We attended the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Journey. This Halloween celebration options uncommon character greetings, particular leisure, spooky walk-throughs & deal with trails, decrease wait occasions for common rides, and extra. Our recap shares celebration images, what we completed, and ideas on whether or not it’s definitely worth the cash.
For these of you who’re unfamiliar with the occasion, take a look at our Final Information to Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Get together. In case you’re planning on attending the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash (OBB) and have by no means executed it, that’s a very good place to begin. If in case you have already executed OBB since 2021, it’s about 90% the identical. There are main variations with Oogie Boogie Bash as in comparison with 2019, however sadly, they’re virtually all downgrades.
We had hoped that Disneyland would increase and enhance Oogie Boogie Bash in subsequent years after it launched, particularly given the native fanbase, however that actually hasn’t been the case. We coated this all at size in Why You Ought to Skip the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash Disney Halloween Get together, which makes the case in opposition to attending the occasion. Though that’s principally aimed toward locals and repeat guests, a few of the factors apply to first-timers, too.
As all the time, it’s price level out you can have a variety of enjoyable for “free” throughout Halloween Time at Disneyland. Not like Walt Disney World, the bottom expertise throughout Halloween is implausible within the California parks. Attraction overlays, nice menu updates, and decorations galore! See our Final Information to Halloween 2025 at Disneyland for every little thing you’ll want to know.
If I needed to resolve between a ticket to Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Get together or one of many $104 days at Disneyland in the course of the spook season, I’d–definitely–select the latter. You get longer hours, a ton of included choices, decrease costs, and the extra iconic park.
I’m not attempting to start out this out as a downer; Oogie Boogie Bash is a variety of enjoyable as a particular occasion. It’s simply that the hype for this tough ticket Halloween celebration has gotten a bit uncontrolled, fueled by the FOMO of tickets promoting out so quick. And the bottom expertise throughout Halloween Time at Disneyland is phenomenal, which shouldn’t be neglected. (That is doubly true in case you’re a Walt Disney World common who has by no means executed Halloween at Disneyland.)
As has occurred with Disneyland Resort’s Halloween Get together for the final decade, the whole season of Oogie Boogie Bash is already offered out. It’s beginning to promote out a bit slower than the previous few years, however that’s in all probability simply as a lot as a result of elevated provide. Oogie Boogie Bash used to start out in mid-September, and now it begins virtually a full month sooner than it did in 2019.
Along with that, the month-long closure of Radiator Springs Racers doubtless put a damper on ticket gross sales for the primary month-plus of the occasion this yr, particularly amongst followers who’re going primarily for rides. Regardless, there has by no means been a single Oogie Boogie Bash date that didn’t promote out, and that’s true once more in 2025. Nevertheless it seems we’re nearer to ~2019 regular when it comes to ticket gross sales.
From a sensible perspective, this evaluation/recap thus isn’t notably helpful at this level except you’re already trying ahead to the 2026 Oogie Boogie Bash or have tickets in hand and need fast suggestions for this yr. Accordingly, we’re sharing this report with these ‘angles’ in thoughts.
We began our afternoon at Disneyland Resort by parking on the Toy Story Lot in mid-afternoon. Site visitors was unhealthy, so we arrived later than we’d hoped, and contours for the buses have been lengthy, so we walked to the Esplanade versus taking the shuttle.
There we have been greeted by a protracted line for the safety checkpoint. A bit past the scope of this publish, however that occurs with elevated frequency this time of yr, and is greater than slightly irritating–particularly as in comparison with the method at Walt Disney World. Safety at Disneyland is extremely inconsistent and inefficient, making a horrible first impression and creating congestion outdoors the checkpoint (which I’d assume poses its personal danger). It’s past time for Disneyland to pull its safety screening out of the Nineteen Nineties, however I digress.
Oogie Boogie Bash attendees can enter Disney California Journey starting at 3 pm. Usually, we’d goal to be inside at 2 pm or so, avoiding the crush of the crowds on the turnstiles. Our daughter, Megatron, loves doing Mickey’s Trick & Deal with Dance Get together; that was a part of Oogie Boogie Bash, however is now included with common admission. It’s our #1 attraction at DCA in the course of the Halloween season!
In case you can, we’d advocate attending to DCA early and checking in between Avengers Campus and Automobiles Land. It was fairly chaotic on the entrance of the park and took us some time to get by the turnstiles and acquire our wristbands.
