How "bad" is a Six Flags Fright Fest?

[CookieCoasters]

I'm going to be going to Six Flags Over Texas and Fiesta Texas this October; this is obviously fantastic. The only annoying thing is (for me), that this will be obviously be during their Fright Fest event. I don't like Halloween as I'm not into any of the spooky **** that it involves, but I'm obviously prepared to deal with it because I want to go to the parks. My main question is: Beyond the mazes, scare zones, zombies walking round the park etc. do they do anything else / go any further than that? Like, they're not gonna come into the queue and jump in any empty seat beside me and annoy me for a ride are they? I know it sounds a bit stupid, but I've never been to an American park during one of their "hardcore" Halloween events, so I don't know who far they'll go

So basically, can anyone who's been to one of their Fright Fests (it doesn't have to be one of the Texas parks), sort of recount your experience of what it was like? Just so I know what to expect. Also, I'm expecting the parks to be slammed, but do the rides tend to quieten down at all during the evening when more people are doing the mazes?

Thank you in advance

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: How "bad" is a Six Flags Fright Fest?

Nothing more than mazes, scare zones, and theming. No people riding rides with costumes.

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[njn63]

Fright Fest doesn't start until later in the day (I want to say 5pm) so you won't have to worry about scare zones until then.

Some of the rides (mainly flats) are rethemed or renamed but that is limited to decorations.

My experience is that during Fright Fest the night times have large crowds as many people come specifically for the mazes and haunted houses. I would arrive early.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

And one more thing, the closer you are to Halloween, the more crowded it is. On Halloween/the days around it, it can reach Gridlock Capacity, and people will have to be turned away. The line to get in the parking lot once here at SFGAm was over a mile down the highway.

So good luck to you.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Thanks guys. I just needed reassurance on what I thought would probably be the case.

Yeah we'll arrive at the parks early, in plenty of time for opening. I was expecting big crowds anyway, but we won't be going to the parks on Saturdays, so hopefully they'll be at least a tad more manageable on Fridays/Sundays. If necessary, we'll get a flash pass as these park's are not ones I'll get to often.

 

[Serena]

Fright Fest at Six Flags isn't bad at all. I loved it. It's very hammy and atmospheric, but not intense or unpredictable in the slightest.

The main thing worth mentioning (if you're not a fan of Halloween things) is that you have to walk through Scare Zones to get to certain rides. They will utilize the entire path with props and actors, who will jump out at you, maybe even chase you. The actors tend to pick on those who react the most, so if you just walk quietly through they should leave you alone.

Also, during the 6pm 'Awakening of Dr. Fright' show, they unleash all the roaming actors from behind a gate into the crowd. But you can just go to a different section of the park during that time if you want to avoid the scares.

I suppose each SF park will be different, but when I went to SF Gr. Adv. for Fright Fest on a Sunday it wasn't that busy at all. I managed to do all the haunted houses and loads of night rides too. The coaster queues died down when the haunted houses opened. For example, by 8pm Bizarro was a walk-on, and Nitro had a 20 minute wait. So if you're just there for coasters, you could hopefully get lots of rides in!

 

[CookieCoasters]

^Yeah, when I said "bad" I didn't mean poor quality/atmosphere, but just how far they go with the Halloween thing. With the scare zones, I'll just try and the mask my fear and tendency to be jumpy the best I can :lol:

Good to hear the queues might be better on a Sunday, but as we're doing Fiesta Texas just a week before the 31st, I'll probably still expect large crowds there.