The Oogie Boogie Debacle

If you’ve followed Disney Over 50 for a while, you know that I tend to have a positive take on most things when it comes to Disney. Even during hard times, I love the escapism! I truly believe that it’s mostly up to us if we’re going to have a magical experience. Attitude goes a long way when it comes to a Disney vacation. I tend to excuse a lot because of my love for Disney.

Sometimes, though, something happens that is hard to overlook. That’s what just happened with sales for Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure. I bought my tickets for Oogie Boogie Bash early this year because I’m a Magic Key Holder (Disneyland’s Annual Pass program), so I was eligible for the presale. It took three hours and there were a couple of technical problems, but my purchase went through. I immediately checked to see if the tickets were in the Disneyland App because there were so many problems (the tickets are there). In Facebook groups I read of many people with similar issues to what I experienced. I hoped that it would be worked out before tickets went on sale to everyone.

I was wrong on that. When general ticket sales opened up, the system crashed. I call it the Oogie Boogie Bash Crash. Initially ticket sales were paused, keeping people in the queue. After a few hours Disney closed the queue and promised that tickets would go back on sale at a later date.

When tickets once again became available, the system didn’t crash. But it also wasn’t fair. Many people were able to buy their tickets, while others were left hanging for hours without the Virtual Queue moving at all.

A friend of mine is planning her first trip to Disneyland. She wanted to include Oogie Boogie Bash, in part because I told her how much fun it is. She was in the queue when it opened, and she waited for nine and a half hours! She was barely a third of the way through her wait when all of her possible days sold out. She is understandably disappointed. I feel bad, because I encouraged her to go.

After all the dates sold out I started to read comments from other people who had gone through a similar experience. Some of them were in the queue for over 12 hours when the sold out message appeared.

What can be done? I’m not a computer specialist so I can’t comment on the actual system. But there’s one thing that Disney should have done to make the system fairer. They should have limited Oogie Boogie Bash tickets to one date per transaction. There are plenty of people who will buy tickets for multiple dates once it is their turn. If people could buy tickets for only one date and then have to get back in the queue to buy a second date, it would give more people a chance.

Also, maybe Disneyland should add more dates for Oogie Boogie Bash in the future. If tickets sell out in a matter of hours there is obviously a demand for it.

Already there are people trying to resell Oogie Boogie Bash tickets for a huge profit. Don’t buy them! Last year, Disneyland cancelled resold tickets. A lot of people lost their money and didn’t get to enjoy the party.

Even if you didn’t get tickets for Oogie Boogie Bash, Disneyland is worth a visit during the Halloween Season. There are decorations in both parks, as well as all over Downtown Disney. I prefer the Disneyland decorations to the ones at Walt Disney World! The decorations in Cars Land are so much fun, and Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion is a must-do in the fall. My friend is still excited for her trip, and I think that overall the good will outweigh the disappointment.

Honestly, Disney needs to do something about the online Virtual Queue whenever there’s something special happening. Another debacle was when tickets went on sale for Destination D23. Tickets sold out in just a few minutes, but the queue was kept open. When someone was finally allowed in they learned that it was sold out. There have been similar problems for Annual Passholder events. Disney is a company that creates technology when needed. Someone needs to find a real fix for the online Virtual Queue.