Guide to Halloween 2023 at Disneyland Paris

Disney Halloween Festival runs from October 1 to November 5, 2023 at Disneyland Paris, with entertainment, decorations, special parties, and more. This guide offers tips for visiting France in fall to make the most of spook season at Walt Disney Studios Park, hotels, Disney Village, and DLP.

Before we get to the rest of the details about Halloween 2023 at Disneyland Paris, we recommend checking out our comprehensive 2023 Disneyland Paris Vacation Planning Guide, which is useful no matter what time of year you’re visiting. As for Halloween, the season is similar to Magic Kingdom or Disneyland in California, but with its own ghoulish twists at Disneyland Paris.

This year, the big difference is that Halloween starts following the Grant Finale of the Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary Celebration. And after lurking in the shadows for several months, it’s finally time for Disney Villains to steal the spotlight. Their devilishly playful takeover of Disneyland Park will feature fiendish character meet & greets, mischievous atmosphere, terrifyingly-fun shows, and spooktacular attractions. Here, we’ll cover all of the specifics, including what’s new for this Halloween.

The crowd levels you’ll encounter at Disneyland Paris during Halloween vary. Weekends and French school breaks are the busiest times to visit in the month of October 2023. Closer to Halloween also tends to be busier than the middle of the month. The first weekend is popular with DLP fans, too.

On the plus side, fall is not a busy season for travel to France or Paris. Generally speaking, the vacation season lasts from May through September, peaking from June through August. October is squarely in the off-season, falling sufficiently far after summer and before Christmas. So if your trip encompasses time outside the parks, it’s a great time to visit. Weather-wise, it’s also temperate.

Turning to the decorations at Disneyland Paris for Halloween, guests will find familiar Halloween time décor adorning the park from the moment they arrive. This includes smiling pumpkins, garlands with lights, lanterns, friendly spooks, and joyful skeletons that are up to 3 meters high!

The hotels of Disneyland Paris will also be immersed in the Halloween spirit, as they will be adorned with fall decorations for the very first time. It’ll be fun to see how the DLP team accomplishes this, as Christmas decorations in the resorts are stunning.

Back to the parks, Disneyland Paris will be home to many mischievous villains, including Maleficent, Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, Cruella de Vil, and more. These villains are already preparing to celebrate the season that will put them in the spotlight as they appear for character meet & greets throughout Disneyland Paris.

It just so happens that for Halloween, the Royal Castle Stage (a bit of a misnomer for spook season, but it’s normally home to princesses) will become the Disney Villains’ regular haunt. They’ll use this location to put themselves in the limelight. After making on-stage appearances, the villains will meet their adoring public.

This year, Mickey’s Halloween Celebration makes its triumphant return. During this foot-stomping cavalcade, characters are decked out in their most boo-tiful Halloween costumes. Mickey’s Halloween Celebration ushers in the arrival of autumn with festive fall atmosphere.

During the cavalcade, Mickey Mouse has fun surprising guests from his impressive “Mickey’s Illusion Manor” float, which features some playful spooks! Mickey’s Halloween Celebration runs several times per day at Disneyland Paris. (As noted, this is a cavalcade and not a fully-fledged parade–meaning it has fewer floats and performers.)

At nightfall during Halloween at Disneyland Paris, villains will have a spooktacular surprise in store: Nightfall with Disney Villains. This is essentially a pre-preshow, taking place before Disney D-Light, which is the pre-show consisting of a drone display. Following the villainous pre-preshow and the drone pre-show comes Disney Dreams, the full nighttime spectacular on the castle.

During Nightfall with Disney Villains, those cunning characters come out of the shadows and temporarily take over Sleeping Beauty Castle to execute their pernicious plan, during a dancing fountain display combined with projections.

These Halloween entertainment elements add to the many shows and experiences offered by Disneyland Paris. This includes the park’s daily parade (full version, not a cavalcade) Disney Stars on Parade.

There’s also the Gardens of Wonder, a display that features 30 art pieces representing characters such as Maleficent, Ursula and Jafar. This is one of many things designed for the Disneyland Paris 30th Anniversary celebration; you’ll find the Gardens of Wonder installed right outside Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Although Disneyland Paris advertises attractions as part of its Halloween marketing campaign, there are none that are special for Halloween. Phantom Manor does not receive a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay like the other Haunted Mansion attractions, and Disneyland Paris doesn’t change any other rides.

