McDonald's is bringing back the Boo Buckets for Halloween with a Disney Villains twist, and the limited-time promotion starts Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in New Jersey. Customers there can get one with a Happy Meal purchase.
The timing is the point. Halloween is close enough now that the return feels immediate, and McDonald's is leaning into one of its most recognizable seasonal giveaways. For shoppers searching for the new Disney and McDonald's Boo Buckets for Halloween, the answer is that the buckets are back at New Jersey locations starting Tuesday, with the collectible tied to Happy Meals and available for a limited time.
This year's version adds five Disney Villains designs: Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella and Maleficent. Each bucket comes with a villain-inspired lid and stickers featuring iconic characters and details, which is enough to make the promotion feel like more than a simple rerun. McDonald's Happy Meals generally cost between $6 and $8 depending on location, so the buckets are being handed out as part of a meal purchase rather than sold on their own.
What McDonald's has not explained is why the rollout is limited to New Jersey, even though the promotion is described as available across all New Jersey locations. That leaves a gap between the broad phrasing and the actual footprint of the offer, and it also leaves open whether the Disney Villains Boo Buckets will show up elsewhere before Halloween ends.
For now, the bigger takeaway is straightforward: the Boo Buckets are back, the villain theme is new, and New Jersey is the only place named for the launch. The window is short, the Halloween hook is clear, and the next question is not whether the buckets are coming, but how long the run will last before they disappear again.
