Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) Discussion Thread

[bert425]

went to SFFT yesterday for an event, that included a special Eclipse Viewing Party - dubbed "Total Eclipse of the Park"

during the Eclipse, we got special glasses, a drone show, and fireworks!   (it never really got dark enough for the drones to be super effective, but damn, the fireworks were insane!).

Not only does the park still have "Octoberfest" going on (spoiler, the food is all pretty amazing), but also "FrightFest" is in full swing (with Boo-Fest, the kid friendly event going on during the daylight hours).

it was a PACKED day, and was in the park from 10am-10:10 pm . . . we actually didn't stay for the evening ERT that was included in the event from 11-Midnight, and we actually left before the Evening "Frightful Finale" fireworks spectacular - but it was the right call, as the park was absolutely PACKED (parking lot was completely full. . don't think I've ever seen that) and we were worried about getting stuck in post Fireworks traffic that can sometimes add up to an hour getting back home to Austin.   The park was so crowded, they thankfully had opened up the Employee exit (never seen that before either!) that even with a huge exodus of folks also trying to beat the fireworks crowd, we were on the freeway back to Austin by 10:30.  

overall opinion before the pictures:

Octoberfest - A+ :
- the musical performance in Sangerfest Halle is great.
- the food from the booths is all excellent (everything we tried at least)
- the decor and costumes in that area are top tier, the "Beer Tapping Ceremony was fun"

"Boo Fest" - A :
- the characters were out and about in costumes
- the new location for the corn maze (front left lawn of Rockville High) let them do something more intricate this year, with multiple "chicken" exits if it got too scary for the kiddos due to the animatronics in the maze.
- the Voodoo Haunt during the day is running as "House of Curiousities" - with the lights turned up, and no "scare" actors inside - instead there are "guides" that bring each group thru and point out funny and amusing things.   This is such a great idea, and I wish more parks took this note and did this!    it's so nice to be able to see all the details, and the "guides" are friendly and not scary at all.
- multiple cast members in "non-scary" costumes handing out candy to anyone who says to them "trick or treat" - weather kid or adult
- the ONLY odd thing was the Trick or Treat/Kids town - where the character meet and greet was next to Hustler.  you know what's over there?  yup. . the toilets.   It was a bitt odd that to take pictures with costumed characters in front of the toilets. .LOL.   so . . odd, but not enough to knock this down a grade.

"Fright Fest" - B+ :
- the grade might be a bit too high, if all you care about are the Haunts.  for just the Haunts?   C-
of the 7 Haunts, honestly, only 2 of them are really good (with great effects and scenes, this includes the new "puppet/clown" house) another 2 were not bad, but were seriously lacking scare actors when we when thru (and it's noticeable because there are so many "nooks" where it's clear there was supposed to be a scare actor. . just weren't there).    the remaining 3?  they were just OK. . really nothing special that you wouldn't see in the neighborhood "scare house" that someone set up in their garage with hanging sheets splattered with paint, effects that didn't really work, and lots of jump out "boo" type of scare actors.     but oddly, the 3 so/so houses did seem to have the majority of the scare actors inside. . . so gotta wonder if they got pulled from the heavier "themed" houses to make the "hanging sheet" houses seem a bit more scary.        I dunno, but since Six Flags Charges for their houses, they SHOULD be much better than just 2 really good, two decent, and the rest just ok. (tho were included in our event passes, that's not true for the average guest)
- Scarezones/street actors - the park did a fantastic job here.   many were terrifying, and the way the interacted with the massive crowds moving among them?  bravo.   In particular the absolutely PACKED streets of CrackAxle during the Arrival - so crowded it was a bit frightening - but the scare actors came off the train and streamed thru the crowd to the delight of most.      the Actors on the Boardwalk - which is now a full scarezone were great, the ones in Rockville (in the heavy fog) were truly pretty terrifying the way they materialized behind guests in the fog, and in CrackAxle were all fantastic.
- Shows - this is where SFFT really, truly shines.   The shows are all fantastic (and amazingly - to me) use the same cast for multiple shows.   How they keep track of the songs and the choreography between the shows?  I dunno, but I was impressed.     "Curse of the Zombie Prom" is super dumb - but in a great way.   fun, and great voices.    and do NOT miss "Monster Mash Bash: the Bloodletting" - a real rock concert featuring many songs that are vampire/moon inspired, as well as storyline about 5 teens that are stalked by the vampires thruout the show, and are bitten one by one.    Excellent show, tho you might want to bring earplugs, as the music (and the pyro involved) can be loud.

there's also a band performing in front of Dr. Diabolical twice a day that was very good (I was told).

