Halloween will soon be upon us and theme parks around the US are gearing up to thrill their guests in 2020. Although it has been confirmed that Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World and Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando will not be going ahead, there are many events still planned this year to fulfil guests of all ages urge to be thrilled.
SeaWorld announced last week that it would be hosting its Halloween Spooktacular, Busch Gardens Tampa has a modified Howl-O-Scream and those readers in the UK heard the good news that Alton Towers is putting on its popular Scarefest and Thorpe Park is hosting Fright Nights.
This week Six Flags have announced that they will be hosting their Hallowfest event at a number of its US parks throughout the coming months, including Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags America, Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Six Flags St. Louis and Six Flags Frontier City.
As expected due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic we will see a modified event being hosted, with the following safety guidelines in place across the parks:
- All team members (including scareactors) and guests 2 years and up will be required to wear masks covering the nose and mouth while in the parks. Please NOTE – at some parks it is from 3 years.
- No indoor mazes, haunted houses, or indoor shows will be operated; some haunted trails and scare zones will be operated outdoors with social distancing strictly enforced.
- A limited number of nighttime scareactors will always remain at least six feet away from guests and each other.
- Guests viewing outdoor entertainment will be separated by at least six feet.
- Props, rides, restraints, handrails, and dining and restroom facilities will be cleaned and sanitized regularly.
- Multiple hand-washing and alcohol-based hand sanitizer stations will be located throughout the parks for guest and team member usage.
As can be seen, a focus is on outdoor scare mazes with indoor mazes and shows not being offered this year. Here is what each of the Six Flags parks are offering its guests this fall…
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags Great Adventure is hosting Hallowfest, presented by Snickers on select days September 18 through November 1, plus October 12. The park will be open from 2 to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and from 5 p.m. with varying closing times on Friday evenings. To see the full calendar, click here.
There will be a range of offerings to cover all age groups including for younger guests:
- Pumpkin spicing things up in the park for little witches and goblins
- Trick-or-Treat Trail
- Hay bale maze
- Festive fall décor
For those that are looking to be scared, starting from 6pm the scare zones will be open, you can experience rides in the dark and enjoy hallow-treats.
Reservations must be made for this event and tickets will be available to reserve for Members and Season Pass holders from Thursday September 3, 2020 at 12pm and for all other day ticket holders from Friday September 4, 2020 at 12pm. For full details and to book visit their official site.
Six Flags America
Six Flags America is offering this event, beginning October 3 and runs weekends through November 1 from 1-9 p.m.
For younger guests in the day there will be:
- Pumpkin spicing things up in the park for little masked witches and goblins.
- Kid-centric haybale mazes
- Halloween shows
- Themed attractions including the popular Trick-or-Treat Trail
After dark, guests can experience:
- Riding coasters in total darkness including WONDER WOMAN Lasso of Truth and Firebird.
- Creepy fog, eerie lighting, and sinister music will create the perfect backdrop for nighttime scares and chills.
- Tasty hallow-treats.
Reservations must be made for this event, members and season passholders can do this now and one day tickets will be available soon. For full details and to book tickets visit their official site.
Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags Over Georgia is hosting Hallowfest, presented by Snickers every weekend from September 19 through November 1. Reservations must be made for this event, members and season passholders can do this now and one day tickets will be available soon. For full details and to book tickets visit their official site.
Family fun will be available throughout the day, including:
- Trick-or-Treat individually packaged candy and treats offered throughout the park
- Kids’ spooky magic shows, featuring verbal interaction only and no physical contact
- Five amusing Fair Zones with not-so-scary witches, sweet scarecrows, happy pirates, and comedic clowns.
- Family-friendly Halloween stories while enjoying a scenic ride along the Six Flags Railroad
- Kid-centric games and activities among cornstalk and hay bale festive decor
- Halloween-themed speciality treats including gooey caramel apples and funnel cakes
- Exclusive HALLOWFEST selfie stations for kids and families to capture favorite fright-filled photos.
For those guests that are looking for all the scares halloween has to offer, at 6pm the five spine tingling outdoor scare zones will open, you can experience rides in the dark and enjoy hallow-treats. For full details and to book tickets, visit their official site.
Six Flags Over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas our offering their Hallowfest event every weekend between September 26 and November 1. For full details of timings, visit their calendar.
For younger guests in the day, there will be:
- Pumpkin spicing things up and spooky enhancements throughout the park
- Spooky photo opportunities
- Trick-or-Treat Trail
- Delicious treats
For older guests that are looking for thrills, you can experience:
- Outdoor midways with creepy fog, eerie lighting, larger than life Halloween props and sinister music
- four hair-raising Halloween zones for guests to experience throughout the park
- Experience rides in total darkness including Titan, New Texas Giant, MR. FREEZE: Reverse Blast, JOKER, SUPERMAN Tower of Power, and Shock Wave
- Halloween-themed merchandise will be on sale as well as glow-in-the-dark items.
