Halloween 2021 Dates & Details Announced for Disneyland & California Adventure!
Disney has announced that Halloween Time at Disneyland and California Adventure will return with frightfully fun experiences from September 3, 2021 through October 31, 2021. In this post, we’ll share details of the announcement, what’s missing, and what to expect.
The good news is that most of the major draws of spook season are returning to Disneyland and DCA after last year’s hiatus while the parks were closed. Haunted Mansion Holiday and Guardians of the Galaxy — Monsters After Dark will both be back, as will greetings with friendly characters and villains, beloved seasonal décor like the giant Mickey Mouse jack-o’-lantern on Main Street, and delicious fall treats.
Most notably, Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween Party will return to Disney California Adventure. We had a blast at that event in its inaugural year, and it’s good to see Disneyland getting a “normal” Halloween party (which further suggests to us that Walt Disney World is only doing the “After Hours” event due to October being the start of the busy 50th Anniversary). Our Guide to Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party covers those dates, details, and pricing, so we won’t rehash that here.
Note that this post is mostly a press release style rundown of what Disneyland Resort announced, with some of our own edits to cut out the flowery marketing-speak, and limited commentary added.
If you want something more comprehensive and useful, see our 2021 Guide to Halloween Time at Disneyland.
As always, Main Street USA is the heart of Halloween at Disneyland. Guests will enjoy taking photographs with the iconic giant Mickey Mouse jack-o’-lantern in Town Square. The Main Street Pumpkin Festival transforms storefronts with whimsical pumpkins.
As guests journey into the park, they will find pumpkin statues representing Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Critter Country and Frontierland surrounding the Partners Statue in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. In Frontierland, there will be a celebration of the Day of the Dead with a colorful DÃa de los Muertos tribute featuring a musical trio of iconic skeleton figurines, brightly colored flowers, and other decorations.
At Disneyland, guests will encounter favorite Disney characters throughout the park. On Main Street, Mickey and friends show off their Halloween finest with Minnie as a witch, Donald as a pumpkin, and the rest of their pals adding to the Halloween family-friendly fun.
Other characters found throughout the park include dastardly Disney villains who have come out to cause some mischief.
Haunted Mansion Holiday will feature a merry makeover of the beloved eerie estate. Jack Skellington is behind the mayhem, decorating the mansion with frightfully festive touches inspired by “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Dedicated fans of the holiday haunted house will look forward to spotting the annual gingerbread house on its precarious perch on the ballroom table, making its 20th appearance for this collision of two holidays. Other favorite sights await, including Sally, Zero and other characters from the movie.
Every night from September 3 through October 31, guests will enjoy a dreadfully delightful treat in the form of “Halloween Screams”, a supernatural projection and special effects show.
On weekend nights, Halloween Screams also will take to the skies with fireworks. Guests will be able to view the nighttime spectacular from several different locations throughout the park, including Main Street, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Rivers of America, and the facade of “it’s a small world.”
At Disney California Adventure, Oogie Boogie will once again loom over the entrance. On Buena Vista Street, Mickey Mouse and friends will be throwing it back with old-fashioned Halloween costumes. Guests of all ages will enjoy seeing fortune teller Minnie Mouse or taking a photo of Daisy for a be-witch-ing family keepsake. Donald is also looking devilishly handsome and Goofy has a ghostly grin that is ready for any picture.
Seasonal décor will also add to the Halloween ambiance on Buena Vista Street. At night, the façade of Carthay Circle Restaurant oozes with Halloween magic as bats swarm, energy pulses from within and projections light up the iconic tower structure with a spellbinding display. Also returning to this plaza is the 10-foot-tall statue of the Headless Horseman holding his jack-o’-lantern head to the sky.
Popular attractions will be transformed for the Halloween season at DCA. Cars Land will once again transform for its Haul-O-Ween makeover, as Radiator Springs becomes Radiator Screams.
Lightning McQueen, Mater, Cruz and Red will be ready to greet guests in their “car-stumes” before they race off to go “trunk-or-treating.” Guests can continue the family-friendly fun by taking a spin on popular Cars Land attractions that rev up with Halloween spirit: Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree croons spooky songs to become Mater’s Graveyard JamBOOree, and Luigi’s Rolickin’ Roadsters takes guests on a wicked whirl as it becomes Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween.
The façade of Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT! will spark a state of total emergency as the attraction is transformed at night into Guardians of the Galaxy — Monsters After Dark, offering an exciting Halloween adventure filled with creepy creatures and thrilling drops.
