Long Beach, CA — The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, the Halloween event aboard the retired ocean liner in Long Beach, is open on select nights through Sunday, November 1, 2026, with six haunted mazes, carnival rides, and stage shows. It runs from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until 12:30 a.m. on other nights, and general admission starts at $47.99 with fees.
Last updated October 1, 2026, with my full tour and maze videos, current ticket, add-on, and parking prices, and this year’s parking lots.
Dates and Hours
Dark Harbor’s 13th season runs on these nights:
- September: Fri 18, Sat 19, Fri 25, Sat 26, Sun 27.
- October: Thu 1, Fri 2, Sat 3, Sun 4, Wed 7, Thu 8, Fri 9, Sat 10, Sun 11, Tue 13, Wed 14, Thu 15, Fri 16, Sat 17, Sun 18, Tue 20, Wed 21, Thu 22, Fri 23, Sat 24, Sun 25, Mon 26, Tue 27, Wed 28, Thu 29, Fri 30, Sat 31.
- November: Sun 1.
Hours are 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on all other nights, with 7 p.m. entry for Early Entry and VIP ticket holders. Ride and maze lines close one hour before the event ends, last call at the bars is one hour before close, and there is no re-entry once you leave.
On Thursday, October 8, timed tickets came in 15-minute entry slots from 8 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. Dark Harbor’s ticket page says to reach your parking lot one hour before your entry time. The help center says most guests spend three to four hours at the event.
Tickets and Pricing
Tickets are sold online only, with no walk-up or box-office sales, and prices change by night. General admission, with $8 in fees included, was priced like this on October 1:
- $47.99: October 1, 7, and 14.
- $58.99: October 13 and 26.
- $61.99: October 2, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 21, 27, and 28.
- $66.99: October 3, 9, 16, 22, 23, 25, 29, and 30, and November 1.
- $75.99: the Saturdays of October 10, 17, 24, and 31.
The ticket types, with the price for Thursday, October 1, and then Saturday, October 3:
- General Admission: $47.99 and $66.99. Entry to all six mazes with a standard wait.
- Fast Fright: $69.99 and $94.99. About a third of the General Admission wait at the entrance and at every maze.
- General Admission Early Entry: $57.99 and $76.99. General Admission with entry at 7 p.m.
- Fast Fright Early Entry: $79.99 on October 1, and sold out for October 3.
- Evil Express: $119.99 and $154.99. One front-of-the-line entry at each of the six mazes, plus 7 p.m. entry.
- VIP: $149.99 on October 1, and sold out for October 3. Evil Express access, early entry, the speakeasies, the Lookout Lounge, 13 percent off merchandise, and digital photos.
- RIP Tour: $210.99 on October 1, and sold out for October 3. A guide takes your group straight into each of the six mazes, with early entry, speakeasy access, and admission to Gale’s Requiem and The Summoning of Scary Mary.
A Flexible Arrival ticket costs $5 more and lets you arrive at any time during event hours. There are no refunds, and the event runs rain or shine.
Parking and Getting There
Dark Harbor is at the Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA 90802. That address is for rideshare and drop-off only.
General Parking is off-site in downtown Long Beach, in three lots: Red Lot A at 100 Oceangate, Green Lot B at 300 Oceangate, and Orange Lot C at 101 Magnolia Avenue, which is open on select nights. A pass was $25 on the ticket page for October 8, where Green Lot B was already sold out. Each pass works only at the lot you pick, covers the whole vehicle, and includes a free shuttle to and from the event.
Premium Parking was $69 for October 8. It has a separate entrance at Harbor Plaza and Queens Highway, it is limited, and it is not sold for every night. The ticket page says parking costs more at the gate.
The general lots are about a mile and a half from the ship, and you ride the shuttle unless you buy Premium Parking. I’d add 30 minutes for the shuttle, because there is a line to board going in and another coming back.
Bag Policy and What to Know Before You Go
- Bags: Bags can be no larger than 6 by 6 by 8 inches, about the size of a small clutch, and every bag is inspected. Backpacks and tote bags of any size are not allowed, and there is no bag check. Outside food is not allowed.
- Earplugs: Bring them. The mazes get loud, and several are tight spaces close to the actors.
- Stairs: The mazes on the ship have a lot of stairs. Dark Harbor’s accessibility page lists Shipwrecked, Lullaby, Scary Mary’s Dark Seance, and the Observation Deck as not accessible, and staff at those entrances can arrange an alternate experience.
- Shoes: Wear comfortable closed-toe shoes. Dark Harbor discourages sandals, flip-flops, and high heels.
- Re-entry: Tickets are valid for one entry.
- Age: Dark Harbor is recommended for ages 13 and up. Children under 7 are not allowed in the mazes, and ages 7 to 12 are left to parental discretion. Alcohol requires a 21-and-up ID.
- Photos: No recording devices, flash photography, or flashlights are allowed inside the mazes, including phones, GoPros, and camera glasses. Photos and video are welcome across the festival grounds.
- Weather: Light rain will not close the event. Severe weather can pause it or cancel a night, and ticket holders are emailed rescheduling options.
The Six Mazes
The entrance path after security runs through a graveyard, and I walked all six mazes from there with Spooky Professor for the video at the top of this page.
Shipwrecked: Brace for Impact (new). Shipwrecked is a World War II maze built on the Queen Mary’s real troop-transport service, when the gray-painted liner was nicknamed “the Gray Ghost.” A new icon, The Commander, orders the ship to slice through an enemy submarine, and the drowned sailors come aboard for revenge. It has more technology than any other maze this year, with projection effects and a floor that slides under you at the start to mark the collision.