Six Flags Over Texas specify the following costume rules which are based on their costume policy:
Guests 10 Years & Younger – May wear a full costume to include masks and full face painting if accompanied by an adult. Morph suits and bodysuits are not permitted.
If they are alone or with other same age children, then they must comply with the policy for Guests 13 Years & Older. Costume masks must be immediately removed if instructed to do so by park personnel.
Guests 11 Years & Older may wear costumes with the following provisions, NO EXCEPTIONS:
Masks may only cover the mouth and nose.
Partial face paint is allowed as long as it does not disguise the facial features (no more than 50% of the face may be painted).
ALL GUESTS All costumes must accommodate or include a mask that covers your mouth and nose.
Reservations must be made and will be open soon for Season passholders and one day tickets. For full details and to book visit their official site.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Six Flags Fiesta Texas is hosting Hallowfest every weekend between September 19 and November 1. For the full calendar of opening hours visit the calendar.
For younger guests there will be:
- HALLOWFEST enhancements throughout the park
- Fireworks
- Seasonally themed shows
- Distanced photo opportunies
For the guests who want to be scared, starting from when it gets dark there will be spine tingling outdoor scare zones, you can experience rides in the dark as well as enjoying halloween treats.
Reservations must be made for this event and tickets are on sale now. For full details and to book visit their official site.
Six Flags St. Louis
Six Flags St. Louis is hosting Hallowfest, presented by Snickers every Saturday and Sunday, October 3 through November 1, from 2-10 p.m.
For those looking for smaller scares, there will be:
- Simply Spooktacular Storytelling at the Trick-or-Treat Trail featuring individually packaged candy and treats for guests ages 11 and under
- The popular Love at First Fright and Dead Man’s Party shows will be performed on the Palace Porch
- Select scare-actor photo ops with appropriate social distancing
- At the 13th minute of every hour, freaks throughout the park break out in dance for Freaktime.
For guests wanting the thrill of real scares, the following will await you:
- In the wide-open midways, outdoor scare mazes will be positioned including The Vampire Bar, Clowns of the Blacktop Circus, and the Backlot Creatures.
- Creepy fog, eerie lighting, and sinister music will add to the atmosphere.
- Guests can ride the following roller coasters including The Boss, Screamin’ Eagle, BATMAN: The Ride and American Thunder in total darkness.
- Halloween merchandise will be sold, such as themed masks, witch headbands, light-up devil horns as well as glow-in-the-dark necklaces, bracelets and light sticks.
Reservations must be made for this event, members and season passholders can do this now and one day tickets will be available soon. For full details and to book tickets visit their official site.
Six Flags Frontier City
Six Flags Frontier City will be hosting Hallowfest starting on October 2nd and will run weekends through October 31 from 6-10 p.m. on Fridays and 4-10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations must be made for this event, and can be done so now for Season passholders and for one day tickets. For full details and to book tickets, visit their official site.
Younger halloween thrill seekers can look forward to:
- Kid-centric mazes
- Spooky magic shows
- Trick or Treat Trail
- Make your way through Timber Town and stop at our adorable Halloween themed selfie stations.
- The Little Monster Maze, routing little monsters through a spooky but sweet maze.
- Kids’ Halloween Costume Contests will be held on select days where children ten years and under may wear their favorite costumes to win a prize (all costumes must accommodate face masks).
For the older, braver guests, at 7pm the following scares can be experienced:
- Outdoor scare mazes and zones
- Eerie fog, lighting, and menacing music to add to the atmosphere
- Experiencing rides in the dark of the night
- Purchasing halloween themed food treats
- Main Street Light Show – a spooky version
- Signature and sinister shows will be transformed for the outdoors where guests can see the Freak Show Deluxe cast
- Stunt show and magical illusions.
- Fright trail
- Vintage Monsters of Yore will take you back to the days of Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein, Wolfman and more.
The Big Debate
We have been running polls since March on Theme Park Tourist. There is still time to vote in our previous big debates if you haven’t already:
You can read our latest Results and Discussion by clicking on these links:
- The Big Debate RESULTS – Why Do YOU Think Theme Park Attendance Is So Low?
- The Big Debate RESULTS – Do YOU Think Splash Mountain Should Be Rethemed?
- The Big Debate RESULTS: Should Screaming Be Banned on Roller Coasters?
For the latest reopening news for Six Flags parks across the US read our reopening article. As always to keep up to date with news from Six Flags parks, SeaWorld, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Orlando, Busch Gardens and all other theme parks in the US and around the World, check out our News Page and Facebook Page.
