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Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor 2019
The Captain, the Chef, Graceful Gayle, Half-Hatch Henry, the Ringmaster, the Iron Master, Samuel the Savage, and Scary Mary… These names have become synonymous with Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. These characters – found in six sinister mazes and roaming the premises – are the faces of Dark Harbor, which dives deeper into their backstories each year, creating a bit of lore to go with their jump-scares. Even though Dark Harbor 2019 focuses solely on their haunted attractions and entertainment, the setting of the supposedly haunted Queen Mary lends a bit more authenticity to the eerie ambiance.
Dark Harbor 2019’s new maze and successor to the Deadrise space, Rogue sheds some light on the Captain’s unfortunate fate of going down with his capsized ship. Utilizing video projection, animatronic floors, and plenty of water effects, Rogue offers guests a glimpse of the terror of being on the open sea.
The remaining five mazes are repeats – with slight variations – from 2018’s Dark Harbor. B340 walks guests through the gory, R-Rated mind of serial killer Samuel the Savage and puts them face to face with the demons that haunt him. Intrepid, arguably the least scary of the mazes, revels in its set and prop design, plunging guests into the depths of the plague-filled underground crypts in Edinburgh. Circus returns to Dark Harbor and welcomes guests to their sinister maze, urging them to find dead ends in the hall of mirrors, or drowning them in the ball pit. Be sure to be nice to the bearded lady when you enter! Feast – the most interactive of the mazes – sees maze-goers newly hired for the ship’s kitchen staff, but the Chef is not pleased with their work ethic… Running late for work, guests traverse the ship’s dining area and end up as the next big meal – after crawling through the meat grinder – for the Chef to serve his guests. The last returning maze is Lullaby, the story of young Scary Mary, who haunts the Queen Mary asking people to stay and play with her. Guests brave the eerie sing-song voice of Scary Mary in the darkness of the bowels of the ship.
Similar to last year, Dark Harbor has constructed hidden bars within each maze, some easier to find than others. Touting themed cocktails like “Sociopath” and “Captain’s Death,” these hidden bars provide an added adventure for those who go looking for them, as well as tasty adult beverages. Guests need a token (which is good for two people) to enter the hidden bars; tokens can be found by talking to scare-actors and bartenders around the park.
For those not interested in drinking the spirits away in the hidden bars, or braving the mazes to find said bars, Dark Harbor 2019 excels in its stage entertainment. From a rat mentalist to live music to aerial and fire performers, prepare to be awed and delighted at the talents on display. The night culminates in a sliders show that encapsulates the spark and wonderment of the performers. The 4D show, Panic, is back and available for a nominal extra cost; it pits you against the demons supposedly inhabiting the Queen Mary. Due to Dark Harbor spanning a smaller area than the larger theme park attractions, the entire place is a Scare Zone, with enthusiastic scare-actors ready and willing to pose for pictures, interact with guests, or sneak up behind their unsuspecting victims.
Even though Dark Harbor is not as large as some of the other theme park Halloween events and doesn’t house many rides, it excels at world-building and character development, preferring narrative to mindless jump-scares. Condensed in size but big on entertainment, Dark Harbor is leaps and bounds above the rest in make-up/costume design and characters – and the real-life ghosts living on the ship stay with you long after you leave.
Dark Harbor 2019 is open now through November 2nd. Find out more information and buy tickets here.
