M. Shire's Ideas Motel ++ Ren Faire Page 1 Motel ++ Ren Faire Normal motel from the outside. If I could buy an older Motel, needs remodeling, between two big cities, but not near any existing attraction. 50 to 100 rooms, 30 acres out back, possibly adjacent to a campground / RV Park. I think year round you can do good business if you create some small attractions but the biggest event would be a Ren Faire for like 10 days that would exist behind the motel. Why make a Motel? When I was in a 'medieval Recreation Society' in the 1990s, all of the outside events were basically camping events. 90% would be pitching a tent; it was mostly camping but with a Medieval theme. People who were purists would try to recreate living in the Middle Ages. Others, who couldn't rough it that much, would use Coleman stoves and air mattresses. A better camping experience would be a camper van, or even a full-size RV. A better medieval experience is the Ren Faire such as the TRF - Texas Ren Faire. I was there for a few days, and I slept above the armory; and it's better than in a tent. At 9:00 a.m. at least a hundred people would come streaming in the entrance dressed in full costume. Many of those people stayed overnight in an adjacent campsite, either in a tent or in an RV. Some people chose the deluxe package and stayed in a nearby motel. That's where my idea comes in. ++ Special Renaissance weekends. Visitors could be elves, fairies, gypsies, pirates, witches, even vampires ... but no ancient world : romans, greeks, vikings, or dark ages. Of course if there was a big demand then we'd have one special weekend only for them. The pirate area can have a Pub, and a mermaid's Cove. Children can slip on costume mermaid legs and take free photos. With a big budget, you could build a small scale pirate ship, and have 'Walk the Plank' game, and Crow's Nest. The Faire theme would basically be Renaissance, and only sword fight stage shows could use steel fencing swords. Visitors could not have steel blades, but swords made of all wood, or wood blades acceptable. NO Sword Play at the fair those are only for posing for photos. Shields would be foam edged. Regular weekdays and weekends. An event you can have all summer it's not in the Renaissance fair is an art fair and on weekends there's 50 booths with local artists selling their handcrafted art. They can also be a vendor during the rent Fair if their art is Renaissance and they dress up in costume . If the property didn't have 10 to 30 acres out back, then we'd focus on the 10-day Faire, Medieval themed weddings, and possibly feasts 5 times a year ? Twelfth Night, May Day Spring, Midsummer, Harvest, Xmas. Copyright - ©2024, Michael Shire

M. Shire's Ideas Ren Faire Page 2 Ren Faire Ideas. So many other ideas. A few features like rides or attractions would be - giant rocking Ship ride, rotating swings, dunk tank, fairy houses, small maze, petting zoo, ride ponies for children, scavenger hunt quest, climbing wall, catapulting frog's. All rides are all 'people-powered'. I'd say no on Falconry, giant turkey legs. I'm not sure if I would also do horses because nothing's worse than horse dung in the middle of your Faire Main street. If you had the acreage I guess you could do trail rides on horseback on the weekends. Shorter Shakespeare. Possibly a Shakespeare theater in the park, but on a small stage. And my new idea is to write the plays shorter, and just a little bit updated. This short version of a complete Shakespeare play might be 3 acts of 15 minutes each, 5 minutes between acts, to total one hour. Historically, for Shakespeare, an average play lasts for three hours. Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play at 4 hours. Also a large Punch and Judy puppet theater. Children on small horse ride it's on a rail, it goes gently up and down, around a large circle, and is hand-powered by an adult who pulls them along. Possibly could be pedal powered. Jousting would be on a set of 4-wheeled fake horses, with a man inside each horse pushing it along. Rob invented this in 2000, and we did a small Fair, with jousting for rings, then at each other. They all really enjoyed the cheering on of a knight. There could be a 10 acre, wooded area, archery range : "Sherwood Forest" - then the Faire could have an archery Championship contest. Also possible is a dragon cave show on friday and saturday nights, as a highlight to the feast. One popular show could be "Weapons through the Ages". Start out with sling, spear, and trident - then have a Gladiator fight. Next Roman, Viking - they have a small fight. Explain transition from bronze to iron age. Next is Transitional armor, broadsword, long sword, halberd, ball and chain and a mace - and a fight. Finally Renaissance dressed like Romeo, fencing sword, buckler. End on muskets, pistols, and Pirates sword, falchion. Copyright - ©2024, Michael Shire

M. Shire's Ideas Ren Faire Page 3 Ren Faire Reviews++Pics REVIEW: "It was HOT out, so bring a big jug of water (they let you bring one in), comfortable shoes, sunblock, and preferably an umbrella/parasol. PLEASE.....skip the turkey leg! I know they look good but I assure you they are extremely bland and taste like nothing! Drink prices are ridiculous, $16 for a tall-can. If you want to see a show or the jousting make sure to be there for a seat an hour prior! (trust me!) get your food and drinks then grab a seat and wait. Minimal merch prices are about $30 per item. Long waits for most things, expect that. Port-a-potties only. Looong walk to and from the entrance/exit. Great people watching. Lots of friendly people as well. Lots of walking will be done. Waited in line for food, twice for drinks. Also it's EXTREMELY dusty/dirty as we're walking on dirt the entire time." REVIEW: "I really don't know why this is considered such a nerdy event but maybe that makes me a huge nerd. It's a history, art, and food festival which ANYONE can get down with! It's very family friendly or go with a group of friends. There's no shade so plan on wearing sunscreen and bringing a hat. You feel like you're entering the desert when you park in their dusty parking lot. When you check in, you feel like you've entered in a part of history. There are plenty of actors and actresses dressed up and speaking like they're from Medieval England. There's so much to do at Ren Faire! There were rides, shops, games, food (get the turkey leg and mead!), and shows. I highly recommend going to the Wench Show where these hilarious women put on an awesome show. Everything is PG. I also recommend seeing the live jousting competition!" Copyright - ©2024, Michael Shire