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Happy Sunday, everyone! We hope you're having a great summer so far and visiting as many theme parks as possible! (I know we're trying to, lol) We did just get back from an awesome trip to Six Flags Great America just outside of Chicago, however, today we wanted to bring you a very special update about one of our home parks: Six Flags Fiesta Texas!  As you may already know, SFFT announced last year that they planned to add a new Joker themed pendulum swing ride in Summer 2019! And today, that ride opened for technical ride previews! We were amongst the first guests to experience this record-breaking ride and we're very excited to share some details with you!  The Joker Carnival of Chaos is tied for the tallest and fastest ride of its kind. Created by Zamperla, this swinging thrill ride sends riders to heights of 172-ft and speeds of 75 mph!  The ride itself was awesome! It gave several different kinds of intense g-forces the entire way through! When swinging forward and back from the air, the ride pushes you to its fastest speed of 75 mph! This experience gives you stronger g-forces since it's pulling you through the pendulum motion. And at the peak? AWESOME AIR TIME! Not to mention, throughout all of this, you're continuously spinning. As we mentioned above, The Joker shares those record-breaking stats with 2 other rides of its kind at sister parks in Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Magic Mountain. However, what we have in Six Flags Fiesta Texas that those parks don't is THE SHED!  The Joker Carnival of Chaos has an AWESOME fun house in the middle of its queue that park-goers and employees have nicknamed the shed. We were excited about what would be in the shed leading up to its opening today, and I have to say, we were not disappointed. We videoed the entire thing if you want to walk through with us below, but if you're like us and want to wait to be surprised on your own walk-through then skip the next video! 
In addition to the new Joker ride, Fiesta Texas also renovated their existing swing ride, Whirligig, into the new appropriately themed Super Villains Swing!   While there isn't an elaborate fun house queue for this ride, you can still see villain boards and facts along the way and even banners throughout the entire area that really help tie this new section together. 
In conclusion, this another huge win for Six Flags Fiesta Texas! It's been so exciting as theme junkies to watch this park do such awesome things over the last couple of years. We had first of its kind- Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster, newly renovated and awesomely-themed queue and ride- Pirates of the Deep Sea, and now Joker Carnival of Chaos and Super Villains Swings! We're loving the direction this park is going in, and as always, we can't wait to see what they do next! 
Six Flags Fiesta Texas will be running technical ride previews until Carnival of Chaos' official opening in mid-August so make sure you stop by to see The Joker and his villainous friends! ;)
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Welcome to the official start of Halloween! (Because it's not Halloween until theme parks turn spooky!) We have been having so much fun already visiting several parks for their Halloween events, and we still have more to go! This is one of the best times of the year to visit amusement parks because not only is the weather much more enjoyable, but you also get all the regular rides, special food and drink offerings, and OF COURSE- haunts!  We're going to kick off our Halloween blogging season with Six Flags Fiesta Texas' Fright Fest. Seeing as how this was one of (if not the) first parks to start their event this year, it makes sense to start with them.  Although Fiesta Texas kept a lot of the same themes and houses as previous years, we still got an overall feeling of newness this year. For the past two years SFFT has been recognized by Amusement Today for having one of the best Halloween events in the country, but this year they really stepped it up.  *NEW for 2018 Front Entrance Plaza Scare Zone: Soul Harvest The front plaza area scare zone has been themed to Chupacabras for the last few years (which if you live in San Antonio you understand the scare, but if you don't you might be confused). But, this year, the park went with the broader theme of Soul Harvest.
Photos really don't do this guy justice. He is HUGE and honestly terrifying. Props to Fiesta Texas on this one.
 From what we gathered walking through and reading online, this scare zone is "we polled 100 people and these were the top 5 things that scared them the most". It's got a demon pumpkin man, werewolves, scarecrows, witches, and more. Overall, it's a big step up from Chupacabras! Wicked Hollow Scare Zone Located in Sangerfest (aka German area) this scare zone is filled with evil gypsies, witches, and dolls. 
