The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor made its grand return to Long Beach last year thanks to Thirteenth Floor Entertainment, but what does the second voyage look like? Dark Harbor is back at the historic Queen Mary from September 26th to November 2nd with six haunted mazes, experiences, attractions, food, and even carnival rides. Also returning at the secret speakeasies across the mazes, which makes for a little game you can play to find them. There are also new spaces in the actual event because the previous English village has been demolished. So if you’re heading to the event this year, it’ll look plenty different.

Starting at 8:08PM, the Maiden Voyage launch party kicks off with the Captain kicking off the night bringing out the various icons of Dark Harbor like Graceful Gale, Scary Mary, the Butcher, and plenty of others. This only happens once a night, so if you want to see it, get there early.

If you’re interested in tickets, they are available exclusively online at darkharborhalloween.com. So without further ado, let’s rank the haunted mazes and go through the good, the bad, and the ugly of The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor.

6. Big Top Terror

Big Top Terror is a returning haunted maze from last year, that also feels like it has elements from the previous Shaqtoberfest events. It’s got the Ringmaster throughout, and there are more scare actors here than in a lot of the other mazes. This one isn’t on the ship, so it loses that bit of charm, and there’s a section that has a horn that is far too loud. I’ve been to heavy metal concerts my entire life, and this horn is obnoxiously loud. It needs to be turned down because it ruins a lot of the house going through. I had my fingers in my ears. The maze also has a section (that you can skip) that’s a funhouse mirror maze. It does end up slowing down the pace of the line, but it’s a cool part of the maze.

This is a fairly generic haunted maze that’s got plenty of scares, but also has some big issues that end up ruining it slightly.

5. Breakout: Maximum Security

Breakout: Maximum Security is one of the mazes from last year that has changed the most. It was previously far too long, and didn’t have any real cohesion for the story because of the English Village in the middle of the Queen Mary area. Now that area is gone, this maze really has some cohesion about the story of Samuel the Savage. You’re the latest inmate heading to the seaside village jail as Samuel breaks out of his prison. This one being shorter normally would be a bad thing, but this one actually benefits. There are plenty of scares, especially in the jail portion. The area featuring some of Samuel’s religious upbringing is also terrifying.

The ending of the maze is where I draw the line. It ends with a massively flooded tunnel of fog (very cool) and has a massive strobe light that disorients you (not so cool). This strobe light was incredibly bright and there are scare actors hanging around in the tunnel. Breakout is not on the ship, which takes a bit away from it, but this is an improvement from last year.

4. Voodoo The Queen’s Curse

Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse is the newest maze for this year and it’s got the most ambiance and atmosphere out of the three mazes that aren’t on the ship. This one was hard to get on camera because it’s filled with fog and built inside to look like it’s straight out of the bayou. The Priestess is easily the coolest of the new icons for the event. She’s walking around the event, and her costume has some great details, like her staff having a bird’s nest on it. This one was a long wait, but it was somewhat worth it. We waited for an hour and fifteen minutes for this one, but it was awesome.

This one definitely should make a return for next year and there’s its own area with hookah, smores, and voodoo fries being sold. One of the best new elements of Dark Harbor, for sure.

3. Feast: The Final Cut

This is the last year for Feast and it’s going out with a bang. This is a prequel to the story of The Chef, who started off as The Butcher. This maze is close-quarters, and has some major ambiance because of the ship. There’s lots of animatronics, and also some human scare actors along the way. It also brings back the area where you crawl through a small section to get away from the Butcher. A lot of it was hard to get on camera because its so dark, and that darkness helps create plenty of scares. It’s sad to see Feast go, but this is a great way to send it off into the fog.

2. Infirmary

The story of the sadistic surgeon, Dr. Edwin Masters and Graceful Gale is one of the best mazes in the entire event. This one features one of the best finales in the event, with the monstrous creatures created by the surgeon. The section with Gale serenading guests is also magnificent. There’s plenty to like especially the ambiance and mood struck by the maze. This one is the closest quarters and while it doesn’t have a ton of scare actors, there are plenty of animatronics and other sections where it feels like something could jump out at you. That fear is what drives this maze.

1. Lullaby

Lullaby is the maze that gives you the most of the Queen Mary and it features the best set piece in the entire event. This one focuses on the pool, which you can’t go into, but you do walk past it. The second image in the collage above is that moment. It also features a moment where they take you to a replica of the pool with Scary Mary. This one also has another set piece where you’re walking above the inner workings of the Queen Mary while Mary laughs at you from across the bridge. I won’t spoil what happens, but if you’re not ready for it, this is a terrifying section.

This had the longest lines of the night besides Voodoo, and it’s very much worth your time to go through. For fans of the classic Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, this maze brings back the most of those vibes.

The Bad And Ugly Of Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor

For all the good at Dark Harbor, there is also plenty of bad and ugly at the event. One is the parking. I did not go on a media night with free parking, charging for parking is nothing new, but charging for parking that doesn’t exist is another thing. I paid to park in their orange lot, Lot C, and you take a shuttle to the event, because it’s across the bay. However, that parking lot either wasn’t open, or it didn’t have signage, because I couldn’t find it and was almost late to the event because of this. Which meant I had to go to the preferred parking lot in front of the Queen Mary. This was EXCEPTIONALLY frustrating, because we’ve done this non-preferred parking in the past, and it was fine. This time around, there was just no signage.

The other frustrating thing is going as general admission. There are two tiers of VIP with front-of-the-line passes and speed passes. They send in an exorbitant number of these folks before any of the general admission people go through. So that means that there is massive waits for some of the mazes, where it feels like there’s no hope to get to the front. At least with gigantic waits at places like Halloween Horror Nights, the line moves. The speakeasies are also nearly impossible to get into as a general admission attendant; you have to buy tokens. I couldn’t find where to buy the tokens, but VIPs and all of those can get in automatically. It’s part of a bunch of things that feel like they’re bleeding your wallet dry.

My biggest issue was the event being listed as being open until 1AM, but the mazes mostly closed at 12-12:30. The lines were not huge for mazes like Feast and Infirmary, and they were both closed at 12:15, just after alcohol sales stopped. I wanted to go through these mazes again but wasn’t able to and it was just strange. When I went to guest services to ask about this, they also said “we don’t know why they’re closed so early”.

Dark Harbor Is A Fine Halloween Event, Its Better If You Pay Up Though

Overall, Dark Harbor is still worth your time if you’re into Halloween Haunts, but it does feel like they make the general admission pass not as worth it. To get the full experience out of the event, especailly if they’re closing mazes before the actual closing of the event, on a more busy night, it might not have been possible to go through everything with just the general pass. When you do go through the mazes, they’re all different shades of scary, but the ones on the actual ship are a notch above the rest. There’s a great event in here, but it does need some work for next Halloween season.

For more on Halloween, check out Fright-A-Thon.

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