Oogie Boogie knows how to Bash!

Oh my Goodness, Just Wow!  You know we love Disney and Halloween.  We had a great time at Mickey's Not So Scary in Disney World, but I have to say that Disneyland's Oogie Boogie Bash was just that much BETTER!

For those unfamiliar, Oogie Boogie Bash is Disneyland's limited ticket Halloween events that run select nights from early September through Halloween.  The event actually takes place in Disney's California Adventure Park.

Tickets went on sale for these events back on June 30th and some dates sold out rather quickly.  The day we had selected sold out a few hours after they were released!  So sit back and let me tell you the tale of our trip to the Oogie Boogie Bash.

We actually went to the park early that morning.  The event wouldn't start till 6pm, but we had regular tickets to enjoy the park beforehand.

Disneyland makes sure that the Halloween decor is front and center.  Especially in Cars Land and in Paradise Gardens.  The Cars area was loaded with Halloween decoration and even had an area dedicated to the Dia De Los Muertos with an ofrenda to Doc, The Fabulous Hudson Hornet.  Lightning McQeen drove by in his costume to greet the guests.

The Paradise Gardens had been transformed into La Plaza De Familia making the whole area dedicated to the film Coco.  We stopped to take a picture with a marionette puppet of Miguel.   We rode all of the rides California Adventure had to offer before heading back to our room for a quick break before the real party began!

You could get in to the Bash as early as 3pm so we went in and enjoyed a ride or two before the party began.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout had a special holiday overlay that we just had to check out.  The ride changes from a fun Guardians themed drop, to a spooky malfunctioning elevator drop ride.  Groot is lost in the tower and several monsters are loose in the area.  The ride was definitely still fun, but I missed the usual music that was replaced with a hard rock piece.

We looked for our first trick or treat trail once the party began and was met with a delightful surprise. 

In Disney World you would walk through the treat trail and run across 1 or 2 stations handing out candy.  Here in California Adventure each treat trail had between 6 and 8 stations handing out treats.

Not only were there various cast members handing out candy, there was also a Villain taunting and interacting with guests.  We were SO EXCITED!  Our first villain of the night was Agatha Harkness from Wandavision.  She was pretty funny.

We picked a street to walk down and immediately saw another line for a treat trail,  It ended up being for the legendary Ernesto De La Cruz.  His makeup was so well done! 

and his laugh was just haunting.  I expected him to be jovial not scary, in a good way.

There were so many villains, but we had to try and see as many of them as possible.  We looped around to end up seeing the fabulous Mad Madam Mim and then hopped into a line to meet Minnie, Clarabelle, and Daisy dressed up as the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus.

Seeing Minnie and company in their Sanderson outfits was the longest line we waited in all night.  We waited roughly 30-40 minutes, which was not bad considering they were new to the Bash this year.  We saw Maleficent, the new Cruella de Ville, Oogie Boogie, and Mother Gothel along various treat trails.  We even got to do a character meet and greet with Bruno from Encanto, he was so very sweet.

image from MouseInfo.com

There was even a whole area called the Villain's Grove that didn't get a chance to go into. 

It's a walk-through experience where each area evokes the wickedness of different villains.  Using lights, projection mapping, sounds, and even scents to give you this ethereal experience for each villain represented on the path.

We had reservations for desserts by the parade so we had to skip the Villain Grove for now.

There are two parades during the Bash and we did get to see some of the first parade while we walked to see our next villain, but our reservation was for the second parade.

We had a table right next to the parade route.  We had a few drinks and some sweets to enjoy while the parade went by.

Unfortunately, after the Headless Horseman went by  there was a long delay.  They announced that the rest of the 2nd parade was cancelled due to technical difficulties.  It was bummer, but we were also refunded for the Dessert Party.

The combination of the stop for the parade and the long night had the kids exhausted so we called it a night.

Sadly we missed the Villain Grove and a couple of villains that night.  I had hoped to see Dr. Facilier and Sid from Toy Story but I wasn't going to push the kids when they were tired.

We had such an AMAZING time at Oogie Boogie Bash that we immediately grabbed hotel reservations for the same time next year.

The Villains, the treats, the rides, it was ALL SO GOOD.  We liked it a lot better than the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  The only hard part is getting the tickets for the night you wanted.  Angie and I were both waiting in the cue to make sure we got ourselves and other clients tickets as soon as they opened.  But it was so worth it!  We can't wait to go back next year.

And at last I'll leave you with a video montage of all the villains we saw that night.

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