Glen and Pam Fritzler really know how to keep crowds coming back to the Fritzler Corn Maze, which draws thousands yearly from a 200-mile radius. For each of the past 13 years, the family has offered a new feature each year to pump up publicity in the local press. This year they added a Zombie Paintball Adventure.

The Fritzlers didn’t just set up a paintball course. They turned three old school buses into mobile arcades with semi stationary targets. Each bus is equipped with 36 paintball guns mounted at shooting stations.
“We have 40 stationary targets to shoot at during the day as the buses travel through the field,” says Fritzler. “We add 20 employees dressed in zombie costumes or escaped prisoner costumes to after dark trips. They dart in and out of the cornfield as the buses go by. Most of the paintballs get fired at them.”

The Paintball Adventure joins other attractions added over the years. They include the giant maze, pedal go-carts, giant jumping pillows, corn and pumpkin cannons, campfires, the Verti-scope and a slide mountain. Even helicopter rides are offered. Simpler attractions include the shelled corn play box and a hay pile. The annual additions have turned one-time trips into family traditions.

“We have built a really loyal base of people who come here year after year,” says Fritzler.

They also have created a seasonal industry in the community. The Fritzlers employ around 200 people, including adults, college students and local youth.

Glow-in-the-dark paintballs are used at night. Fritzler ordered special paintballs that will dissolve quickly. Going into the season, he expects to go through approximately four million of them.

“Perhaps 50 percent buy more ammunition during the ride,” says Fritzler.