Lullaby: Teddy’s Revenge (reimagined). Lullaby is Scary Mary’s maze on the ship, set around the first-class swimming pool where she drowned. This year her teddy bear, which drowned with her, comes back possessed, and the maze has a new path and a new finale. It was one of the few mazes open during early entry on my visit.
Infirmary: The Siren’s Song (reimagined). Infirmary runs from the first-class decks down into the ship, following Graceful Gale and the surgeon Dr. Edwin Masters, with a new finale that ties into the Gale’s Requiem add-on.
Voodoo: The Queen’s Curse. The Voodoo Priestess hexes a crew of sailors, takes their ship, and crashes it in Long Beach to raise the Queen Mary’s dead. The maze debuted in 2025, and the area around it sells s’mores, voodoo dogs, and fries.
Big Top Terror: Carnival of Chaos (reimagined). The Ringmaster’s carnival maze adds a faction of punk anarchy clowns this year.
Breakout: Maximum Security. Breakout is the prison maze built around Samuel the Savage, the killer from stateroom B340, and it sits next to the main stage. The Chef from Feast is locked in Cell Block 13 here, because Feast, the cannibal-chef maze, ran for the last time in 2025.
Gale’s Requiem
Gale’s Requiem is a $13 add-on at the exit of Infirmary: a live performance with music and a bar, several flights of stairs down in the belly of the ship. An elevator takes you back up, and you leave through Infirmary, so you see part of that maze a second time. Go for the performance even if you skip the drink.
Shows and Show Times
- Maiden Voyage Launch Party: 8:08 p.m. on the main stage, once a night. It introduces each of the icons and tells the story behind Shipwrecked.
- Slider Shows: 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
- Fire Shows: 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. On my visit, fire performers also took the stage right after the Maiden Voyage.
- The Harbor Awakens: Dark Harbor’s icons lead stiltwalkers, sliders, dancers, and monsters through the event.
- Final Voyage: a Latin music and reggaeton dance party that starts one hour before closing.
Dark Harbor has 13 icons this year, and its producers said at Midsummer Scream that one of them will be killed in front of a live audience during the season.
Add-On Prices
The add-ons are sold on top of admission, and these were the prices on the ticket page for Thursday, October 8:
- Gale’s Requiem: $13.
- Scary Mary’s Dark Seance: $10. Lady Mabel leads a seance to contact Scary Mary, and it includes Fast Fright access to Lullaby afterward.
- Lady Mabel’s Speakeasy Foresight Four Pack: $15 for a group astrology reading and four speakeasy tokens.
- Lady Mabel Combo Pack: $19.99 for the seance and the Foresight Four Pack.
- Unlimited Carnival Ride Pass: $19.99.
- The Lookout Lounge & Tacos: $19.99 for lounge access and three made-to-order tacos.
- Damage Control, a five-minute escape game: $10.
- Big Top Axe Alley: $5.
- S’mores Package: $7.50.
- Digital Photo Album Access: $5.
Lady Mabel’s secret speakeasies have no signs and are not on the map. Entry takes one of her tokens or a VIP badge, and at least four are open each night.
Rides and Games
Dark Harbor’s 2026 lineup added two rides: Alien Abduction, which pins riders to the wall of a spinning chamber, and Blacklight Bumper Cars. The Sinister Swings and the Rampage Double Wheel return. Height requirements run from 42 to 52 inches.
The Ringmaster’s Games of Chance cost extra: $5 for one game, $9.99 for three, and $14.99 for Big Top Axe Alley plus three games.
Food and Drink
Dark Harbor’s food vendors this year are Big Top Smokehouse, Voodoo Fries, Diablo’s Tacos, Savage BBQ, Sinister’s Kettle Corn, Churros & Funnel Cake, Killer Kebabs & Pizza, Dubai Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Monster Ice Cream Shakes, and Sonoran Hot Dogs & Elote. Vendors can vary by night.
The bars include Bizarre Bar, Bayou Barrel Bar, Demon Den, Sinister Sips, Tin Can, and Spirits of Dark Harbor, which is on the ship and included with every ticket. The Observation Deck bar is for Evil Express and VIP guests.
Grey Ghost Galley is a 90-minute all-you-can-eat buffet in the Queen Mary’s Show Room on event nights, and it gets you onto the ship before Dark Harbor’s gates open. It is booked separately and does not include event admission.
The closest comparison I have for the whole night is a state fair crossed with a haunted house event, with rides, shows, fair food, and themed bars between the mazes.
The Ship and Its Icons
The Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed from 1936 to 1967 and has been a floating hotel and attraction in Long Beach since 1971. Its reputation as a haunted ship is older than Dark Harbor.
Scary Mary, the icon of Lullaby, is the ghost of a young girl tied to one of the ship’s reported hauntings. The other long-running icons include the Ringmaster, the Iron Master, and Gale.
Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, which produces Dark Harbor, also ran Dark Masquerade in 2026, an after-hours masquerade and story event on the ship, on February 13 and 14 and again on March 13 and 14.
Other Southern California Halloween Events
The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park comes from the same producer and also runs through November 1. My Los Angeles haunted houses guide has the rest of the area.
Event Details
- Event: The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor 2026, the event’s 13th season.
- Location: The Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, CA 90802.
- Dates: Select nights, September 18 through November 1, 2026.
- Hours: 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. other nights, 7 p.m. for Early Entry and VIP.
- Tickets: Online only, from $47.99 with fees, at darkharborhalloween.com.
- Producer: Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group.
More Dark Harbor Coverage
- The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor will murder one of its 13 icons live (2026 panel)
- The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor 2025 Unveils Haunting Lineup of Special Events
- The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor Launches Dark Masquerade Valentine Event
- Dark Masquerade Returns to the Queen Mary in March Following Strong Valentine’s Debut
This event is part of my Haunted Houses in California 2026 guide.
