Travel - Texas - Arlington - Six Flags Over Texas - Fright Fest, Oktoberfest and Tricks and Treats

My family attended Six Flags Over Texas Tricks and Treats/Oktoberfest/ Fright Fest this past weekend after missing it for a few years. I think the kids' activities during the day were much better than they have been in the past and I'll get into those in a minute. The nighttime "scares" were much calmer, more organized, and (in my opinion) less scary - it seemed to us that teenage girls were the most scared by the costumed performers. Lots of screams there. We did not go inside the haunted houses as that requires purchasing a separate ticket ($30).

The park wasn't too crowded during the day. Most of the Fright Fest revelers seemed to trickle in later in the afternoon. Although the lines were shorter, a lot of rides kept breaking down especially popular rides like Batman, Titan, and the Texas Giant. The line for the new Aquaman was quite short - keep in mind the front row gets SOAKED.

Tricks and Treats
For kids, there is a fun little Trick-er-Treat area in the French area where the Fort stands. Kids and adults can get a free bag and go door-to-door ringing the doorbells for treats. In previous years, costumed characters handed out candy in the Bugs Bunny Boomtown area. There are characters to see but on a different street further away from the Bugs Bunny Boomtown area. It's not exactly a trail like advertised, more like just a bunch of small houses in a circle. And, for convienence, the restroom is next door.

Right outside the Trick-er-Treat area, between the Icey shack and the restaurant are tables set up for pumpking decorating and/or mask making - both are free.

At the entrance of the Looney Toon area, is a haybale maze with costumed mice to visit. Fun for very young kids. The maze closes much earlier than the rest of the area. During Fright Fest, the Bugs Bunny Boomtown rides stay open later than normal which is great.

Oktoberfest:
This event is in the small Biergarten just past the games area. They had german-style treats (like brats and pretzels) and adult drinks for sale. Games such as bags (bean bag toss) and jenga for anyone to play. There was a fun band playing songs (Oompah Delics). The workers were dressed in German-style outfits and did go around checking on customers. A good place to relax while you're at the park but not a destination in itself.

Fright Fest:
The actual event starts after 5pm CST when the sun starts going down. Although it's open to anyone, I don't recommend young kids to participate as it can be scary especially the loud chainsaw noises. If you stay really late, guests can become rowdy and throw a lot of f-bombs. They were selling a special glowing necklace which was supposed to limit the scares but it does say it's not guaranteed. Personally, I didn't think the "frights" were scary but it was loud and smoky.

There are 6 haunted houses (a special ticket to enter is required and can be purchased at booths nearby, at the park entrance gate, or online).

There are 5 scare zones each with a different theme. You can easily spot them as they will be running smoke machines. This is where you will find lots of spooky props and costumed performers will interact with guests.

There are also several Halloween-Themed shows which start earlier than Fright Fest itself. We watched a Ghouling Pianos singing show which you can hear from the street. Other shows include Toxicity, Raging Inferno (heavy metal show), Curse of the Undead (gunfighter show), and Dia de Los Muertos (Mexican dancing show).

Just a sampling of some of the interesting foods and alcoholic beverages that were being sold.

Fright Fest Map: https://static.sixflags.com/website/files/sfot_ff-guide.pdf

For more information, check out: https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas

Travel - Texas - Arlington - Six Flags Hurricane Harbor

Hurricane Harbor got a major improvement in 2025 with the new family-friendly Splash Island and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw babies and toddlers in the splash area and bigger kids riding the slides in the multi-level play structure. Even adults were waiting on the 1,000 gallon bucket to fill and dump (be ware that the water is COLD). There are chairs and loungers all around this area. The map doesn't show that most of the chairs around the area have a partial fabric covering. However, toward the end of the day when the sun is lower in the sky, the covers are pretty useless for most chairs or loungers, but a lot of families tend to leave the park midday freeing up sections of chairs.

Splash Island has a row of 6 colorful, mini slides which have both minimum height and maximum height requirements (teens and adults can't ride). As you can see in this photo, children empty right out to the splash pad area for good parental visibility. My only complaint was the queue to get on the slides is not well marked and could be confusing for younger children - they need to go all the way around the orange slide toward the back and up a set of stairs carrying a large float. The platform connects all the slide entry points. Restrooms are located at the very back of this area (right next to the lazy river entry points) which is a bit of a walk from the splash area. There are also showers there and a first aid office. I highly recommend wearing shoes or flipflops into the restrooms especially toward the end of the day.

Families can also enjoy the lazy river which goes all around Surf Lagoon (right in the center of the park) with entry and exit points along the way. On the other side of the park, in the Tornado area, there is a fun pirate-themed area called Hook's Lagoon with a treehouse (Hook's Lagoon Slides has a min height of 42" but the Lagoon Crossing is good for young kids 36" up to 54").

There are plenty of slides for thrill-seekers such as Der Stuka, Dive Bomber, Geronimo, Tornado, Tsunami Surge, and Typhoon Twister all with a minimum height of 48".

The park is open the next few weekends from 11am until 6pm or 7pm - August 23-24, August 30-31 and September 1. Daily Tickets are dynamically priced and for the next two weekend range from $35 to $25 depending on the day. Sometimes you can search the web for cheaper tickets.

You can bring refillable water bottles. But if you plan to drink any sodas, I highly recommend buying the All-Day Sourvenir Bottle ($19.99). The system will force you to wait 15 minutes between refills, but you will break even if you get 4 refills. Considering how hot you might feel in the Texas sun, you will definitely get more than four refills. For those wanting to fill water bottles, do not use the ones at the lockers as the water is not chilled and is pretty nasty. Ask for water cups at the drink refill stands or restaraunts instead.

Outside food or beverages are not allowed into the park (except baby food or formula). The food options are typical park fare - burgers, fried chicken strips, pizza, nachos, pretzels, turkey legs. I personally didn't purchase the dining add-on because we only ate lunch inside the park and then ate dinner outside the park. If you'd like to see the food options, check out the Restaurants. Bring plastic bags to store any leftovers because birds will land on your chair and eat any food left sitting out.

General Parking is $35.00 and Priority Parking (closer to the entrance and right outside the exit) is $50.00.

Lockers are available on the left side when you walk into the front gate as well as restrooms and showers.

Printable Park map - https://static.sixflags.com/website/files/hhtx_park-map.pdf

For more information, https://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharbortexas