Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I believe will add value to my readers.

Visiting Disneyland during normal times of year can feel daunting enough. Throw in the Halloween element and things go to a different level entirely. Second only to the Christmas season, Halloween at the Disneyland Resort has grown in popularity year over year and is showing no signs of slowing down.

We have been to Disneyland during the Halloween season multiple times and can profess to how awesome the entire experience is. From Oogie Boogie Bash at DCA to the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland proper, we’re here for it all.

If you’ve never been to Disneyland during Halloween, this guide is for you. In it, we cover what to expect, dates, special events and more. Let’s get into it.

When Is Halloween Begin At Disneyland?

Halloween season at the Disneyland Resort isn’t just a one day celebration on the holiday itself. Rather, Disneyland celebrates Halloween throughout multiple months.

In years’ past, Disneyland would kick off its Halloween season in early September, usually just after Labor Day. In 2024, however, you’ll have even more time to enjoy the spooky season, as it’ll now begin on August 23, 2024 (Friday).

This expansion of dates is a testament to the growing popularity and demand for more Halloween at the resort. In what was once considered a slow time of year at the parks, it has morphed into the busiest, rivaling even July.

While Disney hasn’t announced it yet, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Oogie Boogie Bash dates also be expanded, as it’s a way for Disney increase profits without the bad press of high price increases.

Is Halloween At Disneyland Crowded?

The Halloween season USED to be a fairly slow time at the Disneyland Resort. It was because of that why that timeframe was our go-to for a relatively crowd-free experience but as stated above, that’s no longer the case.

The Halloween season, largely due to the annual Oogie Boogie Bash event, has experienced massive growth and an increase in popularity over the last few years. This began prior to the covid closure, but has exploded since.

This is why much of the event has migrated over to Disney California Adventure. Disneyland Park typically sees heavier crowds than DCA, Halloween or not, so the shift was one of many tactics taken to boost sagging attendance there.

Generally, the closer to Halloween it gets, the more dense the crowds. If your goal is to enjoy the Halloween season without heavy crowds, I would aim for dates in the first ten days of September, or potentially even weekday dates in the latter half of August.

That period, namely the first ten days of September, has managed to maintain its status as one of the least busiest times of year at the resort. It’s towards the end of the month and into October when crowd levels begin to rise exponentially.

The Oogie Boogie Bash Variable

An important element to the Halloween season that will have an overall effect on crowd patterns at the resort is the mega-popular annual event, “Oogie Boogie Bash”, at Disney California Adventure.

In 2024, the event will likely be held on nights throughout the months of August, September and October, typically with one to three days between each. On nights with a scheduled event, DCA will close early to regular park guests at 6pm.

On days when there’s a scheduled event, the majority of the crowds are across the esplanade at Disneyland, with DCA seeing minimal crowds.

The reason for this is simple. Since DCA closes early on bash nights (6pm), most visitors don’t want to waste a full-day ticket on a partial day at the park. There are no discounts for these days.

Generally, visitors that are in DCA on a bash-night are either locals, Magic Key holders (or both) or have the park hopper option on their ticket. When DCA closes, they just hop over.

The opposite, however, is true for non-bash nights. California Adventure will see higher crowd levels since those guests have a full day available to them.

If you purchased the park hopper option (or are a Magic Key holder) and you’re NOT attending the bash, I recommend beginning your day at DCA to take advantage of the lower crowds.

Around 3pm, when they start letting bash ticket holders in, is when you should consider heading over to Disneyland Park (or back to your hotel for a break).

If you DON’T have the park hopper option, I recommend spending your day at Disneyland to take advantage of the full day. The hours you’d be losing at DCA far outweigh the lower crowd levels.

Normally, I don’t purchase the park hopper option for myself and usually advise against it. One of the exceptions to both of those is during the Halloween season, when your dates coincide with Oogie Boogie Bash events.

Oogie Boogie Bash 2024

A big reason for Disney’s success during Halloween is the annual event, Oogie Boogie Bash. It’s held semi-nightly at DCA throughout the entirety of the season, concluding with the final bash on October 31st.

The bash is five hours long (6pm-11pm) and features multiple exclusive attractions, such as villain treat trails, ‘Villains Grove’, rare character appearances, ‘Fightfully Fun Parade’ and more.

In 2023, tickets to the event sold out in record time. I would expect much of the same for 2024 so if you’re planning to attend, keep your finger on he pulse (be sure to follow our Facebook page as that is where i’ll announce when tickets go on sale)

If you’re expecting a scary Halloween party, this isn’t it. It’s more about the overall vibe and celebration of Halloween rather than the scares. If scares are your thing, drive north to Universal or Knott’s.

Oogie Boogie Bash is appropriate for all ages so if you have littles, this won’t exclude them. Far from it, actually. What kid wouldn’t relish the opportunity to trick or treat with their favorite characters?

I wrote a comprehensive guide detailing our experience at Oogie Boogie Bash 2022. If you’re considering attending (or just mildly curious), be sure to give it a read at the link below.

READ: Oogie Boogie Bash 2024: Ticket Prices, Dates, and What to Expect

Attraction Overlays

Each season, select attractions throughout both parks receive Halloween themed overlays to help celebrate the festivities and make it an even more unique experience for visitors.

These include:

• Haunted Mansion

• Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission BREAKOUT!

• Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree

• Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters

We’ll start with the Halloween flagship attraction; Haunted Mansion. Each year, Disney converts it into, “Haunted Mansion Holiday”, where characters from the beloved film, “Nightmare Before Christmas”, take over.