- decor. . . wowza  wowza wowza. . the park looks absolutely fantastic.  Entry area is Dia De Los Muertos, Soul Harvest scarezone at the end of the plaza.   The boardwalk is all clowns.  CrackAxle is "Steam  Pumpkins". . and the arch between DC Universe and Crackaxle is filled with glowing Jack O lanterns. . and honestly?   is absolutely gorgeous.

- be ready for the Crowds. . it was manageable during the day, but by ~4pm, the lines for any ride were crazy (and pretty much everything was operating). . and by 6pm (when the houses open. . tho the scarezones don't open till 7, as the creatures from the Arrival are who staff the scarezones). . it was difficult to navigate the park with the very crowded pathways.


the Eclipse Party gets an A+ just for how fun it wal - and the park has no control over the Sun, so not their fault it didn't get darker during the full eclipse  (the + is for the brilliance of blasting Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" right at the moment of full eclipse to start the drone show).    and a perfectly timed small cloud allowed for some amazing pics of the eclipse as well.

and the whole day/night?  the park had the lights on Kid Flash going.     it looks incredible.  it really does.    Jeffrey told us inspection is next week, so the ride should be open very soon.

ok. how about some pics!

 

arriving at the park. . one perk of attending an event, is you arrive a few hours before park opens, so able to park way up front in the lot!

while waiting to check in, bumped into SFFT Jorge Alvares - the park's Marketing Supervisor (and also the voice of the San Antonio Spurs - he does the announcing at the home games)

Lone Star Lil's opened up for the Eclipse Party, and most folks in the park has purchased this option. . so we all headed there, and I saw my friends Kelly and Nick (aka: the Quirky Coaster Couple). .they were in outfits for Octoberfest (and later that evening would change into Victorian Garb for Frightfest ).. they're oddballs, I love em!

also met many other friends at the event, include Erika, Andrea (who gitterized us), & Belinda

and look who I bumped into wandering around Lone Star Lil's making sure everyone was having a good time: Park President Mr. Jeffrey Siebert

 

Jeffrey and I are ready for the Eclipse!

 

a pic taken of the gang of folks I was hanging with. . taken by Park Marketing Manager Jeff Filicko (and I appreciate him airdropping me this pic, even tho the snaps on my shirt were losing a battle with my belly when I sat down. . LOL )

the Sun is starting to be eclipsed!

see?  (via my phone with the eclipse glasses over the lens)

Ring of Fire started playing, and the drones take off!

still a bit too bright, but they made a carousel horse, a few other things, and spelled out Six Flags

and a pretty spectacular fireworks show began

and suddenly a very well placed cloud passed by, and was able to get a couple of lovely pics of the eclipse without the needed glasses lens:

the finale of the Eclipse fireworks was impressive as hell. . . this pic does NOT do it justice. .it went on like this for at least 2 minutes.

grabbed a pic with the aforementioned Jeff Filicko before we headed out into the park, after congratulating him on such a fun Eclipse event.

let's take a peek at Kid Flash!

the station is almost done, and the LED Light package is amazing. . it doesn't really show up in my pic, but even in the daylight was impressive.

dinner wasn't for a good 5 hours yet, so the group I was hanging with headed to Sangerfest Halle to grab some Octoberfest food.

passing some Frightfest decorations on the way

but there is this giant Octoberfest Animatronic out over here too

for my $$?  the best food stand.   all three Proteins offered here are fantastic.

and the German Chocolate Cake got a great review too.

the meatballs - smothered in sauce, with a side of the potato wedges (I shared with someone, and dipping them in the meatball sauce made them so much better).  that's the cake in the background there

SOOO good

and can't go to SFFT without a visit with Sweet Connie!

clockwise from me:  Bryce, Connie, Steve, Russell, Erika, and Nellie

the newest figure on the Carousel. . finally able to get a pic without someone on it.

going to the Trick or Treat Trail from Boofest (as noted, by the toilets. . LOL) . . but I mean, I HAD to get a pic with "Wizard" Wil E. Coyote

and Haaaay Gurrrrrrrl!

the new house this year is over in the old "Joker's Funhouse Coaster" unused queueline.

the cornmaze for Boofest, has some slightly scary animatronics in the center of it this year. . . .I think that might be why there are multiple "chicken exits" from the maze this year.

