Six Flags Fright Fest 2018 (Magic Mountain)

[Wesker69]

Alright, if Knott's can have a thread for the park & for Scary Farm, then there is no reason Fright Fest shouldn't have one as well. Both events repeat mazes & scarezones for years, while offering something new here/there. So with that being said.. Here is the designated 2018 thread:

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RETURNING MAZES:
- Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising (Year 3)
- Red's Revenge (Year 5)
- Willoughby's Resurrected (Year 6)

RETURNING SCAREZONES:
- Demon's Door (Park Entrance)
- Terrortory Twisted (Screampunk District)
- City Under Siege (DC Universe)
- Exile Hill (Samurai Summit)
- Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy (Mining Town Midway)

SHOWS:
- Voodoo Nights (Full Throttle Stage)
- High Sierra Hypnotist (Golden Bear Theatre)

MERCH (tshirt - $18, hoodie - $35)

And of course... *Poop-O-Lantern* hat :look: (don't remember the price)

*Scarezones & Mazes will get their own post. Been busy with work, so will update when I can. Lots of pics will be incoming from the past few weeks.

 

[Wesker69]

First up.... the park entrance scarezone "DEMON'S DOOR"

This scarezone has strips of fabric hanging from the trees to make it "extra spooky"... (didn't bother getting a pic)

The "Wasteland" scarezone prop has found a new home this year... last year it was back near Apocalypse/Aftermath... surprised it didn't return back there considering its such a dead zone with only Aftermath being the big draw since Apocalypse is closed..

Snapchat filter demon action...

Daffy wanted to pose with his new ride...

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MAZES.... well... not all of them (but i do have more pics ut::ninja

^This sign/prop is brand new for this year, even though this incarnation of the Willoughby's is going on year 6. I love it. This maze really has some great set details.. even the hallways are themed (....meanwhile at HHN Hollywood with a can of black paint & plywood)

^Your first glimpse at the NEW "Condemned: Forever Damned" maze facade. This replaced "Toyz of Terror" and the facade is gorgeous & huge. Would not be surprised if this took over as "the" haunted house, resulting in something "new" for Willoughby's Resurrected location.

The NEW "Sewer of Souls (3D)" maze that replaced last year's "Dead End". So I was lucky enough to get a lights-on tour of this new maze from the scenic guy in charge and OMG. The level of detail is amazing. I was blown away by how much effort was put into this maze on the inside and not just the facade. This maze is roughly 10 scenes & will feature "human waste, bat guano, rat feces"... AND that is just the "eww gross" part. While it does NOT have the spinning vortex tunnel of doom, it does have a worthy replacement for this location (with startling effects IF they work- *HINT: Mummy has them*). This maze also features an effect similar to one that Orlando has done a few times, but never done in Hollywood. There is also a familiar scare tactic used in Willoughby's Resurrected (twice) found in here that will cause many people to :x: If you'd like a more spoilery breakdown, PM me... but yea, this maze will be good/fun.

The 3rd NEW maze this year will be "HELL FEST", based on the new movie. It will replace "Vault 666". All around the park you can find banners & posters (like seen above) promoting the movie & maze. There is a mini sign randomly in the Goliath queue before going up the stairs to the load platform. I found out that they are hard at work trying to finish up this maze & some of the Vault 666 sets/scenes will be revamped since they fit with what was needed to bring this movie to life. The facade should be arriving early next week (gotta love cutting it close).

"Red's Revenge" is still waiting for its giant banner, but the facade itself is still the same. Which is funny considering how detailed the maze is, the facade is kinda "meh". As for "Aftermath", the sign has yet to be reinstalled & same with the "Welcome to Ash Valley" sign.

 

[DTH]

I didn't know they were doing a Hell Fest maze. That's a Lionsgate property, right? Interesting. Since I'll be skipping KSF this year, if this gets really good reviews, I may consider going!

 

[Viator]

@Rideguy70 got the chance to go into Condamned today.

 

[DTH]

The details look pretty good, wow...

 

[Wesker69]

.....well hell, I purposely didn't post the Condamned facade (except for the teaser) because I wanted it to be a surprise due to how amazing it looks.

Here is the facade for "Red's Revenge" as well...

^The quality of this facade does not match the quality of this maze.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the 3 new mazes (especially Condamned & Sewer), have amazingly well done set details. It rivals HHN, especially after last year's excessive black walls in every maze. The park has stepped up their game this year, but next year is where it will really show. Wouldn't be surprised if we saw a scarezone near "Racers" in 2019.

 

[chris.g]

Holy crap. that looks awesome.

