Okay... so here's a brief review before I pass out for the night (or I should say morning as it's 4am).
Just kidding.. I totally passed out before finishing this.
I didn't have to enter through the main entrance/security queue since we had a check-in table for us LAHH people, so we entered a gate between the general guest queue & the exterior port-a-potty spot. Since i already had my "Evil Express" ticket, they ran over & got my wristband for me (everyone else got the regular "Fright Express Pass", i didnt feel like downgrading & trying to get a refund).
Ah yes, that's the other thing.. Dark Harbor doesn't have actual bathrooms, except for the ones on the ship (which i forgot to take a look at). They don't even have the fancy bathroom trailers like HHN gets for Curious George. So terrible.
2 of the 5 houses opened at 7pm ("Infirmary" & "Feast"), honestly even without it fully staffed, these houses kept me on edge because of how creepy as hell the bowels of the ship are!
I wandered around the "festival/midway grounds" getting pics of all the food & alcohol stands (
Future post!!). Then queued up for "Lullaby" since it was almost 8pm. (Which is also the same time as the "Opening Scaremony", but i couldn't be bothered. I'll watch it on youtube). Lullaby wasn't fully staffed yet, but it was still creepy! Minor technical issues, but quickly resolved in time for my next trip through.
Then I hit "Big Top Terror", it was honestly "meh". I felt like this was the weakest out of the 5. Generic clown circus, sideshow freak, funhouse type & again, not fully staffed. Not even the Ringmaster herself! This one just didn't do it for me.
Lastly i hit up "Outbreak" & i have absolutely no idea what the theme of this house was. It's a bunch of scenes/sets thrown together without any real cohesion. It has a few decent scares though.
After that I did my 2nd run-through of all the houses starting with Big Top, then Lullaby, Infirmary, Feast & Breakout. Definitely better run-throughs the 2nd time around for all.
Gave into the Fried Oreos. By this time, it was already around 10:40pm & i just said screw it, I'll just stay until close. I made a quick trip up to the "Observation Deck" since it was ONLY for Evil Express & VIP. It was a very brief stop up there. One small bar (no idea what the drink offerings were). It was also completely devoid of scareactors doing photo-ops like advertised. Other than the view, don't bother.
I hurried over to the front of the event (aka- Slider Alley) to catch the Slider Show at 11pm since one of my friends is a Slider. It was entertaining, but basic. Six Flags does a better Slider show (you heard me! I said what i said)
i hit up Outbreak for my round 3 run-throughs. Rushed over to Big Top, then Lullaby, followed by Infirmary. I was going to do Feast again, but they closed the line just before midnight!! It was stupid!! (Event closed at 12:30am, they closed the line at 11:55pm it was just going on midnight
)
Noticed they had the Captain & a bunch of other monsters dancing on stage. It was minimally entertaining, but i was too preoccupied with the annoyance of FEAST closing early.
I wandered back over to Lullaby since they were still open & got a 4th run-through of that (by my 2nd trip through the scareactors recognized me so they kept going after me lol). After that I bumped into LAHH people & told them to hurry up before Lullaby closes. I ran over to Big Top Terror & did that as my last house at 12:20am.
Never got around to trying the food, except for the Fried Oreos. Or the overpriced cocktails. Didn't bother with the rides, despite my deep desire to do the Swings, Carousel & Spider!! (They SHOULD be free). I had no desire to pay for the other upcharge stuff like: Axe throwing, Pirate shooting gallery, hookah, etc. Saw the fire/aerialist show in passing.
Overall, I had fun going, but at the same time, i was honestly kinda bored. The event hours are too short & the upcharges for everything else is just a turn-off. The scareactors roam the area, but it still feels kinda "empty". I never got a chance to go to the original Dark Harbor, but with that being said, it definitely felt like it was missing something. The magic of QM just wasn't present for me.
The Evil Express was worth it just for quicker access into the houses, but you could probably get by with the regular Express. If you want to do a single trip through & use the money for the upcharge stuff, that'd probably be fine too. Just still do early entry.
OMG the amount of animatronics from Spirit, Home Depot, Lowes, & Party City... its like every option was purchased! Although, some were kinda cool and/or aggressive! Actually got me a few times.
OMG. SO. MANY. DAMN. STAIRS.
/End longer than expected post. Stay tuned for follow-up posts with photos!