Things to Do in Anaheim This September (It’s a Long List)

September is the month Anaheim forgets what season it is, and somehow it all holds together. The calendar fills faster than it looks from the outside, and the weekends when events overlap are the ones nobody plans around. Here is what the month looks like on the ground.

The Costumes Show Up Before the Pumpkins Do

Oogie Boogie Bash runs on 13 select nights at Disney California Adventure this September, and the experience follows a pattern everyone who has been there describes the same way: walk in at 3 p.m. while it is still 85 degrees, crowds thin, and watch the park shift tone entirely once the sun drops. September nights run considerably warmer than October’s, which matters when you are picking a date around a costume, and with September 27 reserved for D23 members and several dates already sold out, that window is narrower than it looks.

Disneyland Halloween Time 2026 runs the full month at both parks on standard admission, with character appearances, themed decor, and seasonal food spread across Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Inside DCA, Plaza de la Familia adds its own daily layer: Coco-inspired entertainment, mariachi performances, and a remembrance wall where guests leave photos for loved ones. Standard admission covers both, so neither requires a separate ticket.

On Bash nights, the structure nearest the DCA entrance fills faster than most people expect, particularly in the 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. window when day guests and party guests hit the same level at the same time. Arriving at 3 p.m. puts you ahead of that overlap.

Forty Thousand Gamers Walk Into a Convention Center

BlizzCon 2026 returns to the Anaheim Convention Center on September 12 and 13, and it brings a costume crowd that looks nothing like Disney’s. The Marriott, Hilton, and Sheraton properties along Katella Avenue are all connected to the Convention Center by interior walkways, which means most registered attendees never need to go outside between the convention floor and their rooms. That connection shapes where attendees stay, where they eat, and how the hotel corridor fills.

Restaurants along Harbor Boulevard between the Convention Center and the resort area fill at dinner on both nights, with steak spots and Korean BBQ tending to go first. Rooms in that radius book quickly after registration opens, and informal meetups concentrate along the same stretch, so restaurant reservations for September 12 and 13 should be locked in well ahead. September 12 draws the heavier inbound flow, with most attendees landing at the Convention Center in the morning and the corridor reaching capacity that evening.

Bull Riding Hits the Platinum Triangle

PBR Teams Series runs at Honda Center September 11 through 13, with the final two days running alongside BlizzCon at the Convention Center. The Teams format is team-based bull riding, with eight franchise teams competing across three sessions: Friday at 7:45 p.m., Saturday at 6:45 p.m., and Sunday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. For that, Honda Center’s floor gets a full dirt conversion, the same surface that will host concert stages and NHL ice at other points in the month.

Both venues sit roughly four miles apart along Katella Avenue, but on Saturday and Sunday they push foot traffic into the same corridor from opposite ends. The Platinum Triangle stretch near Honda Center and Angel Stadium runs noticeably busier those evenings. At 6:30 p.m. with temperatures still in the 80s, four miles of Katella on foot is less reasonable than it sounds on paper, which is why most people crossing between the two venues end up in a car.

From Metal to Country to Weird Al in 72 Hours

The week after BlizzCon and PBR clear out, Honda Center runs three consecutive nights covering more audience range than most arenas see in a month. Godsmack headlines September 17 on The Rise of Rock World Tour, Zach Top’s Cold Beer and Country Music Tour follows on September 18, and “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Bigger and Weirder 2026 Tour closes the stretch on September 19. For Zach Top, a room that size marks a significant venue jump for one of country music’s faster-rising names.

Three consecutive nights of post-show departures from the same lots, each with a completely different crowd profile, is what makes this stretch harder to predict than a typical arena weekend. Post-show traffic on Katella Avenue eastbound slows after all three shows, and the 57 Freeway on-ramp nearby backs up noticeably. The Godsmack and Weird Al crowds tend to linger around the venue longer than a country audience does, which affects how quickly the surrounding lots clear. Danzig, with Acid Bath and Twin Temple as support, takes the same stage on September 26 and closes out the month on the heavier end of the music calendar.

Puck Drop, 24 Hours After the Last Encore

The Anaheim Ducks open their 2026 preseason at home on September 20 against the San Jose Sharks, then return on September 23 against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings matchup draws more attention, as the Southern California rivalry carries weight even in preseason, but the more striking detail is the venue itself: “Weird Al” Yankovic plays September 19, and the Ducks drop the puck September 20. The crew converts the building between the two events, and the September 19 to 20 window is one of the tighter arena turnarounds of the month.

Not Everyone in Anaheim Is Wearing Mouse Ears

The Anaheim Convention Center does not slow down after BlizzCon. The League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo runs September 23 through 25, drawing city managers, council members, and department heads representing all 482 California cities into the Convention Center and nearby hotels.

Academy 2026 Anaheim, the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry, begins September 30 and continues into October. Neither is a public-facing event, but both affect room availability, restaurant demand, and Anaheim Convention Center transportation capacity through the final week of the month. A hotel search within a mile of the Convention Center in late September tends to come back empty fast.

The Month, Date by Date

Anaheim Does Not Have One Event District

The three venues share a city name but not much else. Each runs on its own parking, its own entrances, and its own traffic logic, none of which connects to the others. The map makes September look manageable. September does not always agree.

If you are crossing between any of them on September 12 or 13, give yourself more time than the distance implies. Street traffic backs up at the same exits when events overlap, and getting from one corridor to the next takes considerably longer than it looks.