McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back with a new look. Nostalgic fans have thoughts. – USFTB

Boo Buckets are officially back at McDonald’s for spooky season — and this year, the fast food chain is embracing its villain era. 

Several iconic Disney Villains are featured on this year’s wicked collectibles, which include Jafar from Aladdin in red, Ursula from The Little Mermaid in purple, Scar from The Lion King in orange, Cruella from 101 Dalmatians in white and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty in green.

Each Boo Bucket comes with a “villain-inspired lid and stickers featuring iconic characters and details true fans will recognize,” according to McDonald’s.

Fans can get their claws on the Boo Buckets starting Tuesday, Oct. 20, just in time to use them as a pail for trick-or-treating.

The Boo Buckets replace the usual Happy Meal boxes, and they’re available for a limited time at participating restaurants while supplies last.

McDonald’s first debuted the Boo Buckets back in 1986, and they grew into a fan favorite and Halloween staple.

In 2016, McDonald’s stopped making the buckets, but brought them back in 2022 in response to customer demand and nostalgia among fans who grew up with them in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 2022 collection featured three classic designs inspired by the original releases: the orange jack-o’-lantern bucket, the green goblin bucket with a witch’s hat and hair and the white ghost bucket.

Some fans are disappointed that this year’s buckets lack a traditional Halloween theme.

“Nothing remotely Halloween about these,” one Instagram user commented on a McDonald’s post promoting the 2026 buckets. 

Other fans want McDonald’s to bring back the original Halloween buckets. “I just wanted the boo glowing buckets from back in the day… But noooooo you get villains… 🙄,” another user wrote.

The Disney villain theme is great for others, but they just want the original snap-on lids back.

“Love these, but can y’all put the lids back on!! 🎃🍔🍟” one fan commented.

“All we wanted were lids… no one asked for this,” wrote another.

But of course, there are devoted McDonald’s fans who are excited about the new buckets.

“These are SO COOL 😍” one Instagram user commented.

“Since purple is one of my fav colors, Ursula 💜, but my 2nd choice would definitely be Scar 🧡,” another shared.

And another user is just a fan of the arches — but not necessarily the Golden Arches. “Jafar really was serving eyebrows from day one, arches on point.”