This year I was lucky enough to attend my first ever Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland Resort in California. The party is held on multiple nights across September and October in Disney’s California Adventure Park.
We went to the Oogie Boogie Bash on 27th October 2022 and we paid $159 each for our tickets. The party runs from 6pm to 11pm and ticket holders can enter Disney’s California Adventure from 3pm. There was a stall near Cars Land where you could pick up your wristband for the night. From 6pm, anyone without a wristband had to leave the park. This system was very well organised, and your wristbands were checked before all character meets, rides etc.
When we collected our wristbands, we also received a map with all the night’s entertainment marked on it and a bag to collect all the sweet treats!
Characters
The rare character meet and greets were the main reason that I’d wanted to go to the Oogie Boogie Bash for YEARS. They did not let me down. We managed to meet most of the characters that were out and about during our party, and we had some fantastic interactions.
Our #1 priority for the night was meeting Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle in their Sanderson Sisters costumes. We started queuing for them before the party even started to make super sure we got them. They came out bang on time, and once the queue started moving, we got to see them really quickly.
Unfortunately just before the characters came out, we were told that only 2 of the 3 would be meeting at any one time. This had not been the case for previous parties and it was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t get a group shot, but we didn’t let it spoil our night. Minnie and Clarabelle loved our t-shirts!
Next we found Merlin and Hercules meeting at Carthay Circle. Hercules was one of my stand-out meets from the whole trip. He was really interactive and said that he wanted to create a new range of “AirHerc” sandals inspired by my Crocs! We were really delighted to see him as neither of us had seen Herc in person before!
Merlin was really chaotic and had all of us (including his character attendant) in stitches! I hadn’t seen the Sword and the Stone for such a long time but meeting Merlin inspired me to rewatch!
Bruno was probably the longest line we waited in all night, and even then it was only about 15-20 minutes. He was SO worth the wait! What a cool character to have out?! I would love to see him out and about in the parks more.
This was a fantastic meet. We had actually been queuing up to see Goofy in his Kingdom Hearts outfit but he swapped with Donald as we were getting towards the front. Donald was absolutely amazing and so mischievous! He took Amy’s Mickey hat, put it on his stick and then threw it on the ground!! Why? Because Donald is #1 of course!
Our last meet of the night was Captain Hook and Mr Smee. We bumped into them unexpectedly at Pacific Wharf but it was a really fun meet. They were absolutely tormenting each other the whole time and it was hilarious to watch and be part of!
Rides and Food
All of the rides at Disney’s California Adventure were open during the Oogie Boogie Bash, but we decided to prioritise the character meets. After all, we can go on the rides any day! However, if you are a rides person, this would’ve been a really good time to get on Radiator Springs Racers with no wait!
Most of the restaurants were open too, but we opted for an early dinner before the party started so we didn’t waste time. Again, we had packed our schedule full of character meets. No regrets!
The Frightfully Fun Parade
The Frightfully Fun Parade was performed twice during the Oogie Boogie Bash and we ended up watching it both times.
The parade was led by Mickey and Minnie and featured lots of amazing, detailed floats. It even had a Haunted Mansion float with the hitchhiking ghosts and Constance (the bride from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion). Some of the villains we saw in the parade included: Ursula, the Cheshire Cat, Hades, Captain Hook, The Queen of Hearts, Dr Facilier and of course, Jack Skellington and Sally!
As this was a relatively low capacity event, it was easy to get a good spot. We didn’t even have to turn up really early. There was no pushing or shoving at all and during the second performance, a lot of guests actually sat down to watch. VERY different to what I’m used to at Disneyland Paris!
The little song they used was so catchy. I’m pretty sure every single guest left the party singing “It’s Halloween-o-ween everybodyyy“
Treat Trails
We found these to be quite hit and miss. We managed to do 4 of the available treat trails and ended up with enough sweets to last a lifetime!
The first two treat trails we went to were Oogie Boogie and Ernesto de la Cruz (Coco). I hate saying it, but these were really badly managed. Guests were herded through these trails at lightning speed, constantly being told to move along. This meant that no-one had the chance to watch the character performances. It seemed a shame to bring out such exciting and rare characters, but not really allow anyone to see them?! We were really disappointed by those two trails as they were the ones we had been looking forward to the most.
Luckily later on in the evening we had better experiences. Amy had a really funny interaction with Sid from Toy Story at his trail, and then we were able to watch Mother Gothel interacting with other guests in hers.
Villain’s Grove
Villain’s Grove was a special walkthrough at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. It had loads of special effects and used spooky sounds and lighting to create a really unique experience. There were no characters or sweets being given out at the trail, but it was such an immersive adventure that we didn’t even notice. The areas along Villain’s Grove were inspired by different Disney villains like Scar, Dr Facilier, Frollo, Maleficent and more.
Photopass
All of our photopass photos were included in the price of the ticket, so we made sure to visit as many of the photo ops as possible. There were LOADS dotted all across Disney’s California Adventure.
Overall – was it worth the money?
Absolutely. I’m a big fan of the way that hard ticket events are managed at Disneyland. They charge higher prices but sell fewer tickets, which means that guests are able to see and do most things during the party, rather than prioritising just a handful.
As someone who loves meeting characters, the Oogie Boogie Bash is the perfect event to meet rare ones who would not normally be in the parks on a regular day.
I would definitely go back to the Oogie Boogie Bash in the future. If you’re thinking about booking for 2023, and you have any questions that I haven’t answered – leave a comment below or DM me on Instagram. I would be happy to help!