While the Guardians of the Galaxy have successfully escaped The Collector’s Fortress, Groot was accidentally left behind. Guests can successfully complete their rescue mission to save Groot by helping Rocket distract creatures from around the galaxy that have gotten loose. By teaming up with the Guardians, every guest can find their inner hero this Halloween season.
Plaza de la Familia will return to Paradise Gardens from September 3 through November 2, 2021. This immersive limited-time celebration honors the spirit of Dia de los Muertos, with entertainment, festive foods, crafts and interactive experiences.
Among the activities to enjoy are “A Musical Celebration of Coco,” an entertaining street show honoring Disney and Pixar’s “Coco” and the everlasting bonds of family. Guests at this seasonal festivity also will be treated to Mariachi music at Paradise Gardens Bandstand; The World of Coco, an evocative art exhibit; a photo opportunity with a hand-animated figure of Miguel from “Coco” as well as the iconic Arbol de la Vida (Tree of Life) photo location and memory wall.
Finally, what it appears will not be back for 2021 Halloween Time at Disneyland. First, there’s no mention of Ghost Galaxy, the Halloween overlay of Space Mountain. It’s possible this will be announced later, as it’s not typically as high profile of a change as Haunted Mansion Holiday or Monsters After Dark. However, it probably would’ve been mentioned if it’s happening, so we’ll call that one unlikely.
Next, World of Color – Villainous! This was shown during the first year of Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party, and it received decidedly mixed (to put it charitably) reviews. However, that’s probably not why it isn’t returning. If rumors are to be believed, World of Color isn’t coming back at all until 2022. Nevertheless, not a bad lineup for Halloween given that Disneyland is still in “phased reopening” mode, and also given what was announced for Walt Disney World. As always, we’re really looking forward to Halloween Time at Disneyland. Outside of Christmas, it’s our favorite seasonal event of the year!
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
Your Thoughts
Are you excited for 2021 Halloween Time at Disneyland? Will you purchase tickets to attend the seasonal event, or only go if Annual Passes return by then? Planning on doing Oogie Boogie Bash? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Is the park decorated between October 31 – November 12th? We were planning the 9th & 10th of November but I’m wondering if we should push it back a week if it won’t be decorated.
I seriously need 1 more ticket for Boo Bash on October 12, 2021.
I’ve made a reservation for Oogie Boogie on a Thursday. There’s no mention of a Halloween party at Disneyland on Friday. Will special tix be sold or do I have to buy a day and suffer the crowds? I have always gone for the party to avoid the crowds and get through the whole park in one night.
I haven’t been to California Adventure before! I plan to purchase the Oogie Boogie bash tickets. However, will I be able to enjoy all the rides from 3pm – 11pm? Or do you recommend purchasing a regular ticket to start at 8am?
Marie! Change your date and park! Go to Disneyland instead on the day before the boogie bash at DCA then just get a ticket for the event then get in 3 hours early snd stay for event and yes it’s worth it! Anyone saying otherwise is crazy! These event is very interactive! The actors dressed up do a fantastic job! The parade is great, Villianas grove is awesome! The Projections on the McCarthy circle restaurant is fantastic and very mesmerizing. And the ugly boogie himself makes an appearance inside the animation studio building which was just amazing. It’s worth every dime dress up with your daughter and go I have a 15 year old too and I am going as the queen of hearts and she’s going as the card!
Long time veteran of the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. We went to the inaugural Oogie Boogie Bash in 2019. I s’pose I was inadvertently comparing the two parties, but Oogie Boogie was a disappointment. I really, really missed the fireworks show, and the spookiness of the Haunted Mansion and the surrounding area. I’m concerned that, with the current (relative) disorganization at the Resort legitimately due to staffing, along with the disorganization seen at the previous Oogie Boogie, it will be a disappointment. I, too, am hoping that they learned from the previous event. I take all of my office staff each year, and I have reservations about getting tickets, especially at the current pricing.
For the ‘press release’ style posts like this one, have you ever considered using a different font for the copy/pasted Disney text? I had already seen this covered elsewhere before you got to it, but still wanted to read this to get your “take” on things. A font distinction would make it easier to distill what is being regurgitated from Disney and therefore being posted on every other Disney blog (“enhance the mischief?” really?), and what is your added commentary (since you usually pepper it throughout the post, rather than saving it all for the end).
