Holiday in the Park 2024 is upon us and we visited Six Flags over Texas for the holiday spectacular’s opening day to see if the promise of the expanded, reimagined event was true. While this trip report will only cover this initial daytime visit, be sure to visit our complete Holiday in the Park 2024 event page which will be continuously updated as the event evolves.
Holiday in the Park decorations adorn the entrance
We arrived just before park opening at noon, with the parking lot line extending nearly back to the entrance road. The line moved quickly, however, taking only about 10 minutes to get into the parking lot.
Though it was rumored to be closed by now to begin a lengthy repainting project, Titan was operating (and with quite a long line). The park apparently opted to delay the project—perhaps due to La Vibora and El Diablo closing. This picture from our visit does highlight how bad it needs its new paint, though.
A very faded Titan during Holiday in the Park 2024
Speaking of big projects, before getting into the Holiday in the Park updates, let’s detour to see what’s going on with the La Vibora and El Diablo removals…
La Vibora and El Diablo Removal
Less than 2 weeks ago it was announced that Six Flags over Texas will be getting a record-breaking dive coaster in 2026, and to make way for that, La Vibora and El Diablo are being removed.
La Vibora’s sign has been removed above its entrance
Construction fencing has been placed throughout Spain and Mexico blocking off access to the two rides. Behind the fence, parts of La Vibora’s queue fencing have been removed.
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A large fence encompasses La Vibora pending its removal
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Behind the fence, work has started removing the queue
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El Diablo fenced off pending removal
Riding the Six Flags Railroad, the announcer confirmed the aging Engine House will also be removed and relocated to a new, undisclosed location.
La Vibora with the Railroad’s Engine House (both soon to be torn down)
FROST
This year’s premier Holiday in the Park show in the Southern Palace is FROST. Billed as a holiday cirque extravaganza, it combines elaborately-choreographed dance with a variety of acrobatic acts, all perfectly set to holiday music.
FROST dancers with trampoline act
The 25 minute show seamlessly blended FROST dancers (who had a bunch of costume changes) with acrobatic acts including a foot juggler, balance artist, aerial hoop act, Cyr wheel act, and a trampoline show.
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Stage decorated for the FROST show in the Southern Palace
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Balancing act
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Aerial hoop act
FROST is one of the best shows we’ve seen at Six Flags over Texas in some time. The professional dancing and cirque-like acts were all top-notch and had the audience alternating between holding their breath and cheering. Though understandably, some on social media have longed for a more traditional Christmas show, which has often been the focus of the Southern Palace during Holiday in the Park. However there are plenty of other options for more traditional performances…
Other Shows
Over at the relatively new Boomtown Bar is another new show, The Yule Logs, a talented guitar-plucking duo.
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Sign showing The Yule Logs showtimes
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The Yule Logs performing at Boomtown Bar
Meanwhile, a newly-expanded Courthouse Stage is home to guests performing Kristmas Karaoke (which is broadcast throughout large sections of the park now), as well as The MistleTones, a classic-sounding trio of songstresses performing Christmas classics.
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The newly-expanded Courthouse Stage where karaoke and the MistleTones take place
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The MistleTones are a trio of singers with a distinctly 50s-era style
Over on the new Bugs Bunny Boomtown stage directly in front of Six Flags Universe, two shows play out. The Polar Party engages kids with intense music and interactive fun, while ‘Twas a Merry Mishap introduces 4 high-energy characters in a funny, haphazardous retelling of the classic “Twas the Night Before Christmas” story.
The cast of the Twas a Merry Mishap show
Be sure to check out the Show section of our Holiday in the Park event page, which includes an hour-by-hour show schedule, perfect for planning the entertainment of your visit.
Park Decor & Photo Ops
Lots of new and returning Holiday in the Park decor was spread throughout the park.
The large Christmas Tree and new Tree Stage in the Star Mall entry plaza
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A decorative train near the Boomtown train station
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Various holiday photo ops near the Caddo Lake Barge walkway
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A nativity scene is installed near the Roaring Rapids entrance
Also present was plenty of photo ops and friendly costumed characters ready to take photos with guests.
A Texas-sized Holiday in the Park Boot
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Friendly gingerbread characters are available for photo ops
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Nutcrackers on patrol near the Southern Palace
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A swagtastic peppermint character
Ride Overlays
A number of attractions are spruced up for this year’s Holiday in the Park. Dino Off Road Adventure had the dinosaurs decked out in Santa hats and holiday garb.
