McDonald's is giving its Happy Meal Boo Buckets a “refresh,” much to the disappointment of fans

To celebrate the spooky season, McDonald's is reviving its iconic Happy Meal Boo Buckets, an annual tradition the fast food chain first introduced nearly 40 years ago. This year's trick-or-treat buckets are “getting a refresh,” much to the dismay of longtime boo bucket collectors.

The revamped buckets will feature “new monster designs in white, orange, green and an all-new color, blue,” McDonald's said in a recent announcement. Customers can customize their festive buckets with themed stickers for “a truly monstrous makeover.” The Boo Buckets will be available at participating McDonald's restaurants nationwide starting October 15, while supplies last.

McDonald's spooky buckets were first introduced in 1986 and have been hugely popular ever since. The very first buckets resembled classic jack-o'-lanterns and came in three varieties: McBoo, McPunk'n and McGoblin. An ad posted at the time said guests could take “three different Halloween pumpkins” and “get one with every Happy Meal,” while supplies lasted.

Since then, the design and colors of the buckets have changed, including a witch-shaped bucket, a ghost-shaped bucket, and buckets in shades of green, white, and purple. Last year's buckets featured a new addition to the mix – a purple vampire character. The complete range also included a green bucket with a monster design, an orange one with a skeleton design and a white one with a mummy design.

“They'll be gone faster than you can say 'boo,'” McDonald's said in a news release.

That may not apply to this year's new buckets, which have already received negative reactions before their release date. One person on Instagram commented: “Strong indication of that. The worst boo bucket designs released to date.”

“At least this year I don’t have to run around trying to collect these. Maybe next year McDonald's can get it right,” another user wrote. Another user expressed similar sentiments, saying: “They really made us put the boooooo in the boo bucket this year.”

On Reddit, people complained that the buckets didn't have a lid and that they were “not much effort.”

“The new (boo) buckets are terrible. Much smaller and without a lid. I got a jack-o-lantern the year they came back and kept it on my porch as a candy container for the neighborhood kids throughout October,” wrote user u/pwrof3. Another user, u/OldClunkyRobot, simply commented: “Boo! But not in a positive way.”

“No. I've been buying them for the last 2 years and they've been disappointing. The handles didn't match the faces, the faces were both on a bucket, the lids were just cardboard with stickers, just all around disappointing,” said user u /RogerClyneIsAGod2.

“Why did they look like Dust Bunnies or Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” Sarah Kim (@skvintage) said in a TikTok video made last month. “Remember last year when they were so good when we got that little purple vampire deal?”

Despite the hate, some fans said they liked this year's bucket designs.

“These are so cute for the kids!!” said one user on Instagram.

“I think she’s cute. Not nostalgic like the traditional characters, but still cute,” wrote user u/goofus_andgallant on Reddit.

Want more great food texts and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food's newsletter, The Bite.

“All Boo Buckets are better than no Boo Buckets.” If that makes kids somewhere happy on Halloween, then that's great!” said Reddit user u/tomarra0.

It looks like McDonald's isn't the only major chain releasing Halloween treats. In addition to the ongoing cheap meal wars, there are also Halloween menu wars.

On September 30, Tim Hortons announced its Halloween menu, which includes several baked goods and drinks as well as two new glow-in-the-dark Timbits® trick-or-treat buckets. The buckets can be filled with your choice of 31 Timbits (the chain's bite-sized traditional donuts) or without. Dunkin' then announced its Halloween menu on October 1st. It includes a new, limited-time Halloween bucket called the Halloween Munchkins Bucket. The buckets can be filled with a 50-piece selection of Munchkins Donut Hole Treats. It will be available at Dunkin' locations nationwide beginning October 16th.