There's really not too much you can do other than buying tickets/fastlanes online. Unless you live relatively close enough to the park to have season passes, it will probably be pretty expensive for one visit. I visited the park 20 times this season, and I spend around $350 on my season pass (Platinum pass with Dining plan and soda cup) and definitely got my money's worth. Anyways, prices for Haunt weekends are usually around $35 each ticket. Fastlanes are about that same price.
Yeah, about the only thing you could have done would be to buy 2017 season passes, and that would give you a free visit this year, which you could use for Haunt if you wanted. But that's not actually cheaper, as tickets online for Saturdays are $40 and Fast Lane is $40, so that'd be $160. Season passes go for $99 a piece, so $278 including Fast Lane. Almost twice as much; you'd just get more for your money. It's a good deal, but it sounds like that's not your goal.
If you want to do rides and Haunt both, the only way to do it is to go on a Saturday and pay for Fast Lane. If you only care about rides, go on a Sunday, and there's no lines. It's half price essentially due to Fast Lane not being needed, but no Haunt that day.
Really, if you're okay with driving to WoF and back in one day, go for the season pass. It's what, about 2 hours each way? We've had WoF season passes this year, and Six Flags St. Louis season passes the previous two years. We live in the Springfield-Branson area, so each park is about 3 hours from us, and we've still gone enough to make it worth it. We visited WoF 9 times this year all total, so we definitely got our money's worth.
Thanks! I don't think I'll be buying a season pass, it's just too much for me to be able to spend right now, since it doesn't include a fast pass (unless I misread it). However, i have a question: On the WOF website, it says fast passes are $50, not $40. Is there a discount when you buy a certain amount of passes?
Edit: Nevermind, re-read the 2017 season pass deal. Looks good to me. I got one 2017 pass and a ticket for a friend. Still wondering about why the passes on saturday are $50 instead of $40 though. Thanks!