I used to do exactly that, with a press release info section followed by a “my commentary” section below that. However, Disney has been getting really heavy-handed with the flowery language lately, so I now like to go through and remove that (missed the “enhance the mischief” line, but it’s gone now!) because it’s just too much. I really wonder who the audience is for that nonsense.
Perhaps I’ll get back to doing that. It would be way easier for me!
My daughter and I will be going to Disneyland for the first time on Oct. 27-28. We were just going to do 1 park each day, so is the Oogie Bash worth it? I understand if I buy the ticket we can enter at 3 and stay until 11. Just not sure if I should schedule DL on the 27th and CA on the 28th or the opposite.
Yikes! We have cslifornia adventure tickets for October 14th. Just my 15 yr old daughter and I. We won’t be able to arrive till about 2:00. Out sole purpose in wasting full day $$ when we could only go a few hours was to see avengers campus! Now I’m afraid of crowds and wondering if I need to try to score bash tickets just to stay an extra hour or two?? Any thoughts would be so very appreciated!!!
Will Oogie Boogie Bash attendees have a chance to ride the new webslinger ride during the party?
Also, we are debating getting party tickets for Sunday 9/19 or Tuesday 9/21… do you think the Gay Days crowds on the 19th will have an impact on the crowd levels at the Oogie Boogie bash?
“Will Oogie Boogie Bash attendees have a chance to ride the new webslinger ride during the party?”
I don’t think they’ll bother figuring that out if Oogie Boogie Bash ticket sales are strong–and they probably will be, since DL Halloween parties always sell fast. If sales are slow, I could that being included in a second round of announcements.
“Also, we are debating getting party tickets for Sunday 9/19 or Tuesday 9/21… do you think the Gay Days crowds on the 19th will have an impact on the crowd levels at the Oogie Boogie bash?”
This event will likely sell out every date. If it doesn’t for some reason, Gay Days still won’t be what impacts crowds.
Stupid question probably – but are the rides open all night too, or do they close down once the party starts?
All night–but keep in mind that Haunted Mansion Holiday is in Disneyland, not DCA.
Is it me? Seems like Disneyland is getting all the attention to getting back to “normal”. Disney World is still lagging so far behind… just look at the after hours Halloween events 5 hours vs 3 hours; restaurant menus: Disney World still having abbreviated Covid menus; and merchandise: Disney World stores are barren. Seems to me they should show a little more love to Disney World and the 50th anniversary, especially since it was reopened earlier!
A lot of the same problems (menus, merchandise) also exist at Disneyland and are due to larger-scale problems with staffing shortages and supply chain issues.
With that said, it does seem like Disneyland is getting back to normal far faster than WDW. Part of that is probably by virtue of opening at a time when things were already more normal, another part is likely not having to work around a colossal anniversary, and a final part is having significantly lower staffing needs.
A final part is that Disneyland is always more nimble. Walt Disney World has layers upon layers of bureaucracy, often leading to analysis paralysis. Things just get done at Disneyland.
Did they clarify whether characters would be available for meet and greets, or just socially distanced?
The press release is deliberately vague on that point. I’m guessing that detail will be clarified at a later date.
We’re in the process of planning an early October trip, looking at something between the 6th-10th, but I’m a bit confused about when we can make reservations. Tickets first, including if we go to the bash, then reservations, but I’m unsure how far in advance we can make reservations. Any advice?
Currently, park reservations are available through November 5, 2021. The calendar is wide open after July 21.
Now the decision is, do I reschedule my Christmas trip into a birthday trip since I’ve never been to an Oogie Boogie Bash (I’m always there between party dates!)? But I also haven’t been for Christmas in 15 years…Decisions, decisions!
That’s a tough one!
Normally, I’d recommend/choose Christmas, hands down. However, one thing to consider here is timing of the return/debut of APs/memberships. That could mean dramatically lower crowds in September as compared to November/December. At least, potentially.
(I’d probably still choose Christmas, but that’s just me. YMMV.)
Will you guys be attending this year? If I see you, I’ll say a quick hello!
Oh yeah! Still have to square away our travel dates, but we’ll be there towards the beginning!
I’m happy all is coming back for Disneyland? Could this mean they will expand the offerings at Boo Bash?
Anything is possible, but this doesn’t have any bearing on Boo Bash. I wouldn’t expect that event to be expanded given that tickets are already selling out with what was previously announced.