Halloween may not officially kick off at Disneyland until this Friday, but over at Disney California Adventure, the spooky season is already in full swing. The first Oogie Boogie Bash of the year scared up plenty of fun over the weekend, ushering in what we like to call “SummerWeen.” And there’s plenty more brewing beyond the pumpkins and candy. Avengers Campus is seeing rapid development, construction projects dot the resort, and — in case you missed the cameras — there’s even a movie shoot underway. Add in the latest news, events, and goings-on, and you’ve got a jam-packed update to sink your teeth into.
Halloween Time is Here
While the resort-wide celebration doesn’t officially begin until this Friday, August 22nd, Oogie Boogie and his villainous crew have officially kicked off the Halloween season at Disney California Adventure, with the first after-hours Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disneyland Halloween Party last night (Sunday, August 17th).
However, it seems the Cars got the party started extra early as the Mater’s Junkyard JamBOOree and Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween attraction overlays appeared in the Disneyland app on Friday morning, along with Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark… which started up well before dusk.
Oogie Boogie Bash
The annual after-hours Halloween party at California Adventure includes character treat trails, the Villains Grove walk-through experience at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and the Frightfully Fun Parade led by The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Oogie’s Villainous Guest List
Each of the party’s trick-or-treat trails is themed to a different Disney villain. Here’s where you can find them all.”
Oogie Boogie from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in the Disney Animation building in Hollywood Land
Dr. Doofeshmirtz from “Phineas and Ferb” at the Disney Theater in Hollywood Land
Hades from “Hercules” on the Backlot Stage in Hollywood Land
Ernesto de la Cruz from “Coco” in Hyperion Courtyard between Hollywood Land and Avengers Campus
Agatha Harkness from “Agatha All Along” at the Ancient Sanctum in Avengers Campus
Yokai from “Big Hero 6” at Hamada Bot Shop in San Fransokyo Square
Judge Doom from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (Stage 12 in Hollywood Studios)
RETURNING THIS YEAR: Maleficent near Villains Grove in Grizzly Peak. Maleficent has appeared in years past, and we are thrilled to see her return after a short sabbatical as she’s always a crowd favorite!
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NEW! Syndrome from “The Incredibles” at the Pixar Pier Band Shell on Pixar Pier
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Oogie Boogie Bash Food
In addition to Halloween time bites and sips available across the resort, three savory food items and one themed beverage are only available during Oogie Boogie Bash:
- Loaded Buffalo Chicken Fries at Flo’s V8 Cafe
- Carolina Loaded Tenders at Flo’s V8 Cafe
- Chili-Cheese Fries at Award Wieners
- Ube Hot Chocolate with Vanilla Vodka at Cozy Cone Motel
A new Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Mayor Sipper is also available at select locations (while supplies last).
Exclusive Event Merchandise
Special event merch is available at Elias & Co., Gone Hollywood and Seaside Souvenirs, including a crossbody bag, Minnie Mouse ear headband and Spirit Jersey.
Oogie Boogie Ticket Tracker
As of Friday morning, there were still tickets available for August 21 and August 28, but all party dates in September and October are sold out.
If you already have tickets, check out our event guide for what to expect:
More Halloween Happenings
The resort is adding the finishing touches to make sure all the park decor and attraction overlays are ready for Friday.
Haunted Mansion will reopen later this week with a Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. The annual Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay will remain until Christmas ends on January 7th, 2026. Nearly a third of the year is devoted to Jack’s mashup of Halloween and Christmas.
In Downtown Disney, there’s a mash-up of Halloween and 70th-anniversary decor.
Disney California Adventure donned its annual Halloween-themed decor last week.
Bats on Buena Vista Street…
And even more bats in the bellfry of Carthay Circle Theater.
The Headless Horseman has returned to is spot in the Christmas tree planter across from Carthay Circle.
But it’s the residents of Cars Land who really get into the spirit of the season.
A clever cacophony of auto accessories is used to recreate Halloween as the residents of Radiator Springs might celebrate. Pumpkins made of gas cans. Spiderwebs of chainlink. Distributor cap spiders… it’s the ultimate trunk-or-treat!
Don’t miss the ofrenda honoring Doc Hudson inside Ramone’s.
Disneyland has been adding decorations more slowly, starting on Main Street where the Birds have returned to the Fortuosity Shop.
Main Street windows have also been decorated in Fall styles with Spell books, potion bottles, and jack-o-lanterns filling the display spaces.
The Halloween Tree has returned to Frontierland. The resort decorators seem to be going in a different order this year as the Halloween Tree was one of the last decorations to be installed in the past.