*New for 2018 Midnight Museum of the Macabre Fiesta Texas' newest haunted house is located in Spassburg and themed to all things dark and creepy. This morbid museum offers plenty of artifacts to look at as you walk through the cluttered halls. But, be careful when studying these items too closely, the house also features great scares from The Elephant Boy, The Oraculist, and plenty of other sideshows.  
 This was hands down our favorite haunted house of the event. Actually of any park event in Texas. We do recommend doing this haunt twice if you have the time. There's just so much that you can miss if you rush through it! (And sometimes you can't help how fast the rest of your group goes through). Aftermath Scare Zone It's the end of days in this scare zone! Wander through this post-apocalyptic themed human wasteland and try not to die a Mad-Max style death.   Blood Bayou Voodoo, swamp monsters, and zombies oh my! This haunt takes you through the Gully Washer queue to an abandoned campsite. This repeat house is honestly not our favorite, but it's worth checking out if you have the time.  Slaughterhouse 6 This haunt, located under The Roadrunner Express, is entirely too short in our opinion. The theme is good enough (The Hills Have Eyes meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre) but it's just not long enough to actually get scared of anything.   Photo Credit: fiestatexas.com Buried Alive This haunted house isn't new but it was new to us. This was definitely our second favorite house. It was the right length, added some cool texture and elevation elements, and had a pretty creepy ending scare.  Zombie Apocalypse Scare Zone Located in Rockville, this area features- you guessed it- zombies! RockKill High School These two areas go hand in hand to me. RockKill zombies are inside RockKill High School. We liked this house overall. It's the longest haunt in the park and it gave us a few good scares. But, zombies are zombies, if that makes sense. It's been seen and done a thousand times. That being said, you can't beat a classic!  CarnEvil 3D Creepy clown alert! The next two sections are all about demented clowns, so scroll fast if that's your phobia! The CarnEVIL 3D Haunted House is a returning favorite this year. Clowns are always kind of creepy and there's a whole added 3D element here. Black lights, circus theming, and optical illusions. This house is a definite must-see.  Circus Berzerkus Scare Zone This zone is located on the boardwalk and right near the CarnEvil house (go figure haha). We witnessed some good scares of park guests from these creepy clowns, so we're fans!  
FOODSix Flags stayed in theme by renaming food across the park to fit in with the Halloween festivities. Although the food wasn't unique to this event, it was still cool to see them make an effort. Examples: Slime Burger (Burger topped with guacamole), Creepy Crawly Fingers (Loaded Fries), Boo!Rito (Burrito), etc. In addition to changing names of already existing food items, the park also offered 4 seasonal deserts! Of course, we were all over it!!  We tried the cheesecake and LOVED it!  I apologize for the bad lighting and overall quality of this photo, but I promise this fried cheesecake was AWESOME. We would (and probably will) get it again this season!  We also tried the fried pecan pie. Not as good as the cheesecake, but not bad. Admittedly, we could only eat a few bites before we started feeling really bad about ourselves. But, if you love pecan pie or sweets in general, then this would be the dessert for you. ShowsFiesta Texas features 4 shows during Fright Fest. Monster Boogie, Monster Mash Bash, Rock Apocalypse, and House of Bones, all of which are singing/dancing shows. We saw House of Bones since it was new for 2018.   In addition to shows, scare zones, and haunts, the park also still operates most of its rides! 
 As mentioned above, this is part one to an unknown number of installments in our Halloween Theme Park journey! We love this time of year and we love hearing from all of our readers!! If you've been to Fiesta Texas' Fright Fest or plan on it, please let us know in the comments or on our social media pages!! Until next time, happy haunting!
