Fright Fest at Six Flags
With Halloween in full swing, choosing how to celebrate can be overwhelming. One of the most underrated activities to check out is Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America, located about an hour outside the city in Gurnee, IL. Fright Fest happens annually, this year extending from September 14 – November 3. DePaul even offers discounted tickets and transportation to students on certain days which can be a major way to save money since single-day tickets can be pretty expensive, especially for college students. There is a Metra train that can take you all the way to Gurnee, but my roommate and I decided to drive down on our own and cut down on our travel time. With both winter and final exams on the horizon, we wanted to take advantage of one of the last warm Saturdays of fall.
During the day, Six Flags was more family-friendly, but at night it becomes haunted with ghouls and zombies being ‘released’ throughout the park and a series of haunted houses and scare zones opening. The park even advises that families with children under 13 do not remain in the park after dark. For this reason we spent most of our day on roller coasters and then did more exploring and checking out the various haunted attractions at night. It was surprising to me that I have lived an hour from Six Flags for over three years without checking out Fright Fest, and I think our trip might become a new annual tradition. Additionally, I would suggest going on opening weekend like we did because it was not too crowded and the weather was ideal.