Oogie Boogie Park Selection Advice

[MICKEYFIL]

I have not been on this site in a long time. Been to the parks many times over the years but I am faced with a dilemma that I could really use some advice on from people who have been at the parks during Oogie Boogie nights.

We have four days already booked for travel to Disneyland and DCA on August 19th through to 22nd. When I booked it I never thought that Disney would be celebrating Halloween in August. We had originally intended on being in DCA for the 19th and 21st and Disneyland on August 20th and 22nd. This was because of the early entry advantage. We are not staying at a Disney property so we were trying to avoid allowing a bunch people to be in the park ahead of us. We are ride people. Parades are a nice treat, but really we are there for the rides, food, characters and nostalgia. But now it appears that there will be Oogie Boogie nights on August 19th and 21st which will flood the DCA starting at 3pm.

So the question is, should I keep my original intended days and got to DCA on Oogie Boogie nights hoping that the crowds are lower in the morning and get more rides done with the assumption that the time between 3pm to 6pm will be when I use my Multipass rides or do I reverse my days and go to the park on each day when the early entry access is working against me? Is Disneyland busier on Oogie Boogie nights because people are trying to avoid DCA on those days? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[LKing]

Will you have park hoppers? If not, then I would not do DCA on an OBB day. Other people visiting the same week you are will be making a similar decision. DCA will be more crowded with regular guests on non OBB days.

Also note that August 22 is the official first day of Halloween Time & Celebration of Coco. First days of a season usually draw more people. https://www.disboards.com/threads/disneyland-resort-calendar-2025.3963816/post-66031513

 

[MICKEYFIL]

Thank you for the information but it seems to contradict. You say that you would not go to DCA with OBB going on but then also say that DCA will be busier on non OBB days. My fear is that DCA will be busier on non OBB days. We were at the parks in March and were at DCA during a day where the park closed early to celebrate cast member anniversaries. DCA was pretty quiet that day as some people knew the park would be closed later, however there were not thousands of attendees coming in at 3pm with their late night party passes like there will be on OBB.

We will not be using park hoppers this time as we were able to get the discounted tickets for Canadians that are one park per day.

As for the August 22nd being the start of Halloween, is it likely that the Haunted Mansion will be closed for the Christmas theming right up until that day?

 

[disneychrista]

DCA will be much less crowded in the morning on an OBB day because those who do not have hoppers will choose to go to DL instead. But the trade off is that the park closes early to non-OBB guests.

In general YES, HMH will not open until the first day of the Halloween season (and close the day after Christmas ends).

 

[LKing]

I'm sorry, I probably typed that too quickly.

The reason I recommended against OBB days is because it pretty much a half day (8am -3 pm). 3-4 pm isn't too bad, but after 4 pm, it is pretty darn busy. If you have been before, are familiar with the park and don't mind half days, then you'll enjoy mornings in DCA on an OBB day. However, if you are a rope drop to close type of person, or want to see WOC, then you will miss out on the show and 6-7 hours of park time.

Many visitors choose not to do DCA on OBB days which will make Disneyland more busy. It will also make the non OBB days more busy in DCA because most people want a full day in a park.

If you have four days, you could do two half days at DCA and two full days at DL.

 

[MICKEYFIL]

I'm sorry, I probably typed that too quickly.

The reason I recommended against OBB days is because it pretty much a half day (8am -3 pm). 3-4 pm isn't too bad, but after 4 pm, it is pretty darn busy. If you have been before, are familiar with the park and don't mind half days, then you'll enjoy mornings in DCA on an OBB day. However, if you are a rope drop to close type of person, or want to see WOC, then you will miss out on the show and on 6-7 hours of park time.

Many visitors choose not to do DCA on OBB days which will make Disneyland more busy. It will also make the non OBB days more busy in DCA because most people want a full day in a park.

If you have four days, you could do two half days at DCA and two full days at DL.

Yeah that is what I am thinking. This is the first year I have bought annual passes so we will be making three multiday trips this year. Just never gone for an OBB day in the past and didn;t know if people tend to go all day there with either an annual pass and a park ticket as well as the OBB pass or just get the OBB pass because it will be a late night anyways.

I think I'll just bank my fast passes for the time between 3 and 6 and take advantage of the early morning. We are typically a 8 to 8 family. Don' make the close and rarely see the fireworks.

 

[LKing]

Yeah that is what I am thinking. This is the first year I have bought annual passes so we will be making three multiday trips this year. Just never gone for an OBB day in the past and didn;t know if people tend to go all day there with either an annual pass and a park ticket as well as the OBB pass or just get the OBB pass because it will be a late night anyways.

I think I'll just bank my fast passes for the time between 3 and 6 and take advantage of the early morning. We are typically a 8 to 8 family. Don' make the close and rarely see the fireworks.

If you have a MK, that means you can hop back and forth between the two parks as often as you want. You can enjoy the OBB mornings in DCA and hop over to DL in the afternoon. Warning, DL will be more crowded in the late afternoon/evenings on OBB days because anyone who is not participating in OBB is in Disneyland. If you want to see WOC, you could do a day at DL and hop over to DCA for WOC. Having MK with the ability to park hop makes it a lot easier to change plans at the last minute or if any park is more crowded than expected.

You ask what people tend to do. Personally, I think those with single parks ticket generally want to get their money's worth so choose a full day park (ie. DL) over a half day (DCA). MK holders will hop to the other park to get food, go shopping, etc. and then back to the original park. They tend to visit the resort as one large park rather than two separate parks.