On Thursday September 27th, 2019, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor opened its gates for their 10th anniversary season. Adding to the excitement this year is the new that they will be opening a sister event in Orlando, Florida called “Dark Horizon"“.
Opening Ceremony
Queen Mary’s opening ceremony here in Long Beach is one of the best of any major Halloween event. The Captain, brilliantly portrayed by Brad Hills, commands the attention of the guests with biting sarcasm & improvised comedy. Equally engaging is the Ringmaster charismatically portrayed by Andrew Diego. Both characters masterfully engage with the crowd rather than perform for them.
It is the Captain though ho riles up both the crowd and the monsters. The pounding on the gate from unseen monsters only adds to the excitement of the crowd. At last the Captain says those long awaited words, “Then on the Captain’s orders, open the gate!!!” The crowd is then met by a ton of high energy monsters/characters that have been waiting all year for this moment.
Fire Show
Located at the main stage, the fire show remains our favorite thing to see at Dark Harbor. Led magnificently by the Voodoo Priestess, her tribe is much more than fire dancers. They each command, guide and embody the fire they move with. They move as one, hypnotizing every audience. Do not miss this show featuring these amazing artists from The Nation.
Maze Reviews
The 2019 maze lineup is the same as 2018 with one new addition, Rogue. There are some real hits this year and a couple of misses. Two mazes that are usually really strong year in and year out fell flat this year. See our in depth review below.
Feast
Last year, Feast was moved to the rear of the ship and replaced Soulmate and has remained in the same location since. Feast feels stronger this year with a better layout. The talent in this maze was very interactive both times we went through. Some spots were dark and creepy while other spots have great décor that help tell the story. The Chef, who has been a great addition to the famous characters at Dark Harbor, can be found in this maze and he always has something to say. He mainly wants to throw you in the oven and have you for dinner. Easily one of our favorite mazes this year. Definitely make a trip through Feast say hi to Chef.
Intrepid
Intrepid was another one of our favorite mazes this year. It is in the same location as last year (where the old Voodoo Village maze was in years past) and it is pretty much the same layout. Nothing much changed but it didn’t really need to. The set designs are dark and creepy, especially towards the end. The room filled with fog and green lasers works much better in Intrepid than it does in the Depths at Knott’s Scary Farm. The talent completely controls this room, utilizing all the open space. It works really well. The façade is pretty cool too as you enter a steam engine train. The cemetery and church scenes our some of our favorite and most detailed at Dark Harbor. This is another must see maze this year.
Lullaby
This has always been one of our favorite mazes and is a maze you can always count on to bring scares from the moment you enter to the moment you exit. Until this year that is. We are not sure what happened. Whatever the reason, the new design and layout was disappointing. We went through this maze first and again later on in the evening and experienced the same thing both times. The first half of the maze is empty, no monsters or characters. Hardly any décor, no talent and no energy. The 2nd half of the maze picks up a bit and has a bit more talent, but overall this maze fell flat. We were quite disappointed as we have always loved this maze. Even the new “pool” scene didn’t work for us. In fact, it was kind of difficult to tell you were even supposed to be in the pool. Hopefully they spread the talent around some more as the run goes on to help with the dead spots, but this maze just didn’t live up to the renditions of the past.
B340
On the ship, B-340 normally takes you on a terrifying journey through the mind of Samuel the Savage who has been unleashed on unsuspecting guests, but this year just like Lullaby, something just fell flat. In fact, we don’t even remember seeing Samuel the Savage at any point in the maze. This is normally one of the best and creepiest mazes at Dark Harbor, but this year the talent was pretty flat, the design didn’t seem as detailed as last year and the energy just wasn’t there. The first time we went through which was early in the night, the talent hardly engaged us. The 2nd time through there were two tech people walking in front of us and they kept stopping to look at things but would block the pathway so we couldn’t get by. They eventually moved along and the 2nd half of the maze was better and the talent was definitely more engaging the 2nd time around. We understand that tech people need to ensure that the lighting is working properly and the animatronics are functioning and the sound is right, but don’t do it in a way that impedes guests or ruins their experience. We were disappointed in this maze as well this year because it is normally the darkest and creepiest of them all but this year it is just slightly better than Lullaby. Hopefully if this maze comes back next year it gets back to its roots and becomes the scariest of them all again.
Rogue
The new maze this year, Rogue has replaced the long running Deadrise and it is actually a lot of fun. We do not have any photos of this maze as we only went through it once and we were warned we’d get really wet so we kept our camera safely tucked away. Of course we didn’t get wet at all but we don’t know if that is because we went through at the very end of the night (closing) or if you just don’t get wet like you did in Deadrise. We will try and get some photos later in the run to add to this review as there were some really cool moments in this maze. The talent was very high energy even at the end of the night, and was very engaging with us the entire way through. The set pieces, especially the ship that was supposedly overturned by a rogue wave was incredible. We were really impressed with the effects in this maze, including the projections of the wave that took down this ship. The façade is the same as Deadrise and some of the costumes appear to be left over from that maze as well but it totally works. You also meet a younger, more alive version of the Captain inside. Overall this is a very strong maze and a good addition to Dark Harbor. Looking forward to seeing this maze evolve.
Circus
Circus is always a good time. This year they have changed up a few rooms but some of the classic rooms are still around. The ball pit and mirror maze are back and always fun. There were a couple of clowns in this section trying to get us to follow them and of course they always lead you down a dead end. Clowns are not to be trusted. The vortex tunnel is also back and it spins so fast it is hard to not lose your balance as you are walking through. Great talent that really pay close attention to each guest. This maze is not scary but it is definitely a good time and we are happy it is back this year. Definitely make your way to the Circus. You don’t want to miss it.
Front of the Line
You can purchase a front of the line pass for Dark Harbor that is of good value and totally worth it on a busy night when lines can reach 2 hour wait times. Being that Dark Harbor closes at midnight on certain nights, having to wait in 2 hour lines will guarantee that you will not be able to see everything. Pay the up-charge, get the front of the line and see everything multiple times. It makes your night so much easier. We highly recommend it.
Conclusion
Overall Dark Harbor is a lot of fun this year although it does seem to feel like some corners were cut. It is not Dark Harbors strongest opening weekend but we definitely feel confident the energy will pick up.
Thank You
A big thank you to all the ghouls, creatures, clowns and characters of Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. You are what make this event so enjoyable. All your hard work, high energy and love for this event is obvious every time we go. Without you this event would not be as successful as it is. You give it 100% every second you are out there and it does not go unnoticed. You are all a wonderful cast of characters, extremely engaging with guests and very camera friendly. This allows guests to go home with great memories that they will remember for a very long time. So thank you. Your hard work is truly appreciated and we can't wait to see you all again very soon. We’re excited to return to the Queen Mary many more times this season.