we headed over to watch "Curse of the Zombie Prom" show. . . it's silly, but fun.

and one of the zombies comes out early to mess with the audience (pretty full show too)

she's doing her "Shamu" impression to poke at SWSA up the road.

since the Zombie Prom show is in the big Zaragoza theater near the front of the park, we popped into the VIP lounge for colas and cookies/snacks.

this lady had an adorable rhinestone Cat in the Hat outfit on, and let me take a pic.

yes, Adults *can* dress up for Frightfest, but the only rule is face cannot be covered!  if you want to do makeup?  you can only cover 1/2 of your face with it.

we spent some time in Thirsty Buffalo enjoying drinks, and then headed over to the picnic grove for our dinner (that was included with the event ticket I had purchased). . on the way by Dr. Diabolical's Elixir cart .  I noticed that they have JUST put a permanent cover over it.

thank goodness for Shade.   (I complimented Jeffrey about it later when I bumped into him again, and he said this is only step one. .there will be more improvements to this stand - hopefully a 2nd tap so they can double staff it)

after dinner we fought our way back into CrackAxle - tho stood pretty far back (near the Buried Alive house) because it was just too crowded to try to get any closer for the Arrival.

it worked in our favor, as we happened to be standing right where the Stilt Ghouls come out from (since they don't arrive by train).

the ghouls that stream off the train, disperse into the (packed) crowd and mess with folks. . .

after we did several houses, we took a break to go look at KID Flash light package in the evening. .

how about a video of the light package in action?

 

a look at Kid Flash from the other side. .

and another short video of the light package in action:

 

 

we made our way over to Lone Star Lil's for the "Monster Mash Bash: the Bloodletting" another great show - that happens to star many of the cast from Zombie Prom

 

My friend Nellie - who was in the earlier pic with Sweet Connie.  She won the Monster Makover the park drew for, and they made her over into a monster and let her terrorize folks in a Scare Zone for a while (what a fun contest they do every nite!).

but once she was "released" back into the park, they had to clean off 1/2 her face, because Adults may not have full face paint in the park.

and I bumped into the Quirkies again before we headed out. . .so I got to see the Victorian garb they had changed into.

all in all, a great time was had yesterday.

I'd recommend hitting SFFT soon. . while Octoberfest is still going on (to enjoy the food) and the Frightfest atmosphere.

personally?  I would not pay for the fear pass, and just stick to the two free houses, and ignore the other 5. . but hey, if you love jumpscares?  it might be a good deal for you!

regardless, recommended, as this park is always wonderful!

 

[Arthur_Seaton]

On 10/15/2023 at 2:37 PM, bert425 said:

personally?  I would not pay for the fear pass, and just stick to the two free houses, and ignore the other 5. . but hey, if you love jumpscares?  it might be a good deal for you!

I went tonight and the maze pass was only $20, so I figured it was worth it. It's the same old stuff as the last few years (the clown one has changed a bit), but I think they do what they do fairly well with what they've got. That said, I really only do the mazes and skip all the other stuff (I'm allergic to musical theatre). I've always felt that the pigs and strobes one is pretty effective, and the poop hospital one is the worst. The two outdoor mazes are pretty fun. 

The park was DEAD (ha!), so I got a bunch of rides and re-rides in. Superman was running with its hexagonal wheels — the roughest rattle I've experienced on that ride yet. Golden Woman's Lassoo was open and running (thought it was down for rehab), but an op told me they've just updated the tech stuff so far and added a catwalk. The pothole by the camera is still there. I also rode the scrambler for the first time, and that thing hauls ass. The new kiddie coaster was running, too, albeit without kiddies.

[bert425]

20 minutes ago, Arthur_Seaton said:

 Golden Woman's Lassoo was open and running (thought it was down for rehab), but an op told me they've just updated the tech stuff so far and added a catwalk. The pothole by the camera is still there. I also rode the scrambler for the first time, and that thing hauls ass.

Wondy did the 1st part of refurb and reopened for FrightFest & Holiday in the park.     yes, they did mechanical upgrades and the added catwalk at the drop.  In early 2024 is the remainder of the refurb - which will be the new trains.

and yes, the scrambler ALWAYS runs that insane of a program - which is why it goes down every year or so for motor replacement      It's always worth a ride.

 

[teacherkim]

I'm jealous enough of SFFT versus our home park of SFSTL, I mean 7 haunts......we only got 4   Really looking forward to coming down for the Christmas event in Dec.................y'all better not have a cold snap the one day we're there!!