The fall overlay in Ray’s Berets has been installed with the seasonal graveyard jar, complete with Master Gracey’s tombstone.
And, some of the food and novelties for the season are already available, especially at DCA.
This Oogie Boogie cookie is adorable… but at $7.75, it should be!
The Ube Ice Cream returns to the Cozy Cones.
Clarabelle’s has all sorts of treats… including a Witches Hat Sundae…
But it’s such a good idea that Ghirardelli is doing their own version:
Check out our guides for all the spooky details:
- Disneyland Halloween Time 2025: Oogie Boogie Bash, Broken Spell & Beyond
- Disneyland 2025 Halloween Merchandise: Mickey, Villains & Haunted Mansion Galore
- DISNEYLAND HALLOWEEN TREATS 2025: Eat, Drink & Be Scary!
Constructionland
Even with Halloween on the horizon, major construction projects are spread across the resort. Some projects have made excellent visual progress in just the last week.
Avengers Campus Grows!
The biggest construction project at the resort is the expansion of Avengers Campus, which is bringing two new attractions to California Adventure. The first beam was just placed last Thursday, and in just one week, we now have a basic building shape. That’s some amazing progress! I can’t think of another Disney project that has made such dramatic progress on such a massive scale.
Disneyland’s Avengers Campus is preparing for a serious upgrade. Two brand-new attractions—Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab—are currently under construction, and at the current pace of construction, things are going to get interesting fast.
Stark Flight Lab will plunge guests into Tony Stark’s workshop, where they’ll pilot “gyro-kinetic pods” using experimental flying technology straight from the genius’s lab. Think robotic arms lifting guests into the air and thrashing them about while they wear VR helmets.
Avengers Infinity Defense promises a multiverse-shattering dark ride experience. Guests will board a world-hopping spaceship to battle King Thanos alongside heroes like Black Panther and Ant-Man across alternate realities.
In Fantasyland, there are a couple of projects…
The Troubadour Tavern and Edelweiss Snacks have been hidden under scrims for the last couple of weeks. It feels like annual paint jobs are becoming more involved every year.
The major refurbishment project in Disneyland involves both Casey Jr. Circus Train and Storybook Land Canal Boats. Scrims and scaffolding stretch from the parade route, all the way to Monstro, and then behind Dumbo all the way to the Big Thunder Trail. The completion date is still TBD, but that’s likely due to the intricacy of the refurbishment. There appear to be a lot of elements being replaced within these attractions and some new things being added. Dusty speculated that the permits sound like the potential addition of a Tangled scene with a tower and floating lanterns above guests.
On Thursday, Dusty and Mike noticed workers carrying railroad ties away from the work area. Many parts of the track are being disassembled and replaced.
Scaffolding was also added around Cinderella’s Castle. Hope she doesn’t miss her opportunity to go to the ball.
In New Orleans Square, the Haunted Mansion is in the final stretch of its annual installation of the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay. That project will wrap up by the official launch of Halloween this Friday.
Downtown Disney has plenty of construction happening as well. Work continues on the Sunglass Icon. It appears that there will be a slight brand change, and “Sunglass Icon by Sunglasses Hut” will simply become “Sunglasses Hut.” The company also has a cart on the west side of Downtown Disney and a shop location in Disney California Adventure near the Corndog Castle.
Wetzels Pretzels remains open, but there is work happening on the walkway adjacent to the shop.
The construction walls surrounding the old ESPN Zone building have been plastered with Lululemon images and logos. Missing are logos for any other shops slated to go into this building when the work is finished.
Disneyland Refurbishment Calendar (updated 08/15/25)
We’ve got lots of changes to the list this week, with Radiator Springs Racers starting refurb today and reopening on September 26th (the same date as Main Street Cinema). New to the list is the Sailing Ship Columbia, which will have a short midweek closure in September. And we are unsure if some of the shorter closures are for refurbishment or to accommodate filming of the Disney+ Oswald project by director Jon Favreau. Previous short closures have coincided with filming in various locations, including the Tiki Room and Main Street Cinema.
Currently Under Refurbishment
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue: June 30 – September 4
- Storybook Land Canal Boats: July 28 – TBA
- Casey Jr. Circus Train: July 28 – TBA
- Haunted Mansion – Holiday installation: August 9 – 21
- Radiator Springs Racers: August 18 – September 25
Upcoming Refurbishments
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: September 2 – TBA
- Mark Twain Riverboat: September 8 – 11
- Main Street Cinema: September 8 – 25
- Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island: September 15 – 17
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant: September 17
- Sailing Ship Columbia: September 22 – 25
This & That
Live @ Five
We checked out all the Halloween preparations during our weekly “walk and talk” on Thursday. You won’t want to miss this one, folks, it’s a lot of fun…
You can see it here if you missed it (or want to watch again!):
Be sure to follow our Facebook and YouTube pages (and subscribe) so you don’t miss future live videos.
