Headed to Disneyland for Halloween in 2024? We’ve written down everything you need to know about how to celebrate Halloween Time at Disneyland this year!
We’ve been to Disneyland for Halloween the past six years and love being able to share our favorite attractions, entertainment, treats, and more with you!
Because if you’re going to pay for a Disneyland Halloween trip, you definitely want to get the most out of it! So here are all of your questions about Disneyland Halloween time answered in one place plus a bunch of questions you probably hadn’t even thought about!
2024 Disneyland Halloween Guide
Disney Parks just announced that all sorts of fun is coming back for Disneyland Halloween in 2024! We are visiting during the first week of Halloween Time and can’t wait to check out all the fun!
I’ve put together this Disneyland Halloween 2024 guide to give you an overview of all the Halloween fun that can be had at Disneyland this time of year! If I missed anything and you have questions, feel free to comment on this post and I’ll get you an answer!
Before I get into the details, I thought I’d provide some basic details and answers to questions I know are going to come up!
When is Disneyland Halloween Time in 2024?
Disneyland Halloween Time is the most spooktacular time of year at Disneyland Resort!
It starts a week earlier this year than pervious years and runs from August 23rd through Halloween on October 31st. It’s full of frighteningly fun food, fall decorations, Halloween celebrations, and seasonal ride overlays.
Oogie Boogie Bash runs August 25th through October 31st thought tickets for that have been sold out for months unfortunately!
It’s more treats than tricks and definitely worth a visit to check out both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, the Downtown Disney District, and all the hotels!
How Do I Get Disneyland Halloween Tickets?
To get a Disneyland Halloween ticket, you simply need to buy a regular Disneyland ticket! All of the decorations, Halloween characters, and Halloween entertainment are included with your ticket to the parks! It doesn’t include things like Oogie Boogie bash, food, or additional fee activities but you do get a lot of the Halloween Time fun included!
And right now, you can get a great deal on tickets and hotel packages from my partner Get Away Today! See their latest deal below!
Reservations Required!
Disneyland still requires you to have theme park reservations in addition to a theme park ticket to visit the park during Halloween Time. The only exception to this is for special ticketed events like Oogie Boogie Bash that will get you in with just your separate ticket, no reservation needed.
You still have to choose which park you’ll be in first but if you have a park hopper, you can hop over to the other park beginning at 11AM.
Dia De Los Muertos
While this is a Halloween post, Disneyland does have some really fun things going for Dia de Los Muertos as well and you can learn all about those activities and happenings in this Plaza de La Familia guide.
Things to Do at Disneyland During Halloween Time
Okay so let’s really get started now and talk about all of the fun Halloween activities going on in Disneyland Resort during the Halloween season!
There are so many activities including free and not so free ones, but I’ll detail all of those below!
oogie Boogie Bash (Sold Out)
Oogie Boogie Bash is the Disneyland Halloween Party that’s held on select nights during the season at Disney’s California Adventure Park. It’s a special ticketed event and the best place to meet villains, collect tons of treats, and see the only parade currently going on at Disneyland!
Note!
Oogie Boogie Bash is the only Halloween Party at Disneyland. If you’re looking for Mickey’s Halloween party, that’s officially Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and at Walt Disney World in Florida!
I wrote up an entire post about Oogie Boogie Bash here so I won’t rehash all of the details in this post here! There are fun decorations on Buena Vista Street, immersive trick or treat trails, a Halloween parade, and more!
If you want just basic details – Oogie Boogie Bash parties begin on Sunday, August 25th and run through October 31st.
Tickets are unfortunately sold out this year already and sold out in record time. If you want to get tickets for next year, make sure to get your tickets as soon as they go on sale!
If you’re looking for tickets to the sold out Oogie Boogie Bash, the only way to get tickets is to have someone gift them to you by calling Disney Parks and changing the name on the tickets from their name to yours. Tickets are non-transferrable (to another party date) and non-refundable.
Disneyland Halloween Character Opps
Halloween is one of the only times to see characters dressed up in costume at Disneyland! And they don’t just wear one costume – during our visit I saw characters in all sorts of different costumes!
And because it’s Disneyland, often times you’ll just see characters wandering around interacting with guests. We caught Chip and Dale in their cute skeleton costumes in 2022 just hanging out with people taking pictures. It’s one of the reasons I love Disneyland so much!
You can just walk around see characters everywhere. And each year many of the characters have different Halloween costumes – here was Donald’s costume from this year!
