Halloween is coming, and for kids, that means trick-or-treating. Many children love to walk their neighborhoods, collecting candy and other little items from their neighbors. Some streets and neighborhoods go all-out. Nearly every house is decorated, and parents are busy handing out candy all evening. Other areas may not do quite so much, but porch lights are still on, and kids still have a great time.

While some kids walk several neighborhoods and collect a ton of candy, others tend to stick to the houses near their home. In a gated community, this is often the case. If the gates are closed, there aren’t a lot of kids from other areas coming into the neighborhood. Those who live inside the community can walk the whole area without worrying about running into huge crowds. This also gives parents a stronger sense of safety, especially if their kids are old enough to walk the neighborhood on their own.

If you’re in a gated community and are a part of planning for this year’s Halloween event, one question you might have is should you rent porta potties? Do you need outdoor restrooms for your trick-or-treaters to use? Here are a few things to consider that will help you make that decision.

How Large is Your Neighborhood?

Is your gated community fairly large, or is it on the small side? Some gated communities are no more than four or five blocks of homes, while others may include a dozen blocks and around a hundred homes. If your community is on the smaller side, you may not necessarily need porta potties since kids won’t be walking too far from their homes. Since they won’t be out for very long, the need for a bathroom may not even come up.

However, larger neighborhoods, especially those that wind around a pond or other area, may need to consider porta potties simply because kids may have to walk several blocks away from their home. Small children may not be able to make it home in time to go to the bathroom. In this case, having porta potties for the little trick-or-treaters can be a great idea. Some parents may also appreciate having a space to take a restroom break, especially if their kids have kept them out for quite some time. Those who drove out to another neighborhood to trick-or-treat before coming back to make the rounds at home may need to use the bathroom.

How Many Kids Will Be Trick-or-Treating?

Another factor to consider is how many children will be trick-or-treating. You may not have huge crowds if it’s mostly just the kids in your neighborhood. On the other hand, if you have the gates open for Halloween, you might get a good number of kids coming in for candy. This is especially true if many people in the neighborhood give out a lot of candy or decorate their homes.

It also depends on the population of your neighborhood. If most people who live there are older and no longer have young children at home, there may not be much trick-or-treating going on. On the other hand, if the demographics of the community skew more towards young families, it’s likely there will be a good number of kids out looking for candy. While you likely won’t have a firm headcount on the number of kids in the neighborhood, you’ll likely have a fairly good idea. If you’re leaving the gates shut for Halloween, this should let you know a rough idea of if porta potties will be needed or not.

Do Most Houses Participate?

How big is Halloween in your gated community? If a lot of people go all-out for Halloween, your neighborhood may have a reputation for having amazing decorations. You might get people who drive over just to see the décor. Keep that in mind when you’re preparing for Halloween. If you know many people participate in Halloween and enjoy putting up amazing decorations, it will increase how many people are in the area. Even if you do have the gates closed, it’s still possible people will slip in behind residents. Those living in the area may invite family and friends over for Halloween, so people may have the gate code.

On the other hand, if the neighborhood is more low-key, you’ll probably only have the resident kids going door-to-door. While many people may have their porch lights on to indicate they’re giving out candy, that doesn’t mean Halloween is a big deal to them. If your neighborhood doesn’t have a reputation for amazing decorations or for giving out tons of candy, you should be fine without porta potties. On the other hand, if you’re known for being one of the top Halloween spots in the Windsor area, you might need some extra restrooms.

Are You Having Events?

Are you having a Halloween party in the clubhouse or other common area? Are residents allowed to invite guests, or is the party open to the public? If so, you may have a lot of kids there. Your clubhouse may have restrooms, but they may not be able to accommodate a lot of people. You may not even want people in the clubhouse if your event is mostly outdoors. This means you’ll need porta potties.

Some gated communities have events spread out across several blocks. Homeowners might have their own little events going on in their yards, too. If that’s the case, you might actually need porta potties in a few locations. It really depends on how large your community is and what types of activities you’re having.

What events could you host? Halloween comes at a time of the year when the weather is often unpredictable, so having something indoors at a clubhouse can be very nice. That way, no matter what the weather is, the kids can come and have fun. You can have a carnival full of fun games, show Halloween movies, and have pumpkin carving contests.

Another option that many communities do is trunk-or-treat. Instead of making kids walk through the entire neighborhood, parents all drive to one parking lot and have their candy offerings in the trunk of their car. Some people just stand around their car handing out candy, but many bring decorations and transform the backs of their cars into little spooky scenes. They wear costumes, have props, and go all-out. This can be a great option if your gated community isn’t an easy walk for kids. It’s also a good way of incorporating other events into trick-or-treating, such as showing movies, having live music, or hosting a costume contest.

Where Should You Put the Porta Potties?

The ADA Compliant Toilet Outside

If you do decide you need portable restrooms, where do you put them? It really depends on the layout of your area and what types of events are going on. In most cases, putting them in a central location is a good idea, but if most of the events are on one end of the community, that’s probably the better location. Look at where things are occurring and place your porta potties in that area. In large neighborhoods that are having multiple events, you might need porta potties in a couple of areas.

What Type of Porta Potties Do You Need?

The next thing to consider is what type of porta potties to rent. There are several options. The basic porta potty may be perfect for Halloween, but it may not fit with the overall look of your community. If you’re known as a community with high standards, you may want to rent an upscale restroom trailer instead. These trailers will provide more space and a nicer place to use the restroom. They can also be used for those who need to change out of their costume because they offer a larger space and a good amount of privacy.

If you know you have community members who need accessible restrooms, you may want to rent at least one ADA-compliant porta potty. These portable restrooms are larger and include handrails. Another option is to go with the deluxe toilet, which includes a freshwater handwashing station inside the unit. These stations can also be rented individually, so they can be positioned outside the basic porta potty units. In some cases, you may even want to rent a few extra handwash stations if you plan on having events that could result in messy hands.

Pacific Sanitation is Here for All of Your Porta Potty Rentals

Have you decided that you need a porta potty for your Halloween event? If so, Pacific Sanitation has all the options you’ll need. Whether you decide you want a couple of basic porta potties or that you want to go with a large trailer, all you have to do is give us a call to schedule the delivery. We can also help you determine how many porta potty units you need. Reach out today at 870698-8473 to learn more about renting a porta potty or to schedule a rental.