With that said, there are certain attractions in each park that naturally lend themselves to spook season. Disneyland Paris is home to rides for visitors of all ages. Little ones can test their courage in attractions like Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, or La Tanière du Dragon.

Then there’s the aforementioned Phantom Manor, which beckons visitors to its overgrown estate. Inside this derelict mansion, phosphorescent spirits are too busy enjoying their feast and dancing in the dining room to pay attention to their guests. Attend the ghostly ball for a year-round spook season celebration.

Once you’re done, waltz over to Walt Disney Studios Park to experience an exhilarating adventure alongside friends, family, and foes inside the infamous Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. With its new spooktacular storyline, impressive 13-story drop, darkened rooms, and scary ghosts, this thrilling ride transports guests to another dimension.

Halloween will also be celebrated in shops throughout Disneyland Paris, where a wide range of exclusive souvenirs dedicated to Mickey & Friends, Disney Villains, and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas will be sold.

Disneyland Paris will also serve up new treats for Halloween, including the Wicked Whip, a surprising cone, an incredible Maleficent Sundae at the Lucky Nugget, a “Mickey Mummy”lollipop and many other products! Fang-tastic beverages will also be added to select bar and restaurant menus, including the Little Devil Cocktail, the Poisoned “Apple” and the Oogie Boogie mocktail.

Disney Halloween Party is a hard-ticketed event at Disneyland Paris that allows guests to celebrate the spook season in style. During this event, you can enjoy access to attractions, an exclusive parade, wickedly festive entertainment, and much more.

Note that Disney Halloween Party is NOT happening in 2023. Here’s the message announcing this from Disney: “This year, Disneyland Paris will offer an enhanced guest experience on 31 October – Halloween –  including extended opening hours and special moments, rather than standalone ticketed events.”

Nevertheless, here’s info about the Disneyland Paris Halloween Party for the sake of posterity, in case they return for Halloween 2024…

Typically, tickets for the Disney Halloween Parties are sold separately and access is NOT included with a Park Ticket or a Hotel+Tickets package.​ Two Halloween parties are being held to offer more opportunities to enjoy a selection of attractions that will be open until 2 a.m., such as Phantom Manor, Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, along with an exclusive cavalcade and entertainment elements prepared by Disney Villains.

During Disney Halloween Parties, some areas of Disneyland Paris will be home to creepy creatures, including strange zombies around Adventureland’s caves and crypts and ghostly encounters at Frontierland. At the stroke of midnight, the most fearless guests will experience scary moments on Main Street, U.S.A. as mysterious spirits take over this area.

Guests will also discover new exclusive shows, created with Disney Halloween parties in mind. Additionally, the Halloween cavalcade will also run during both parties. Finally, Disney Villains will also spend time across the Park to interact with the bravest Guests.

While these events at Disneyland Paris have differed from year to year, Disney Halloween Parties are best for those who want to be immersed in an incredibly terrifying atmosphere. It’s a fun and frightening change-of-pace from the normal not-so-scary Disneyland Paris ambiance during Halloween, but the major entertainment is not materially different or enhanced. Attend because of the vibe and atmospheric performers; don’t go if you’re satisfied with the normal Halloween experience at Disneyland Paris.

Ultimately, the normal Halloween experience at Disneyland Paris is a good one. While we personally prefer Christmas (which starts less than one week after Halloween ends!), they’re both great seasonal events.

On top of that, crowds can be more manageable, weather is much improved as compared to summer, and more. In short, fall is a great time to visit Disneyland Paris! Halloween is one big reason why, but far from the only one. Fall is a great season for France as a whole, so be sure to venture beyond the parks if you’re visiting DLP from abroad.

For the basics of planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Find the best place to stay in Disneyland Paris Hotel Reviews. Check out 101 Disneyland Paris Tips for some (101, to be exact) of our best random tips for doing DLP like a pro. See Disney Park Tickets Tips & Tricks for ways to save on tickets. 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. Finally, for advice beyond Disney, check out our Ultimate Travel Guide to Paris, France.

YOUR THOUGHTS

Are you visiting France for Fall 2023? How do you celebrate Halloween at Disneyland Paris? Any other ways to get in the spook season spirit? Wish the Walt Disney Studios Park did more to celebrate Halloween? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!