 

[Rideguy70]

Condemned was pretty impressive, especially for Six Flags. They're working slower, but gradually their mazes are really stepping up. Given all their local competition, they didn't have much choice.

Interesting that Wesker says Sewer is pretty scatological... there are also many scatological elements in Condemned as well. Are they trying to tell us something? :grin:

The sign for Vault 666 is still up, and there was still a lot of construction going on around it. I asked, and they said they are about 75% done with it. Given they open next week, that seems to be cutting it pretty close, but even if it does end up as one of the weaker mazes, it sounds like the others may make up for it.

Oh, and I also asked, and while they did confirm the spinning tunnel isn't being used this year, they hope it can return in the future.

 

[Wesker69]

As I said before, the level of quality & detail for Fright Fest this year with its new mazes is top notch. The two new scarezones however, well "Witches Lair" looks good, but "The Shadows" will leave something to be desired due to it not having any scenic details. It will literally just be some orange/red lighting.

Willoughby's could easily be replaced by Condamned as "THE" haunted mansion maze for the event. Willoughby's has some great set details & large rooms, Condamned is going for the opposite with tighter rooms, but a lot of detail. Aftermath is like a "Six Flags Graveyard". You'd be amazed at what is actually among the maze's set details- Deja Vu, Batman, & Comet for one...

Condemned was pretty impressive, especially for Six Flags.
Interesting that Wesker says Sewer is pretty scatological... there are also many scatological elements in Condemned as well. Are they trying to tell us something? :grin:

The sign for Vault 666 is still up, and there was still a lot of construction going on around it. I asked, and they said they are about 75% done with it. Given they open next week, that seems to be cutting it pretty close, but even if it does end up as one of the weaker mazes, it sounds like the others may make up for it.

Oh, and I also asked, and while they did confirm the spinning tunnel isn't being used this year, they hope it can return in the future.

Yea, last year was my first year for Fright Fest & I was very impressed by their event. Sure some things were a little "meh", but overall, I saw huge potential.

And yep, I was told they're still waiting for the Hell Fest facade to arrive which should be any day now. From what I understand, we won't have to worry about Hell Fest being weak (unless the scareactors don't bring their A-Game).

Yea the spinning tunnel is one of those things that has to fit the space, while it most definitely would've been perfect for Sewer, it has a fun alternative this year instead. As for two of their new mazes being full of s**t, they love their poop. haha... Did they happen to mention if Condamned would feature any unpleasant scents?

 

[chris.g]

Also - did we lose the Snicker's branding? I haven't seen it on the Hell Fest promos. If so thank goodness as it looked tacky and makes Fright Fest look more standalone.

 

[Wesker69]

Also - did we lose the Snicker's branding? I haven't seen it on the Hell Fest promos..

Nope. Snickers is still the sponsor. The reason why its not on the Hell Fest stuff is because Snickers isn't sponsoring the movie.

 

[Rideguy70]

Yea the spinning tunnel is one of those things that has to fit the space, while it most definitely would've been perfect for Sewer, it has a fun alternative this year instead. As for two of their new mazes being full of s**t, they love their poop. haha... Did they happen to mention if Condamned would feature any unpleasant scents?

Yes. There are multiple references to "full" kitty litter boxes, and a room with a urine smell with soiled diapers everywhere, as well as a bathroom with a feces covered toilet. Nothing else says "class" like that!

One thing they've added is that some rooms have multiple ways to get to the next room. While that always sounds good in theory, like Knott's found with VooDoo, it can be tough to execute. Should be interesting to see if they can pull that off without confusing guests. Personally, I think they should just make everyone do the "alternative" pathways if possible (though one is quite narrow).

On an interesting construction note, they said the entire maze was built elsewhere, then shipped and set up at SFMM.

While the quality is definitively going up, I'm guessing the trade off is new mazes will be much more infrequent. They don't have the capital to invest in a lot of turnover in mazes from year to year... so their plan now seems to be making higher quality mazes that can stick around for a while (I mean, look how long Wilhoughby's and Red's Revenge have been around already). But for SFMM, I'm okay with that.

 

[Wesker69]

Yes. There are multiple references to "full" kitty litter boxes, and a room with a urine smell with soiled diapers everywhere, as well as a bathroom with a feces covered toilet. Nothing else says "class" like that!

One thing they've added is that some rooms have multiple ways to get to the next room. While that always sounds good in theory, like Knott's found with VooDoo, it can be tough to execute. Should be interesting to see if they can pull that off without confusing guests. Personally, I think they should just make everyone do the "alternative" pathways if possible (though one is quite narrow).