Welcome, everyone, to this week's Ride or Dine post! It's not too often that we get to blog about something BRAND NEW in our community, so when the opportunity arises, we get very excited! As many of you probably already know, Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced last year that they would be opening a brand new roller coaster this Spring. Well, after many days spent waiting, the time has finally come, and we were there to preview it's opening!  The Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster is a first of it's kind single-rail coaster. It features a 90-degree drop, two airtime hills, a 180-degree stall, and a zero-g roll. Basically, this ride is intense! (AND AWESOME)  The ride officially opens May 12th, but the park offered pass member previews last weekend, and we jumped at the opportunity. Diamond and Diamond Elite members were able to ride as many times as they wanted last Fri-Sun from 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM.  We rode in the middle, front, and back to try all of the different experiences, and they varied quite a bit. Personally, I thought the back was a bit too intense, but I'm not the coaster lover the way Parker is. The front is very cool because you have a completely unobstructed view, and there's a tiny, microscopic bit of hang time on the first drop! If you're looking for an easy, fun, hands in the air kind of experience then the front is definitely the way to go. If you're looking to be out of your seat and don't mind a rough ride, then the back is for you! *I have to make a note that Parker rode in the back twice last weekend and when we got home his shoulder area was slightly bruised. So, just be aware of that if you're unsure about the intensity of the back row! It's seemed that in the last few years Fiesta Texas has kind of become the guinea pig Six Flags park in a sense. We were the first SF to get the 4D coaster (Batman), the first SF to get a water coaster (Thunder Rapids), and now the first SF to get the single rail coaster (Wonder Woman). This is awesome news for San Antonio locals like us! And these are also all awesome additions. Hey, we're all for new, innovative rides like this replacing the boomerangs of the world!  All members and season pass holders will have the chance to preview the coaster this weekend, May 4th - 6th. For everyone else, the ride officially opens May 12th! Let us know in the comments or via social media if you've gotten to ride yet, and if not what you're looking forward to most about Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster!  Mardi Gras FestivalThis past weekend was also the kick-off of Fiesta Texas' Mardi Gras Festival! This annual event offers traditional New Orleans-style food and drinks, live music and entertainment throughout the park, and an all new nighttime parade.   The entire park was decorated, even though the majority of the food booths and entertainment were located in Rockville.  
And the characters were out and about in their Mardi Gras gear getting people in the spirit!  One of the music stages located in the main plaza of the park.  As far as the food is concerned, they've got a pretty decent selection. The items range from about $8 - $14, and they also offer a 5-item sampler for $40. We opted for the sampler since it made more sense monetarily, and we knew we wanted to try a few things!
 The beignets were our favorite!  Thought I'd share with the king!  Jambalaya! *(Fun fact: that cornbread rolled right off that plate approx. 3.5 seconds after this photo was taken. The things we do for photos! Haha)
Look at this GIANT Muffaletta!  And it's served with chips! By the way, these Voodoo Zapp's are our new favorite chips!
And of course, it wouldn't be Mardi Gras without Hurricanes! Pictured above: Left and Center- Hurricane, Right- Pimm's Lemonade   And, last but not least, Po' Boys. We tried the Fried Catfish and the Shrimp. They also offer a Crawfish Po' Boy if you prefer! Overall, the food was good, not great. We can tell the park made an effort, and for that we are grateful! And we're hopeful for more events like this in the future! We'll take this over standard park food any day. The parade was pretty neat. The floats were well-done, and there were beads galore!  The King William Brass Band kicked things off!    
Catching all the beads!!     Some of these were so pretty!  It's a dolphin. It's a shark. It's out of place.   And just like that (with a confetti explosion) the parade was over. It was a lot of fun, and Diamond members get a special viewing area, so that was a nice little perk. Well, this past weekend was definitely one for the books at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. You can't beat a new coaster AND a food festival. It's literally what our blog is all about! Let us know if you have plans to attend Mardi Gras fest (running through May 28th), or if you have plans to check out the new Wonder Woman Coaster! We love hearing from you guys! Until next time, Laissez les bons temps rouler!  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.  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! 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!) 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!    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.  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! 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.  |
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