The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor returned to Midsummer Scream this year for a Sunday afternoon panel unveiling their plans for the haunt’s 10th anniversary, including an all-new maze.
Dark Harbor’s very own Captain moderated the panel, which featured some of the folks behind the annual haunt including Steve Sheldon, Charity Hill, and Adam Conger from Epic Entertainment Group, David F. Wally from Mycotoo, and Jon Cooke from Plague Productions. In classic Captain form, the panel was just as much a roast of the people on stage as it was a presentation of things to come, which made for an extremely entertaining hour celebrating the haunt’s 10th anniversary. Entertainment aside we did learn a thing or two not only about some of the folks behind this famous haunt, but also about their plans for their upcoming 10th anniversary.
This Year You’ll Get To Explore Parts of the Ship Previously Off-Limits to the Haunt
Two areas of the ship that were previously off-limits are being opened up to guests during Dark Harbor’s 10th anniversary. Those familiar with the ship will be most excited about a new engine room path in Feast that will take them through door 13, believed to be the most haunted spot in the ship. This of course due to the fact that in 1967 a crew member was crushed to death by the door.
This tragic event would inspire the Dark Harbor character Half Hatch Henry, who guests will come face-to-face with at this newly opened location.
The second location being opened for the haunt’s 10th anniversary is an extremely spooky location six floors below sea level, and yet, it won’t be part of a maze. Instead, the location will be home to Dark Harbor’s most exclusive, secret bar to date. Guests who can locate the wooden token and location will gain access to a glass elevator that will take them six fathoms down to a super-secret bar in the ship’s boiler room.
This Year’s Event Will Feature 13 Bars
Speaking of secret bars, The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor will feature 13 bars this Halloween season with two maze bars, the Seance Lounge, and Broken Compass, four secret bars, The Lineup, Sideshow, Fathom 6, and Overboard, and seven themed bars including Gallows, The Last Drop Pub, Barrel Room, Rusty Nail, Carousel Bar, Crime Scene, and the RIP Lounge.
With the most bars at the event to date, The Captain joked during the panel that soon the event will have “secret bars within secret bars.”
All-New Maze Rogue Will Take the Place of Deadrise in 2019
During the Midsummer Scream presentation, Adam Conger announced that Deadrise would not be a part of Dark Harbor in 2019 to make way for an all-new maze called Rogue. Dark Harbor’s newest maze will take guests through the frightening voyage that nearly changed history. During a stormy December crossing from New York to Scotland during World War II, the famed ocean liner, then in military service as the Grey Ghost was broadsided by a 95-foot wall of blackness that would later be classified by NOAA as a “rogue wave.” The monstrous force of nature nearly capsized the vessel, which at the time was holding 16,000 allied troops.
Dark Harbor attendees will roll into the tide of this historic moment by becoming fully immersed in the panic and chaos of Rogue’s impact with deafening water effects, complete darkness, floor to ceiling seafoam, and even experience the feeling of being capsized. All those aboard will hold on to dear life, as the Grey Ghost attempts to keep herself afloat.
The maze is being built entirely in a dome, something Jon Cooke shared he’s personally never seen done before and explained the experience like this:
“As you’re walking through this experience…the whole ship is going to be doing kind of a twisting as it’s turning over…As you’re walking through it and you’re looking out the windows, you’re going to see the waves coming and it’s going to be matched with 4D effects to make it feel like the whole ship is moving. You’re going to have the water coming in, but what’s cool is you’re going to be on the ship while it starts to take that turn and all of the scenes are going to continue to twist until it’s completely upside down.”
Rogue will also be the first Dark Harbor maze where all of the “monsters” are actually alive and are made up of individuals who are dying or suffering from severe injuries.
Existing Mazes Will Be Reworked and Improved for 2019
In addition to the expansion of Feast, which will take you deeper into the ship and through door 13, a number of other returning mazes are seeing modifications for the haunt’s 10th anniversary.
Circus
Circus has been revamped to have a new layout and new path with all-new scares and interactive elements as well as more secret sections of the maze than ever before.
Lullaby
For 2019 Lullaby is receiving a huge makeover that will take the maze in an all-new direction. The maze opens with guests taking part in a seance in a room where Scary Mary is said to haunt before venturing deeper into the ship where Scary Mary will lead you to the pool where the young spirit is believed to have tragically lost her life, but unlike in years past where you venture over the pool guests will actually be making their way through the pool where Mary brings her victims to drown. The maze will continue to have the playful feel fans are accustomed to, but these new elements will take things in a much darker direction.
With remaining mazes Intrepid and B340 seeing significant overhauls in recent years the focus for 2019 is less on revamping the experience so much as fine-tuning and enhancing the scares and elements fans have come to love.
In all, Dark Harbor will feature six mazes, 13 bars, fire shows, aerialists, sliders, Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch Sinister Swings, Painc! 4-D Experience, zombie DJs, Barrel Room Tastings, R.I.P. Lounge, and much more for its 10th year.
2019 will also mark the return of LGBTQ Night, which will take place on Sunday, October 27 with more details to be released in the near future.
The annual haunt opens its gates on September 26 and continues to scare those who dare on select nights through November 2. General admission ticket prices start at just $20 online, with Fast Fright, Evil Express, RIP Lounge Passes, Creepy Cabanas and lodging packages available. Dark Harbor is offering a 40% discount on general admission for select nights until August 5 at 11:59 pm with promo code SCREAM. For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit www.queenmary.com/dark-harbor.
