Six Flags Magic Mountain has opened their popular Fright Fest event for 2016! The event features SEVEN Scare Zones, some of which are among the best in the industry. Not only does the park have the most Scare Zones of any event in the state, it also has some of the most fascinating themes! Check out our review of each!
- The Ruins – NEW for 2016! – This year’s first new Scare Zone is a very small one, and sadly is very unimpressive. You wouldn’t even know it was a scare zone if it weren’t for the sign next to Apocalypse. It feels more like an introduction to Aftermath 2’s line than anything. The Scare Zone features a few props from last year’s “Wastelands” Scare Zone, which was much better. Most of that theming went into the new Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising maze, which is very impressive, but leaves the Ruins as the weakest Scare Zone in the park, by far.
- Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy – Luckily every other Scare Zone in the park is awesome! Just like this ‘trippy’ Scare Zone. With all black-lights and neon theming in the fog, it can actually be challenging to walk through this Scare Zone! You can hardly see what’s up next. In addition, the actors in this area are very talented, stay true to their character, and can deliver some good scares! This year Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy received a multitude of new themed elements this year, and it’s actually one of my favorite Scare Zones. Make sure to step by during your visit, it’s located between Tatsu and Viper.
- Exile Hill – Located on the top of the hill, Exile Hill connects the Willoughby’s Resurrected maze with the Willoughby’s Garden of Darkness maze. Generally, this Scare Zone is filled with fog and characters from the two mazes. Due to the slight difference in elevation along the area, the scare zone indeed feels like a hill. Guests get some good scares in the area, thanks to the heavy use of fog. It’s not a Scare Zone that really stands out, but it’s a good one that perfectly connects the two Willougby’s mazes.
- Zombie Xing – For a tiny Scare Zone, there’s a great amount of theming! With a warning sign, a small schoolbus, a crashed car, and a whole lot more, Zombie Xing is one of the quickest, yet fun, Scare Zones. Though I remember the scare factor being higher in the past, I still truly enjoy this Scare Zone. Like most Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest Scare Zones, it’s packed with fog, and with the lack of light, it’s pretty hard to navigate through. The actors are great, and though in such a short Scare Zone it may be hard to get some good scares, with a little luck, the fog will block your sight and a scare actor will still scare you.
- Demon’s Door – Upon entering the park this is the first Scare Zone you’ll walk through. The theme is blatant, you’re in hell. The actors are great, and there are a lot of them. Due to most of the fog being exerted into the air vertically, the area isn’t as fog-filled. Nonetheless, there’s a nice aerial presence of fog. There are some wonderful themed elements in this Scare Zones, including the brand new entrance with two giant demons. Which, combined with the red and purple stage-lighting, create for a cool atmosphere. The Scare Zone spans up to the fountain, which has a flame-thrower placed in it. Welcome to Hell! Overall it’s a fun scare zone, it’s not the best at the park, but a great way to enter Fright Fest.
- TERRORtory Twisted – This very large Scare Zone nicely compliments the Screampunk District! It also happens to be the largest Scare Zone in the park’s history. Its unique theme and awesome props make this Scare Zone absolutely phenomenal! They went full out with this Scare Zone. They did a great job keeping the area steam-punk-esque. In addition, there’s a wide variety of different characters in the area, from little people to stilt-walkers. If all this wasn’t enough yet… the soundtracks are unique, the lighting is perfect, and there’s so much fog that by the time it’s 9PM, the Scare Zone is faded away in a foggy wasteland! I’m in love with how this area turned out and I’m incredibly glad they brought it back for the 2016 season!
SUICIDE SQUAD – New for 2016!
The seventh Scare Zone for this year’s Fright Fest is the exclusive Suicide Squad: A Six Flags Fright Fest Experience attraction. Which was incredibly popular both days I was there this opening weekend, and righteously so. Six Flags Magic Mountain has proven once again, that they battle the Theme-Park Haunt war in Southern California, and this is something everyone will love when they visit. 
Let’s take a look inside… shall we? This Scare Zone heavily relies on technology, which is awesome. Projection mapping on the side of the facades recreated real life mass-destruction as found in the film, which was accompanied by a light show around the area, as well as flame-throwers! 
Besides the spectacular edge you find with the movie-related soundtrack and state-of-the-art technology for the light show and projection mapping, there’s an astonishing amount of scenery to be found in this area, this is one of the many cars. The area features several scenes/themes from the Suicide Squad movie, including the crashed helicopter! 
But perhaps even more amazing… MOVIE CHARACTERS! They all look just like the blockbuster movie that recently came out, and every single guests was loving them! Need more reasons why you can’t miss this new Scare Zone? Here’s one: HARLEY QUINN!
And if that weren’t enough… there’s the JOKER too! Don’t worry, there are even more Suicide Squad characters, including the Joker’s Henchmen and Killer Croc!
How Good are Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest Scare Zones compared to other events?
Six Flags Magic Mountain has some of the better Scare Zones in the industry. Though there are only two significantly large Scare Zones (TERRORtory Twisted and Suicide Squad), there are plenty of mid-sized Scare Zones that have well-developed themes. Often times at other events Scare Zones get too big and spread out, making them hard to theme. In the case of this event all Scare Zones are jam-packed with actors and have very nice theming. 
Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy for example will be one of the only black-light Scare Zones you’ll ever see that’s also nicely themed and has an amazing crew of actors. The only two scare zones that lack at the park are The Ruins and Exile Hill. Zombie X-ing is nothing to write home about either, but that still leaves four amazing Scare Zones. Which is the MOST you’ll see at any other Theme-park Haunt event in California anyways. So overall, there’s a seriously great amount of Scare Zones at this event, some of which are better than Scare Zones at other events around the state. Six Flags Magic Mountain has really been stepping up their game in the past few years, and it shows.
Start planning your fun NOW and download the Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest 2016 Park Map/Guide here: six-flags-magic-mountain-fright-fest-2016-guide
Find the full MAZE Ratings and Reviews here! In addition, check out our Fright Fest 2016 Opening Day Report, showing you all that the event has to offer!
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