Six Flags HALLOWFEST 2020

This year in lieu of their annual Fright Fest event, Six Flags theme parks introduced a special event called HALLOWFEST happening every weekend from September 18 to November 1. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Six Flags reinvented their Halloween festival to be safer and more cautious – requiring timed reservations online & encouraging visitors to “Do The Six”:

Signage like this was up all throughout the park, additional personnel were posted to enforce distancing & masks, and indoor attractions were closed. Overall the park felt mostly safe – though there were some instances where I noticed people wearing their masks incorrectly… but thankfully because of the limited capacity, it’s easy to distance yourself from others. (However, there are in fact designated Mask Rest Zones for you to temporarily relax without a mask on.)

Plus, a fun tip: check to see if your Six Flags has a special mask shop by the park entrance! But onto the spooky festivities! (Be sure to watch the video at the end of this article, too!)

Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ was decked out in the usual Halloween fashion. Creepy signposts, giant clowns, cobwebs, and the whole shebang. Prior to the evening when the “ghouls” emerge, the park is mostly family friendly with designated areas for costumed performers for the kids. The “Hay Bale Maze” was available for kids 12 & younger, as well as the “Trick Or Treat Trail” which was a safe way for kids to meet Halloween characters and receive a prepared bag of treats.

For the adults, there were designated “Scare Zones” as well as special “Hallow-Mazes” that cost $6 per person. And, of course, all of your favorite rides were operating! Everything was being sanitized regularly to maximize cleanliness, and lines weren’t that bad either since the park did its best to avoid overcrowding.

Meanwhile, on the Boardwalk, all the chance games were running and people were having a blast winning prizes. All the food, however, has converted to cashless transactions going forward. That means that you can either pay with credit card or the Six Flags app. But if food is your thing, you’re going to want to try some of the limited HALLOWFEST snacks like the Zombie TAKIS Nachos or the Snickers Funnel Scream Cake! (Be sure to double-check menu item availability on the app.)

All in all, HALLOWFEST is a nice placeholder for Fright Fest and offers a lot of what we all know & love for the time being. Everything from the noninvasive temperature scan at the entrance to the hand sanitizers around the park made the whole experience feel as safe as possible. But just like going out anywhere in public, it comes down to how comfortable you are attending events like this. So if you’re ready, get your spook on and check if your local Six Flags theme park is holding a HALLOWFEST this year!