The Dark Harbor is back at the historic Queen Mary for 2019's spooky season! The event has new sets for photo ops and chilling decor to amuse people before it opens. As with the last year, the Captain and the Ringmaster warm up the crowd, heckle all, introduce the event, and release monsters into the crowd. On to the mazes:
* Lullaby
Scary Mary is back and wants to play with you forever! She follows you throughout the maze, singing songs, and threatens your life along with some of her friends. The music is suspenseful and the layout is completely different from last year. The shower room was unexpected, but another later room makes you feel like you're submerged with bodies floating above you. Very eerie! Although it's the same theme, there are many improvements from last year.
* Feast
Feast is one of my favorite mazes with horrific Chef serves up people for dinner. Right when we walk in, a chef bursts out of the doorway scaring us and then shames us for being late line cooks. I love being included in the storyline of the maze and even something so small can immerse me more into the story. The sets are grotesque and show both the effects of Chef's meals and where they came from. We are forced through a grinder, a passageway we have to crawl through on our hands and knees with spinning blades below us. Then we're forced into the oven ourselves!!! The storyline is perfect and Chef is saved until right before the oven only to return for one more scare afterwards.
Feast is one of my favorite mazes with horrific Chef serves up people for dinner. Right when we walk in, a chef bursts out of the doorway scaring us and then shames us for being late line cooks. I love being included in the storyline of the maze and even something so small can immerse me more into the story. The sets are grotesque and show both the effects of Chef's meals and where they came from. We are forced through a grinder, a passageway we have to crawl through on our hands and knees with spinning blades below us. Then we're forced into the oven ourselves!!! The storyline is perfect and Chef is saved until right before the oven only to return for one more scare afterwards.
* B340
B340 has a murderer on the loose along with a gruesome crime scene, but the culprit seems to be demonic possession this time! The demon follows you throughout the maze through creepy crucifix flipping rooms, laundry rooms, and a pitch dark corridor. The best scares were in the dark corridor and a caged in bridge high above the rest of the ship that feels like it drops suddenly. The decorations in particular are impressive in this maze. I enjoyed the 80's inspired score (even though it didn't have a lot to do with the acutal maze). The only tiny negative of this one was being scared on the stairs. I startle super easy and I almost injured my boyfriend. Not a safe place for that.
B340 has a murderer on the loose along with a gruesome crime scene, but the culprit seems to be demonic possession this time! The demon follows you throughout the maze through creepy crucifix flipping rooms, laundry rooms, and a pitch dark corridor. The best scares were in the dark corridor and a caged in bridge high above the rest of the ship that feels like it drops suddenly. The decorations in particular are impressive in this maze. I enjoyed the 80's inspired score (even though it didn't have a lot to do with the acutal maze). The only tiny negative of this one was being scared on the stairs. I startle super easy and I almost injured my boyfriend. Not a safe place for that.
* Circus
Circus is a fun maze. Right at the beginning, the bearded lady was hilarious, slinging puns and quips with her lobster boy. The mirror maze is always disorienting and I never know where exactly the scare actors are (or where I am for that matter). It's a true maze with a couple of dead ends that totally fooled me. The ball pit is always a miss for me as it's hard to get through without much point. The disorienting spinning tunnel, on the other hand, always impresses me. My favorite room is second to last where the patrons of the circus are secretly being butchered. The cheery circus music and statues of circus freaks really tie it all together thematically.
Circus is a fun maze. Right at the beginning, the bearded lady was hilarious, slinging puns and quips with her lobster boy. The mirror maze is always disorienting and I never know where exactly the scare actors are (or where I am for that matter). It's a true maze with a couple of dead ends that totally fooled me. The ball pit is always a miss for me as it's hard to get through without much point. The disorienting spinning tunnel, on the other hand, always impresses me. My favorite room is second to last where the patrons of the circus are secretly being butchered. The cheery circus music and statues of circus freaks really tie it all together thematically.
* Intrepid
Intrepid returns with some new tricks up its sleeve. At the start, we entered a train with light and sound effects that made it seem like it was actually moving. Then, we arrived at Edinburgh Station and entered a church where people were mourning. I love a room where I don't know which ones are statues and which are real people. The room with heavy fog and green lasers to replicate water (along with monsters within) returns with a clearer path than last year. The rest details Iron Master's deal with a sea witch to merge his flesh with the beloved steel of the Queen Mary, which he helped build. This maze gets better and better, especially with the catacomb sets.
Intrepid returns with some new tricks up its sleeve. At the start, we entered a train with light and sound effects that made it seem like it was actually moving. Then, we arrived at Edinburgh Station and entered a church where people were mourning. I love a room where I don't know which ones are statues and which are real people. The room with heavy fog and green lasers to replicate water (along with monsters within) returns with a clearer path than last year. The rest details Iron Master's deal with a sea witch to merge his flesh with the beloved steel of the Queen Mary, which he helped build. This maze gets better and better, especially with the catacomb sets.
* Rogue
Rogue is a brand new maze where a huge wave has hit the Queen Mary. It's filling with water and threatening to capsize as the crew keeps directing visitors, but we seem to be going deeper into the ship instead of escaping it. Screens show incoming gigantic waves and put this maze on a different level than the rest. We quickly see the effects on the ship as we pass by: carnage, destruction, and the injured trapped in a sinking ship. The hanging body setup truly scared me, but the ending with the large mass of bubbles was a bit underwhelming. Very good for a debut original maze though.
* Entertainment
There were so many more performances than last year.The hula hoop performer's act became more and more impressive as she added hoop after hoop. The magician was funny, sarcastic, and casually reveals amazing tricks. The fire performers had the longest and most elaborate performance. The voodoo priestess has her followers prove themselves to her with their talents. While the theming is troubling, the performance was magnificent. They had so many different ways to dance with fire from fans and staffs to breathing fire. I had meant to leave right when they came on and I ended up being entranced by their half hour show.
* Food and drink
There was a wide variety of food available. I especially liked the Mexican style corn stand. There are 14 bars on the premises and the bartenders are generous in their pours. If you choose to imbibe, you won't ever be far from a bar. Some are even inside the mazes.
Queen Mary's Dark Harbor improves every year. The mazes played more with format, lighting, and props than I've ever seen. The mazes on the ship have a bit more dead space by virtue of the space, but it's unique and utilized well. The attraction is 10 years old and sets itself apart from other haunts. I look forward to another 10 years of scares.
* Entertainment
There were so many more performances than last year.The hula hoop performer's act became more and more impressive as she added hoop after hoop. The magician was funny, sarcastic, and casually reveals amazing tricks. The fire performers had the longest and most elaborate performance. The voodoo priestess has her followers prove themselves to her with their talents. While the theming is troubling, the performance was magnificent. They had so many different ways to dance with fire from fans and staffs to breathing fire. I had meant to leave right when they came on and I ended up being entranced by their half hour show.
* Food and drink
There was a wide variety of food available. I especially liked the Mexican style corn stand. There are 14 bars on the premises and the bartenders are generous in their pours. If you choose to imbibe, you won't ever be far from a bar. Some are even inside the mazes.
Queen Mary's Dark Harbor improves every year. The mazes played more with format, lighting, and props than I've ever seen. The mazes on the ship have a bit more dead space by virtue of the space, but it's unique and utilized well. The attraction is 10 years old and sets itself apart from other haunts. I look forward to another 10 years of scares.
No comments:
Post a Comment