Disneyland is pushing the start of Halloween past Labor Day Weekend and deep into August this year as the spooky season continues to challenge Christmas for the title of most popular holiday at the Anaheim theme parks.
Halloween Time will get its earliest start ever in 2024 when the seasonal event kicks off on Aug. 23 and runs through Oct. 31 at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
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That’s a full week earlier than the launch of Halloween Time 2023 and the first time the seasonal event has started in August at the Disneyland resort.
But that’s nothing compared to Walt Disney World, where Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party starts on Aug. 9 this year.
Seasonal decor will once again fill Disneyland and DCA in 2024 with a massive Mickey Mouse jack-o-lantern on Main Street U.S.A., Headless Horseman statue on Buena Vista Street and Radiator Screams makeover of Cars Land.
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Expect to see the return of holiday attraction overlays for the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland and Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters in Disney California Adventure.
DCA’s Plaza de la Familia event in Paradise Gardens celebrating the Mexican traditions of Dia de los Muertos with music from “Coco” runs a few extra days through Nov. 2.
The wildly popular separate admission Oogie Boogie Bash after-hours event will run on 27 select nights from Aug. 25 through Oct. 31 at Disney California Adventure.
Halloween Time started on Sept. 1 in 2023 — the previous earliest kick-off for the event. The annual launch of Halloween Time has been creeping earlier in September over the past two decades — starting on Sept. 7 in 2018, Sept. 14 in 2012 and Sept. 26 in 2008.
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The first Halloween event at Disneyland took place on Oct. 31, 1959 when the park hosted a pumpkin carving contest and a Parade of the Pumpkins along Main Street USA, according to the Disney Archives.
Decades passed before Disneyland leaned heavily into the Halloween season with the first Mickey’s Halloween Treat events in 1995 and 1996.
After another decade-long pause, Mickey’s Halloween Party and variations on the event ran from 2005 to 2018 at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland.
The real excitement started in 2019 with the launch of Oogie Boogie Bash at DCA. The annual after-hours party has grown in popularity every year since — with the Halloween event selling out in 12 hours in 2023. Tickets are still available for a few nights of Oogie Boogie Bash 2024 — but they won’t last long.