By Samantha Davis-Friedman
Each year, the Disneyland Resort transforms from “The Happiest Place on Earth” into “The Spookiest Place on Earth,” with Halloween décor, attraction overlays, and themed food and beverages. This year, Disneyland is serving nearly 150 seasonal menu items—more than ever before.
According to Elizabeth Ramos, an area chef at the Disneyland Resort, the impressive lineup includes 77 new items and 71 returning favorites, making Halloween Time one of the most popular times of year for foodies to visit the Anaheim, Calif., theme parks.
“Storytelling is at the core of who Disney is, and seeking ways to showcase characters through food […] sets our culinary vision apart from what’s traditional for chefs,” said Chef John State, Disneyland Resort’s culinary director. “We focus on delivering memorable, story-driven food and beverage experiences; even a new churro dipping sauce keeps the celebration fresh and exciting.”
Fan Favorites Make a Return
One perennially popular savory item is Pork Pozole served with chopped onions, shredded cabbage, lime wedges, sliced radishes and tortilla chips; another is the Birria Potato–a baked potato filled with beef birria and pepper jack cheese, topped with salsa verde, and served with a side of consommé. Both are available in Disneyland Park.
Halloween is also the season when spicier offerings appear, including the mango habanero chicken strips in California Adventure Park, which come back year after year; they have a “good kick,” Chef Ramos cautions.
Sweet Treats Drive Seasonal Buzz
According to Chef State, sweet items are often the biggest hits of Halloween Time.
“Cold brew beverages continue to be among the most popular offerings, including favorites like the French Toast Cold Brew and Peanut Butter Mocha Cold Brew,” he said. “Churros also remain guest favorites, especially unique varieties like the Ube Cheesecake Churro, while classic seasonal treats like warm pumpkin cookies continue to draw fans year after year.”
The Disneyland pastry team is also famous for macarons with creative flavor combinations year-round, and this Halloween, three macarons showcase beloved Disney characters.
The Alien Macarooooon is filled with berries and cream (themed to the aliens from the “Toy Story” movies), the Baymax Macaron is filled with ube cream and salted caramel chocolate crunch pearls (themed to “Big Hero Six”), and the cookies and cream-filled Mickey Mummy Macaron celebrates the mouse that started it all.
“Character-inspired treats like the Baymax Macaron and Mickey Mummy Macaron help bring the stories of the season to life,” Chef State explained.
Giving a Signature Dessert a Seasonal Makeover
Rather than developing every seasonal item from scratch, Disney finds ways to reinvent guest favorites.
A popular year-round Disneyland dessert is the “Beauty and the Beast”-inspired Grey Stuff, which typically consists of white chocolate mousse, red velvet cake and raspberry preserves (the grey color comes from crushed Oreo-type cookies). But pastry sous chef Christina Orejel explained how the sweet treat gets makeovers throughout the year.
“We try to have fun with it,” she said. “We’ve had the Grave Stuff [with a chocolate tombstone decoration] for a past Halloween, we’ve had the Green Stuff [with mint white chocolate mousse] for March, we’ve had the Love Stuff [with a red shortbread cookie and heart sprinkles] for February, and this Halloween, we have the Enchanted Pumpkin Stuff.”
The Halloween Time dessert is a shortbread cookie hiding a mini pumpkin pie, topped with pumpkin mousse, sprinkles, silver stars and a chocolate branch.
Celebrating Dia de los Muertos Through Food
A separate menu is developed for Plaza de la Familia in California Adventure, the resort’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration inspired by the Academy Award-winning animated movie “Coco.” The resort takes great care to represent the holiday’s culinary traditions accurately, said Disneyland spokesperson Stephanie Graves.
“Our chefs took traditional Hispanic dishes that you could find in abuelita’s kitchen and brought them to life,” she said. “But there’s always a little Disneyland twist on it.”
This year, the menu includes a Chilaquiles Carnitas Torta with refried beans, avocado spread, queso fresco, pickled red onions and a fried egg.
“Chilaquiles is normally a breakfast food, but with the carnitas, people can have it for lunch or dinner—or for a snack because you’re here all day—and it’s sharable,” Graves said. “We had it last year, and it was so popular we had to bring it back.”
But of course, you can’t have the savory without the sweet: a new Nuez Gelatina Cake, made with a cinnamon sponge cake, pecan gelatina and whipped topping.
“The flavors are so authentic,” Graves said. “It’s like right out of grandma’s kitchen.”
Over-the-Top Halloween Theming
Arguably the best themed item in this year’s Halloween line-up is the new BBQ Pork Muenster Grilled Cheese sandwich, featuring pork belly and muenster cheese on sourdough, with crispy onions, jalapeño slaw and olive “eyes.”
“Beyond the flavors, guests enjoy the creative presentation and playful names, such as the Boo-gogi Beef Toasted Sandwich and [garlicky] Anti-Vampire Pizza,” Chef State notes.
And even after coming up with something as clever as the muenster/monster grilled cheese, Disneyland chefs are already thinking about next year (though it seems likely the monster sandwich will be back).
For foodservice operators, Disney’s approach offers a useful reminder: seasonal menus have the most impact when they become part of the experience, not just an addition to it.
Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort runs from August 18 through October 31, 2026, with Plaza de la Familia continuing through November 2, 2026.
About the Author
Born and raised in Southern California, Samantha Davis-Friedman has over 15 years of experience writing for trade and consumer travel publications and websites, with a focus on luxury and culinary travel as well as family travel and theme parks.
