Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest is celebrating 30 years of chills and thrills and this year the event features two high profile mazes incorporating THE CONJURING and SAW franchises. With 8 mazes and 30 event nights this year, the Valencia park is hoping to really scare the hell out of you.

With hosted tickets, we were given access to the park to uncover all the frights for ourselves. Join us now for a full look all around Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest 2023!

As we kick things off, an important breakdown of my my rating criteria:

🎃: Overall vibes – did this get us in the Halloween spirit? Did we have fun?

💀: How scared was I?

DISCLAIMER: I scare very easily and in general, hate horror. I’m still not sure why I accepted this assignment. I had my friend, who LOVES horror, help me sort out the ratings.

City Under Siege Unleashed

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Fright Fest kicks off every night with City Under Siege Unleashed pre-show event. This is when the monsters, clowns, and ghosts descend on Six Flags Magic Mountain. One part parade, one part stage show, one part dance party – this really set the mood for the night. Not to be missed!

 

New Mazes

Saw X

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This one of the new mazes for 2023, and we were fortunate enough to be among the first to experience it. Surprisingly, just two days before the event, we received an email informing us that it wouldn’t be accessible during media night. However, to our delight, a few hours prior to the event, Six Flags made an announcement that it would indeed be open.

Of all the mazes, this one took the crown for sheer terror. This may be because it was the first of the evening, but I nearly couldn’t complete it. I closed my eyes in several rooms, and at one point I had to pause to regain my composure. It was in that moment that one of the actors, who was meant to deliver a jump scare, actually pointed me in the direction I needed to go. I think they took pity on me, because throughout the rest of the maze, the jump scare actors didn’t bother my group.

The actors throughout the entire maze were exceptional, and I genuinely felt like stopping to assist them or at the very least, offer a Band-Aid.

 

The Conjuring

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Our expectations were sky-high for this maze, as it was the one everyone in our group was most eagerly anticipating. Our timing was perfect, as we arrived just as they were swapping out the actors, and we were excited at the prospect of encountering fresh, enthusiastic performers ready to kickstart their shift.

However, this maze left much to be desired. The overall experience leaned more toward being cheesy than genuinely scary. We were quite underwhelmed.

Considering that both “The Conjuring” and “Saw X” are the two newest additions to the season, both had notably long lines. Unfortunately, there were no posted wait times, but we overheard folks mentioning wait times in the range of two hours for both mazes. If you find yourself with limited time and have to choose just one, we strongly recommend bypassing “The Conjuring” in favor of heading straight to “Saw X.”

Returning Mazes

Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising

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This maze ranked among my top favorites of the night. It’s an ourdoor maze, and I couldn’t help but feel like I had stepped onto the set of an apocalyptic movie. With abandoned cars, dilapidated buildings, and blazing fires, it was a visually stunning experience.

The scariest part of this maze was the loud noises, and it was here I regretted not bringing earplugs. However, if I had to repeat one maze of the evening, this would be the one I would revisit.

Willoughby’s Resurrected

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Before I dive into my review, there’s a crucial point I need to address. Instead of a physical map, attendees were directed to an online map accessible via QR code. Unfortunately, this digital map presented some challenges. Each time I opened it or attempted to zoom in, the page would reload.

I’d like to give a special shout-out to one of the very kind employees, Karl, who came to our rescue. We stopped to ask for directions, and when we showed him the map, he admitted that he too had found it disorienting initially and took a few seconds to get his bearings. Karl realized the location we were trying to go was at the top of the hill, but was not clearly noted on the map. Nevertheless, Karl graciously walked with us up the hill and shared that he had begun his journey at Six Flags several years ago as a scare actor in Willoughby’s!

Willoughby’s Resurrected is like stepping in to a Victorian era haunted mansion. This maze relies less on loud noises and jump scares; instead, the actors seem to materialize and vanish silently – like ghosts!

 

Sewer of Souls

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Sewer of Souls is meant to take you through an underground world. Upon entering, we were given disposable 3D glasses. I spent the majority of the maze fumbling with these glasses, which didn’t comfortably fit over my prescription glasses. As a result, everything appeared somewhat blurry, either because I had to remove my regular glasses to accommodate the paper 3D glasses or because the maze’s paint was intended to be viewed exclusively with the 3D glasses, or perhaps both.

In the midst of my glasses ordeal, I must admit that I wasn’t particularly attentive to the actors, so their attempts to scare me went largely unnoticed. There was, however, one memorable moment when it seemed like you were navigating a narrow bridge suspended over a toxic lake. This stood out as my favorite part of the maze.

Vault 666 Unlocked

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This maze was the standout favorite for my friend during the evening. As for me, I only jotted down one note: “It really immersed us in the Halloween spirit.”

Condemned House Party

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The Mojo Dojo Casa House of Mazes leads you through a condemned house party, and to be perfectly honest, I’ve been to parties where the house resembled something out of this maze. I appreciated the meticulous attention to detail, although some aspects felt a bit too close to reality for comfort. Everyone in our group noted they knew someone in college who lived like that.

Truth or Dare

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Despite being media attendees with a priority pass, we found ourselves waiting in the regular queue for a solid 15 minutes. To our frustration, we were then directed to a second queue, which was unnecessarily complex in its arrangement. What made matters worse was that those added to the second queue ended up entering the maze ahead of us. By the time we finally entered the maze, more than a half hour after initially entering the first queue, we were already irritated.

In theory, this maze had all the potential to be my favorite—a mid-century game show where you’re the star! However, my enthusiasm quickly waned. The theme unraveled the further we progressed into the maze, and the actors appeared more interested in chatting among themselves. One person in my group announced “Wow this maze sucks” and the rest of us couldn’t help but laugh in agreement.

While we waited in line for this maze (which felt like an eternity, as you may recall), several passersby warned us that the maze wasn’t worth it. At the time, we thought they were joking, but in hindsight, we should’ve listened.

Final Thoughts

Many rides were operational, and even though this was a special limited-time event, the wait times appeared quite lengthy. For instance, Twisted Colossus was displaying a wait time of over 120 minutes, and other rides had wait times exceeding 40 minutes. As we passed by one ride, the announcer mentioned that they were only running a single train, which probably played a role in the longer-than-usual wait times for the attractions. Other attractions available included Viper, X2, Scream, Goliath,  Apocalypse, and more — many with lights out!

Furthermore, the lines for food were unreasonably long. The mobile order app didn’t offer all the available options for mobile ordering, and to make matters worse, we found ourselves waiting for 15 minutes in a standby line that simply didn’t budge.

Fortunately, due to our media express pass access, we were able to get through all mazes by 10pm, so we definitely recommend getting the Express Fright Pass to similarly guarantee you can experience all the mazes. As for anything else…it’s really a gamble…and maybe bring a snack, just in case.

So is Six Flags Fright Fest 2023 worth it? It’s definitely a mixed bag but as long as you temper your expectations and prepare for the crowds, it’s going to be very easy to have a hell of a good time.

See it for yourself

Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest comes back for 30 select nights from September 8 through October 31, 2023.

• September 8-10, 15-17, 22-24, 28-30
• October 1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 26-29, and 31

MORE INFO: More coverage and details about Six Flags Fright Fest