A Fright to Remember- 2017

Hello Everyone! We’re back after a two-week hiatus, and we’re ready to start bringing you non-stop coverage of our favorite time of the year! We’ve got lots lined up for the next few months and we can’t wait to get started!

​This week, we want to kick off our return by getting everyone into the fall spirit with one of our home parks! We’re covering Six Flags Fiesta Texas’ Fright Fest! Fright Fest is an event that is held at every Six Flags Park across the country. 

While most of the parks share many of the same themes and houses, every park still has their own unique attractions as well! Fiesta Texas is no exception since they have five shows, six haunted houses, and five scare zones scattered throughout the park. In coordination with Fright Fest’s opening weekend, SFFT also launched the brand new Thirsty Buffalo Saloon located in Crackaxle Canyon, which is actually where we began our evening. ​

When we heard that Six Flags was opening a sports bar inside of their park, we were naturally pretty excited. We haven’t really heard of the concept of a full-blown sports bar/snack shack complete with tables and cocktail waitresses inside of an amusement park before (let alone a Six Flags). It is a neat idea and we hope it does well.

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The Thirsty Buffalo Saloon offers a pretty extensive cocktail and liquor menu. We were surprised at how many crafted cocktails and shots Fiesta Texas came up with for their menu. The food menu is a bit smaller, but still decent. It offers classic “bar food” options such as wings, soft pretzel bites, and different chips and dips. We tried the Canyon Blast and a frozen Rum and Coke to start with. All of the staff recommended the frozen coke drinks, so it seemed like an obvious choice. They also offer frozen Jack and Coke if that sounds better to you. The bar has a glorious machine that mixes Coke flavored Icee with alcohol, what a time to be alive!

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​The Coke drink was very good. We really couldn’t taste the alcohol, which is always a plus (though can be dangerous), but it was definitely there. The Canyon blast tasted more like a typical fruity cocktail. It is a blue drink that is a mixture of Malibu, Blue Curacao, and Pineapple Juice. Although this mixture is something we’ve all probably tasted before, it’s a safe choice and one of Parker’s favorites.  
As far as food goes, we were very torn on what to try. We asked several of the wait staff and bartenders what they recommended and the answers were scattered. (Which hopefully means that it’s all pretty good?) We finally decided on the Buffalo wings and the spinach and artichoke dip. 

The dip came out first and our first impression based on looks alone had us a bit worried. It didn’t look like a lot of food, and it also didn’t look too appetizing. However, after our hesitant first bite, we were pleasantly proven wrong. It was actually really good spinach and artichoke dip, despite the presentation. Our only issue was probably the chips. They weren’t bad by any means, but they were definitely Tostito’s bagged chips. Brittany also came up with an idea to offer a dip trio. We’d totally pay a few dollars more to have a platter with chips, spinach dip, queso, and salsa. (Consider it, Fiesta Texas!)

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The Buffalo wings were SMOTHERED in sauce. Usually, this sounds like a good thing, but to be honest, it was a bit much. The highlight of the entrée was probably the spice level. Usually places that only offer one level of “hotness” try to tone it down a bit for the guests who can’t handle much heat. But, considering we’re in San Antonio, we were definitely excited that Six Flags really went for it on the spice! The wings were also perfectly crunchy which worked well with the taste of the sauce. Overall, we really enjoyed the food. Everything on the menu is unique to this specific location, which gives customers even more reason to check it out. A few tweaks to the menu items and décor and the bar has the potential to be a really cool place. *According to staff, they are planning on getting new tables and chairs. It sounds like some of the deliveries were behind due to Hurricane Harvey. Those additions should definitely liven things up a bit!

After finishing up at the saloon, we stepped outside and were just in time to catch “The Arrival.” This half-show, half-scare zone is basically the beginning of Fright Fest! It starts at the Crackaxle Canyon Train Station. Guests gather around the station and at 7 PM sharp, monsters and creatures from the scare zones all around the park “arrive” to scare everyone and walk to their designated locations. It was a really cool chance to get scared by all of the park monsters at one time. There were creepy clowns, zombies, stilt-walkers, chupacabras and more all wandering around in a small area scaring everyone in their path! It was awesome! It gives you an opportunity to see everything that the park has to offer in one place, and get all the photos you could ever want! 

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The first house we decided to try was the new “Blood Bayou Haunted Trail.” This haunted attraction is themed to zombies/voodoo/backwoods camping/lots of stuff honestly. We actually aren’t entirely sure what this house was going for. That doesn’t, however, necessarily make it unenjoyable. If you read the description of the house online or in the park map, it leads you to believe that you travel through the bayou and encounter some creepy voodoo going on. However, while in line, there is constant audio playing setting up the storyline as a zombie takeover. On the trail, we encountered swamp people along with a few other monsters. Although it has a somewhat confusing story, there were still some good scares and jumps along the way. We liked the fact that this was an outdoor attraction set up in the queue of The Gully Washer. It allowed for the feeling of being in a campsite to feel more authentic. 

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On our way to our next haunted house we passed through three scare zones: Aftermath apocalyptic wasteland, Rockville Zombie Apocalypse, and Circus Berzerkus. They were all pretty cool, but we think they got increasingly better as we went on. The zombie apocalypse left a lot of room for the actors to terrorize passerby’s in Rockville, a 50’s themed area, and Circus Berzerkus transformed the Boardwalk section of the park into a demon clown nightmare. 

The Boardwalk also features our next haunted house: CarnEvil 3D, a new addition for Fiesta Texas this year. Guests are given 3D glasses and a flashlight and are sent into a black light circus tent filled with evil clowns. What made this house cool, besides the obvious 3D effects on the walls and the black light paint throwing you off, was the use of these flashlights. When walking through a haunted house, or anywhere dark for the matter, when you’re given a tool like a flashlight you become reliant on that light. That’s exactly what we did…until the house started manipulating it. The first time our light went out we thought we got a defective one, but we quickly realized it was part of the scare. Throughout our walk we experienced strobe light effects, and lights constantly going off and on. And every time the house got dark, our flashlight simultaneously went out. It made for great scares! There were a lot of things going on at the same time in this house, which kind of made for sensory overload (probably the point) and overall, we really enjoyed this haunt! 

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To keep up with the Halloween theming of the evening, Parker decided to ride Poltergeist next. This is a launch coaster, which features a “spaghetti bowl,” meaning the track twists around itself like spaghetti. The fact that this ride uses a lap bar instead of over the shoulder restraints saves it from being too bumpy of a ride. (Lookin’ at you, Rockin’ Roller Coaster)
At this point, it was getting pretty late so we decided to call it a night. We walked through two more scare zones before exiting the park. Wicked Hollow and Chupacabras from Hell. Both were very light on actors, only two in each, which didn’t allow everyone passing through to be scared by them, or even see them. The Chupacabra area was, however, pretty well themed. Probably because it’s basically the entrance of the park, so they set it up to wow people as they walk in. 

​Overall, we’d call Fright Fest and their new saloon a success! Six Flags Fiesta Texas is slowly becoming one of the cornerstones of this amusement park chain, and we’re excited to know that we can continue to look forward to the additions of the future.