Fright Fest is easily one of Six Flags over Texas’ most popular events, and the scariest thing about visiting the park on a mid-October Saturday evening isn’t the zombies and demonic clowns roaming the park, it’s the crowds. Nevertheless we braved the near-capacity horde of park guests to experience 2023’s signature Fall event and post this update.
We arrived at the park around 3pm, with a moderate but fast-moving line of cars at the parking gates. New “Speedy Parking” lanes have opened on the far left and right sides of the parking booths, which scan license plates of pre-registered cars, theoretically allowing quicker, automated entry into the lot. However as you’d expect, there seemed to be people in these lanes that should not have been, making them in fact the slowest-moving lanes. Placing better signage emphasizing pre-registration being required earlier in the lanes may help the new parking option, which we can’t recommend using just yet until the bugs are better worked out.
Security and ticket scanning during our entry was fairly quick despite the crowds, which would prove to be the theme of the day.
Large park map showing Fright Fest event locations are installed throughout the park
Variable pricing was in full effect. During our last visit on a Sunday in mid-September, the Haunted Attractions pass was going for $20. During this visit, on a peak Saturday in October, the same pass was listed at $45. One-day admission tickets were listed at $65 online, the highest we’ve seen (tickets usually start at $40 and generally hover around $45-55 depending on the day).
Haunted Attractions pricing from a peak Fright Fest Saturday
Fright Fest
The real Fright Fest-ivities begin at 7pm, with The Awakening at the Carousel Stage unleashing the various monsters, freaks, and ghouls throughout the park.
Each evening The Awakening releases all the frights into the park
Despite being only halfway around the fountain (and the crowd winding around well into the entry plaza), we found it virtually impossible to hear the show’s audio. We’re not sure why the show wouldn’t be audible completely throughout the entry plaza given the crowd sizes. Tip: If you want to actually hear The Awakening, arrive half an hour early and get near the front.
Haunted Houses and Scare Zones
Haunted Houses are obviously the main draw of Fright Fest, and the park has plenty to offer with 7 uniquely-themed attractions. Lines were long for each and it probably makes sense to spare the additional $20 for the express pass to shorten your wait if you go on such a busy night. We didn’t go through any haunted houses (not our thing) but they seemed to be enjoyed based on the reactions of people exiting them.
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Reject Row is in the Majestic Theater
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Located in Texas Arena, the Art of Torture haunted house
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Entrance for the Art of Torture haunted house
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The Curse of Ra haunted house's entry is guarded by giant Anubis statues
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Piggy's is one of the longest and most popular haunted houses
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Guests taking a Wrong Turn on Canal Street
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DeAD Classified haunted house entry
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Arania's Murder Mansion takes place in the large building by The Joker
Several of the Scare Zones had the scare actors remaining behind path railings or fences, likely as a safety precaution for the actors with heavy crowds of varying degrees of rowdiness. Unfortunately when the scare actors aren’t roaming within the crowds, obscured by thick fog and able to truly surprise and scare guests, it turns the zones into more of a photo op rather than a real scare zone. Tip: visit the park during less busy days or during earlier weeks of Fright Fest for the full, uninhibited Scare Zone experience (if that’s important to you).
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Experiments have clearly gone wrong in Zone 6
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Human-ish beings creep throughout the Zone 6 Scare Zone
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Radiation-ridden creatures in the Zone 6 scare zone
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Those with arachnophobia will want to avoid the Black Widow Walkway
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A clown and his friend greets visitors to the Toys of Terror scare zone
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What fresh nightmare awaits you in the Lago de Miedo scare zone?
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A lady of the lake stalks oblivious visitors in the Lago de Miedo scare zone
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Texas is home to the Ghost Town scare zone
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Ghost cowboys are scattered throughout the Ghost Town scare zone
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This disfigured sheriff means business
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A deputy in Ghost Town
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Pumpkin-headed scarecrows are lurking around every corner of the Scream of the Crop scare zone
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Mystical witches inhabit Boomtown's Coven Cove scare zone
Dr. H. H. Holmes’ Freak Show
The big Fright Fest show in Southern Palace for 2023 is Dr. H.H. Holmes’ Freak Show. This 30-minute performance showcases choreographed vocal performances, a ropes aerialist, as well as a wheel of death act, all somewhat bizarrely themed to H. H. Holmes, a real life career criminal that killed many throughout his life.
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Nearly a full-house at the early show of the HH Holmes Freak Show
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Several musical numbers are performed during the Freak Show
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Ropes Aerialist at the HH Holmes Freak Show
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Performer leaping through the spinning wheel of death
The early 4:30pm show’s queue line wrapped around the theater and past Etienne’s into the France section, but the crowd still fit comfortably into the spacious Southern Palace theater. It was fun to see the stage’s full vertical space put to use in a pretty entertaining performance. The packed theater also seems to reinforce that live entertainment is still very much desired by park guests.
VIP Vampire Lounge
The Crazy Horse Saloon is the VIP Vampire Lounge for Fright Fest. Specialty cocktails and drinks can be ordered at the bar and a row of large TVs play live sports. But the real spectacle is a series of live video feeds from cameras setup in the haunted houses.
