Six Flags Darien Lake in New York has discontinued this year's Fright Fest to focus on family-friendly Halloween experiences.
As theme parks continue to invest in increasingly extreme, branded and innovative Halloween experiences, Six Flags Darien Lake is taking a different approach.
Via Spectrum News, the park said it "has made the decision to focus its 2026 fall season on family-friendly daytime experiences".
"The park has discontinued its two weekends of Fright Fest this season," said Six Flags Darien Lake.
Six Flags Darien Lake has added four weekends of its annual Oktoberfest event, and will offer the Kids Boo Fest experience for the spooky season.
Per the park's website, Kids Boo Fest is a "family-friendly daytime Halloween event full of mischievous tricks, tasty treats, and spook-tacular entertainment for all ages".
"This kid-friendly celebration takes place before the sun sets and the scares set up – it’s all fun, no fear during the daytime at Six Flags Darien Lake," the website says.
While Six Flags Darien Lake is scaling back its Halloween event this year, Six Flags has unveiled an unprecedented lineup of horror IPs for Halloween events at several of its other parks.
Horror IPs at Six Flags parks
New brands announced for 2026 are Diablo, Jason Universe, Final Destination and The Blair Witch Project.
These will join returning IPs such as The Conjuring Universe, Saw, Army of the Dead, The Strangers: Chapters 1 & 2, and Trick 'r Treat.
Coast to coast, Six Flags theme parks will provide a total of 448 Halloween-themed experiences at the Fright Fest, Halloween Haunt, HalloWeekends, SCarowinds, Knott's Scary Farm, and Festival del Terror events.
