Episode III: October Scares On A Ship

I believe that most things are better experienced at night and I especially believe this during the month of October.  Truly, the only reason I wander in daylight at all is to make an appearance at my day job. But at night, oh the night; it’s when amazing things can happen.

You’ll find me most nights in October at haunted mazes throughout Southern California.  I have my favorites and I have the ones that I go to purely out of friendship obligations, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a good time at all of them. And each one has their own appeal that makes them enjoyable.

I kicked off my 2015 maze season with an excursion to Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in Long Beach, California. It runs from October 1^st through November 1^st from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

I had only gone once before two years ago. I remember that it was good that first time I went and I had a blast with my friends. Was it one of my favorites? Not really. Did it scare me? Meh. I remember mostly scaring myself that night (that actually happens a lot at these things). It was a case of making a wrong turn on the ship and ending up in a completely dark hallway. That was really scary!

I do believe that if you venture out to Long Beach and go to Dark Harbor the mazes worth going through are the ones located on the ship itself.  Usually there are about 3 and if you get there late (like I usually do) you probably will only have time for 1, maybe 2 of them.

You see, despite my lack of interest in this particular set of mazes, a lot and I do mean A LOT of people come out for this. It will be packed and you will wait in line for mazes between 30 minutes to an hour. There really is no getting around that aside from buying the Fast Fright Pass which gives you priority to enter the mazes. Think Fast Pass at Disneyland, but for Halloween mazes.

They have separate lines for Fast Fright Pass holders and when I was there it appeared that those lines would take you 20 minutes tops to get to the front of the maze. If you really want to hit every maze this is truthfully your best option.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there aren’t many “street” performers. Meaning, most of the monsters are in the mazes. Don’t expect to be scared much outside of the mazes.  I will say that they do try in this regard, but it’s still pretty weak when you compare it to the all-time scare park, Knott's Scary Farm. In reality though, most other places can’t compare to the street performers at Knott’s.

Aside from the mazes you could check out the Freak Show. This does cost extra, which is why I’ve avoided it the 2 times I have gone, although I do hear it’s not that bad. So again, if you feel the need for a little freak you can spend a little extra and enjoy a show.  I guess I also don’t worry too much about this aspect of Dark Harbor because of how little time is allotted to get through all of the mazes, especially with how long the lines are. It really does present a quandary.

I find the allotted hours of 8:00p.m. – 12:00a.m. to get through all of the mazes is a bit of an insult when you count how many people arrive for this event. I would give it the limited time in its early years, but as its popularity has grown so too should its hours of operation. I realize that I might be being too harsh, but these are my opinions and they are coming from someone who makes a point of enjoying these hauntful events every October.

I would say that it is still fun to visit, just not on my top priority list if there are other options.

General Admission: Starts at $24

VIP Admission – For Guests 21 and older: $94

Fast Fright Pass: About an additional $29 on top of your admission ticket

Parking - General: $20 - VIP $30