Halloween time at Disneyland is one of the best times to visit the theme park, and while there are plenty of activities and treats to eat during normal park hours, the biggest draw of the season is the after-hours Oogie Boogie Bash. The themed event began in 2019, with the promise of providing guests a more “villainous” evening than the previous Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland. While I missed the first year, I have been attending the event for the last four years, and as fun as it can be, it’s time Disneyland made one big change to the party to keep it fresh.
Oogie Boogie Bash Desperately Needs New Characters To Meet
One of the biggest upgrades Oogie Boogie Bash made from its predecessor was the introduction of rare villains and other characters from a wide variety of Disney animated movies and shows. The first year I attended, the event was flooded with characters, including rare characters, including Robin Hood and Mickey and Minnie in brand-new costumes. They followed it up the year after with zombie Captain America and Bruno, and last year, Toy Story’s Lotso was added to the lineup.
Unfortunately, this year, Disney really phoned it in when it came to the meet and greet portion of the event. Instead of unveiling new characters, Lotso, Bruno and Kingdom Hearts Mickey and Friends reappeared at the event. In addition, several Pixar pals that debuted during Disneyland’s Pixar Fest this summer were also featured at the party. While this is great for fans who didn’t make it to the theme park for the celebration, it was a real bummer for locals like myself who had already seen those characters a handful of times.
Judging by the short lines for most of these characters, I’m not the only one who was disappointed with the lack of new characters at this year's event. This is the third year Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Clarabelle Cow have dressed up as Hocus Pocus characters, and while their line used to be hours long, it was far shorter this year. The same is true for Bruno, whom I waited five minutes for, having missed him during previous parties.
But The Whole Party Also Needs A Much-Needed Refresh
It’s not just the lack of new characters to meet that is getting stale, but the entire party as a whole. The themed and immersive treat trails used to be one of the most exciting things about the party, but even those are starting to get repetitive. While Disney added two new themed trails featuring two new villains to this year's lineup, it wasn’t enough to change to warrant the expensive ticket price.
Don’t even get me started on the nighttime entertainment. The light projection area Villains’ Grove continues to boast a long line, but they haven’t updated the area since it debuted in 2019, so there’s no real need to revisit it once you’ve done it once.
The Frightfully Fun Parade dates back to Mickey’s Halloween Party times and hasn’t had a major overhaul in years. While small changes have been made, the parade doesn’t really fit the vibe of the Oogie Boogie Bash vibe and desperately needs an update.
Even the Halloween-themed foods were lacking this year, with only a handful of party-exclusive items available. Even those were hard to get to, with most restaurants closing an hour or two before the end of the event.
I understand that attending Oogie Boogie Bash yearly is a privilege and not something many Disneyland guests get to do, but it is weird that the Mouse House isn’t trying to make it a new event every year to attract repeat visitors. After all, Universal Studios creates new haunted houses every year during its Halloween event. Is it really too much to ask Disney to do the same?
