We did one that was a send up on Cinderella that
everyone loved. Some of the things that made it work so well were:
-Every other house was decorated to a fare thee well. We went very low key on the decorations, except for the buffet table. We made a HUGE pumpkin into Cinderella's coach, and used it as a punch bowl, and had dry ice and lights around the table. The sisters' nametags were 3-D castles.
-We served salads (fruit salad, ambrosia, and a non-messy green salad) while everyone else was serving heavy food, like cheesecake, ice cream, or quiche. The pnms were thrilled to see light fare!
-Everything about the skit was SO campy! The Fairy Godmother used a plunger instead of a magic wand, the coach was a (cleaned-out!!) trash bin on wheels, the crown was a glittered but obvious Burger King crown - stuff like that. And the accents! Oy!
-The Fairy Godmother (the real star in this skit) sat on our stage and talked to the pnms, giving silly advice while pointing with her "wand"
Maybe it was that time & place, but literally EVERY pnm who showed up at that round wanted the next night! I'm totally convinced that it was because it was SO different from the rest of the houses - low key and campy - that it stood out.