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The dinosaurs have been themed for Christmas
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Dinosaurs decorated for the holidays
Pirates of Speelunker Cave was also decorated but unfortunately down for when we tried to ride it. Runaway Mountain is also themed, likely with the Yeti figurine that usually makes an appearance during the holidays.
Holiday in the Park Attractions
New for 2024, the park creatively reused the large tent structure for the Unearthed haunted house from Fright Fest to become the North Pole. A short walk into the tent transports guests to a cozy wintry wonderland, where kids can write and mail letters to Santa as well as decorate art.
Kids can write letters to Santa and color images at the North Pole
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Entrance to the North Pole with a friendly elf greeter
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Mailbox for mailing letters to Santa
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A Christmas tree with guest-decorated ornaments
Also advertised this year is a “Kids Drive-In Theater” which during our visit appeared to just be the large LED sign outside Pandemonium playing Frosty the Snowman. However we have since seen others post images with the park adding old Chaparral cars in front of the screen to actually make it a cute drive-in attraction.
The large screen by Pandemonium showing holiday movies (soon to have old Chaps cars for seating)
The Krampus haunted house attraction from last year has returned in a revamped “Krampus in Paradise” theme. The nearby covered area that was a petting zoo in the past few HitP events now sells seasonal merchandise, though it seemed like an odd underutilization of the space.
Entrance of the Krampus in Paradise spooky house walk-through attraction
Of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without Santa Claus, and this year Santa’s Outpost is located at the Crazy Horse Saloon. Inside we saw a picturesque scene of Mrs. Claus reading a Christmas story to children, as well as various guests decorating cookies. The bar was offering holiday cocktails, while the big man himself was setup behind a curtain ready to have a personal meet and greet with kids (for a fee of course).
Mrs. Claus reads kids a holiday tale at Santa’s Outpost (Crazy Horse Saloon)
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Decorating kits are available to purchase at Mrs. Claus Kitchen (Crazy Horse Saloon)
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Pricing for photos with Santa at Santa's Outpost (Crazy Horse Saloon)
The Merry Marketplace
This year’s Merry Marketplace has moved to the Boomtown area and is essentially the epicenter of Holiday in the Park specialty food and merchandise.
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Merry Marketplace is in the Boomtown area plaza
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Merry Marketplace stalls
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A jewelry stall in the Merry Marketplace
However it did seem like they weren’t completely ready for the event’s first day, with several of the stalls being empty. We expect this to get fixed as the event goes on, but it was a bit challenging to find a significant selection of Holiday in the Park foods during our visit. Several food locations throughout the park were also offering a limited number of special foods (a full list will soon be posted to our event page), but even places like the “Cozy Cafe” (aka Primo’s) that serve the iconic bread bowls with chili or Frito pie were closed when we visited them (it reportedly opened later in the evening).
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A Merry Marketplace stall selling sweet treats
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Assortment of kettle corn within the Merry Marketplace
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The tamale plate from Macho Nacho is 3 tamales and a side of Mexican rice
We eventually settled on a tamale plate ($16.99) from Macho Nacho which was decent but left us hungry enough to leave the park before nightfall. The unseasonably warm weather peaking at 78°F also didn’t make it feel like a proper Holiday in the Park visit, so we decided to return on an upcoming colder night for the full night-time Holiday in the Park experience. We look forward to a true cold-weather Holiday in the Park visit when a soup-filled bread bowl will be better appreciated.
Initial Impressions
Six Flags over Texas issued a press release calling this year’s Holiday in the Park “Bigger and Brighter” and so far it seems to be the case. After last year’s somewhat lackluster event, it seems the new chain ownership has injected some much-needed funds into the event in the form of new shows, attractions, and general improvements. As is often the case, the event wasn’t running at 100% with it being the first day, but what we did see is promising that this year’s Holiday in the Park will help reestablish it as one of the best (and easily our favorite) times of year to visit Six Flags over Texas.
We did find it a little strange that there seems to be no utilization of the Gotham Stage for Holiday in the Park, with no shows scheduled there. In fact, there are no Holiday in the Park activities whatsoever in Gotham City. Nevertheless, there is plenty of activity elsewhere in the park.
We’ll be back soon for a proper nighttime visit when the weather starts acting like winter, and as always we will keep our Holiday in the Park event page up-to-date with all the latest and greatest information. Be sure and let us know if you want to see something specific!
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