The Boo Buckets came back on 20 October, and for the first time in the promotion's history they are not pumpkins, ghosts and witches. They are five Disney villains: Maleficent, Ursula, Jafar, Scar and Cruella de Vil.
That is a bigger change than it sounds. The Halloween pail has run, on and off, since 1986, and the designs have always been generic Halloween: a jack-o'-lantern face, a sheet ghost, a green witch. Licensing the whole set to one studio's antagonists turns a seasonal giveaway into something closer to a named collection, which is a different thing to chase.
The five
McDonald's describes the theme as inspired by "Disney's most notorious scene-stealers". Here is each one, and what the design had to solve.
Maleficent
The one the set is organised around, and the one that survives being carried round a street in the dark. Maleficent is the villain Disney draws with the most confidence: horns, a raven, a silhouette that reads at any size. On a moulded pail a silhouette is worth more than detail, because detail is the first thing a two-colour mould loses.
Ursula
The hardest character in the set to flatten onto a bucket. Ursula is built from curves that do not simplify, and the tentacles are the part a moulded lid either earns or loses. She is also the one adult collectors ask after first, which a five-bucket lineup clearly knows.
Jafar
Angles where Ursula has curves. Jafar is a vertical character, all staff and shoulders and beard, which suits a tall pail better than it suits a wide lid. The cobra is the obvious motif to reach for and the one most likely to arrive as a sticker rather than in the moulding.
Scar
The one most likely to be mistaken for an ordinary pumpkin pail at a distance, which is either a flaw or the joke depending on how you feel about the previous forty years of this promotion. A mane is a very good shape to mould, and it is doing most of the work here.
Cruella de Vil
The outlier, and the most interesting design problem in the set. Cruella is black and white in a promotion built on orange, so her bucket breaks the shelf rather than joining it. That is usually how you tell which one was designed last, and which one people will chase.
What you actually get
The bucket replaces the Happy Meal box rather than coming alongside it, which is how the promotion has always worked. McDonald's says each one comes with a villain-inspired lid and a sheet of stickers. They are at participating restaurants from 20 October, for a limited time and while supplies last.
No standalone price has been announced for buying a bucket on its own, which is the usual position and the usual source of the queue on day one.
Why collectors care about a free pail
Because the run is short, the distribution is uneven and nobody is making more. A Happy Meal promotion is not produced to a stated number, is not sold separately, and stops when the restaurant runs out. That combination produces genuine scarcity by accident rather than by design, which is the opposite of how most collectibles are made scarce.
The 2025 set ran to fifteen designs across ghosts, pumpkins, goblins, cats and zombies. Five is a far smaller set, and a smaller set completes faster, which usually means more people try to complete it.
What we do not know yet
Two things, and they are the two that matter most to anyone trying to finish the set.
How many. No production figure has been published, and one almost certainly will not be. This has never been a numbered promotion.
Regional variation. "Participating restaurants" has historically meant the set is not uniform across markets. Whether all five appear everywhere is not something the announcement settles, and it is the usual reason a set that looks complete turns out not to be.
Frequently asked questions
When did the 2026 Boo Buckets come out?
From 20 October 2026 at participating McDonald’s restaurants, for a limited time and while supplies last.
Which Disney villains are in the set?
Five: Maleficent, Ursula, Jafar, Scar and Cruella de Vil.
Can I buy a Boo Bucket without a Happy Meal?
No standalone price has been announced. The bucket replaces the Happy Meal box rather than being sold separately.
What comes with each bucket?
McDonald’s says each one has a villain-inspired lid and a sheet of stickers.
How long have Boo Buckets been going?
The Halloween pail dates to 1986, so 2026 is the fortieth year of the promotion, though it has not run in every one of them.
