 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Scare fans rejoice, another year of
Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure is upon us! The 2017 season of Fright Fest features several new attractions in addition to existing favorites, creating the "biggest Fright Fest" in the history of the theme park.
Known as the Northeast's "largest Halloween party," Six Flags' Fright Fest features plenty of scares after dark - the focus of our story - but also has plenty of family fun for visitors during the day. In all there are more than 25 Halloween themed shows and attractions, with daytime fun including Professor Slithers' Creepy Critters at the Adventure Theater and a Spooktacular Dance Party taking place near the park's famous bloody fountain. Kids will love trick or treating with their favorite Looney Tunes friends and Sea Lion Presentations will entertain all at the SeaFari Theater.
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Darkness ushers in a different mood to the park, however, and that's when the scares begin. This year the park offers several returning attractions which have already proven quite popular with guests. Some of these photos are from Big Top Terror: Forgotten Carnival 3-D, which features clowns around every corner in a setting that's both bright, colorful and disorienting.
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
Guests wear 3-D glasses throughout Big Top Terror, which only makes the crazy clowns, like the fiend above, even more intense.
If the bright colors are too much, make sure to stop by Total Darkness. This haunted maze features - not surprisingly - complete darkness that visitors must make their way through. Holding on to a rope to stay together, you never know when a ghoul is nearby, well at least until the scare happens!
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
It is important to take a break from the haunted houses and trails to regroup, so Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure offers several live shows as well. New this year is Unleashed, at the Showcase Theatre, which is a combination of acrobatics, magic and dance.
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
Another new show for 2017 is Ignite, performed on an outdoor stage in Adventure Alley. The show features talented performers that combine illusions with fire spinning and other acts that shouldn't be missed.
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
The crowds were lining up early to see Ignite, and as these photos depict there's good reason for that. The intensity of the show, from both the performers and the various fire acts, draws in guests from afar.
The park has also added Corvyx, an "alternative electronic poop artist" that started on YouTube, on a small stage just outside the Bone Butcher Terror-Tory. The artist is known for his "haunting song covers" along with original music and "wicked style."
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Another returning favorite is an indoor maze known as The Manor, a traditionally themed haunted house with ghastly ghouls like the one seen above. He stalked us for quite a while in the maze, effectively distracting us from other upcoming scares! The Manor shares the same building as Total Darkness, inside the Boardwalk.
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
On to other new attractions in 2017! Fright Fest has several haunted trails that take place outside and utilize the park's wooded land to the fullest. If you wait until full darkness has set in the mazes are even more scary, so save the trails until later in the evening.
New this year is Aftermath, where a "post-apocalyptic world becomes a reality as guests try to survive this twisting haunted maze crawling with barbaric, mutant scavengers." The trail gives the feeling of a world gone mad, and features plenty of new sets and props. Best described as gritty and raw, the maze gives visitors an uncomfortable feeling that goes beyond not knowing where the next scare might be.
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Wicked Woods is also new for 2017, located on the island that the park's log flume runs onto, just next to the lake. The theme of the trail is that creatures and monsters from fables and folklore ARE real, and they've holed up on the island and are waiting for new friends. The park really went all out on the sets and props for this trail - I do not intend to ruin any surprises but there is an awful lot to see as you pass through this one. I'd suggest braving the scares twice, if possible, to really take it all in!
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Aside from the two new haunted trails, there is also a third new attraction at this season's Fright Fest. Called Lady of the Lake Cemetery, this scare zone was inspired by the folklore of Six Flags Great Adventure. The area is located in the wooded path bordering the lake, and is said to be home to Guinevere, a "drowned bride cursed by the Jersey Devil."
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
Is this Guinevere herself? It sure looks like it! She has said to have been haunting Jackson's Great Lake for more than a hundred years. Make sure to check out Lady of the Lake Cemetery, if not for its ghouls but its mist-filled spooky setting.
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
We've already covered a sizable amount of haunted attractions, but there's still even more to check out at Fright Fest. Above is a photo from the spooky, corn-filled and unsettling paths of the Blood Shed maze. Cell Block 6, a maze that features a prison gone-wrong atmosphere has also returned.
The park's various midways also turn into ghoul-infested scare zones once the sun sets, and this year visitors can brave their way through the Bone Butcher TerrorTory, The Bloody Fountain area, Carn Evil, Demon District along with the aforementioned Lady of the Lake Cemetery.
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
One show that everyone is sure not to miss at Six Flags Great Adventure's Fright Fest is Dead Man's Party, the annual song and dance show that has its own cult following that has only grown through the years. The show is now performed inside the park's old stunt show arena, which accommodates plenty of guests each performance. Still, get there early for the best seats!
 |
| © NewsPlusNotes |
Each night the ghouls of the park still parade toward the theater at six p.m. sharp, and after that The Awakening show takes place. This brings Dr. Fright back to life each night, so his army of freaks can then spread throughout the park and start the scares.
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
Just after The Awakening is done, the first of the night's performances of Dead Man's Party begins. Hosted by Dr. Fright himself, he brings a talented group of monster performers that host a party in the graveyard that's set to popular Halloween-themed songs. The choreography of the show seems to get better each year, which makes it easy to understand why the show's fanbase only grows.
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
As if the amazing dancing wasn't enough, the show itself features plenty of pyrotechnics along with other special effects like fog, fire and lasers. One of the guests with me this year was surprised that the show didn't have an extra admission fee, if that tells you how good they thought it was!
 |
| © Carol Holmes |
Now that we've covered all the special haunted attractions and shows, it's also worth noting that the theme park's rides are open during Fright Fest, too! There's also plenty of Halloween themed shopping to do, along with special food and beverage treats.
We'd like to thank Six Flags Great Adventure for having us out to the park to experience this year's Fright Fest. You can plan your own trip using the
park's webpage!
0 comments:
Post a Comment