By Samantha Carmona, April 18, 2023
Six Flags Magic Mountain hosted its first weekend event “Scream Break” from March 18 to April 16. This Halloween-themed event involved scary mazes, limited edition food and beverages and access to roller coasters in the dark, all after normal park hours.
Tickets included complimentary parking and early entry to the park past 7p.m. With park attractions typically closing at 8p.m., Scream Break visitors were given the opportunity to ride coasters that were open during normal park hours, but closed during the event. However, it did mean that once the park closed at 8p.m., giving guests an hour window between the close and the start of Scream Break at 9p.m.
The main appeal for Scream Break was the Halloween theming and attractions, which juxtapose the spring setting of the event. The attractions included two haunted mazes and three “scare zones” which took inspiration from the main Six Flags Halloween event, Fright Fest, which happens during October.
The two haunted mazes, titled “ConDAMNation” and “Vault 666: Unlocked” offered guests fun and spooky walks through themed scenes supported by scare actors jumping out at them.
“ConDAMNation” was themed to a spring break party gone wrong, with actors representing zombified teens in a contaminated party house. Actors in this maze danced to electronic music while jumping out at the guests, aided by strobe lights and a number of gross-out horror effects including projections of insects and fake vomit. A distinctive part of the maze included a small section in which guests had to squat down and navigate a small hallway, which was a unique way to build tension and vulnerability between scenes.
On the other hand, “Vault 666: Unlocked” included more traditionally scary and Halloween-type theming. This maze featured a mini maze within it, offering multiple doorways and pathways guests could take while scare actors popped up from fake out entryways. However, this maze ended up being confusing to navigate, with actors even having to break character in order to point guests in the right direction to walk.
The mazes didn’t have the highest quality sets and props some might expect from other theme park Halloween events, such as Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights or Knott’s Scary Farm. But they still were satisfying with their concepts and scares provided by the actors, who were fully embracing the spirit of the mazes’ themes.
Outside the mazes were several scare “zones” which included roaming actors in costumes that continued to scare guests outside the mazes themselves. Actors were walking on stilts towering over and jumping at visitors, while others were equipped with unique knee and elbow pads that produced sparks. They would run and slide up to guests, adding a visually exciting effect for a scare.
The first zone hosted the scare mazes, while the other two included smaller and more condensed setups where DJs blasted party music and strobe lights. Guests were encouraged to dance, and scare actors also joined in, still in character as well.
Other Halloween-themed concepts in the park included limited food and beverages, such as sangria cocktails served in blood-bags, Jell-o shots in syringes and nonalcoholic drinks garnished with gummy worms and gummy brains. A special Scream Break-exclusive hot dog included bacon, onions and waffle fries.
However, one of the biggest perks for Scream Break, outside the novelty of its Halloween theming, ended up being the terrifically short wait times for all the available rides with lines throughout the park not exceeding 20 minutes. This means even new and popular rides, such as “Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage,” which opened last summer, had practically no wait despite seeing consistent lines of an hour or more during normal park hours.
While Scream Break was a much smaller scale event compared to the official Halloween Fright Fest, it still offered a satisfyingly spooky atmosphere that added a kick to the spring season.
Feature image courtesy of Samantha Carmona