October is a great time to visit Disneyland because the weather is usually wonderful. It’s Halloween time at the Parks through October 31st.
Disneyland dresses up beautifully for Halloween. The Oogie Boogie Bash special ticketed event takes place.
Oogie Boogie Bash – Special Ticketed Event
This is the most popular special ticketed event and it has sold out rather quickly the last several years. The event runs from August 22nd through October 31st on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at California Adventure Park. This is a must-do event for us every year.
If you’re at Disneyland when Oogie Boogie Bash is running, then it’s a bummer to not have a ticket. People who are in California Adventure Park that don’t have tickets must leave the Park at 6 PM. They can park hop over to Disneyland if they have a park hopper ticket.
We consider Oogie Boogie Bash to be a positive if you have a ticket. It’s a negative if you don’t. Disneyland Park gets more crowded on those days because California Adventure Park closes early.
The event runs from 6 PM to 11 PM but you can enter the Park at 3 PM. This is also a negative for regular guests attending California Adventure Park because it gets more crowded at 3 PM.
Tickets go on sale in June and they sold out fast in recent years. If you want to go then watch the Disney Parks Blog starting in early June for an announcement about tickets. You can follow a Disneyland vlogger (we like David Vaughn) who will post info on when tickets go on sale.
We buy tickets on the morning they go on sale because they can sell out in a day. It’s best to buy tickets when they go on sale. Tickets are about $175 per person (it varies by date). There are no discounted tickets for children.
A great strategy is to not use your regular Park tickets on your Oogie Boogie day. You can start your day at 3 PM for the event. You can use this on your arrival day, or on another day when you have morning plans. The point is to integrate this event on a day where you don’t pay for a regular Park ticket.
Highlights of the Oogie Boogie Bash event:
- Many encounters with unique villain characters, befitting a Halloween party
- Frightfully Fun Parade which is usually the only Parade that’s available during Halloween. Disneyland may also have Paint the Night Parade this year during Halloween.
- Treat trails where you can load up on candy and snacks
- Everyone can dress up in costumes. Disneyland does not allow adults to dress in costume. This is super fun and almost everyone is in costume.
- Villain’s Grove in the Redwood Creek Trail area is a spectacular forest trail of lights and special effects. It’s beautiful and you must see it if you attend this event.
- The Park is less crowded because attendance is capped, so wait times for rides is usually low. Most people attending are not focused on rides – and we noticed very short lines for rides when we’ve gone.
Halloween in the Parks
The entire resort is decked out with Halloween decorations, but there are concentrated areas that really pop. Cars Land at California Adventure Park is lit up and decked out. A huge pumpkin adorns the entry to Main Street USA in Disneyland, along with a massive number of carved pumpkins.
The Halloween Screams Fireworks show offers villainous visions and haunting tunes – it’s a fantastic show. It runs on select nights.
Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in California Adventure Park. The film Coco comes to life at Plaza de la Familia in Paradise Gardens.
There are special ride overlays. The Nightmare Before Christmas overtakes the Haunted Mansion.
There is a Pumpkin Pursuit game. You search the Parks and Downtown Disney to find pumpkins and earn a keepsake.
Weather in October
Weather can be surprisingly warm. The average temperature highs/lows are 82°/59°. The average days with rain is 1 day so almost no rain in October. Overall, a good month for expected weather.
Crowds in October
The month begins with average expected crowds. Then there are some high crowd days in the second and third weeks due to Fall school breaks. Then it’s back to average expected crowds.
The best crowd calendar available is at Thrilldata.com because they collect the most data on wait times and that’s where we get our information.
One day that Thrilldata.com expects to be slow is October 31st which falls on a weekday in 2025. This makes sense to us, although we’ve never been in the Parks on Halloween day.
If you go on busy school break days, you can manage crowds:
- Buy Lightening Lanes
- Become Lightening Lane experts because crowds eat up the availability early
- Sequence rides like a Pro
- Arrive 1 hour before Parks open
- Make dining reservations 60 days in advance
- Take afternoon breaks when Parks are jam packed
Summary
October is a great time to visit Disneyland if you’re excited about Halloween. It’s ideal if you can attend Oogie Boogie Bash special ticketed event. We can’t stress enough the importance buying Oogie Boogie tickets in June when they go on sale.
Watch out for higher crowds in the second and third weeks of the month due to Fall school breaks.
Thanks for reading this and please check out our full website for lots more content. We at the Bippity Club wish you the very best and hope you enjoy an awesome Disneyland trip!
