Oogie Boogie Bash is Here!

For anyone following along on our adventures, Tiff, myself and my oldest daughter M. had the privilege to attend the 2023 Oogie Boogie Bash this September!

And it was definitely something.

There was a lot going on that we tried to take note of, but mostly we did our best to have as great a time as possible as this was my daughter's first trip to California, let alone Disneyland. As with anything, some things were great while others were...mid at best, terrible at worst. But before I get down into the nittiest of gritty, here's a quick look at what the bash is and why folks clammer to go.

Oogie Boogie Bash

Oogie Boogie Bash is a after hours specially ticketed event held at the Disney California Adventure (DCA) park. The park closes early to non-event folks at 6pm but anyone with a ticket can get into DCA as early as 3pm. You do not need to buy a park ticket and a party ticket if you are only going to the party. The tickets for this event went on sale in late June 2023 and sold out shortly thereafter. I was able to pick up tickets for myself, Tiff and M. through the website after being in queue for about 3-4 hours which was similar to when annual passes went on sale.

Sign outside of DCA for Oogie Boogie Bash

Speaking of annual passes, if you bought a ticket and have a Magic Key annual pass you can still get into DCA before the party and go to one of the check-in spots around 3 to get your wristband and trick or treat bag. Since M. doesn't have an annual pass it didn't make sense for us to buy her a park ticket for half a day so we skipped it. Magic Key holders also were able to purchase tickets two days earlier than every one else, but there are no discounts on tickets for Magic Key holders.

The event itself has exclusive event food, decorations, trick or treat trails, the Frightfully Fun Parade, and photopass is included for pics with party characters. The best part is that tickets are limited so there is very low capacity at the parks so most of the rides are minimal waits or walk ons.

In all, for 2023 there were 25 event days from early September to October 31st, with the earlier dates costing closer to $134 going up to $184 for Halloween. All told, we paid a bit over $400 for our three tickets.

With that out of the way, I can now talk about some of the things we experienced, the good, the bad and the just plain meh.

Our Experience

While paying $134+ for a park ticket that is only valid for 6+ hours may seem like a waste of money, there is still good value in the price. When I started to think about the cost compared to what a normal day would cost with Genie+ the value became more apparent.

On average Genie+ would be around $25, and the lowest a park ticket would be is around $109. With Tiff and I having annual passes I'd only have to purchase one ticket for M. but all three of us would have to have Genie+.

That works out to:

Single Day Cost: 109 + 3(25) = 184

With Parkhopper: 184 + 65 = 249

Add into this buying M. a parkhopper ticket for an additional $65 to head over to Disneyland when DCA closed to non-party guests at 6pm then the cost for 1 day's ticket would be nearly $250. While the argument can still be made that Tiff and I still had to buy party tickets.

In the end I still find going to DCA only during the party to be a value considering the experience.

Still, even though the lines were shorter there were some that were still too long for us to wait in like Radiator Springs Racers. The longest line we stood in belonged to the Kingdom Hearts photo with Mickey and Donald. We got in line early and it took about 30 minutes for the line to start moving once the party started.

After that we tried to aim for lines that were 20 minutes or less which meant we did miss out on photos with some characters, and treat trails that were a bit congested.

Kingdom Hearts Mickey & Donald

The best part of the evening would have to be the candy trails. The logistics are set up to prevent standing around in impossible lines and instead you walk past different villains while collecting candy on the way. I've heard a few folks saying how this was very different than the set up for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but that it worked out better in most cases. There were still some standard lines for longer photo ops with characters such as Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle as the Sanderson sisters but for the most part each character was more of a walk by and take a selfie situation.

Other attractions that are done up special for the event include a monster horror overlay of Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, and the spooky decorations in Cars Land.

However, the star of the show has to be the Oogie Boogie walk through attraction. It was one of the biggest treat trails and was fantastic! While there were a ton of folks in line and it did move a bit slower than some of the others, it was well worth taking the time to see.

The Food

One of the coolest experiences was getting a chance to experience all the different party exclusive and halloween food available. In my previous post on the party food I was excited to try, there were some that we were able to get and some that we had to miss out on.

