Six Flags Magic Mountain - How Busy During Fright Fest?

[Coaster_Dude]

Howdy folks, I've had a search around but I can't find any decent information on this one.

I'm off to California this September and hoping to visit SFMM however, since booking it all I've learned that they only open on weekends after Labor Day and tonight I've learned that the only day we can go is the Sunday of the first weekend of Fright Fest.

Does anyone with more experience than me know if the park is likely to be horrifically busy? We're not particularly interested in the scare mazes, just the coasters and rides, so I was hoping that if anything the mazes might soak up some of the queues away from the rides.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I live by SF Great America, and Fright Fest is the busiest time of the year. I can only assume the same for Magic Mountain.

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[tomahawk]

Considering Knott's has Haunt and USH has HHN which are both infinitely greater in terms of quality, they are upcharge while SFMM isn't. That said, the crowds haven't been the problem in the past, it's typically when they take all rides down to one train as that is their chosen time to be moronic and rehab the trains.

You will have waits, and the only thing I could suggest is use their fast pass system, because there operations are stupid bad. Good thing is you aren't going later, as crowds get much worse as you get closer to Halloween.

 

[XLR8R]

I've been to Magic Mountain before during Fright Fest, and if my memory is correct, the park had moderate crowds during the day with long wait times and became much busier at night. I would highly recommend buying the Flash Pass, so you do not have to worry about crowds.

Also, it is entertaining to "people watch" in the scare zones during Fright Fest.

 

[peep]

The news of it only being open on the weekend is upsetting (there in early October). However the long opening hours plus fast pass should make it ok.

Also, if it wasn't for this topic I wouldn't have caught that until it was too late to change certain bits of the trip so thanks for pointing out this bad news!

 

[SaiyanHajime]

No first hand experience with this park, but a friend recently went during Oct, when its open Fri and Sat till late and closes early Sun. They went Friday and was quiet enough to do everything.

Dunno if this helps at all.

It was Kyle's suggestion - Americans find it hard to get off work. The Friday evening might be rammed, but the day won't be.

Just don't go on a Saturday... Ever.

I'm sure Sunday will be tolerable, but get there for opening and do the rides you simply cannot miss. Given the other posts in here, if Sunday is reduced hours, one would suspect it to be quieter? Check the opening hours for Sunday.

 

[gavin]

Definitely go with a fastpass. The cheapest one should be fine if you use it smartly. Basically, don't use it for anything with a short waiting time. Get yourself booked on something with a long wait and use that time to grab other stuff. Single Rider there is very good too since nobody seems to use it.

Get there for opening and head straight for X2 though since it's not on the basic fastpass.

I went on a weekday in August and got all the coasters done well before park closing using a combination of Single Rider and a basic fast pass.

 

[Coaster_Dude]

Thanks for the advice folks. Back when we booked it I hadn't even considered the possibility that it wouldn't be open weekdays! If anyone else reading has any input I'd love to hear it. From what it sounds like so far it'll be moderately busy. The Flash Pass looks like it might have to be an option, I just begrudge having to fork out $40 each for it!

 

[Serena]

I've not been to Magic Mountain, but I visited Six Flags Great Adventure on the first Sunday of Fright Fest last year. It really wasn't that bad. The smaller coasters had 0-10 minute wait, larger coasters between 30 mins to an hour.

The beauty of Fright Fest is the ride queues die down as soon as the scare attractions open at 6, so you should get plenty of night rides at least. By 8pm everything was basically a walk-on (apart from the Halloween stuff.)

I still bought a Flash Pass because I wanted to get everything (including scare attractions) done in one day, and I would definitely recommend buying one for somewhere as big as Magic Mountain. They're so easy to use and well worth the money.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Sorry to be slightly off topic but thought I'd ask this in here. Has anyone heard a rumour for the RMC opening date...?

 

[nadroJ]

When I visited back in 2012 we needed 2 days to do everything and that was without the park even being busy, so yh I'd definitely go with a Flash Pass.