Great Adventure Fright Fest, fun for the whole family!

This past Saturday we were able to spend my husband’s birthday at Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Six Flags Great Adventure is a place we had gone to a few times before but haven’t been back in a few years and we were eager to see what had changed in that time and see what it was like going with our daughter, the last time we were there we were still just dating and didn’t have a kid! My how things have changed….

We got an early start to our day and thanks in part to little traffic on the Jersey turnpike we were at Great Adventure in about 40 minutes, that meant we were able to get a primo parking spot and get to ride a bunch of rides before the crowds got too big to deal with. 

With fall being here you also get to partake in Fright Fest, Halloween was everywhere in the park if you didn’t notice that you are oblivious! The fountain was not pumping out water it was pumping out blood! Ok so it may not be real blood it’s was water dyed red to give it a chilling effect but our daughter totally loved it and we had to stop and look at it every time we walked past it. 

We were a little unsure how she’d react to Great Adventure, she’s timid when trying new things and scared of most rides but she totally jumped in feet first! She was dragging us from ride to ride and was willing to go on rides like Skull Mountain that I didn’t think she’d ever want to ride, she was a little scared at first but once she felt the wind in her hair she was happy.

 But we were truly blown away when she wanted to ride the Buccaneer! It’s a Gravitron type ride that I thought would be too much for her but she was really brave and absolutely loved that ride like no other ride she’s ever been on. The rest of the day and in the subsequent days since we visited she keeps talking about the Buccaneer and how she can’t wait to ride it again.

There is a nice mix of rides in Great Adventure, you have your thrill rides for those of you with strong constitutions, you have a nice assortment of family rides and there is a nice section for kids. We wandered around the park for a solid six hours and had a blast, we would have stayed longer but since it was my husband’s birthday we had to get back home to do a family party. My daughter may have been a bit afraid of the festivities that happened after 6pm.  We were warned that the really scary stuff was for kids 12 and up and those who did not scare easily.

My daughter is 7 a little too young for the really gruesome stuff, but fear not, were there many great "fright fest" fun that she could partake in, sure there was. I loved that on each of the maps there was a detailed breakdown of what was scary and what was family friendly. We did just about every family friendly haunted activity there was to offer and there were plenty of non scary activities including:

Trick-Or-Treat trail
Professors Slithers' Creepy Critters
Monster Mash Bash
The Spooky, Kooky Magic Show. 

And more!

But before we left we were able to do a little trick or treating and take our pictures with some characters. Porky, Daffy Duck, Taz and Foghorn Leghorn were all decked out in their Halloween costumes so we stopped for candy and photos, who doesn’t like candy?! And we ended our day with the first Hayride of the season. We had a butterfly as our tour guide and while some of the kinks needed to be ironed out we still had a fun time on the hayride.

 
 Like anything the first performance is normally rough, we’ve don’t this hayride in prior years and know how well it is and depending on what time of the day you do it how scary it can be. We didn’t do any real scary things like we did in the past at Fright Fest because at that time we didn’t have a 7 year old with us! Even thought our Fright Fest didn’t have that many frightening moments in it we still had a great time at Great Adventure and we promised our daughter we will be taking her back next year. She’s already starting her countdown!

Theme Park Hours:

10:30 am to 11 pm

(Safari: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm)

Fright Fest: Thrills by Day: 10:30 am to 6:00 pm (family-friendly)

Fright Fest: Fright by Night: 6:00 to 11 pm (scary – geared to teens and adults)

Operating Dates and Hours

Friday Evenings: Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 – 5:30 to 11:00 p.m.

Saturdays: Sept 22, 29, Oct 6, 13, 20, 27 – 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Sundays: Sept 23, 30, Oct. 14, 21, 28 – 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Monday: Oct 8 – 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

There are plenty of Thrills by Day events that are geared to families as well as thrills by night that are geared to teens and adults. Some Halloween activities have an added charge. Please check out Siz Flags Great Adventure for more Fright Fest information. 

Disclosure: The reviews and or opinions on this blog are my own opinions . I received tociets to facilitate this review.  No monitory compensation was received. I was not required to write a positive review. Your experience may differ. The opinions I have expressed are my own I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising .