Mike Schnurr
- Oct 30, 2022
- 4 min read

Thirteenth Floor - "Shaqtoberfest"

Updated: Apr 18

LOCATION:  Los Angeles, California, USA

Photo above is property of Thirteenth Floor

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Shaqtoberfest
📅 DATE PLAYED: October 1, 2022
🎬 GENRE: Haunted House Festival
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): N/A
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: N/A
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 2-4 Hrs.
💰 PRICE: Starting at $34.99/ pp
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Public
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: N/A

Video above is property of Thirteenth Floor

👀 THE EXPERIENCE

It’s halloween party time and Shaquille O’Neal has invited everyone in LA to come and join him in the fun at the titular "Shaqtoberfest"! The early hours of this event are family friendly and an experience for all, but after the witching hour, it is time for the spooks and ghouls to come and scare the pants off of you. There are activities for all ages, carnival rides to delight, inflatables to bounce on, alcoholic drinks to consume, and horrific mazes to wander.

"Shaqtoberfest" takes place at the Queen Mary’s Harbor in Long Beach CA. In years past, locals might remember a unique and popular haunt that takes place in such a location. While not as familiar with what the event/haunt used to be, the harbor is now filled with everything one could want for a party.

As you arrive to "Shaqtoberfest", the first thing you are greeted with is a large inflatable of Shaq’s head, followed by a tunnel to transport you into the sets and spooks for the evening. If you arrive early enough, staff will hand you an orange bag in which you can traverse the grounds trick or treating in a family fun atmosphere. The haunted houses are open to go through but instead of being met with frights, the monsters/actors hand out candy to children of all ages. There are also plenty of activities for younger guests to participate in such as an inflatable bounce pad, obstacle courses and a large slide. It stays this family like atmosphere until the witching hour (signs posted around the grounds will indicate the tonal switch).

After the witching hour has started though, the grounds turn into a frightful menagerie of monsters. Four haunted experiences are the star of the attraction. Play carnival games with your life in the Midway of Madness, explore a sunken wreck at Pirates Cove, swim with the fishes in two nautical themed haunts, Deadman’s Wharf and Shipwreck Graveyard. On the other side of the grounds include a maze close to the Queen Mary herself, Lost City Boardwalk, where you are transferred to the heyday of the time the ship set sail and lose yourself in the gangsters and flappers of the 1920’s. No halloween event is complete without a pumpkin patch for the kiddos, in Diesel’s Pumpkin patch, by day is a wonderful fun time for all to walk though but spirits walk there through the night and all bets are off when the witching hour begins.

In addition to the haunts, there are plenty of food stalls and drink stands to purchase your favorite treat from. Add into that a main stage DJ spinning halloween tunes for the evening keeping the party going. There is no shortage of things to do at "Shaqtoberfest"!

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

All of the actors and staff were amazing to be around! They embarrassed the family friendly nature early in the evening and made everyone feel comfortable. Although some costumes might come across as creepy to the younger demographic, the smiles from each and every person shone through
The location and atmosphere was a lot of fun to be around. It is a Halloween party and the activities for all ages made it an inclusive event for all to enjoy. Having the first couple of hours for younger kids to trick or treat was my favorite part of the night. Halloween is a very versatile holiday and this allows everyone to celebrate it in manners that they see fit.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

The mazes are mostly short and sporadically decorated. Parts of the grounds felt immersive in the theme they were trying to set such as the ship graveyard and the pumpkin patch. The other areas of the event though, while effort was made, didn’t live up to the quality that was set.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

This is an all inclusive event for halloween tricks and treats. When you buy your ticket online, it gets you into all of the haunted houses for the evening. It does not include food and drink which is standard for most of these types of events anyway. There are carnival rides set up which if you have not bought the VIP pass is an extra charge to participate in. The venue recommends spending at least 90mins to experience the whole event and that should be plenty of time to check out all Shaq has to offer. Arriving early in the evening allows for plenty of time to grab candy and most of the lines were non-existent until an hour or so before the witching hour. As with most halloween events, one could expect the busiest time to be mid evening (~8-9PM) and with the bars and houses and attractions one could experience, crowd flow is handled fairly well.\

We had a fun time at "Shaqtoberfest". An event that recreated that small town festival feeling in LA. Nothing blew us out of the water during the time we were there but it is halloween fun that can be had by all.

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

Paid Parking Lot or Shuttle, Metal Detector, Live DJ, Food and Drink available for purchase, Family friendly evenings, ADA accessible, Outdoor.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

*** We regret to inform this gexperience is no longer available for booking but check out other games on their website***

BOOK NOW

(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Thirteenth Floor for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.