Live feeds from the haunted houses are a unique source of entertainment
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The Vampire Lounge bar offers a number of themed specialty cocktails
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Lounge guests laugh while watching unsuspecting strangers get scared in nearby haunted houses
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A large talking animatronic zombie entertains guests at the Vampire Lounge
Nightmarez Bar
One surprise we stumbled upon was the Nightmarez bar and lounge. Inside a low-key white tent by the Arania’s Murder Mansion and DeAD Classified haunted houses is an under-utilized black light bar/lounge, with a separate outdoor area with standing tables. Entry into the bar is through a portable toilet, with no explanation offered as toward why.
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Nightmarez is a relatively low-key bar/lounge deep in the Gotham City section
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Pass through the Porta-Potty-Portal
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The very blue interior of the Nightmarez bar
Oktoberfest – a Considerably Different Experience
Our first experience with the Oktoberfest Food Festival last month was quite pleasant. This visit was… Not. The biggest disappointment came from the operation of the main food stand, Munich Munchies/Bavarian Bites. Despite there only being about 20 people in line, it took 40 minutes to get to the front to order. Chicken Schnitzel? They were out. Potato latkes? Out. Bratwurst? Out. German meatballs? They had the meatballs, but no wine-caper sauce. At this point, it would have been a shorter conversation to ask what they did have, despite the full menu being displayed.
The people behind us who waited the same 40 minutes wanted sausage but angrily left without any food after learning they were out of sauerkraut.
A busy Oktoberfest area
To be clear, our issue wasn’t the park running out of foods on a very busy day. It was the audacity to not inform guests waiting in line that the thing they are waiting for is out. It seems like a very basic thing to mark items out on the menu that have sold out, instead of having people wait up to an hour to learn the thing they want doesn’t exist. We felt bad for the people still waiting in line (which had doubled in length by the time we left), wasting their park time to order food no longer being offered. I thought this new Six Flags was focusing on the guest experience?
German potato salad and meatballs without sauce. The meatballs were good, but probably would have been even better with their sauce. Grain mustard was a passable substitute.
Operationally it also doesn’t make sense to have most of the specialty food items at a single food location. This food stand consistently had long lines while other locations had shorter lines due to their more limited offerings.
Crowds
Did we mention it was crowded? The overflow lot was nearly completely full. Wait times for major rides such as Mr. Freeze and The Joker approached 2-2.5 hours. Ride and restaurant queues were utilizing all switchbacks and in some cases spilling out into plazas. Scare zones were so crowded the scare actors were forced to stay behind railings for their safety.
As this was primarily a photo-taking mission for us, the lines and crowds didn’t especially bother us. They were almost a spectacle, in stark contrast to the light or moderate crowds we’re used to seeing. But anyone planning a regular Saturday Fright Fest visit, intending to ride rides and visit haunted houses, should really know what they’re in for (and possibly consider a Friday or Sunday visit).
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Batman's very full queue line extending all the way to the ride's entrance
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The line for Runaway Mountain was fully utilizing the long, winding queue
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Crowd lining up for the Dr. HH Holmes Freak Show
Upon leaving the park at 8:30, there were still massive crowds waiting to get into the park (and plenty more trying to get into the parking lot). Entry lines did not appear to be moving, so it’s possible the park was at capacity and slowly metering people in as others left. Tip: arrive at the park earlier in the day, well before sundown if you want to avoid a hectic entry process (and the possibility of never actually making it into the park).
Crowds trying to enter the park at 8:30pm
Other Observations
Batman is back and running and couldn’t look better with its fresh coat of paint. Hopefully Titan is next in line, as it’s looking particularly drab and faded.
A train passes through the freshly-painted zero-g roll
The track’s vibrant yellow paint job
The esix Gaming “Beta Experience” (located next to Superman Tower of Power) appeared open and yet despite the insane crowds, we did not anyone using it during our brief pass-through.
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The esix Gaming Lounge
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Gaming PCs
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Console Gaming Area
Six Flags Universe reopened the half of the store that was previously closed for remodeling. Looking a bit plain, it seems like more signage or design features are still in process of being installed.
Freshly-remodeled half of Six Flags Universe store
Aquaman continued to operate sporadically, and with only one boat when it was operating, making for a very long line.
Concluding Thoughts & Visit Tips
We knew full well that a Saturday-night Fright Fest would be an event in itself, and our visit did not disappoint. We witnessed crowds the likes of which we rarely see at the park, which did not especially bother us due to our specific visit purpose. As Six Flags over Texas enthusiasts, it’s actually nice to see such crowds and the park turning what has to be a healthy profit.
If, however, you are visiting to fully experience the park, and you absolutely must go on a Saturday in the weeks approaching Halloween, consider pre-purchasing a higher-tier Flash Pass to shorten ride waits, the Express Pass add-on to shorten haunted house lines, and utilize mobile ordering to avoid the restaurant lines. Arrive early in the day to avoid the massive crowds that arrive later towards the evening. And be ready to compromise on not riding or experiencing some of the attractions.
One-day ticket and parking costs have approached the point where it almost doesn’t make sense to not get either a season pass or membership, which could also alleviate some of the stress of trying to squeeze in all the rides on one day by letting you revisit the park on another, less-crazy day.
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