One of the most fun things about Disneyland Halloween Time is being surprised with new characters and costumes!
There are definitely lines for some characters that are always in the same place (like Mater and Lightning McQueen) but then there are also just characters wandering around or that you happen to see that you can grab photos with.
It’s one of the reasons that I love Disneyland character opps so much!
Magic Halloween Photo Opps
In addition to the character opps, there are fun Halloween specific photo opps to take advantage of! Some of them you can just use your phone (like with the great big Mickey Mouse pumpkin).
There was a huge line for the huge Mickey pumpkin both times we went so if you want a picture without a bunch of people (or photographers), just hop in line and grab a picture.
Disney PhotoPass photographers were taking pictures on both sides of the pumpkin this year so the line moves fast.
Money saving Tip!
My recommendation is to buy a Disneyland Lightning Lane Multi Pass for $30+ a day for at least one person because that includes unlimited PhotoPass downloads as well – totally worth it to get the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Disney photos!
Other photos that include a little magic will require having a PhotoPass! This Oogie Boogie photo was from a few years ago but every year they’re adding new and magical photos you can choose from! Part of the fun is finding all of them!
Tip!
If you have a ticket to Oogie Boogie Bash, PhotoPass is included during event hours for free so you’ll be able to take as many FREE PhotoPass photos during the party as you’d like! It won’t include photos you take the rest of the day (you’ll need PhotoPass or a Multi Pass for that) but it will include all special photo opps during the party!
Check Out Disneyland Halloween Decorations
Both Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park are all decked out for the Halloween season! As soon as you walk in the front gates, you’ll know you’re in for a treat!
When does Disneyland decorate for Halloween?
People often ask when does Disneyland decorate for Halloween and it’s typically right before Disneyland Halloween Time begins so if you want to see the Halloween decorations, plan a trip during the official Halloween time dates!
Not all parts of the parts are decorated so make sure to keep an eye out for these main highlights!
Main Street Pumpkin Festival – tons of pumpkins line Main Street, U.S.A. plus lots of lights and other festive decorations!
Halloween Tree – this tree decorated for Halloween can be found right outside of the Golden Horseshoe Saloon in Frontierland. It’s a fun tradition that’s been going on for a long time and a fun one to spot in the middle of an otherwise undecorated portion of the park!
Frontierland is decorated for Día de los Muertos just across the way from the Golden Horseshoe and the colorful decorations are totally worth checking out! It includes Coco decorations as well as Encanto! This is just one of the places you’ll see things themed for the spirit of dia de los muertos, so keep your eyes peeled!
Cars Land Haul-O-Ween – Radiator Springs gets a full makeover for Halloween Time with lights, costumes, and decorations everywhere you look and even a new name – Radiator Screams! I shared lots of photos in this Disneyland Halloween party post if you want to see details! Make sure not to miss the photo opps with the Haul-O-Ween cars too!
Edible Exhibit – make sure to hop into the Grand Californian Hotel to see the edible exhibit at the front of the lobby. I actually had fun going in every day to see what had been done in the past 24 hours!
In the past it was some sort of Oogie Boogie exhibit (you can see those pictures below) but last year it was Coco and who knows what it’s going to be this year!
Disneyland Rides with Halloween Overlays
There are four different Halloween overlays at Disneyland for Halloween Time – two of them are don’t miss attractions and the other two are fun if you want to ride those rides anyway. But regardless, I love that there are even Halloween-themed attractions!
Haunted Mansion Holiday
Haunted Mansion Holiday is the only Halloween ride in Disneyland Park and is Haunted Mansion completely transformed into a Nightmare Before Christmas version of the ride. It’s so well done and a can’t miss. If you like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, you’re going to love this.
Honestly it’s hard to go back to the regular haunted mansion after seeing Jack Skellington as Santa!
Tip!
Rope drop Haunted Mansion for the shortest lines or use Lightning Lane. It had the longest lines of any ride while we were there because everyone is so excited about the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. We only waited for about 10 minutes at rope drop and that was because the ride was down when we originally got there.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark
This is another complete transformation of a ride. Same concept as the regular Guardians of the Galaxy ride (one of my favorites) but the preview movie, storyline, and actual ride music and scenes are totally different.
The nice thing about Monsters After Dark is that it doesn’t completely take away the regular Guardians of the Galaxy Ride (which is one of my favorites), instead the ride switches over starting at 3PM every day. I recommend doing both if you can swing it!
Note!
