It’s been a few years… a few long years… but the Queen Mary is ready to host Halloween again in style. After taking a break and hosting Shaqtoberfest for the last two years, the time is now right for Dark Harbor to rise from its grave.
Up until now, the most recent team running Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor has been Epic Entertainment Group, and they did an awesome job turning it into a heavily-character-focused celebration of Halloween and Long Beach. But now, 13th Door is taking a stab at running the old ship and they’ve spent a lot of effort trying to acknowledge the past teams and everything that made it successful.
They’ve broken down what people loved about it and what it means to them. What characters are their favorites, which ones needed work, and what you would be disappointed to not have. 
They made it very clear: the swings are back, the exact same ones. So you can rest easy knowing they’re not going away.
In addition to confirming the return of Lullaby, they also talked about a custom-made carousel they’re making themed to Scary Mary. This is a serious investment.
And, of course, the Ringmaster is returning, with a maze called Big Top Terror. Over the last four years, pretty much all the old mazes have been lost to time. The current team is taking the approach of moving the stories forward, realizing technology has also improved since 2019.
And yes, the Captain is back as well. He reminisced about his favorite memories, with the top one being the opening ceremony. But the low point was giving out all the bar tokens each night. 
The tokens remain because it’s a fun experience you can’t find anywhere else. This year, there will be four of them—some in mazes and others on the ship. However, their exact locations are not provided. Distribution has been altered due to demand affecting interactions with characters. Now, they will be given away for free during the maiden voyage’s opening ceremony. If you want one after that, you can purchase them from a new character called Mable, the lady Psychic.
The fact the original actors for the Ringmaster and Captain returned for their iconic banter is the most reassuring part of this. 
They also discussed Lullaby’s features will not include walking through the pool this year, but it will be within view of the guests as you walk by. The falling bridge in the engine room will be working, however.
Looney, of the Queen Mary Dark Harbor Sliders made an appearance to talk about how they’re practicing for their return, as well, with two shows a night. You can find out more information about the slider team on their Instagram page here.
B340 is returning, but instead of being a cerebral maze about a man trapped in a stateroom, it’s now a follow-up story, titled B340 Breakout, following the character as he’s on shore brought into a seaport prison from which he escapes. 
They also confirmed the Dia De Los Muertos nights will be returning, allowing for the sugar skull makeup on November 1st and 2nd. These are the small details that make me feel hopeful. 
13th Door runs a lot of events around the country, so this isn’t a new task for them; and many of them are in the LA area, like Delusion, Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns, and the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride.
There will be one new character introduced, mentioned by name only. A surgeon, Dr. Edwin Masters will make his debut this fall in a maze called Infirmary. It will take place over 3 decks on the ship.
While most of the props were gone, they eventually did find Feast, the kitchen maze, almost fully intact. But, and they’re not wrong, the chef character never fully resonated as much as the other characters did. So they’re using this as a chance to make Feast into a prequel of the original story, plotting the chef’s transition into a cannibalistic glutton.
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor: The Spirits Rise will run select nights from Sept. 20 through Nov. 2. Pre-sale tickets and more information are available at https://darkharborhalloween.com.
