Every Haunt has its ups and downs, props that work beautifully, and props that fall flat. For 2011, one of our big disappointments was our Cauldron Fire feature. All of the way through the Cauldron Creep build we had been planning on putting some sort of fake fire around the base of the cauldron, something like the Hot Burning Coals project. Unfortunately, the idea we had in our heads is not what we ended up with.
At the last minute, as the sun was preparing to set on Halloween Eve, Mr. Jingles slid some plastic under the cauldron, quickly arranged some blue and orange lights in a semi-circle, and hit the whole thing with a generous helping of spray foam. With the foam still wet, the Cauldron Creep was moved into final position. As darkness fell, we were disappointed to see that what we had created was a giant block of foam with minimal light. With Trick or Treaters descending on the yard, we had to leave things “as is” and focus on entertaining our guests.
Fast forward to May 2012. With major renovations planned for the Cauldron Creep, we ripped off the Cauldron Fire and finally got a good look at what had caused our Epic Fail. Instead of being evenly spaced around the outside of the cauldron, most of the lights had become bunched together underneath the cauldron itself, with the rest laying on the plastic, buried in the foam. This can be seen in the underside view of the Cauldron Fire posted above. A clear example of why last-minute changes are not a good idea!
So, what does this mean for next year? Now we have the opportunity to make things bigger and better! We’ve got some fantastic additions planned for the Cauldron Creep, from the top of his head, all of the way down to his toes, so stay tuned for reports on the exciting changes!
–Black Widow
