I thought this might be a fun topic to discuss relating to the shows: do we think the inclusion of more mazes may limit entertainment, or not affect it since the employee prices are still less than running full Terror Tram?
I mean, it's two full mazes instead of a Terror Tram. I have no idea how much money the decision saves/spends in comparison.
On the one hand:
- Operations, Tram Drivers, increased security, increased blackouts etc. are all gone from the ledgers
- Terror Tram requires something like 100-ish scare-actors between chainsaws, Bates Motel and especially War of the Worlds in total, whereas a maze might involve ~30.
- Terror Tram arguably has more scenic you have to set up, what with building some sets in the Bates Motel, building some sets on the runup to War of the Worlds, the sheet maze, and in recent years, a final gauntlet at the end.
- The fact that they are including a DJ this time around is a pretty good indication of where operations thinks the budget is at.
On the other hand:
- Who knows how much more it costs to build a maze with a facade and jumpscare buttons and all the other stuff.
- We've heard whispers of black walls in Us already
- A lot of the sets, costumes, etc. in the Tram were reused assets, so they didn't have the cost of new sets (then again, it still costs alot to actually pay contractors to build them)