SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN FRIGHT FEST is back for another solid season of scares. Touting fourteen mazes and scare zones, Fright Fest has a lot of Halloween goodness to experience.
Widely regarded as the red headed stepchild of Knotts Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights, SIX FLAGS FRIGHT FEST has vastly improved in recent years to become a true contender in the LA haunt marketplace. 2015 incarnation features mazes including the update classic Fright Fest maze, WILLOUGHBY’S RESURRECTED. If you want to maximize your thrills be sure to arrive during the day and hit all the extreme roller coasters like TWISTED COLOSSUS before Fright Fest begins.
Mazes:
WILLOUGHBY’S RESURRECTED is a reworking of the classic Fright Fest maze. The fully realized build/sets are amazing and the scares are plentiful making this my favorite maze of Fright Fest.
RED’S REVENGE is a close second with its unique Red Riding Hood theme and imaginative sets. The monsters in the maze are a sight to behold.
AFTERMATH returns with its apocalyptic theme and is a super-charged blast of anarchy. Reminiscent of HHN’s PURGE scare zone in its feel and flow but it’s staged on a much larger scale.
VAULT 666/CHUPACABRA/TOYZ OF TERROR 3D are all successful returning mazes. The lack of detailed sets in CHUPACABRA puts it at the bottom of this trio, but that’s not to say it’s not without its merits.
THE WILLOUGHBY GARDEN is a total bore. Mostly, just a walls and camo nets along with sporadic actors, this is the one to skip if you’re running low on time.
Scarezones:
The scare zones are great. The steam punk themed, TERRORTORY TWISTED is a clear winner with its singular theme and great make-up. NIGHTMARES is another fun zone with a fantasy theme and neon-glowing creatures.
Having visited KNOTT’S SCARY FARM, UNIVERSAL HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS and FRIGHT FEST this season, I have to say that FRIGHT FEST is my second favorite Halloween theme park event of 2015. The overall experience is more enjoyable than the smaller and overcrowded HHN. Fright Fest also deserves a shout out for its make-ups. Instead of taking the shortcut of using masks for its actors, most monsters are adorned with a high-end movie quality appliances and make-up straight out of FACE-OFF.
Be sure to wear some comfortable shoes, because unlike Disneyland and Universal Studios, Magic Mountain’s terrain has some massive hills to traverse.
RATING: B+
OPEN SELECT NIGHTS SEPTEMBER 26th-NOVEMBER 1st
https://frightfest.sixflags.com/magicmountain/
Review by Phil Crain.
Phil Crain is an animation professional and independent producer from the Los Angeles area. He is a self professed lover of Halloween, ghosts and Star Wars.
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