Tonight several members of The DIS team experienced as much as we possibly could of the new Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party that takes place at Disney California Adventure.
The new party replaces the classic Mickey’s Halloween Party that was held in Disneyland Park.
Tickets are sold out for the 20-night run of the event, but we still want to let you know what we thought for those of you that did manage to snag tickets.
As with most after hours parties, there is more to do here than you have time for, so choose wisely. With a park full of attractions, I’m not sure any of us managed to experience any of them.
We started our night in Hollywood Land to take in the DescenDANCE Party…and actually ended up watching it twice. This was a fun 15-20 minute show with lots of high energy dancing, plus a few surprise clips from the cast of Descendants.
During the show, the DJ attempts to teach the audience a new dance. We were horrible students and just stood there.
Near the end of the show, the cast paid tribute to the late Cameron Boyce, who appeared in the films. The moment was subtle, but very touching.
We would recommend that you skip the first show and catch one of the later shows because there is a pretty cool dance element that only takes place after dark.
At Disney Theater, Mickey’s Trick & Treat entertains the Disney Junior crowd. We found the show to be kinda short at just 10 minutes, and didn’t seem to contain many interactive, get up and dance, elements for the kids.
Hollywood Land is also the home to several of the new immersive Treat Trails. We found these new additions to be one of the highlights of the event.
Don’t miss party host Oogie Boogie in the Disney Animation building, Dr. Facilier in Stage 17, or the Mad Hatter in the Hyperion Theater courtyard.
While not official meet & greets, the characters did have fun chatting with the crowds and discussing their costume choices.
The other immersive Treat Trails were in Grizzly Peak, with Maleficent being to the left of Soarin’ Around the World and the Evil Queen holding court behind Grizzly River Run.
The Frightfully Fun Parade crossed the esplanade from Disneyland and is part of the new party with only minor changes, like the addition of the Cheshire Cat.
This is a fun parade, but keep in mind that it’s only presented once a night this year. The good news is that California Adventure has a VERY long parade route, so it’s fairly easy to find a good spot.
One of the things that the team was really split on was Villains Grove. This new experience takes over the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
This was one of the longest lines of the night, but it moved quickly.
The area features fog, lighting effects, sounds effects, and music themed to several Disney villains. The experience is really hard to describe, but worth taking a chance on, especially for some of the areas toward the end of the trail.
There was one spot that had me mesmerized. You’ll know it when you see it.
Some members of the team, however, found the experience lacking and thought that there could be a better use of the space.
We ended the night taking in the second showing of Villainous!, the World of Color show on Paradise Bay. The show is presented twice nightly, but both shows were equally crowded.
All World of Color shows are technological masterpieces, however, this show was…weird. I think that is the best word to describe it.
The show features Oogie Boogie telling the story of Shelley Marie, a young girl trying to choose a Halloween costume, and leaning toward the villain side of things.
When the show was telling the story, it was good, but then it went into these creepy song and dance numbers featuring skeletons, the “poor unfortunate souls” from The Little Mermaid, and more.
You probably should see the show (because it might not be around next year), but lower your expectations.
In addition to not experiencing any of the attractions, we also missed most of the meet & greets featuring some rarely seen characters. Here’s a sample of what we missed.
- Carthay Circle – Classic Disney friends, including Snow White, Dopey, Pinocchio, and the Blue Fairy
- Grizzly Falls – Kingdom Hearts, featuring Goofy and Donald
- Pacific Wharf – Disney Channel friends, including Phineas & Ferb and Kim Possible
- Grizzly Peak Airfield – Disney Afternoon friends from Rescue Rangers and TailSpin
- Near Grizzly River Run – Mickey and Minnie
- Near the Grizzly River Run water wheel – Disney Villains, including the Big Bad Wolf, Frollo, Governor Ratcliffe, Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and more
Some of the other regular meet & greets were available as well, including Pixar Pals on Pixar Pier and Anna & Elsa in Disney Animation.
While we miss that the party wasn’t in Disneyland, there was still plenty to do during this party. We were one of the last groups out and the end of the night and some of use were even wishing there were tickets available for future nights.
Oogie Boogie Bash continues 19 additional nights through Halloween.
