To be fair, it’s easy to criticize it with the benefit of being hardened adults who can withstand (and afford) going to more serious events. Things like Fright Fest, I’d argue, aren’t necessarily meant to be geared towards you or “hardcore” horror fans who love something like HHN, but rather a middle ground gateway drug for younger folks or people who aren’t into more intense events.
Is it “cheap”? Is it “not scary”? Is it “lame” compared to HHN? Sure, but stuff like that needs to exist — groups of kids or teens (or even adults) who’ve never done something like this before can go hang out or go on a first date or be with their families while safely dipping their toes into the world of haunt events at things like this, where it’s low stakes, not too intense, and they can break it up with ride after ride.
For me, Fright Fest was my first exposure to this stuff as a kid in the ‘90s, and it paved the way for me being “ready” to tackle HHN and Scary Farm and so on. If you hate it as an adult, that’s fine, but being baffled and hostile about why some people want to go — maybe they want to just have a fun time riding rides in the dark, maybe they’re on a budget, maybe it’s as far as they can travel, maybe it’s all they can handle, or maybe it’s as simple as they don’t even care if it’s as themed as something like HHN so long as they’re just spending time having fun with people they care about — kind of misses the point that it means something different to everyone.