As soon as inside DCA, it was roughly easy crusing after that. Actually no complaints by any means about the remainder of the evening from an operational or logistical perspective.
We began by heading to San Fransokyo for dinner and bread pudding. We nonetheless had time throughout mix-in, and all the time choose to eat dinner throughout this window. I’d’ve most popular Award Wieners, however I used to be outvoted.
Usually, we might’ve used the final ~half-hour of this time to line up for our first character meet & greet. “Technical difficulties” prevented this, and as a substitute, a detour to the Child Care Heart was so as. In any other case, we might’ve began with the Sanderson Sisters.
Following this, we made a rapid move by Pixar Pier for the lone new Villains Deal with Path of the evening: Syndrome.
Right here’s Disneyland’s description of the addition: “Syndrome shares his tactful plans and snarky quips as you scoop up treats being handed out by a pleasant Disneyland solid member.”
Whether or not you’re his primary fan or an final hero seeking to foil his depraved plans, you’ll be able to spot Syndrome at his personal devoted Oogie Boogie Bash deal with path close to the Pixar Pier Band Shell. Cease by for an excellent time crammed with sights and sweets, however watch out of probably nefarious exercise from this fierce villain.”
Listed below are some images I took of Syndrome throughout our two passes of the Villains Deal with Path:
Syndrome replaces Sid from Toy Story in the identical location. This got here as considerably of a shock to us, as Sid has gotten more and more common through the years, regardless of being one of many OG OBB villains from 2019.
Sid was glorious; Syndrome is extra of a blended bag. The performer right here does an ideal job of heckling the viewers and posing for selfies as individuals move, however there’s simply one thing about this that’s missing as in comparison with Sid. I don’t know–possibly that’s simply me, as a a lot greater fan of Toy Story than the Incredibles.
Because the one new factor, Syndrome is hottest villain on the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash, with lengthy traces all through the night. Going in the course of the parade or in direction of the tip of the evening will certainly be the perfect wager. We’d not advocate going on the very starting of Oogie Boogie Bash.
So far, the wait was ~quarter-hour with the road all the way in which again to Paradise Backyard Grill initially of OBB. In the course of the second parade, there was no line by any means and generally gaps with nobody going by his queue.
After our first move by Syndrome, we knocked out a number of character encounters by Automobiles Land and Buena Vista Avenue all in fast succession.
Nobody had greater than a 5 minute wait, and getting this executed whereas the solar was nonetheless out proved smart, because the lighting in our evening images from the character encounters rendered a couple of unusable.
My solely remorse right here was not doubling again to satisfy Cheshire Cat. We did get Hans from Frozen, who our daughter–a giant Frozen fan–had zero curiosity in assembly. Though she likes princesses, she’s afraid of male face characters; right here’s hoping she retains this up by highschool!
Roughly half-hour upfront, we grabbed spots for Frightfully Enjoyable Parade in Carthay Circle.
There doubtless would’ve been open viewing areas if we wandered again to Paradise Backyard the place the parade steps off, however I wished images with a DCA icon within the background.
Your best option would’ve been straight in entrance of the Little Mermaid darkish trip dealing with no matter they’re calling the Enjoyable Wheel lately. Sadly, massive swaths of the parade route are actually deserved for the dessert celebration/eating bundle, and there’s no manner on earth we’re shopping for that.
Listed below are some new images from the Frightfully Enjoyable Parade:
The lighting alongside the leisure hall is much better. The entire pictures listed below are significantly color-corrected, in order that’s one thing to bear in mind in case you’re selecting a spot. One other different can be deeper into Hollywood Land for extra even lighting.
With that mentioned, even the iPhone is fairly succesful at getting the white stability proper and dealing with low gentle (it’s higher with video than images–be sure to flip off lengthy publicity mode for the latter, because the parade is transferring).
Frightfully Enjoyable Parade is a must-see, however we’d warning in opposition to “over-investing” in a viewing spot for it. This isn’t nearly as good as Mickey’s Boo to You Parade at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together (MNSSHP) and it’s about half the size. Frightfully Enjoyable positively has its moments and we actually take pleasure in it, however staking out a spot shouldn’t come on the expense of the Villains Deal with Trails or anything.
For the Sanderson Sisters, we type of “cheated” on our quest to conducting every little thing by taking a divide and conquer strategy.
Whereas I waited for Frightfully Enjoyable, Sarah and Megatron went to go meet Daisy, Clarabelle & Minnie Mouse because the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. Our thought course of right here was that if we waited too lengthy, Megatron can be asleep in her stroller and the picture wouldn’t be worthwhile.
