It used to be called Shipwreck, but this year, Queen Mary is calling it’s Halloween themed attraction, Dark Harbor and it’s scarier than ever!  There are some changes to the attraction which I’ll cover later but here are some tips to enjoy Dark Harbor:

1)  Be prepared to jump! Two of the mazes are really scary and you’ll wish it will just end.  They’re pretty long too so be sure you’re brave enough to go through them.

2)  Rehydrate. Make sure to drink water after every maze especially if you scream a lot.  You don’t want your throat to be hurting after the night.  Plus it’s always good to rehydrate.

3)  Comfy clothes. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.  Don’t wear high heels, this isn’t a nightclub.  Don’t wear sandals either, you’re not going to Huntington Beach.  Wear tennis shoes and you might want to bring a light jacket.

4) Food. They have 3 tacos for $6, which isn’t a bad price for a place like this.  If you’re hungry get this, they’re pretty damn good.  The taco place is to your right before you get to the ship.

Mazes:
Just like Knott’s and Universal’s maze reviews, I’ll rate them from most scariest to least:

1) The Cage – This was the scariest and you can get lost easily, especially in the beginning.  It’s really dark and I didn’t know where to go.  There’s no employees with flashlights like at other theme parks to guide you.  You have to figure it out yourself.  Once you find yourself inside the maze, there’s a whole bunch of chain link fence and monsters all over the place.  Some rooms are really big so you don’t really know where the monsters are coming from and scared the hell out of me.  At the end of the maze is a dark narrow corridor and this freaked me out.  This is definitely the best maze I’ve been to this year, including Knott’s and Universal.

2) Village Of The Damned – This one is right across from the Cage and it’s really creepy.  The maze has Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Island Of Dr. Moreau combined.  So you get to see mutated humans and weird looking babies.  It’s a long maze and watch out for the steps because it’s really dark.  Another highlight is a room where I felt like I was being suffocated.  Then there’s another big room with a plenty of free space and statues around you and the tension builds because you don’t know where the monster will attack from.

The mazes below are inside Queen Mary

3) Submerged –  This reminded me of the video game Bio Shock.  There’s some parts where you get wet and monsters pop out from the water sets.  Didn’t expect that.  Scariest part was the girl that passed by as she looked for her family.  You also pass by the haunted pool and that was a blast!

4) Containment – This has lunatics running around the maze.  I found it hilarious that the monsters talked, sometimes a little bit too much.  “My eyes, it hurts!”  There were some cool parts like the psychos in gurneys and the little girl watching a tv.  Yeah, little girls scare me.

5) Hellfire –  This one just seemed like a continuation of Containment.  You see the ship crew disfigured and terrorizing you.  Not much really happened and I didn’t jump like I did in Containment.

Overall, the mazes outside the ship were scarier.  This was total opposite from last year.  Usually I’d reccomend to go on the best mazes first but for Dark Harbor I suggest going to the ones in the ship first, save the best for last.  If you go on the Cage first, no other mazes will live up to it and you’ll be disapointed.   There’s a total of 5 mazes and they range from 6-8 minutes.

Other highlights:

– As you enter Dark Harbor, you’ll be directed to a small maze and you have to find the way out on your own.

– It’s more interactive than other Halloween attractions as casts will talk smack on you.  See the video below.

-If you have extra time after the attraction, check out the hotel in the other side of Queen Mary.  We checked it out afterwards and some parts reminded me of Titanic.  Pretty cool checking out a historic ship.

Conclusion:
Dark Harbor went for quality over quantity this year.  There’s 5 mazes and most are scary.  This is how mazes should be done, no guides.  Just you trying to find your way out.   Just keep in mind that the best mazes are OUTSIDE the ship.  I enjoyed the interaction I had with the monsters outside the mazes and the food was good.

You’ll probably be spending about 3-4 hours in the event.  Regular price is $35 but they’re offering it for $29 for the next two weekends.  Students with valid ID over the same time period will get in for $25

Check out the highlight below from my visit:

• Tweet