While the quality is definitively going up, I'm guessing the trade off is new mazes will be much more infrequent. They don't have the capital to invest in a lot of turnover in mazes from year to year... so their plan now seems to be making higher quality mazes that can stick around for a while (I mean, look how long Wilhoughby's and Red's Revenge have been around already). But for SFMM, I'm okay with that.

Okay soooo.... Condamned & Sewer are competing to be the "sh**tiest maze"

The alternate route gimmick isn't new. Aftermath has an alternate path or two, especially with its chainlink fence section.

Knotts has been keeping certain mazes year after year, as well as other haunt locations... They just improve and/or replace when & where they can. Also, Magic Mountain will be able to up their budget each year now that they're year round. The good thing is, with great quality sets, they can recycle them for future new mazes... hell, the one corridor in Willoughby's gives off a vampire vibe. Aftermath could easily be rethemed to a Six Flags Graveyard maze (which it already is :look I definitely see A LOT of potential in the future.
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Anyway, I keep being lazy & not posting the rest of the pics... sooo INCOMING!!!!

TERRORTORY TWISTED (scarezone)

CITY UNDER SIEGE (scarezone)

WITCHES LAIR (scarezone)

 

[Wesker69]

part 2...

NIGHTMARES: A TWISTED FANTASY (scarezone)

I'll be doing one last big update for Fright Fest when I'm there on Thursday....

 

[DTH]

Maaaaan these scarezones are looking fantastic. Can't believe it, but I'm getting very interested.

 

[Wesker69]

Maaaaan these scarezones are looking fantastic..

Terrortory Twisted is going on year 3.. Nightmares Twisted Fantasy has been there for a few years now... it is an ALL blacklight lit scarezone. It looks so good! And can't figure out how long Demon's Door has been there, but its been a few years now as well.

The new scarezone (The Shadows) will not rely on scenic (as far as i know), only red & orange lighting. Its supposed to be a dark gory scarezone. The other new scarezone (Witches Lair) should be interesting. Looking forward to seeing what they've added.

 

[Freak]

Yeah, I know, it's Park Bros, but here's a good look at Condamned:



(They clarified they were allowed to take pics so this vid is legal).

 

[Wesker69]

I feel dumber now after having to hear them talk :thud:

 

[Rideguy70]

Surprised no one's posted this press release yet:

One of this year’s stunning new mazes, Hell Fest, will depict scenes straight from the movie including:

• The Mausoleum, an increasingly narrow corridor that forces guests to feel the touch of death;
• The Mask Room, a haunting room filled with floating white faces that could spring to life when visitors least expect it;
• The Doll Room, filled with dolls straight out of the worst nightmares; and
• The Torture Chamber, where the bodies of the disassembled, dissected and disemboweled wish to share their horrific ending.

Room by room, guests must find their way out, or risk being trapped by “The Other,” the movie’s deranged antagonist.

It sounds interesting, but "room by room, guests must find their way out"? Does this mean there's an escape room element to each room? While intriguing, it also sounds like the line may be the slowest moving one this year. I guess hit this one first?

 

[Wesker69]

Shockingly, Six Flags has fallen into the HHN Hollywood trap this year of the event being one day away & NOT having everything done/ready yet. There was STILL no Fright Fest signage on the main archway or the main gate entrance as of today (thursday). Even scenic elements in areas were still lacking... so they have A LOT of work to do before saturday (opening night).

Surprised no one's posted this press release yet:
It sounds interesting, but "room by room, guests must find their way out"? Does this mean there's an escape room element to each room? While intriguing, it also sounds like the line may be the slowest moving one this year. I guess hit this one first?

Eh.... I didn't get around to it haha. And as for the "find your way out" aspect, that is just a marketing gimmick word play. If you remember, Vault 666 (which this replaced) had the 2 pre-show rooms before the actual maze to pulse each "group", which helped guest experience within the maze itself.

Speaking of Hell Fest & that area, I was talking to the sound designer last week and he said they've got some fun stuff happening within this area. So curious to see what THAT entails. Maybe something similar to the Hell Fest barker & dancers/freaks as seen in the trailer. The maze facade finally arrived and I was able to get a picture of it (with permission).

Here is another new hoodie for this year's event, as well as a drink bottle holder

Added scenic & maze signage...

Now for an update of the two NEW FOR 2018 scarezones (which will make @Freak & @DTH drool)
WITCHES LAIR (scarezone)

THE SHADOWS (scarezone)

I'll be at the park on sunday, so i'll get (daytime) pics of anything "new" or "changed"...