Monsters After Dark is definitely more scary from a theming standpoint than the regular Guardians ride. The actual drop sequences are in the dark and includes some not so scary but still could be frightening for little one monsters – although I think the scarier part is just being in the dark! I thought it was still fun, but definitely something to know if you’re planning to take younger kids!
For Lightning Lane passes, these are actually treated as two separate rides so you can do Guardians once and Monsters After Dark once as separate rides!
Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween and Mater’s Graveyard JamBOOree
These are both basically just the same rides as they are normally but with more festive Halloween music and decorations! They’re worth riding if you have time but not much different than the regular rides!
If you’re going to skip one, skip Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.
Watch Disneyland Halloween Fireworks and Shows
Disneyland is back in full swing when it comes to Halloween entertainment this year, and I can’t wait to experience all of the fun!
Halloween Screams
This Halloween specific nighttime spectacular will entertain all the boys and ghouls every night during Halloween Time (August 23rd through October 31st) in Disneyland Park while on other side, the parade at Oogie Boogie Bash will keep party goers entertained!
Per the Disney Parks blog, fireworks will be included along with the special effects in the Halloween Screams show on select nights but the Disneyland entertainment schedule has Halloween screams with projections happening at 9:30PM every night.
Just note, Halloween screams is subject to cancellation if there are high winds, rain, etc.
Even More Magic with MagicBand+
This year you can use MagicBand+ to experience fun interactions during the show. I’m not sure what that entails but I’m guessing it means your MagicBand+ will light up during different parts of the show. It sounds like fun to me!
Mickey’s Trick And Treat
This fun show only used to happen during Oogie Boogie Bash but they’ve recently made it so that everyone can join in on the fun!
There are original songs, special effects, Halloween characters, and typically some sort of treats! Kids love it and now that it’s available all day, not just during Oogie Boogie, I definitely recommend it for some cool down indoor entertainment!
There are a bunch of showtimes now every day at 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30PM.
Live Music
The Dapper Dans were back singing Halloween tunes, a Mariachi band was playing near Paradise Garden Grill, the Disneyland Band was playing in Tomorrowland, and so on. You can see the full entertainment schedule here!
Watch the Disneyland Halloween Parades
There’s a mini Mickey and Friends Halloween Cavalcade happening every day at 1:45 and 2:45 PM in Disneyland Park. If you’ve never seen a cavalcade, it’s a couple of characters coming through in a car or other vehicle. It’s short, sweet, and still fun to see!
As for an actual Halloween parade, the only time you can see the actual Halloween parade is during Oogie Boogie Bash. The Frightfully Fun parade runs twice a night and is one of my favorite parades ever with the headless horseman and all sorts of Disney villains!
Go On Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit
This is my favorite secret to getting a Halloween souvenir for a discount WITH an activity included!
I wasn’t able to do this year’s scavenger hunt but you can get a general idea of what it is with my information below from the 2021 Pumpkin pursuit! I double-checked and it’s pretty much the same as last year! This year’s Pluto Pursuit starts on August 30th so I’ll update this post after my visit this year!
At Downtown Disney, you can do a pumpkin scavenger hunt called Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit. Head into World of Disney (or look at many of the other kiosks) and buy a scavenger hunt card (aka game board) for $9.99. It comes with a little double-sided card. One side has the pumpkin locations and the other side has the pumpkin stickers.
Then head out into Downtown Disney to find where all of the pumpkins are hidden! The hunt starts at the fountains by Earl of Sandwich and ends all the way at the other end of Downtown Disney by the Star Wars Trading Post!
Put your stickers on the back and turn the card in for your choice of a fun gourd-ful keepsake that’s typically worth the cost of the hunt. In 2021, they were giving out these cute tumblers ($14) as the prize!
I did this on my own but know my boys would have loved it – they love any Halloween scavenger hunt! And it was definitely an inexpensive souvenir, one that I’ll actually use at home all the time! If you just want the tumblers, you can’t buy them directly but can buy a pumpkin scavenger hunt and turn them in for the tumblers (I asked!).
Tip!
Use mobile checkout at World of Disney to avoid any long lines. Just find the little desk where it says Mobile Checkout and they have a code for you to scan for the hunt. Then all you do is scan the code, pay on your phone, and you’re on your way! Plus, they’re sometimes doing little freebies for using mobile checkout – I got this cute Wish Disney Parks food item for FREE!
Take a Halloween Tour
This year Disneyland has added two brand new Halloween themed tours that are available to book for an extra fee. I haven’t done either of these tours so can’t tell you if they’re worth the cost but here are some basic details about the two options!
