Hello!
I am planning a trip down to So. Cal. at the end of October and plan on visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain during the "Fright Fest" event. I am going to be there on a Saturday. I was wondering if anyone had any advice to give me. Has anyone been to "Fright Fest"? Do I need to purchase tix in advance? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!:D

I go there every year for the event. You do not need to buy tickets in advance for the park. Fright Fest is not a separate ticket event like "Knott's Scary Farm". My advice is to plan on spending the entire day there and to show up very early in the morning, like 8:30am. If you have no discounts and paying full price, you can use the auto ticket booths which are located to the right of the main ticket booths. Pack a light breakfast snack to enjoy while waiting for the main gates to open at 10am.

Then here comes the tricky part. X may or may not open at 10am. If it does, make it the number one priority on your list. The lines become very long on Saturday. After X, or if X is closed and opens later in the day, the second coaster priority is Deja Vu. It's fantastic, but has low capacity so lines grow huge as the day progresses. Between these two rides, when both are running, there is a great side effect in that lines for the other coasters drop like rocks.

After the first two, you should finish up around 12-1, and if you are a fan of water rides, go on Roaring Rapids asap. Great ride, but the line can get out of control on a hot day. It's a drencher though. If that is not on your game plan, go straight to Riddler's Revenge and then run the loop...Superman, Ninja, Goldrusher, Batman, Collosuss (backwards for Fright Fest is great), Goliath, then up to Revolution, Viper... Jet Stream, Log Jammer, Tidal Wave are all solid water rides as well.

For lunch, the Mooseburger Lodge is worth it, probably the best food in the park. Panda Express is slightly high priced for what you get, but still decent enough. If Laughing Dragon is open, that is a great place to go to relax and eat as well in ac.

Depending on lines and personal preference, you most likely can at least do the major thrill rides (once or twice...all hinges on the X effect) by 5 or 6.

Fright Fest itself will not start until dusk/dark. Part of the logic of finishing the thrill rides at least once before Fright Fest starts is now you can take in the mazes and shows while avoiding the lines for the coasters. I think this year there will be four mazes and one special event, along with some shows scattered throughout the park if I remember correctly.

This is the first year that X will be open during Fright Fest so I am looking forward to the X effect on the other rides. SFMM also turns off the lights on every coaster, so it is fun to take in a couple rides in the darkness.

I hope that helps.

Here's my piece of advice for frightfest. About 1 to 1 1/2 hours before it begins and the mazes open, you will see HUGE lines by Ninja (and possibly by Flashback...I've never been over at that end of things just before the mazes open) for the mazes. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME STANDING IN THESE. Wait until about a half hour to an hour after the mazes open. Go on rides. Watch the gargoyle scare people. By an hour in, the lines for the mazes will have dwindled to, at absolute worst, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the silly people who thought they got a jump on everyone waited for 1 hour+ just for the thing to open, then another 30 minutes to actually get in.

Thanks so much for the information DBJ and Ghoulish Delight!!!! I totally like have an agenda for my day there! I don't have to think at all! (Thanks DBJ!) You've helped me soooo much. I do have another inquiry however. What time does the Fright Fest end and SFMM close? Thanks again for your help!:cool:

No problem. Fright Fest ends at park closing time. Right now, SFMM is scheduled to be open 10 am - 10 pm Saturdays in Oct.

Have a good time!

Gee, I went to Fright Fest once. Back when it was controlled by Trolls.

And here's something I wasn't expecting. It gets COLD up there in October after the sun goes down! Wind was blowing the chills right through you! Now, it may add - a little - to the atmosphere, but all I wanted to do near the end was find a seat in the cafeteria, which at that time wasn't even entirely enclosed. But it had that big glass windbreak of a wall.

I think I musta been in my early twenties then. Back when what would've ruined the evening the most was to admit how miserable I felt. :) I got us a room at the Best Western (I think) across I-5 for the night and I don't think I slept too much. The wind was just howling too loud. Nothing else around there then except a small diner where Marie Callendars is now.

Anyway, what I meant to say is, Take a sweater!

True, it can get chilly. SFMM essentially sits in a desert so it isn't a bad idea to check the weather forecasts to see what the temp range for the weekend you are going will be.

Hey, this is a helpful thread. We're going to Six Flags on the second day of Fright Fest. It's our first time there. I'll be taking my three kids and my sister in law. A whole park full of roller coasters is pretty much a wasted day for my wife. hehe.

