Every design I make, starts with what we call the "Blue Sky" session... I sit down and brain storm different themes, ideas, and new and improved experiences for the upcoming year, usually around the November time frame.  This year's maze, "The Reaping" I actually conceptualized back in 2019 for the 2020 year, but due to Covid, it was scratched until this year where I could finally "plant" the idea and give it what it truly deserves as a story. So even though it is now 3 years later, the time between still allowed me to conceptualize several other mazes for possible future haunts, and even with the Pandemic, several dozen lucky patrons were still able to walk through some of my smaller size houses indoors.

OnceOnce I have my concept, then its off to sketching the rooms by hand, each one of them detailed in how I want you as the guest to experience the story and all the fun that goes into them. This is also the time when I can see which scenes go in what order and the size of each room in the maze.  When satisfied with that, I make copies and then its off to 3D modeling.  By profession, this part of the build has so many advantages and really helps solidify any loose ends of the design.  It also gives me a real time walk thru of my creation and a basic feel for how it will flow with first person POV and allows for room updates if need be.  I am a firm believer that a haunt is NEVER complete... even on its last day of operation.  You can always improve on the operation/design and by conceptualizing early and often, you really set yourself up to deliver an amazing product.