Fear Factor Live

Updated 1/2/2012 *

Location: San Francisco

Height Restriction: None

Age Appropriateness: Any

Seat Type: Stadium

Show Description: If you’re looking for something a little extreme to add to your vacation, Fear Factor Live may bring just the right touch. This show puts real guests into a variety of intense situations, just like the “Fear Factor” television show. Volunteers for the Fear Factor competition are selected an hour and 10 minutes before each show. Additional volunteers are selected just prior to showtime, and a host of children will be picked from the audience once the show has begun to assist.

Things begin pretty tame with a challenge to see who can hold on the longest to handles suspended above the stage, but each level of competition gets progressively more difficult – and strange – with contestants reaching into tanks of carnivorous eels, chucking rotten octopus across the stage, and ultimately climbing into cars raised above the stage to take aim at the final prize.

In between the various levels of competition, additional bits take place with guests having an assortment of creepy crawlies placed on their heads and drinking vomit-inducing concoctions, all for the glory of getting to claim bragging rights.

The entire show lasts about 20 minutes and is family friendly as long as you can handle the mild grossness factor. There’s a loud, startling explosion at the end of the show which is probably the scariest element to deal with for those in the audience instead of onstage.

Getting Ready: Show up at least 15 minutes early to get a good seat. Guests waiting at least 30 minutes prior to the show can get selected for the mini stunts. Stop by casting 70 minutes before any of the shows if you’re interested in becoming a contestant.

Worth the Wait: The waiting area for this show is extremely hot. If you aren’t interested in actually participating in the show, you may want to hold off on standing around too long and just pop in when seating starts, about 15 minutes before show time.

Please Note: Fear Factor Live currently operates seasonally; please check the park map during your visit to determine whether the show will be running.


* With the return of this popular show to television, many have speculated that Fear Factor Live will become a permanent attraction in the park once again. This theory seems to be supported by the fact that Fear Factor escaped the fate of its neighbor JAWS (closed on 1/2/2012).