Disneyland Resort Gears Up for the Return of Halloween and Oogie Boogie Bash This Fall

The Halloween season gets under way at Disneyland Resort on Sept. 2, as announced in a Disney Parks Blog post yesterday. Expect to find spooky treats and surprises throughout the resort this September and October, with seasonal updates coming to Downtown Disney, Disneyland’s three hotels, and both theme parks at Disneyland.

Festivities include the return of Oogie Boogie Bash—A Disney Halloween Party, a park-wide Halloween party that breaks out in Disney California Adventure on 23 different nights between Sept. 6 and Oct. 31. This night-time event requires its own ticket, which will be going on sale for the general public on June 30. Here’s the official site for more information. Tickets cost $129 apiece and grant access into the park starting at 3 p.m., with the party running from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Expect to collect all sorts of candy on various Treat Trails, featuring some of Disney’s most iconic villains, and special meet and greets with Disney characters in costume. Mickey’s Trick and Treat is a live show featuring Mickey and pals celebrating the holiday, the Frightfully Fun Parade is a unique Halloween pageant that can only be experienced during the party, and Villains Grove is an immersive trip through some of Disney’s most haunting environments. I wrote about last year’s Oogie Boogie Bash here for Paste, and 2022’s event seems just as promising. Current Magic Key holders (Disneyland’s version of an annual pass) will be able to buy Oogie Boogie Bash tickets two days early, on June 28, starting no earlier than 9 a.m. PT; meanwhile members of D23, Disney’s fan club, will have exclusive access to a members-only evening that will be happening on Sept. 10, 2022. General admission then goes on sale two days later on June 30.

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Oogie Boogie Bash isn’t the only Halloween highlight at Disneyland Resort, though. Disneyland itself will once again host Haunted Mansion Holiday, the annual seasonal overlay of the Haunted Mansion featuring characters and scenes from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Expect that overlay to start in early September, and it will most likely run through Christmas and into early January, as it typically does. Disneyland will also be home to the Halloween-themed nighttime show Halloween Screams, with lights, projections, and fireworks combining for a holiday celebration that can be enjoyed from several vantage points throughout the park.

In addition to Oogie Boogie Bash, Disney California Adventure will see a handful of rides with holiday tweaks. Cars Land, which is the clear Halloween standout at Disney California Adventure, will once become the temporary home of Mater’s Graveyard JamBOOree and Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween, with the two rides getting a seasonal transformation that include costumes for its vehicles and spooky new music. Guardians of the Galaxy—Mission: Breakout, DCA’s updated version of the Tower of Terror, will once again become Guardians of the Galaxy—Monsters After Dark, with Rocket and Groot squaring off against some cosmic monsters in the Collector’s tower.

If you don’t want to head into the parks, you’ll be able to find seasonal decorations throughout Downtown Disney and the lobbies of the Disneyland Hotel, the Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier Hotel. Downtown Disney will also host Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit, a pumpkin hunt for the whole family that runs from Sept. 9 to Oct. 31.

In addition to Halloween, Disney will also observe Día de los Muertos in both parks. California Adventure’s Paradise Gardens will once again become the site of Plaza de la Familia, which includes live performances of the music from Coco, a collection of art from the movie, and a few limited-time photo opportunities. Meanwhile, Disneyland’s Frontierland will see the return of its own annual Día de los Muertos display, a beautiful assortment of festive decorations and iconography that pay tribute to the Mexican holiday. You’ll be able to find all of this at DCA and Disneyland between Sept. 2 and Nov. 2, 2022.

Finally—and I feel like this goes without saying—but of course there will be all manner of treats, sweets, and limited engagement food items to obsess over throughout the Halloween season. That’s one of the best parts of any Disney Parks celebration, and yeah, my wife and I probably went a little overboard with it all during last year’s Halloween season. Just look at that Minnie Witch Crispy from last year; how could you say no to something so adorable and delicious? We definitely couldn’t. We have some real willpower issues. Just no discipline. It’s tough. I blame our parents. All of ‘em.

If you want to learn more about Disneyland Resorts’ Halloween shindigs, check out that Disney Parks Blog post for photos and additional information.