Shaqtoberfest 2023
Returning for a second year to the notoriously haunted Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, Shaqtoberfest is an immersive Halloween festival featuring haunted trails, live entertainment, themed bars and and carnival rides. Shaqtoberfest took over the space previously occupied by Dark Harbor and is run by 13th Floor Entertainment, the folks that run both LA Haunted Hayride as well as Delusion. Dreadful Danny and I have attended both years of Shaqtoberfest, with the event last year being one of the highlights for us so our expectations were very high. Continue reading to hear if it lived up to it’s inaugural year, or jump to the TLDR for our haunted trail summaries…
When I say we had the time of our lives at 2022’s inaugural Shaqtoberfest, I mean that so genuinely. It was ridiculous, over the top, pure Halloween fun. Our expectations were set high for 2023’s event, but knew there would be changes as we sat in on the 13th Floor panel at Midsummer and knew decisions had been made to make the event a little more spooky and less all ages. We went with a group of friends, some who had been before, and some who had never been to a haunted house in their lives (!!). We arrived and immediately noticed scare actors were more present towards the entrance with an immediate jump scare in our group. They still had an obvious focus on alcohol sales and (sort of) themed bars, which we grabbed drinks from the first bar we came to. One of our favorite things about the event was the live dj and dance area, with scare actors assigned to just being spooky and fun and interacting with the dance floor. This was still present, but it did feel less fun this year, perhaps due to the scare actors trying to crowd control in a pushy way. Overall it felt like the characters and costuming/makeup of the roaming actors were not as good this year, and last year was not great in this area to begin with… The carnival vibes were great, and thankfully they brought back the pumpkin bounce house dance floor as it is a fan favorite in our group. Last year, you were able to buy one-off tickets for the carnival rides which was perfect, unfortunately this year you had to pay a higher price for a pass to all the rides which we didn’t have a desire to ride. Therefore, we did not partake in that aspect of the event.
The point of Shaqtoberfest is not to be scary, imo, but moreso to be a fun Halloween experience. They definitely still nailed that this year, and with the addition of the haunted trail aboard the Queen Mary herself, they dipped a toe into actually being spooky. I really enjoyed the trail on the ship and while not having the most story cohesion out there, it was quite a long trail and played well to the atmosphere. I also really loved the vibe of the Pumpkin Shack because of the music atmosphere and fun theme. Just to really convey to you how un-scary these mazes are, there is an upgrade ticket option which includes a drink at the hidden pirate bar which you have to locate inside of the Pirates Cove trail, one of the haunt actors stopped me to explain where it was because he heard me talking about it and it was a solid 4 minute explanation which means my group was long gone. I walked through the entirety of this by myself with strangers and didn’t get scared, and as one of the least brave people you know…that is saying a lot.
All of that to be said, get the tickets at their cheapest and it is 10/10 worth it to attend. You likely won’t get scared very much but you will laugh and you will have a good time (if not even a GREAT time). I find this to be a perfect event for groups that have both fans of haunts and those that aren’t sold on attending something like HHN or Scary Farm. The ridiculousness of Shaq’s likeness added to Frankenstein or looming above you as a Halloween inflatable is something special to behold. Next year I’d love to see a little more effort put into the roaming scare actors and overall costuming/makeup as well as more clear information on when trails open and close (and why do some close earlier than the event closes?) So yes, the scores are quite low for other haunt events, but when it comes to good Halloween fun with a historically spooky backdrop like the Queen you really cannot miss Shaqtoberfest.
TLDR
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TLDR 〰️
*We were unable to do Deadman’s Wharf as it had an earlier closing time and we missed it by a couple of minutes
Boo’s Review:
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 3
Atmosphere Rating: 3
Vegan Food Rating: NA
Costume & Makeup Rating: 2.5
Scare Actor/Cast Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2
Value for Money Rating: 2.5
Individual Attraction Name: Midway Madness
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 2
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 1.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: .5
Individual Attraction Name: Pirates' Cove
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 1
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1
Individual Attraction Name: Pumpkin Patch
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 2
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 1.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 1.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1
Individual Attraction Name: The Grey Ghost
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1.5
Killer K8’s Review:
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 3
Atmosphere Rating: 3
Vegan Food Rating: NA
Costume & Makeup Rating: 2
Scare Actor/Cast Rating: 2
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2
Value for Money Rating: 2.5
Individual Attraction Name: Midway Madness
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1
Individual Attraction Name: Pirates' Cove
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 2
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: .5
Individual Attraction Name: Pumpkin Patch
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4 (for the music vibes)
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2
Individual Attraction Name: The Grey Ghost
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3.5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2.5