- Happiest Haunts Guided Tour – a 2-hour guided tour that includes chilling stories, thrilling experiences, Lightning Lane entry to a specific attraction (my guess is Haunted Mansion), and preferred viewing for Halloween Screams (fireworks show), a photo opp with the hitchhiking ghosts, and a guided tour pin and trading cards! This tour is $120 per guest and does NOT include a ticket into the park.
- Oogie Boogie Bash VIP Tour – if you want to do everything that you can at Oogie Boogie Bash, this tour might be for you! It includes event admission with access to both parks starting at 2:30PM, priority access to the villains grove trail, meet and greets, reserved parade viewing, and more! This one is definitely a pricey option but could be a great way to do it all! Oh and the tour is for up to eight people!
Disneyland Halloween Food
There are about a gazillion different Disneyland Halloween treats you can try, and I tried all of them! And wrote reviews on all of them. This Disneyland Halloween treats post is long, but it has all of the information you could ever need about what to eat during Disneyland Halloween time!
Here are some of our favorites from last year – we ate it all!! After our trip this year, I’ll update this post with some of our newest favorites!
Tip!
Often times the seasonal offerings won’t all be listed on the mobile ordering. If I don’t see it on mobile order, I’ll walk into a restaurant and look for a sign indicating seasonal items!
Make a copycat version!
We have copycat recipes of our favorite Disneyland Halloween treats so if you can’t make it to Disneyland Halloween this year, you can still enjoy some of these Halloween treats at home!
Disneyland Halloween Merchandise
Of course there’s an entire line of new merchandise just for celebrating Disneyland Halloween! With so many items to choose from, it’s pretty hard to know where to start! Simple ideas are cute Halloween ears, a Halloween balloon, or even just a fun collectible Halloween glass or popcorn bucket!
You can also get a lot of the same merchandise directly from ShopDisney! They have a huge Halloween collection that’s full of a lot of the merch from the parks as well as exclusive ShopDisney items! I totally ordered myself a Mickey Mouse Jack-O-Lantern Candy Bowl because they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase home!
Tip!
If you’re a Magic Key holder, make sure to pack extra space to buy souvenirs in the parks! You get merchandise discounts in the parks and Downtown Disney but not if you order things online from ShopDisney at home!
There are always food themed merchandise available as well like this Mickey mummy popcorn bucket, an Oogie Boogie tumbler, and more! I always think they’re super cute but never have room to bring them home unfortunately!
With so many fun seasonal offerings, it’s always fun to pick out one or two to bring home to remember your spooky season at Disneyland, especially if it’s your first time!
Disneyland Halloween Tips
Okay so these are some tips that didn’t necessarily fit into any of the other categories above that I thought would be helpful!
- Be at the parks for rope drop or within a few minutes after rope drop to enjoy the shortest lines and fewest crowds. Because of the new Magic Key program, we saw a lot of additional people in the parks after school hours and in the evenings.
- Do Disneyland Park on days of the Oogie Boogie Bash if you don’t have a party ticket. Disney California Adventure closes at 6PM on those days because of the special events so you don’t want your DCA day cut short by the party!
- Skip the fireworks if you’re worried about crowds. That way by far the most crowded I saw the parks at all. People were lined up for hours beforehand and the entire Main Street U.S.A. was full. Otherwise, there were very few times I felt overcrowded during our visit.
- Head to Haunted Mansion first thing after rope drop if you don’t have Lightning Lane Multi-Pass. It had the longest line of any ride throughout trip and unless you want to wait for 30-45 minutes to ride, rope drop is going to be your best bet!
- Avoid weekends if possible. We went mostly on weekdays but Friday afternoon/evening you could tell that the Magic Key (annual pass) crowd was coming in. I can only imagine what the weekends would feel like.
- Grab a locker to hold extra things like costumes, treats, souvenirs, and extra closing layers. It’s only $7 for a small (one backpack) locker and $10 for a two backpack sized large locker all day. We used one for two of the days we were there and it was SO nice to not have to carry about all of the extras. Lockers in DCA are located right near Market House at the front of the park and lockers in Disneyland are on the right about halfway down Main Street U.S.A., tucked into a back corner.
- Mobile order your food if possible. This is always a great Disneyland tip but I found it really helpful this past week, especially since a lot of the seasonal items were available via mobile order!
- If you’re going in early in the season, prepare for the heat. Halloween costumes and outfits can be cute, but you’ll be miserable if it’s 90 degrees and you’re wearing a Halloween sweater
