Fright Fest Extreme: How To Make The Most Of Your Trip

Arguably one of the most thrilling parks on the West Coast has raised the stakes this Halloween season. Fright Fest Extreme is now taking place at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. The land of coasters and thrill rides has added over 20 haunted attractions. That includes a whopping 11 haunted houses, 9 scare zones, and 2 shows.

If you’ve been to Six Flags Magic Mountain, you know the challenge that is walking the theme park as it’s a huge park. Not to mention that some of the paths are on hills become more challenging to walk as the day goes on. If you are a fan of haunted attractions and thrill rides this is the event for you. But there is a lot to do!

So what’s the best way to get the most out of Fright Fest Extreme?

FRIGHT FEST EXTREME EXPRESS PASS

Your admission into the park along with access to the haunted houses is going to run you $85 per person if you buy it online (which you should). But for $140 you also get an Express Pass with your park and haunted house access. It’s important to note that this Express Pass will only work on the haunted houses and not the rides. But on Fright Fest Extreme Nights, that will be fine.

Most of the attention on those nights will be on the haunted houses, leaving the lines for roller coasters and thrill rides very short. In our experience, throughout the night we waited about five to ten minutes for our favorite roller coasters. Then thanks to our Express Pass, our wait times for Haunted Houses were very short also about five to ten minutes. This allowed us to efficiently get through the park and enjoy everything it had to offer. By the end of the night, we had been able to venture into all 11 houses, get on 7 roller coasters, enjoy 9 scare zones, and 2 shows from 7 P.M. to 12:30 P.M.

Overall if you are a fan of roller coasters, we found that the price of the Express Pass was a great value as it allowed you to quickly get through many attractions.

Ahead I will lay the path we found that worked well for us and allowed us to get the bang for our buck while at Fright Fest Extreme. The same path also works if you don’t get an Express Pass, you may just need to skip a few rides, which is not the reason you’re there anyway.

WHERE TO START?

Before that… may I suggest bringing comfortable walking shoes as you will be getting in all your steps. Second, I also recommend having a good dinner, whether it’s before you get to the park or as you arrive. That way you’re not wasting time throughout the night.

Once in the park one mistake I see a lot of people making early on is not picking up their bracelets. Regardless if you are getting an Express Pass or not, you will need a bracelet to get you into the haunted houses. Just getting into the park is not enough. You can pick yours up at the booth next to the water fountains with the Six Flags logo as you enter the park to your right.

Also it’s really important to note that Fright Fest Extreme has a chaperone policy. Teens 15 and younger must be accompanied by a chaperone over the age of 21 with a valid government ID to stay in the park after 4 P.M. to closing time.

LET FRIGHT FEST EXTREME BEGIN!

Now that we get that out of the way! You have two options right as the Fright Fest Extreme kicks off. One is to enjoy the opening ceremony at the DC Universe at 7 P.M. where you can watch all of the scare actors be Unleashed into the crowds. Or in the same area, you can head over to your first haunted house of the night “Stranger Things”. It will be a really good idea to get this one done early as it is one of the most popular of the event. Once you’re done you have an option of coasters if you want including “The Batman” and “Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage”. This area is also where you will find sinister clowns in the scare zone called, “City Under Siege”.

Next up, I suggest going through the Midway and heading to yet another event favorite house “Saw: Legacy of Terror”. Then continuing in that same direction where you’ll hit your third house of the night, “Trick R’ Treat”. Here you can also take a moment to ride “The Riddler’s Revenge” if you’d like.

HEAD TO THE BACK OF THE PARK

From this point, it is quite the trek over to the next set of houses. I don’t suggest trying to ride “West Coast Racers” as it still has a hefty wait time for a ride that is there daily. Keep moving and soon you’ll arrive at the next scare zone, “The Dead Zone”. If you’re feeling the wood coaster, “Apocalypse”, this will be your chance. Next to the coaster are your next two houses or mazes “Army of the Dead” and “Aftermath: Nocturnal Haunt”. They are next to each other. The only downside to that is that we found that if one goes down for technical issues, so does the other one.

From here we are going to start making our way toward the front of the park. When you end up in front of “Tatsu”, you’ll reach your next haunted house, “The Conjuring”. At this point of the night, this might be a long wait as it seems to be another fan favorite. For me, it gave me one of my favorite scares of the event. If you’d like take a chance to ride “Tatsu” it is amazing at night.

UP THE HILL

Next to that coaster, you’ll need to trek up some stairs to your next scare zone and two haunted houses. At the top, you’ll find the “Exile Hill” scare zone. Along with the two houses “Willoughby’s Resurrected” and “Sewer of Souls”. These might be quicker to get through as they are out of the way and up the hill. Once your done, you’ll have to head back the same way you came up.

BACK TO THE FRONT

As you continue to the front of the park you’ll now go through two fun scare zones. First, you’ll go through “Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy” followed by “Grimmlore Ridge”, which is full of bird people. As you cross the front of the park you’ll travel through yet another scare zone, “Devil’s Triangle”.

Your last three haunted houses are in the area near where you first picked up your bracelet. These houses were a lot of fun! They included “Truth or Dare”, “Vault 666: Unlocked”, and “Condemned Forever Damned”.

With those done, that makes 11 haunted houses! Now all that is left is to enjoy the “Invasion” show which is on the stage near “Full Throttle”. As well as three more scare zones. If you walking back towards DC Universe you can walk through the kids area where the “CarnivHELL” has set up shop. Followed by “Plaza de la Muerte”. Funny enough we found the scare actor’s make-up here more captivating than any other spot. Then if you head towards “Scream” there is one more scare zone called “Underworlds of Oz”.

You’ll want to end up right where you started as the “Sliders of the Night” show happens at midnight in the same spot where the scare actors first paraded through. With that, you’ll have successfully survived Fright Night Extreme.

ALSO SEE: SIX FLAGS FRIGHT FEST EXTREME REVIEW: A BALANCE OF THRILLS AND CHILLS

EXTRA TIPS FOR FRIGHT FEST EXTREME

Houses may get shut down temporarily for various reasons. My suggestion is to move on to the next and come back later. As it gets later and later, some of the houses have shorter lines, because simply people get tired, it’s a big park!

Also, make sure to stay hydrated and take advantage of the IP’s merch booths located near their haunted houses.

If you can spare it, it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to book a room nearby. Your body, especially your feet will welcome a quick turnaround to a nice shower and a comfy bed (believe me I tell you from experience).

While this is what worked for my group, feel free to do what you want. Don’t let me tell you what to do. Except maybe have fun and stay hydrated!