Because it turned out, the picture wasn’t worthwhile, even together with her awake. Solely one of many Sanderson Sisters plus brutal lighting plus some questionable digicam settings. Ah nicely, blame it on Disney switching to the Pepsi of PhotoPass pictures!
Instantly after Frightfully Enjoyable Parade, we booked it to the meet & greet location for the Kingdom Hearts characters.
This was positively the proper play, because the entrance to that is alongside the parade route and blocked by that in Frightfully Enjoyable. Had we been a bit sooner, we may’ve been among the many first visitors in line and waited ~5 minutes.
Because it stands, we waited roughly quarter-hour. It additionally labored out completely since Megatron is a giant fan of Mickey & Pals, and bought to see a number of characters coming and going.
The remainder of the night was pretty uneventful.
We continued over to Grizzly Peak to satisfy characters from Hercules. By the point it was our flip, Ache and Panic have been up. We have been initially slightly frightened that Megatron could be scared of those little gremlin-like fellas, however she discovered them humorous and was very drawn to them.
Out of all of the villains, solely Hans was intimidating. Guess he’s the darkish horse as essentially the most devious and evil of the bunch.
From that, it was time to knock out the Villains Deal with Trails.
Nothing actually had a lot of a wait at this level; simply nevertheless lengthy it took to stroll by the road and acquire sweet.
Megatron was awake for the beginning of those, so we front-loaded with characters that struck us as much less devious and she or he skipped a pair. (I don’t assume she would’ve comprehended what Decide Doom was as much as, however she didn’t undergo his path or Hades since they’re each male face characters with foreboding lighting and results. Most likely would’ve been tremendous with each, however not definitely worth the “danger” earlier than bedtime.)
Listed below are extra Villains Deal with Path images:
It’s laborious to decide on a favourite amongst these, as all of them have been implausible. Though Frightfully Enjoyable Parade is the singular piece of leisure, the Villains Deal with Trails are collectively what defines Oogie Boogie Bash and makes it a very particular occasion.
Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco (the music makes this second to none) and Decide Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (extremely set design and character) positively prime my private checklist. The performer of Maleficent can also be pitch-perfect within the function; I’m glad to see her return. Hades can also be a fan-favorite.
I may take or go away Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Yokai; hopefully they’re changed in 2026. And actually, I wouldn’t miss Oogie Boogie, both; however it’s his occasion so I doubt he’s going wherever.
We don’t do rides throughout Oogie Boogie Bash, so I assume technically we didn’t do every little thing.
However after I say “every little thing,” what I actually imply is leisure and choices which might be distinctive to the Halloween celebration. We did all of that, and pretty simply regardless of some slowdowns. When it’s been simply us as a pair previously, we knocked out every little thing at OBB with even larger velocity. It is a fairly simple occasion, not like MNSSHP.
With that mentioned, if we did wish to do rides, we may’ve had a discipline day. Monsters After Darkish appeared like a walk-on, as did Internet Slingers and every little thing in Automobiles Land (minus the closed Radiator Springs Racers). This 20 minute posted wait was the longest I noticed, and it was the tower’s foyer was empty, in order that was clearly inflated.
We ended the evening by heading to Grizzly Peak to revisit the “Villains Grove” makeover of Redwood Creek Problem Path.
For this overlay, Redwood Creek is reworked with lighting, projections, sounds, and numerous particular results to create an evocative, haunted dreamscape.
It’s type of just like the Enchanted Forest in Frozen II, however mildly creepy slightly than majestic. Like strolling by a haunted forest, however not the inhabitants don’t have any sinister intentions or ill-will.
It’s troublesome to get good images of the results in Villains Grove, however you’re principally immersed in them.
It’s moody and enjoyable, I assume, however that is one other factor I may take or go away at this level. In the event that they introduced this was going away subsequent yr, I’d be completely tremendous with that–particularly since Redwood Creek Problem Path is one in all our favourite locations within the park, and Villains Grove necessitates an annual closure late every summer season to put in infrastructure.
I used to be stunned that there was no line to enter Villains Grove. It’s often lengthy on the earlier Oogie Boogie Bash nights since sundown is later so there’s much less time to run the expertise. Possibly different visitors share my “take it or go away it?” angle. Or maybe we simply bought fortunate with timing.
