The mark of a truly successful Haunted Hayride is its ability to run as many customers as possible through the trail in the shortest time. The ride's throughput directly effects how many tickets you can sell, and therefore the profitability of your event. The keys to maximizing your throughput are designing a shorter, high-energy ride with accurate, precise spacing between wagons, a soundtrack to sets the mood, and lots of practice.

A shorter, high-energy ride is not only more enjoyable to your patrons (they do not have to sit in an uncomfortable position for too long) but it also allows you to run more wagon-loads through the trail in a shorter period of time. If you are fortunate enough to run a hayride through tall timbered woods, then design the trail so that twists and turns will conceal the other wagons' fronts and behinds. If not, screening devices such as buildings, planting or facades can be used.

A trail that takes 15 to 18 minutes to complete can run ten wagons constantly at 2-minute intervals. Thirty wagons per hour at thirty people per wagon times 5 hours equals 4500 customers a night! Okay for a haunted house but outstanding for a hayride. Another advantage to this shorter ride is having a scene every 30 to 45 seconds, slamming the customer one after another so they do not have time to relax. By the time they are through, they will want to go back again to see what they missed the first time.

The key to this approach is accurate, precise spacing between the wagons. The problem with running wagons so close together is some drivers go faster or slower than others, resulting in bunched up wagons. The patrons see what is happening to the wagon ahead and the surprise factor is lost. The most effective way to space the wagons is to put a sound system on the tractors and run a precise narrative soundtrack corresponding to the different sets and scares on the ride. Not only does the soundtrack force the drivers to maintain proper spacing it is a huge addition to the ride experience.

As the tractor pulls up to the entrance of the woods, an imposing castle façade with propane torches illuminate the huge iron bar gate. The tractor creeps to a stop just shy of the entrance. The driver starts the soundtrack tape in the car audio cassette player and cranks up the 200-watt sound system. A slow howling wind is heard, building up towards the frenzy of a full-blown thunderstorm. Behind the castle, lightning can be seen flickering in the trees beyond. Low eerie music slowly builds to a crescendo as fog begins to roll out from the nine-foot tall gate. As the music peaks and the storm rages, the gate begins to raise up, the tractor lurches forward and, "Oh no, here we go!" It is like being at the top of a roller coaster just as it's rolling over the peak; you know you cannot go back.

A well-made soundtrack can set the mood much as it does in a movie. It fills in the dead spaces between dialog and adds to all the sets and scenes. Adding the sound systems to the tractors provides a mood inducing audio throughout the entire ride. Combining music with timed narration and sound effects provides a tape that will allow your drivers to be consistently spaced as little as 90 seconds apart.

To time the tape, drive a tractor through the trail at a speed that you feel appropriate. Describe your current position continuously into a pocket dictation recorder. Then in a local recording studio, play back the tape and develop a time line for scenes and scares. The hardest part is mixing the music with effects and narration. There are lots of good effects CDs as well as ghostly music and classic pieces. Our entire soundtrack was tracks from CDs that were arranged on a computer.

Make sure you have plenty of extra copies of the tape on hand as some will break during the run and drivers may miscue their tape. The tapes I use are 20 minutes long, recorded on both sides of a 45-minute tape. The driver has to fast-forward about 3 minutes while the wagon is being loaded.

Have your drivers practice going through the trail to get their timing down. It helps if you ride along first and give them the precise locations where they need to be when a certain sound effect is heard. Train your actors to let you know if a driver is not in sync with the tape so you can make adjustments.

For the sound systems use a basic automobile cassette player ($125.00) a 200-watt amp ($150.00 Jensen amp is good) and a full range speaker box with 10" sub-woofers ($90.00 on sale at Radio Shack). The cassette is mounted on the right fender of each tractor in easy reach of the driver. The amp can be mounted near the battery or under the seat. The speaker cabinet should be mounted as high as possible, facing up and back. If your tractor has a ROPS (roll over protection system) you can hang it from the roll bar. Lots of kids these days are into the big sound systems in their cars and I am sure they would love to help install the systems in exchange for tickets.

Using this system is a highly effective method to increase the capacity of your hayride to its maximum, which will positively affect your bottom line. The shorter, high-energy ride keeps your guests entertained and ready to ride again. The narrative soundtrack creates a foolproof way to precisely separate the hay wagons, while setting the mood for the whole ride and increasing the quality of the show. Last year I finally had the chance to experience someone else's hayride. It did not have a soundtrack and the silence was deafening. It seemed as if a major part of the ride was missing, as was the added entertainment level that a soundtrack brings.

At the end of the soundtrack, be sure to use a popular, upbeat, feel-good tune like Ghost Busters or Thriller. Something that says: "Hey, this was a blast! Let's buy something to eat at the concession stand!"

Randy Bates, owner ofAgritainment, Inc. and his wife Anne operate The Arasapha Farm Haunted Hayride and Bates Motel in Gradyville, PA. You can contact them at rbateshh@erols.com or visit their web site at www.thebatesmotel.com