@wegoneatandtravel So much food! Some were winners and other...not so much. Full reviews for these and everything else we tried coming soon to wegoneatandtravel.com #travel #traveltiktok #disneyland #oogieboogiebash ♬ Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral - WZ Beat

Prior to the party, we had a quick lunch at Earl of Sandwich after picking up new magic bands at World of Disney. The Earl's Club was fairly standard and with chips made for a pretty filling snack divided between M. and myself. As our hotel provided a very impressive breakfast buffet (more on our hotel experience in an upcoming post by Tiff), we didn't need much to get us right before the early entry for the party.

Beef birria ramen from Lucky Fortune Cookery

The Beef Birria ramen from Lucky Fortune Cookery, was very flavorful. Tiff described it as being tasty with a bit more heat on the back of the throat than you would think.

As a spice adverse person, I thought the broth tasted rich and meaty, great chew on the noodles and seasoned with the heat of 1,000 suns. One day the back of my throat will heal, but until then I can still type.

Tiff also took great pleasure in collecting as many goodies as we could on the treat trails and making a stop to pick up a friendly utensil.

M's treats

In news that should surprise no one, M focused her attention to the sweeter treats available at the event. Between the candy trails, slushes, snacks and meals she had a bit of it all.

The Blue Raspberry slush at Trolley Treats was a safe first purchase, but overall nothing to write home about. Once she got about halfway through with it she found it hard to finish because it was too sweet. Coming from this kid it must have been pure sugar. A second (mango and berry) slush from Bing Bong's Sweet Stuff went a lot better as the mix of flavors stopped it from being as one dimensional. In the end that one was also a bit too sweet to finish.

Out of the candy trail treats, the fudge and the cold brew M&Ms were a big hit (apparently the fudge ones have a caramel aftertaste, so do with that information what you will).

And to be expected, she was not a huge fan of the *healthier* treats and was actively looking to scorn any grapes or apple slices that made the mistake of entering her goodie bag. After a sugar overload she did appreciate the more savory mickey goldfish but still would have preferred to be showered in corn syrup and red dye #3.

I kept it a bit simplier with my food choices. My top meal was the Double cheeseburger from Smokejumpers with the amazing Oogie Boogie Lemonade. The burger was delicous and unlike other burgers I've had in California, managed to be well cooked and seasoned. This was thick burger, enough to split between myself and M, and still more than enough to leave us feeling very full. Even with all of the toppings and sauces I didn't feel like I needed a bib to eat it.

The lemonade was something completely else. The apple and lemonade flavors were both very present but never clashing in this drink. It was refreshing and not too sweet or artificial tasting which I really appreciated after my 5th rice krispie treat.

While waiting for the second Frightfully Fun parade to reach the front of the park we stopped in to Clarabelle's and I got the Created In The Lab sundae. While it was a good strawberry sundae, the addition of the cherry licorice wasn't enough of an extra to warrant buying this over a regular sundae.

Parade

The Frightfully Fun Parade had two kick offs. Similar to the Boo To You parade at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, it starts off with the Headless Horseman but unlike MNSSHP it also has a gathering of Icabod Cranes...which I guess would be a Icabod Sedge?

If you're wondering if I to the time to look up what a group of cranes are just to make that joke, then yes. I did. You're welcome.

That aside, when the parade starts it's fairly impossible to get around DCA so it's best to just stay in one place until it is over. The first parade was definitely more crowded than the second and it was a very entertaining show. The music isn't as good as Magic Happens (but honestly, what is?) but it's still a great parade.

Was It Worth It?

After talking to Tiff and M about our trip, we'd have to say that Oogie Boogie Bash is definitely worth it with one substantial caveat. It's worth going to, but for us only once. Just like travelling to Disney, there are a lot of things that are available for folks to do but most of us won't even be able to do a fraction of it in one day, let alone 5-6 hours.

Also like traveling to Disney, things go smoother when you have a plan. For this experience we had a few things we wanted to do but everything else we left up to the moment which honestly meant walking around more than we needed to. We knew of a couple of things that we wanted to do, but there were very few party exclusives that we were adamant that we had to experience. I personally loved being able to share this event with my sister and my oldest child. There were a lot of laughs, some confused looks and wonderful bonding which is what any of us would hope for on a trip.

So while this particular party was a one and done for us, the trip itself was an amazing experience and would definitely recommend.

Be sure to check out our other upcoming posts where we review M's first time in Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and Tiff's hotel review.