McDonald’s Boo Buckets 2026: Release Date and the 5 Disney Villains

• McDonald’s Boo Buckets return Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a Happy Meal, for a limited time and while supplies last.
• The 2026 set has five Disney villains: Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella and Maleficent, each with stickers and a villain-inspired lid.
• It is the first time since the buckets came back in 2022 that the designs feature movie characters instead of McDonald’s own monsters.

McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and this year they belong to Disney’s villains. The chain announced five designs on Thursday, Oct. 15: Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella and Maleficent.

“This spooky szn, we’re entering our villain era,” McDonald’s wrote in its U.S. menu announcements. The buckets come with a Happy Meal at participating restaurants, for a limited time and while supplies last.

When do the 2026 Boo Buckets come out?

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. That is one day earlier than last year, when the buckets landed on Oct. 21, and five days later than in 2024, when they arrived on Oct. 15. McDonald’s has not given an end date, only “while supplies last.”

That leaves 11 days before Halloween, which falls on a Saturday this year.

Which Disney villains are on the 2026 Boo Buckets?

Five, one per color, and each villain’s eyes peer out from the side of the bucket.

• Jafar, from Aladdin (1992), on the red bucket.
• Ursula, from The Little Mermaid (1989), on the purple bucket.
• Scar, from The Lion King (1994), on the orange bucket.
• Cruella de Vil, from One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), on the white bucket, drawn in black and white.
• Maleficent, from Sleeping Beauty (1959), on the green bucket.

Each one comes with a sheet of stickers based on that villain’s movie, with “details true fans will recognize,” according to McDonald’s, plus a lid inspired by the character.

How do you get a McDonald’s Boo Bucket?

Order a Happy Meal at a participating McDonald’s starting Oct. 20. The bucket comes with the meal, and McDonald’s says it is available for a limited time, “while supplies last.”

The price of a Happy Meal varies by location, so the McDonald’s app or the menu board at your restaurant has the final number. Collecting all five means five Happy Meals.

How are this year’s Boo Buckets different from past years?

They are the first movie-themed buckets since the comeback. McDonald’s introduced the pails in 1986, shaped like pumpkins, put them on hiatus after 2016 and brought them back in 2022. The recent lineups used McDonald’s own Halloween faces:

• 2023: Monster, Skeleton, Mummy and Vampire, from Oct. 17. The Vampire brought back purple for the first time since the original purple bucket.
• 2024: Monster designs in white, orange, green and, for the first time, blue, from Oct. 15.
• 2025: Ghost, Pumpkin and Goblin, plus two new faces, Cat and Zombie, from Oct. 21.
• 2026: the five Disney villains, from Oct. 20.

Maleficent has a second Halloween gig this fall: a Maleficent Funnel Cake with chocolate horns at Disney World.

More from Food: Dunkin’s 12 Halloween drinks, Hostess’ Halloween snacks and Trader Joe’s Halloween mini tote bags.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: McDonald’s USA Menu Spotter (Disney Villains Boo Buckets Happy Meal, Oct. 15, 2026, and the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Boo Buckets entries); McDonald’s on X (Oct. 15, 2026); NBC Chicago (Boo Buckets history, Oct. 15, 2026); Delish (Gabby Romero, Oct. 15, 2026). Photos: McDonald’s.