The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor celebrated it's 10th
anniversary with a vivid opening night, which was nothing short of amazing! The
energy of the evening was filled to the brim with excitement and curiosity. The
famed haunt has had everything from celebrity appearances, famous musical
guests, and even now houses the actual swing ride from Michael Jackson's
"Neverland Ranch."
It was the first time I had ever attended Dark Harbor, so I
had absolutely zero clue what to expect which I greatly liked. Coming in with a
fresh mindset for the scares to come, only heightened the experience.
Upon entry, there was a red carpet with some of the
highlighted and seasoned charters from Dark Harbor. These characters have been
masterfully woven into the theme of the haunt and continued story-line for each
of the Dark Harbor mazes. Some of these characters include: Scary Mary, The
Captain, and The Ringmaster. Photo ops were taken and it was fantastic seeing
how impeccable the makeup and costume design was for these standout characters.
The entryway catered a fantastic happy hour with delicious
drinks and a welcoming ceremony hosted by the charming characters to add to the
experience.
The mazes all varied in size, location, and
"newness." I decided to try the newest maze first called,
"Rogue."
This maze was supposedly themed to tell the tale of
"The Captain's" ill-fated experience. While there some fun
animatronics involved, the jump-scares were minimal, as well as the overall
feeling of the maze was very rushed. For being the latest and freshest maze, I
felt as though it lacked the excitement and creativity that I encountered in
mazes I went through afterwards. By the end of the evening, I would even
consider it my least favorite maze, due to the fact that it felt dull and
cumbersome. The immersive foam party at the very end was the best part of the
maze, but far from scary.
Overall:
The second maze I explored was my absolute favorite and was
called the B340.
Not only did this maze allow you onto the ship, but the
immersive experience of being thrown into dark areas of the ship (that are
knowingly haunted), was incredible. I also found the animatronics and actors
throughout the maze were most impressive. Hinging on themes like The Exorcist
and Poltergeist, most of the visuals were incredibly creepy and well executed.
I was even told to crawl on the floor into a tunnel, unknowingly where I was
headed, which was scary and immersive. The other factor of this maze was the
music. I can't express how much the music involved made the maze that much more
fun, intense, and creepy. It was like a dark dance party met up with a haunted
horror movie and had a baby.
Overall:
The Lullaby Maze was the third maze and what I would
consider to be my fourth favorite.
There was a scene that involved the ceiling
and the color blue that will forever stick in my mind. The use of lighting and
visuals was incredible throughout the entire maze. While Scary Mary made her
appearance in the maze, I wouldn't consider it necessarily frightening, but
more entertaining and visually stimulating. What I also enjoyed about the mazes
that were on ship, such as this one, was that they seemed particularly longer,
which made it that much more fun to explore and feel as though you're fully
wrapped up in the experience.
Overall:
The Feast was the fourth maze experience and quickly became
one of my favorites!
What stuck out to me most about the Feast maze was that it
actually led you on the ship and through my favorite part of The Queen Mary,
down in the Engine Room, which is legitimately haunted. I had wished there was
more time to explore on my own down there, but the line had to keep moving and
there wasn't an area to truly stop to explore. Despite that fact, it was
incredible to be so immersed in the ship itself and to know that the scares
that were happening in the haunt were both carried out by actors and an actual
fear of walking through a world-renowned haunted ship.
Overall:
Circus was the second to last maze and could only be
described as fun and stimulating.
Nothing particularly scary about this maze,
but more of an exploratory trip into the chaos of a freak-filled circus. The
circus and rag-time theme was quirky to explore and there were some carnival
and fun-house elements that definitely added to the laughs of the maze. Even if
there weren't any major jump scares, I really enjoyed this one, because of how
well on theme it was.
Overall:
Last, but not least was the Intrepid maze.
This maze would
be considered my second favorite of them all. The overall vibe and aesthetic of
the maze was the right amount of creepy. There were scenes in the maze that
looked like they could have been pulled from classic horror films and even
something like a giallo film or just as dark and creepy. There were two parts
of this maze that I almost wish I could have lived in, because they were so
perfectly constructed and had just the right amount of eerie beauty that could
have been framed and placed up on a wall as a work of art. Without giving away
too much, one involved a cemetery scene and the other a vintage church. Both
were incredibly dark and sinister, yet had an essence of charming beauty. Even
though this maze wasn't on the ship or even very long, those two scenes stood
out so much to me, that it immediately became one of my favorite maze
experiences ever.
Overall:
Overall, the experience was laid out so well! Every inch of
Dark Harbor was themed with a particular aesthetic from each of the 6 mazes.
There were live performers, contortionists, and fire performers that added to
the excitement. Walking around Dark Harbor was an adventure and while the only
scary parts of the experience were found in specific mazes, I can say that the
"scariest" part of the non-maze experience was that my bartender
didn't know how to make a whiskey sour.
Overall Score For Dark Harbor At The Queen Mary:
That wraps up Our Review Of Dark Harbor At The Queen Mary in Los Angeles, Ca. Thank you so much to our friends in LA for making it happen and check out her website at www.creepyst.com
Make sure you keep it here as we have a ton more content coming! Keep It At HH365! Where Every Day Is Haunt Season!
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