Filming Continues
Jon Favreau and his crew have continued their filming in the parks for the new Oswald series for Disney Plus.
We spotted the crew near the Haunted Mansion last week.
They also continue to film near the Main Street Cinema, which suggests that this location is the focal point of the new Oswald production. We’ve been wondering what Oswald has to do with Disneyland (which didn’t open until 27 years AFTER Walt lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). He likely jumps right off the screen of the Main Street Cinema and into the busy pathways of Disneyland.
Filming inside a busy theme park is chaotic business. You can see Kathryn Hahn (of Agatha All Along fame) in the middle of the shot below:
PhotoPass Upgrade
If your latest PhotoPass photos suddenly look better, that may in part be due to new cameras the team is receiving. Their ancient Nikon cameras are being replaced by new full-sensor Sony cameras. We are curious to hear your current experience with PhotoPass, but this sounds like a solid upgrade to us.
Fantastic 4 Projection Show
A projection show promoting the Fantastic Four movie plays on the front of Space Mountain at 8:44 p.m. and roughly every 20 minutes thereafter. We really love seeing Space Mountain lit up with projections. Does anyone else miss Ghost Galaxy and the wonderful projections on the mountain’s exterior?
Back to School
During the annual Back-to-School Supply Drive at Disneyland Resort, cast members collected school supplies for local students and teachers, including colored pencils, crayons, pencils, notebooks and more.
Disney Ambassador Raul Aquino Rojas and Mickey Mouse also surprised over 100 teachers and faculty at Orange Grove Elementary School with complimentary tickets for themselves and a guest to join Disneyland’s 70th Celebration.
In addition to the annual Back-to-School Supply Drive, the resort also partners with the school for the 12-week HOLA Readers program that features dedicated story time with Disney VoluntEARS, Disney Career Days, and Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
You can learn about all the ways Disneyland Resort gives back to the community HERE.
Visit Walt Disney’s Storybook Mansion
Dusty has been hosting occasional tours of Walt Disney’s stunning Hollywood Mansion for the last few weeks, and due to the populairty of the August dates, which sold out rapidly, two dates in September have just been added. Don’t miss this opportunity folks: Walt Disney Storybook Mansion September 2025 Tours
Follow the Walt Disney Storybook Mansion page on Facebook (HERE) for details as additional tours and events are announced. Plus, reach out to Dusty about hosting your own private events, parties, weddings, screenings, and tours at the Disney Mansion (enquire here).
MiceShots
While Halloween hasn’t quite hit Disneyland yet, we thought we’d share some of our favorite photos from last year from our good friend Sarah Anne Imagery. It’s a great reminder of what we will be seeing in just 4 days.
And while Disneyland is still getting dressed up for the holidays, Disney California Adventure had most of its decorations up last week for the first Oogie Boogie Bash of the season.
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Let’s Hear From You!
That’s a frightfully full week at the Disneyland Resort, and now we want to hear from you!
Are you heading to Oogie Boogie Bash this season? Which treat trail tops your list—Syndrome, Agatha, Ernesto, or a returning fave? And, with Halloween officially kicking off Friday, what’s your day-one must-do: Guardians’ Monsters After Dark, Haunted Mansion Holiday, or hunting spooky snacks?
Avengers Campus is shooting skyward… are you more hyped for Stark Flight Lab or Avengers Infinity Defense (perhaps neither)? And with the construction moving so fast, when do you think we’ll actually be able to ride?
How are you feeling about the current refurb blitz (Casey Jr./Storybook, Racers, etc.) and the on-location filming… fun trade-off or too disruptive?
Spot any new décor, food, or construction details you want to discuss? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and tell us what you think. Until next week, we’ll see you in the parks!
Our thanks to Mike Kindrich for spending two full days at Disneyland to capture photos for this update, and to Samantha Davis-Friedman for sourcing the news and assembling the article. Appreciation also goes to Christy Weinberg for sharing our articles with you on social, Brian Pinsky for tracking and producing the ever-complicated refurbishment schedule, and to Suzanne Lee for staying on top of even the smallest Resort changes and bringing us Oogie Boogie Bash day-of photos. And, as always, thank you to the entire MiceChat team — and to you, our readers — for helping make these Disneyland Updates possible each week.