Oogie Boogie Bash Review: Is the extra $$$ worth it?
For the first time, Disneyland decided to move their Halloween party to Disney California Adventure for the Oogie Boogie Bash. And for the first time, I partook in a Halloween adventure at Disneyland. I generally avoid all Halloween or scary related things. As a Disneyland Annual Passholder, I struggle with giving even more money to spend time in the park when I already have a pass so I ask…”Was Oogie Boogie Bash worth the extra money?” At the end of the article, I detail my advice if you’re already anticipating going to the event this year or next year.
The price range of Oogie Boogie: $100-145. Most Disney Parks related events usually will have tiered pricing depending on the day including this one. If you want to try and get a little bit of everything accomplished along with a full stack of candy, time management is key for conquering this event.
The Free Candy
The infamous candy giveaway came in the form of “Treat Trails” this year. Some were immersive with actual villains stationing themselves along the paths. I had heard tales of how much candy Disneyland used to giveaway in years past but has been on a steady decline.
The Treat Trails were spread out across the park with some being long and some only a few stops. I loved having the villains with amazing custom thrones within some trails. Beware that they will be passing out things other than straight candy like
What Disneyland didn’t put on the map: where the character Oogie Boogie was stationed. He was hidden in the Treat Trail inside the Animation Academy within a Treat Trail.
Marquee Event Attractions (outside the Treat Trails)
Everyone’s in this for the candy. BUT there is still a ton of stuff to do at the event. Some of the things aren’t worth your time, etc. Here’s a short breakdown:
Villains Grove: This event takes place in the kids play around by the rapid ride and opens up when the sun goes down. It is a complete and utter waste. There are no characters. You simply walk on a trail with fancy lights and spooky sounds. At one point, the line of people came to a complete dead stop…for no apparent reason.
The Frightfully Fun Parade: Think miniature Disney parade. The floats were mostly very small, and very hard to see if you’re in the front row. There was a cool Haunted Mansion float. But at one point the beginning part of the parade went by, and the back half was so far away that no one knew if it was done. Skip it.
“Villainous” - World of Color: Don’t miss this. Easily a highlight of the night, but make sure to get a good seat. It’s a special Halloween-themed where Oogie Boogie hosts a Halloween story. Immediately following the parade we hawked some seats for about 40 minutes, which was a nice break for your feet. The show is at 9p & 10:45p. We went to the 9p and it cleared out after, so I would assume better seats are to be had at the later showing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Monsters After Dark: The Guardians of the Galaxy ride has a Halloween makeover during this time, but it’s not just during the event. You’re on a mission to rescue Baby Groot in a jail full of scary monsters. Instead of rocking out to a 1970’s soundtrack, you’ll get a different surprising music track.
Mickey’s Trick and Treat Show: A Mickey & Friends hosted show designed for the young audience featuring not scary stories and dancing. This is one I didn’t go to, but from what I heard it’s only worth it if you’ve got a little kid that’s capable of sitting down to watch a show.
The Characters
I know this event is tailored towards kids but I was surprised how many adults got into this event! Not only can you see some of your favorite characters get in their Halloween costumes, there are so many people with amazing costumes on too!
A few notes here: some Cars characters, like Mater, came out before the event even started. One of the longest lines seemed to be Kingdom Hearts which only looked like Goofy when I walked by. Be strategic and map out which characters you want to see ahead of time. You won’t have time to hit them all, and the lines can get very long.
The Special Food/Drinks
Slightly disappointed by the lack of special food and drinks at the event.. It seemed that there was “Halloween” related food and drink items, but not a ton specific to the Oogie Boogie Bash. For the Heroes Assemble, you could make a “Infinity Gauntlet” of churros.
On the map given to you after the Oogie Boogie Bash registration, you’ll find many places that have “special” food, but you can also get this food outside the event time.
I did get a fun and delicious rum cocktail at the Sonoma Terrace that had a little piece of cotton candy on top.
So, is it worth the extra money?
For Non-Annual Passholders… It’s a home run.
For Annual Passholders…It comes down to how much you like Halloween & don’t mind spending money on top of your pass.
No joke, if I didn’t have a pass I would be marking this on my calendar. When you buy the event ticket, you have access to that given park 3 hours before the event. During the event, the lines for rides are like existent. I felt like this event had way more manageable stuff to do than the Heroes Assemble event, BUT it was incredibly more crowded.
As an Annual Passholder without kids, this is an event I probably will not do every year. This is a once-and-done type of experience if Halloween isn’t your thing. It’s a great event to do with kids, specifically ones that aren’t afraid of Halloween and Villains. It did have more to do than previous events like Heroes Assemble, but is $30 in free candy worth spending the $100-$145? Nah. I don’t love Halloween, and Disneyland made it enjoyable but not enough to spend money on top of my Annual Pass unless you have a more disposable income.
My advice to tackle Oogie Boogie Bash:
Bring your own (and big) bags to trick-or-treat with. When you check into the event, they will give you a very small bag for the Treat Trails.
Get to the park about 90 minutes before the start of the event. There was a massive line (that moved quick) to get registered before the event starts.
A locker isn’t necessary. It was a waste of $7 for us. We were so busy mastering the map that we didn’t even make it to the front of the park until the end.
Be towards the back of the park around 6pm towards the Goofy’s Sky School.
People seemed to hit up the Treat Trails in the front of the park FIRST. It looked like there was over an hour line for the Treat Trail in the Animation Academy where Oogie Boogie was. When I went towards the end of the night, there was no line.
If you don’t like a specific type of candy, just ask them not to give it to you. “Anything but Snickers” worked for me for the majority of the workers.
