Six Flags ready for Halloween transformation

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Workers are transforming Six Flags in Gurnee for Fright Fest. One of this year's additions is the "Massacre Medial Center." | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: November 11, 2011 4:48PM

GURNEE — As October approaches, the landscape at Six Flags Great America on Wednesday revealed a pending arrival, an ongoing departure and the renewal of a seasonal tradition.

The arrival of next year’s planned X-Flight roller coaster is hinted at in County Fair by the pile of concrete being excavated from the former home of one of the park’s original rides, the Great America Raceway — known when the park opened in 1976 as the Barney Oldfield Speedway.

Around the bend, the departure of the Iron Wolf roller coaster is proceeding in phases, with crews pulling apart its 2,900 feet of steel track section by section.

And then there is the primary activity at the park: preparations for Saturday’s opening day of Fright Fest, the 21st annual transformation into a Halloween-themed experience, complete with separate-admission haunted houses.

Along with such time-honored features as the walk-through Necropolis: Haunted City of the Dead scare zone in Yankee Harbor and the “Love at First Fright” musical in the Grand Music Hall, one new feature for 2011 is the Massacre Medical Center haunted house, located in the games area of County Fair.

Walking through the attraction as finishing touches were applied on Wednesday, Entertainment Manager Kris Jones said his team wanted to “take people into a hospital (for) people who are way beyond help.”

“We started designing this probably in mid-June, and we’ve spent the last three weeks doing the installation,” said Jones of the 10,000-square-foot space, which will feature 30 performers spread throughout various rooms splattered with latex corpses and fake blood.

How many rooms? “Thirteen,” Jones said with a knowing smile.

Jones noted that set designers searched for genuine hospital artifacts all around the country, securing such minor details as an old cash register from Arizona Regional Medical Center and major details as a full ambulance. One fine touch features actual up/down buttons on a hallway lined with steel elevator doors.

Park spokeswoman Jennifer Dugan-Savage, who has been through a dress-rehearsal version of the haunted house, said “it’s very different from what we’ve had before ... It has the feel of being in an actual hospital, and I think people will be scared here like they’ve never been scared before.”

Dugan-Savage added that, overall, Great America is “really pushing the envelope with Fright Fest this year and making it scarier. We do have a lot of things for families and children, but the (Zombie Jamboree) parade comes through at about 3 o’clock, which is kind of the signal to parents that we’re changing over.”

The park hired 50 more performers this year to portray wandering monsters and ghouls, bringing the roster to 200. An additional scare zone, dubbed Bayou du Vaudou, joins a roster that includes the Necropolis, the Sector 7 nuclear-accident site in Hometown Square and Tinseltown Terror in Southwest Territory.

While those areas are included with park admission, the list of attractions that charge an additional fee includes the Massacre Medical Center, the Mausoleum of Terror, Studio 13 and a new haunted maze called Primal Scream. The maze charges $5 per head, while each of the haunted houses is $7 before 5 p.m. and $13 afterward. A $30 package includes all four.

Another new feature for 2011 involves the hours of operation — the park will open an hour later and close an hour later than usual on Saturdays (11 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and Sundays (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Friday hours, starting Oct. 7, will be 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and the park will be open on Columbus Day (Oct. 10) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

General admission to Fright Fest is $59.99, or $39.99 for children under 48 inches. Daily parking is $20. For online special offers on tickets and more information, visit www.sixflags.com/greatamerica.