or end of your regular season can help increase potential revenue.
- Increase Ticket Prices: Raising your ticket price will bring in more revenue per guest.
- Offer Multiple Admission Types: Allow guests to skip the line with a VIP pass that comes with a higher admission price.
- Sell Add-Ons: Concessions, merchandise, parking passes, or a midway can increase the amount of money guests spend at your haunt without raising ticket prices.
Are You Using Timed Ticketing?
Timed tickets can help even out the crowds and ensure a steady flow of guests, rather than a rush of people clamoring to get in at peak times.
Timed ticketing can also help you maximize profits. Remember: guests who are standing in line are not spending money. The less time they wait in line, the more time they can spend enjoying the concessions or add-on experiences.
Want to learn more about timed ticketing? Schedule a call with a timed ticketing expert at HauntPay.
Final Thoughts
Remember to consider factors like safety, queue management, and the overall guest experience when determining your haunt’s maximum capacity. An overcrowded attraction will feel less fun, spoil some of the scares, and could pose safety risks to your guests and staff. Throughout the season, it’s a good idea to regularly review and adjust these calculations based on actual guest flow and feedback.
