Announced proudly from Midsummer Scream this August, the team behind Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain revealed everything coming to scare us this fall.
Last year was an attempt at going “Extreme,” which was intended to spread to the other Six Flags parks, but the merger with Cedar Fair likely threw a wrench into a lot of those plans, as they work on a way to handle Fright Fest and Haunt between their dozens of parks.
For the licensed mazes, we have three of the IP-based ones returning, being The Conjuring Universe, SAW: Legacy of Terror, and Trick ‘r Treat. That means we had to say farewell to the mazes featuring Stranger Things and Army of the Dead.
For original mazes, most are returning, save for Sewer of Souls and Aftermath: Nocturnal Hunt. However, they strongly hinted that this might be the final year for Willoughby’s Resurrected, which has been a mainstay for well over a decade, and even longer if you consider it was a revamped version of the original Willoughby’s maze.
In terms of scare zones, that count remains the same. They wanted to call out Underworlds of Oz as a particular fan favorite, especially since it was seven years in the process to make it to the parks. Fan reaction was extremely positive, thanks in no small part to the success of Wicked.
There will be two new(-ish) scare zones, however. Nightmares: Reign of Blood is more focused on Alice in Wonderland this time around, as opposed to a general selection of fairy tales. Thunderbolt Alley is all new, however, featuring a gruesome undead take on rockabilly and hot rod culture. It is also the most appropriate fit for Larry the Demon this year, if you want to look out for him.
To everyone’s surprise, they also announced the interactive lanterns would be for sale and activated at various places around the park, adopting it from their “Brother/sister park” down in Buena Park, CA. These lanterns are the same as the ones sold at Knott’s, and both work at either location. One activation they detailed was an ice scream shop in Thunderbolt Alley.
As for shows, The Sliders of the Night show returns, as does Unleashed. But Margo Rita, a character that debuted during their Scream Break event, will host her drag-inspired show featuring live music. And we, the audience, will be the lucky ones to determine the winner each night.
Finally, they revealed they’ll finally offer season-long wristbands for maze access, encouraging guests to come back and scare night after night all throughout the Fall, putting them more in line with the Cedar Fair legacy parks.
Six Flags Fright Fest presented by Snickers opens September 19th and runs select nights through November 2nd. Tickets and maze wristbands are available now at SixFlags.com.