Throughout from that is the Grizzly River Run present store, the place you’ll be able to simply buy occasion merchandise. Listed below are images of that:
Is the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash definitely worth the cash?
It virtually feels foolish to proceed addressing this query, provided that Disneyland Resort’s Halloween Events have offered out each single evening for so long as I can keep in mind–no less than the final 10 years, relationship again to when the occasion was Mickey’s Halloween Get together at Disneyland. Even perhaps longer than that.
Worth is all a matter of perspective. If in case you have monetary means and received’t really feel the sting of the ticket price, or simply actually love Halloween and wish to splurge on Oogie Boogie Bash, go for it. If the occasion is just not a splurge for you, it’s unlikely that you simply’ll remorse it.
I’ve to confess that yearly earlier than the occasion, I grouse concerning the lack of modifications and the way it’s gotten stale. And it’s true–not a lot is completely different between the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash and the primary one which was held post-reopening. To the extent that there are modifications they’re, with out exception downgrades.
Nonetheless, I come at that whereas sporting my “Blogger Hat,” for lack of a greater time period. Once I’m truly on the occasion with Megatron and Sarah, we all the time have an absolute blast. Positive, I want there have been extra modifications and new issues to expertise, however Oogie Boogie Bash is one thing we pay to do yearly for private enjoyment, not simply “for the sake of analysis.” (And in reality, I didn’t write a report about it final yr, and virtually skipped doing one this yr till we bought a couple of reader requests.)
The parade, interactive deal with trails, meet & greets, and environment are all prime notch. Disneyland places a variety of effort into making the occasion supply ample issues to do and worth for cash, and the leisure staff does an ideal job with that.
Operationally, Oogie Boogie Bash can also be typically an ideal occasion.
To the extent there was friction, it was all with every day operations–parking, shuttles, safety, and mix-in entry. As soon as OBB truly began, it was easy crusing. My solely actual criticism is that an excessive amount of of the parade route for Frightfully Enjoyable is reserved for dessert events and eating packages, however visitors may “remedy” that by merely not buying these. There’s continued demand, so that they exist.
One factor we actually admire about Oogie Boogie Bash is that nothing consumes an inordinate quantity of our time. At different Halloween events, there’s all the time a uncommon character meet and greet or two with multi-hour wait occasions. These are often a non-starter for us, since a few hours is sort of half the occasion.
Having a variety of characters and making the Villains Deal with Path encounters actually helps with crowd move, and permits you to accomplish loads with out devoting an enormous chunk of time to anyone factor. Our longest “wait” was tenting out for the parade and assembly the Sanderson Sisters, and even these weren’t that unhealthy.
Total, we as soon as once more had a very spooktacular night on the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Get together. We spent $278 for this, and walked away feeling absolutely happy regardless of the excessive value. Possibly in two years it’ll be a unique story when we have to buy a trio of tickets (just below the wire with Megatron’s birthday not being till later in spook season), however for now, it’s a must-do every year.
With that mentioned, there’s positively room for enchancment. For the cash, it’d be good if the occasion had an actual stage present or one other centerpiece leisure providing past Frightfully Enjoyable Parade. World of Coloration – Villainous wasn’t our favourite incarnation of that lagoon present, however it was one thing and would assist fill that void. That may additionally deliver it extra on par with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together, which is the gold normal for Disney spook season occasions.
The totality of every little thing makes Oogie Boogie Bash a winner for us, and one thing we’ll positively do once more subsequent yr. We’re already trying ahead to what Disneyland does with Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Get together in 2026, and are hopeful they’ve a larger incentive to enhance the occasion since tickets offered slower this yr!
In case you’re heading to Disneyland for Halloween Time, we’ve got tons of posts that can assist you plan, together with our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Disneyland Tickets, a have a look at Disneyland Space Lodge Evaluations & Rankings, our Distinctive Packing Record for Disney Journeys, an index of our Disneyland Resort Restaurant Evaluations, and plenty of different issues in our complete Disneyland Journey Planning Information!
YOUR THOUGHTS
In case you’ve attended the 2025 Oogie Boogie Bash — A Disney Halloween Get together, do you disagree with my evaluation? Do you may have tickets for the particular occasion this yr? What are you most enthusiastic about seeing or doing? In case you’re a Walt Disney World fan, is there something right here you hope makes its method to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Get together? Any questions on technique, suggestions, or anything? Listening to from you is half the enjoyable, so please share your ideas on these questions, or anything, within the feedback!
