How Fresno Fright Nights Turned an Off-Season Water Park Into a Revenue-Generating Halloween Destination with RocketRez

The Challenge: Launching a New Business While Switching Systems

Starting Fresno Fright Nights was no small undertaking. Beyond building temporary infrastructure—including 600+ wall panels for quarter-mile haunts—and hiring 250 seasonal employees, the team needed a ticketing solution that could handle the unique demands of a short-season operation.

"Obviously starting a new business in itself comes with a lot of challenges from permitting to hiring 250 people," explained Matt Massey, Chief Operating Officer. "We decided, hey, let's change POS systems at the same time."

The previous POS provider couldn't deliver what a Halloween haunt required: date-specific ticketing, tiered pricing, time slot management, and robust access controls.

Guests with Friday tickets could show up on Saturday and still get in—a revenue leak that made premium pricing on peak nights impossible.

The team needed an all-in-one solution that would serve both Fresno Fright Nights and the year-round water park operation.

The Solution: Flexibility Meets Functionality

After evaluating several options, the team chose RocketRez for its comprehensive feature set and operator-focused approach.

"RocketRez was the best option for us," said Bob Martin, Managing Partner, who had spent 15 years searching for the right middle-ground solution—one that didn't cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars" but still delivered enterprise-level capabilities.

What made RocketRez stand out was the platform's flexibility. Matt emphasized how the open API unlocked possibilities their previous provider never allowed:

"RocketRez really opened the door technology-wise with the open API and really let us do what we wanted to do to make our business successful without having all these constraints on it."

The platform also delivered the date-specific ticketing control the team desperately needed. "One of our issues with our past POS providers was that we couldn't make it so people on certain days couldn't come in on other days," Matt explained.

"RocketRez really helped us provide that control, which allowed me to raise my price on my Saturdays, put some discounts on Fridays, and I could know for sure that those guests were going to go on the right days."

The Impact: Revenue Growth Before Guests Arrive

The transition to RocketRez was smoother than anyone expected—even while launching an entirely new business.

Seamless Onboarding

"The training only took us a couple weeks, and the onboarding itself was amazing," Matt shared. "She got us up and going really fast, and doing both things at the same time really just were seamless."

Staff who had struggled with the previous system's complexity found RocketRez intuitive. "One of the things I disliked so much about our previous provider was how hard it was for guests to even just buy a ticket. Everything was very easy with the ticketing side with RocketRez."

Upselling That Actually Works

The platform's SMS and email capabilities transformed how Fresno Fright Nights engages guests before they even arrive. Matt described the revenue impact:

"I can send text messages to guests that bought our tickets that morning. Hey, have you got a cabana yet? Have you got your parking paid yet? Do you want to buy some food? It gave us a lot of ways to increase revenue before they even got to the park that other providers weren't allowing us to do."

Bob reinforced this strategic advantage: "RocketRez gives us the ability to do more purchases in advance, more types of purchases in advance, which leads to more in-park spending once the guest arrives."

Year-Round Operational Continuity

For an operation that transitions from water slides to haunted houses, system flexibility is essential. "One of the things that we've noticed so far is that RocketRez does a nice transition from water park sales to Halloween haunt sales, and it's a nice seamless transition," Bob noted.

Support That Understands Operators

Beyond features, the team found something equally valuable: a partner that genuinely understood their challenges.

"One of the things as an operator that I really liked about RocketRez versus the other guys was their customer service and just working with them in general," Matt explained.

"They felt more like real people that were operators at one point that understood the concerns that I had and the problems that I had and helped me work through all of those."

That problem-solving approach showed up consistently. "I just keep going back to the team going, can we do this? And they go, I'm not sure, but let me find a way. And then about a day later they tell me, oh yeah, we found a way to do this."

Looking Ahead: A Model for the Industry

With their first season under their belt, Fresno Fright Nights has proven the concept works—and the team has bigger plans. Currently using just a quarter of Island Water Park's footprint with four attractions, they're planning to expand to eight attractions within the next few years.

But the real ambition extends far beyond Fresno. Bob's vision is to create a replicable model that water parks nationwide can adopt: transform underutilized off-season assets into revenue-generating Halloween destinations, complete with a proven technology stack.

"It's been good operating so far with RocketRez," Matt concluded. "No complaints here, and we're looking forward to what they can do with the water park."

Conclusion

Fresno Fright Nights demonstrates what's possible when operators stop seeing the off-season as downtime and start seeing it as opportunity. With RocketRez handling ticketing, upselling, and operational logistics, the team could focus on what they do best: creating a memorable Halloween experience.

For seasonal attractions—whether you're transforming a water park, launching a new venture, or looking to maximize revenue during your peak months—the right technology partner can make all the difference.

Ready to unlock your off-season potential? Discover how RocketRez can help your business.

Key Takeaways

• Date-Specific Control: Precise ticketing prevents revenue leakage and enables dynamic pricing strategies
• Pre-Arrival Revenue: SMS and email upselling drives purchases before guests even arrive
• Seamless Transitions: Single platform handles both seasonal and year-round operations
• Operator-First Support: Team that understands attraction challenges and finds solutions
• Rapid Onboarding: Training completed in weeks, even while launching a new business