The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor

Last Thursday night, I attended Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor with my friend, Nicole. I’m not usually one to go to Halloween events, but I had never been to the Queen Mary.

I think that I’ve always been afraid of The Queen Mary because it is such a large ship. Or maybe because of all of those stories about it being haunted? It has been voted as one of the Top 10 Most Haunted Places in America by Time magazine. Or maybe because it reminds me so much of The Titanic? Seriously, they even have a comparison of The Queen Mary vs. The Titanic on their website.

Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor event occurs 17 terrifying nights this October with a sinister new circus themed maze, horrifying freak shows and more. Experience thrills and chills in mazes so daunting you’ll sell your soul for a chance to survive. This year, the Captain celebrates Dark Harbor by raising a circus of horrific spirits, malevolent circus entertainers and other unfortunates.

I was a little speechless when I approached this ginormous ship. I had to take a picture of it from my view on the ground.

A little photo action on the step and repeat before the event. The sun was glaring our face so I’m surprised the picture came out so well.

I had not really researched the event prior to arriving. I had only heard a bit about it, and thought that it was just full of mazes and scary monsters.

But really, it had a great carnival with attractions also. I loved the bright colors on this rock o’plane, but they also had a zipline, mechanical monster (like a mechanical bull), and a freak show which also had an extra charge to enter.

When we arrived this great band, The Rhythm Coffin was playing in the central area of the carnival. I loved their costumes and they were very entertaining.

Dark Harbor has live music from DJs and bands every night.

I took this photo which shows an overview of the carnival area. It also shows the “freak shows” which are inside shipping containers.

Graceful Gale and The Captain are the stars of the show at Dark Harbor. They are the featured monsters and pop up just about everywhere during the event.

And like I said before, The Queen Mary is the scariest thing at the event for me. Totally eerie! Especially at night!

Or maybe it was Scary Mary waiting for me by the pool inside The Queen Mary? The rumor is that Scary Mary drowned in the pool approximately 50 years ago…

We had a blast at Dark Harbor and I highly recommend it. The costumes and make-up on the monsters were amazing! They did a fantastic job with the props and decorations within the mazes also. It was very detailed!

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The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor event is from 7-12pm and is open the following dates: October 11,12,13,17,18,19,20,24 (sold out),26,27 (sold out) and November 1, 2

FAQs and Tips for Attending Dark Harbor

Random Factoids:

This event is not child friendly. My son, age 8, would have completely freaked out. It is dark and scary. Yes, I totally judged those parents who had small children present. A child maybe preteen age, 12 and above might be okay.

Costumes are only allowed October 31st, and November 1st and 2nd.

The hours of the event are from 7pm-12am.

Dark Harbor tickets can be purchased online at queenmary.com/darkharbor or purchased onsite.

You cannot bring your own food into the event. There are food sales within the event. The food/drinks are your typical county fair style. Bring CASH.

Alcohol is available for purchase at the event.

Parking Information:

Parking is $20

VIP Parking (up close) is $25.

Admission:

General Admission Pricing starts at $24 and goes up to $34 depending on the date (purchased online).

VIP Admission Pricing starts at $84 and goes up to $99 depending on the date (purchased online), and includes: VIP line entrance, (1) GA Ticket, (1) Fast Fright Pass (cut-in-line) & (1) admission to the R.I.P. Lounge, where you can rest in peace with only occasional monster encounters, located above Dark Harbor with a ghost-eye-view of entire event, including (4) drink tickets and made-to-order street taco station.

Season Pass allows you to return to Dark Harbor all season long (black out dates: Oct. 18, 19, 25, 26 & 31). Includes General Admission adult ticket and Fast Fright front of the line pass – all for the low price of $65. But act now as supplies are limited.

Disclosure: I was invited to Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor event and given VIP access for myself and a friend. We received free admission to the event. I was not compensated with cash. All photos and opinions are mine.