This has proven to be mega popular over the years and the queue often reflects that. It isn’t uncommon to see seventy to eighty minute wait times and Genie+ return windows being hours out.

If this is something you’d be interested in, I suggest either rope dropping it, making it your first Genie+ selection or try to hitting it just before park closing (if you’d want to avoid the long wait, that is).

At DCA, one of their biggest draws is Mission Breakout’s conversion to, “Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark”. The ride itself is generally the same, but the plot differs from the original.

The plot for ‘Monsters’ takes place after the events of Mission Breakout, when the Guardians successfully escape the Collector's grasp. Groot, however gets left behind and now you’re tasked with sacrificing your safety - or assisting Rocket by distracting the monsters while he saves Groot.

The monsters version of ride is fun. It has its moments and features just as many drops as Mission Breakout, but to me it isn’t as exciting as the original. In this version, you’re without the classic rock songs and instead, are forced to listen to a what I assume to be a generic death metal song that just sounds like noise.

The classic rock songs are a huge part of why I and so many others love that ride so much. I appreciate the original storyline and effort they put into it but for my money, I’ll take Mission Breakout over ‘monsters’ any day.

Halloween Decor & Character Outfits

Throughout the season, both parks at the Disneyland Resort are adorned in orange and black Halloween decor and many characters are dressed in their favorite (not-so) spooky costumes.

The majority of the characters you’ll see adorned in Halloween garb are Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto and Chip n’ Dale. They’ll likely be in their usual spots within Town Square and Buena Vista Street, respectively.

Disneyland Park

The majority of the resort’s decorations will be at Disneyland Park. To set the tone of things to come, above the turnstiles at the entrance are each of the Fab Five represented in pumpkin form.

Once inside the park, you’ll also take notice of the Main Street Train Station adorned in decor and below that, a Halloween version of Floral Mickey usually makes an appearance.

Past the tunnels and into Town Square, each building and lighting fixture is lined with pumpkins, bows, orange and black garland and floral.

In the center of Town Square is the massive and ever popular Mickey pumpkin head photo-op.

*Tip: Most people want their picture taken here at night when everything is lit up. The line will be HUGE, but it goes by fairly quickly. So don’t let it scare you off.

If you’re leaving before nightfall and still want your photo in front of the pumpkin, do it mid-day when the coastal haze has given way to blue skies.

If your aim is to get your photo at night and with as little people around as possible, save it for closing. Main Street stays open one hour past official closing time and this includes the pumpkin!

A lot of people would have headed back to their hotels by this point so your chances of a people-free photo with the pumpkin are decent. Any other time of day/night…forget about it.

As you move past Main Street, Halloween decor begins to wane. With the exception of Frontierland, you won’t much (if any) decor in the themed lands; including and especially Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Frontierland has perhaps the coolest of all the Halloween decor in the park; The Halloween Tree. You can’t miss it. It’s literally the only tree in the land with decoration and lights.

The tree is a tribute to Ray Bradbury and his 1972 novel of the same name. He was a huge proponent of Disney theme parks, including and especially EPCOT Center in Florida.

Also in Frontierland, near the Rancho del Zocalo restaurant, are decorations celebrating Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead). The vibrant colors give life to an otherwise underutilized part of the park.

As stated above, don’t expect decor (or even a mention of Halloween) in Galaxy’s Edge. This is to preserve the commitment to theming as Disney wants you to feel like you’ve actually in the Star Wars universe.

Disney California Adventure

DCA takes a heavy ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ vibe as it pertains to its decor on Buena Vista Street (for obvious reasons). You’ll find a silhouette of Oogie Boogie himself above the entrance on both sides.

Like its big brother park across the esplanade, DCA’s decor come to life in a big way at night. Green and purple lighting effects amplify the Halloween spirit and gives everything an enjoyably spooky vibe.

Just down the way from Buena Vista Street, though, is where you’ll find the undisputed champion of Halloween decor - Cars Land.

Cars Land goes above and beyond from simple Halloween decor. In fact, you could argue that Radiator Springs goes through a full-blown overlay and gets transformed into a literal Halloween-town.

Between the spider-car in front of Flo’s V8 Cafe, the green/purple lighting effects on the Cadillac Range mountains of Radiator Springs Racers, the Cozy Cone Motel going through a ghostly transformation and more, the town (temporarily) becomes, ‘Radiator Screams’.

The sheer level of detail found throughout the land is incredible. No proverbial stone is left unturned as literally every building, character and attraction is smothered in the Haul-O-ween spirit. One could easily spend an entire evening looking around.

Disneyland Halloween Treats

No one appeals to foodies quite like Disney. Seasonal foods, deserts and treats are offered throughout the year and Halloween is no exception. In fact, a lot of people (us included) can only get their favorites during this time of year.

Both parks, resort hotels and most establishments in Downtown Disney offer a variety of seasonal items, such as entrees, alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, deserts, hand-held treats and more.

If you’re into pumpkin flavored, well….anything, then Disneyland is where you’ll want to be. The parks heavily cater to pumpkin lovers. If you’re not into pumpkin, don’t fret. There will be plenty of options for you as well.

Don’t stress over trying to eat everything. There’s simply too many options. Disney markets these seasonal offerings to locals as they’re able to go to the parks simply to try a new desert. The average visitor doesn’t have that luxury, unfortunately.

READ ALSO: “Disneyland Dining Guide: Mobile Order, Mobile Walk-Up, Reservations and More”