Last year Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor brought us an event that felt like it was going a bit through the motions. This time around, we’re celebrating the 13th year of Dark Harbor from September 18th to November 1st on select nights. The most haunted vessel in the world summons guests back into the fog with six mazes, and one being a new maze on the ship. In addition to those haunted mazes, there are rides, food, drinks, shows, themed bars, and other treats.
The Full List Of Mazes At Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
Here’s the descriptions of all the mazes at the event.
- Shipwrecked: Brace for Impact — New for 2026! During a blackout voyage, a single command sealed the fate of hundreds. Step aboard the Queen Mary and relive the ship’s most chilling collision as drowned sailors return from the depths to haunt the vessel that left them behind. As the ship descends into chaos, guests will navigate flooding corridors, shattered hulls and restless souls demanding revenge.
- Lullaby: Teddy’s Revenge — Reimagined for 2026! In the depths of the Queen Mary’s first-class swimming pool, the sinisterly playful ghost of Scary Mary rises to accost passengers and guide them toward a watery abyss. The vortex leads to a chilling underworld where guests must listen carefully or risk hearing their final lullaby.
- Infirmary: The Siren Song — Reimagined for 2026! The wicked spirits of sadistic surgeon Dr. Edwin Masters and his accomplice Graceful Gale torment the living with ghastly echoes of their gruesome procedures. While the spectacle of the doctor’s specialized surgeries dazzles spectators in the operating theater, a revolt builds below in the third-class corridors.
- Big Top Terror: Carnival of Chaos — Reimagined for 2026! Step right up and uncover the terrors lurking in the shadows of a Halloween carnival built as a deadly labyrinth of jack-o’-lanterns. Discover the tale of the Pumpkin Carver, witness death-defying stunts and avoid the Ringmaster’s Henchies at all costs.
- Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse A ruthless Priestess rises from a decayed bayou to seize the Queen Mary’s power by commanding Loa, raising the dead and marking anyone who strays too close. She has spent years stalking the ship, binding pirates to her will and building an army to storm Long Beach.
- Breakout! Maximum Security The mystery of the infamous stateroom B340 continues. Samuel the Savage has been arrested, dragged off the ship and thrown into a prison cell, but the rusted shackles inside this seaside village jail may not be strong enough to contain him.
If you’re interested in tickets, they are available exclusively online at darkharborhalloween.com. So without further ado, let’s rank the haunted mazes and go through the good, the bad, and the ugly of The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor.
The Mazes Ranked From Worst To Best
6. Shipwrecked: Brace For Impact
To start off, this was a cool idea for a maze that goes to a place on the ship that they haven’t been (at least in my time going to Dark Harbor). The ship hits something along the way and sailors pour out, only to return from the depths to try to take guests with them to a watery grave.
Starting with the bad here, the line takes forever. And that’s not the actual queue outside, for my visit I had a media pass that got me to the VIP line. Once you’re inside, you have to wait in a hot room to get put into a group to go into the actual maze. I’ve noticed in my time at Halloween haunt events that anything with a pre-show like that is cool, but ends up taking far too long. There’s a really cool environmental effect right at the beginning that sends you into the maze, but from there, its really front-loaded on the scares.
The other thing about this is that there’s an incredibly clear AI slop video of the Commander talking to guests. There’s other instances of clear AI slop used for posters and fonts and other things at the event, which is so disappointing. If they can pay for scare actors, they can’t pay to put one in the costume and film them instead of taking the easy way out?
This one needs some big changes for next year.
5. Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse
Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse was a new maze for last year that has some major ambiance and vibes. However, that only gets the maze so far with a lack of scare actors in the second half. Once you’re inside the bayou though, it’s filled with fog and monsters. That section of the maze is wonderful, and the Priestess is an incredible addition to Dark Harbor as a whole. This also has its own area of the event with hookah, food, and s’mores.
4. Breakout: Maximum Security
Breakout: Maximum Security was much improved last year and lopped off a good portion of the maze that didn’t make a lot of sense. This one really has some nice cohesion for the story of Samuel the Savage. The scare actors in this maze were ON ONE, scaring people left and right and doing a great job.
The ending of the maze is a fog-filled, pitch-black walk through to “freedom”. It doesn’t have the strobe light that it did last year, which is nice. Its not on the ship, but that doesn’t matter too much, because this is a great maze.
3. Big Top Terror
Big Top Terror is the most improved maze of the year, especially in the beginning section. The Ringmaster is a great icon for the event and she finally gets a maze to be proud of. They got rid of the awful horn noise and the beginning section is dark, scary, and has plenty of scare actors.
The funhouse mirror section is skippable, but it makes for a good time, especially with friends. Of all the speakeasies at the event, this one was my favorite, with a bartender AND a scare actor doing magic tricks for guests.
2. Infirmary: The Siren Song
Infirmary: The Siren Song continues the story of Dr. Edwin Masters and Graceful Gale and also ends that story with a triumphant Gale. If you also include the Gale’s Requiem section of the event, this is an awesome story with some great experiences. The ambiance and vibes here are great and the backdrop of being on the ship makes for some truly great scares. Its close quarters, has more scare actors than last year, and the ones that are here are doing a great job to scare the hell out of you.
1. Lullaby: Teddy’s Revenge
Lullaby was already the best maze of the last couple years at the event and somehow they made it better. This time, Mary is out in full force with multiple Mary scare actors in individual scenes. You’re on the lookout for Teddy, who also makes an appearance at multiple points here. The pool replica moment is at the beginning instead of at the end, and it works better for the flow.
If the Queen Mary is the Crown Jewel of Long Beach, then Lullaby is the Crown Jewel of Dark Harbor.
Parking, Food, And A Paywall
The parking for this year is a bit wonky because there’s a whole ass concert venue in the parking lot in front of the event. You either pay $70 for the front line parking or you can park at an offsite lot and get shuttled to the event. I did the shuttle and it wasn’t that bad at all, but for people who are less mobile, it does drop you off pretty far from the event and you walk to the front gate.
The paywall sections of the event are frustrating, especially with the story of Infirmary being locked behind Gale’s Requiem, which is a special item to purchase outside of your ticket. The speakeasies require tokens again, which isn’t abnormal. But there’s a lot of small charges that can build up to take away from the event.
However, these issues are small in comparison to the Halloween fun that you can have at Dark Harbor. Its a worthy event for anyone who loves Halloween and functions as a good event to take those scaredy-cats to.
For more on Halloween, make sure to check out Fright-A-Thon.
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