I think we're going to just skip X and Deja Vu as we've only got one day to go and I want to get in as much as possible. Also, my kids are pretty young, and I don't think I'll fit in the restraints. :eek:

Thanks again for the info

Originally posted by opus
I think we're going to just skip X and Deja Vu as we've only got one day to go and I want to get in as much as possible. Also, my kids are pretty young, and I don't think I'll fit in the restraints. :eek:

The most restrictive restraints in the park are Batman and Riddler's Revenge. I'm a big guy (6'1"/260#) and sometimes I can go on Batman and sometimes I can't. Recently, I've found that different seats on Batman seem to be a tighter fit than others. I think some of the safety straps have stretched so look for the older-looking restraints. Deja Vu has a MAXIMUM height restriction of 6'3" but there seems to be plenty of room in the restraints (unlike Batman and Riddler). X has a completely new and unique adjustable butterfly harness that seems to fit just about everybody. You don't want to miss X - it is really more than awesome!

Hmmm....

Maybe we will head directly over to X then. I was pretty adjusted to thinking that I wouldn't be able to go on it. Maybe I'll try.

Oh, and I remember the days of being 260. :rolleyes: Right now I'm about 340 at 6 feet. I don't really look like I weigh that much, but I'm really thick, you know? Too much info probably, but oh well.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for all the helpful information!! I was actually so psyched to be going, I didn't even think to check for weather conditions. I'm still in 'Summer Mode', thinking it's going to be hot and sticky forever. Oh, and I also remembered that the weekend we are going to SFMM Fright Fest (the last weekend in October) is the weekend we set the clocks back. An extra hour of sleep, like I'll be able to sleep after all the excitement. ;) And DBJ, the first ride we are headed for is going to be X! I can't wait and I mean can't wait to ride it! THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP! YOU GUYS TOTALLY ROCK! :D

Here is a guide to Fright Fest! This is the most SFMM has ever done since I've been going.

http://americacoasters.com/SFMMGuide/frightfest.php

Enjoy!

Originally posted by DBJ
Here is a guide to Fright Fest! This is the most SFMM has ever done since I've been going.

http://americacoasters.com/SFMMGuide/frightfest.php

Enjoy!


Thanks! That's the best guide I've seen so far. I can't wait to go. Except we have to drive up from Anaheim, and someone on here said that it would take about 3 hours to get there if we leave at 8 AM. I want to be there when the gates open, so I guess we'll leave around 6.

Suggestions, anyone?

Weekend rush hour isn't that bad. Normally, going from DL to SFMM is about 1 1/2 hours in normal traffic. During intense traffic, it might take over two. If you leave Disney at 6 am, the traffic will be light and you'll get there by 7:30 am - 8am. IMO, you could leave as late as 7am and still be there by 9 am at the latest on a Sat.

Hey, that's great news. I didn't want to leave at 6 am. Actually, we're going on Sunday, so maybe that will be a little slower. Either way it will be better than a weekday.

16 more days until we leave! Can't wait.

Since we are talking traffic,

I'll be leaving from San Diego on Saturday morning to come to SFMM. Any driving tips? Should I leave early? I don't know how the traffic is in So. Cal. on a weekend. :confused:

My biggest traffic problems around Disney seem to happen around 9am on Sat mornings. It is however rare for that to happen. Most of the time, the slow traffic I've experienced on the 5 is in the afternoon so morning times are good.

When I go to SFMM from Burbank on a Sat, I can be up there in less than a half hour even leaving at 9am. Leaving to Disney or Knott's, I've averaged times around 45 minutes. So if you are in the Burbank area by 9, you will easily make it to SFMM right around 9:30.

If there is a massive traffic jam on the 5 by some freak accident, there is another alternate route. You go off the 5, I think north on the 710, and then take the 210 west which takes you all the way back to the 5 freeway. I usually take the 210 route coming back from Vegas and it works pretty good. Check the map though just to make sure.

I only have about a month left before I go to SFMM! I'm so gosh darn excited!!!! :D Thanks so much to DBJ for all the helpful information and tips. I would like to rack your brain once again however. What, in your opinion, is the best attraction to ride in the dark? Where is the best 'area' to go to get scared by ghosts and ghouls walking around? Are there any mazes I should avoid?

I'm not sure how much of the park will be in the dark this time. In the past, Batman at night is really good, along with Riddler. The must ride for Fright Fest is Collosuss backwards, that is usually my ride priority.

Maze wise - I think the one on Samurai Summit, under the Skytower, is always the best. Brutal Planet is okay, and Joker's Hideout is scary if you fear clowns. I wouldn't avoid any of them, but I would make Samurai Summit the first stop for the maze because of the freakishly long line. If under time pressure, Joker's Hideout can be skipped.

The ghouls tend to hang in Gotham City and on Samurai Summit so those are the best places to find them. In the past, they put up warning signs about where the ghouls will be.