Disneyland's 70th Anniversary Celebration Kicks Off May 2025: Full Guide to Events and Entertainment

5 days ago in "Disneyland Resort"

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Disneyland's 70th Anniversary Celebration

Posted: Friday December 6, 2024 11:20am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disneyland Resort will mark its 70th anniversary with a celebration spanning from May 16, 2025, through summer 2026. This milestone honors seven decades of Disneyland memories with special entertainment, themed décor, food, and collectibles.

Here's a breakdown of what to expect during the celebration.

Nighttime Spectaculars and Parades

World of Color Happiness!

Disney California Adventure Park will debut a new "World of Color" show inspired by Walt Disney's dedication speech. Themed around happiness, the show will feature Joy and her "Inside Out" companions alongside iconic moments from Disney and Pixar films like Turning Red and Tangled. Expect dynamic fountains, lighting effects, lasers, and flame effects transforming Paradise Bay.

World of Color Happiness!

Paint the Night Parade

Returning to Disneyland Park, this nighttime parade features LED-lit floats showcasing beloved characters from Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, and more. The parade blends vibrant colors, music, and special effects for a visually stunning experience.

Paint the Night

Wondrous Journeys

Back at Disneyland Park, this show will project Disney Animation classics onto Sleeping Beauty Castle, Main Street, U.S.A., and "it's a small world." Enhanced with fireworks on select nights, it celebrates stories like Moana and Encanto.

Wondrous Journeys

Daytime Entertainment

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!

This daytime parade at Disney California Adventure Park features nearly 30 Pixar characters from films such as Luca and Up, alongside lively music and colorful floats.

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!

Mickey and Friends Celebrate Happy!

A new cavalcade at Disneyland Park invites guests to join Mickey, Minnie, and their friends for a high-energy procession celebrating seven decades of fun.

Themed Enhancements and Décor

Sleeping Beauty Castle

The castle will feature anniversary décor, including a commemorative medallion.

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Character Costumes

Mickey, Minnie, and friends will wear outfits created for the occasion, available for meet-and-greets in Town Square.

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse 70th anniversary costumes

Projection Displays

Carthay Circle Restaurant and "it's a small world" will showcase new projection shows designed for the celebration.

Seasonal Adjustments

Both "Wondrous Journeys" and the Pixar Pals parade will temporarily pause for Halloween and holiday events before returning later in the celebration.

Food, Merchandise, and More

Expect themed food and beverage offerings and exclusive collectibles highlighting the 70th anniversary. Further details will be released as the celebration approaches.

Stay tuned for updates as Disneyland continues to roll out plans for this historic occasion.

Discuss on the Forums

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Starship82411 hours ago

I'm sure one will be back after PTN wraps up.

TsWade21 day ago

I guess we'll never have a daytime parade again! 🥺

CaptinEO1 day ago

Are people actually arguing which park has more or less reduced entertainment. We're all on the same team, we are all fans of Disney who have been affected by cutbacks and upcharges. This effects Land and World.

SuddenStorm1 day ago

I'll fully admit the only parade I go out of my way for is A Christmas Fantasy.

truecoat2 days ago

About 80 days a year are paywalled at the Magic Kingdom.

chadwpalm2 days ago

I'm with you on parades being the time to go on attractions. The only parade I actively sat and waited for in the past 10 years was PTN. You reminded me of a story. On my trip a few weeks ago I was riding IASW and we exited the show building about a minute before the scheduled time the lights were to come on. Someone from another boat yelled "One minute to lights!". So in my boat I counted down from ten and when I hit zero the lights didn't come on. I felt foolish. Thankfully, the boats were backed up (I think there was an ADA boat ahead of us) about 2 minutes later while we were still on the boat the lights came on. Everyone cheered. It was fun.....but don't know why they were late when most other things there are usually pretty on the dot.

mickEblu2 days ago

Yeah that’s true. Also casual guests appreciate these things even more.. I’m an AP that’s pretty much done with a daytime parade after 1 or two viewings.

Disney Irish2 days ago

What other limitations due to larger floats are you talking about then? As DCA has run parades with larger floats already including PtN in 2018. The only float they weren't able to run was the Frozen float during PtN due to the trolley wires. Which as the other poster suggested could now be done since they could take the wires down with the trolley closing. So we're not sure what you're talking about. Could be please be more clear about what you mean?

SuddenStorm2 days ago

Even if you don't stop to watch it, it adds to the life of Disneyland. The more entertainment gets scaled back, the less alive the place is.

Kamikaze2 days ago

I didn't say height.

mickEblu3 days ago

DL not having a day parade is a bummer. Not because I want to watch it. Because it’s a guaranteed way of getting on an E ticket with much lower wait times than normal. A couple weeks ago we walked onto IASW at around 5:20pm (so it was dark and already all beautifully lit up with the Christmas lights) while EVERYONE was watching the Christmas Parade.

Gusey3 days ago

Do we think the 70th calvacade was originally planned to be a full parade and scaled back or was that always on the cards? Just seems odd for DCA to have a day parade but not Disneyland itself

Centauri Space Station3 days ago

By all means 😁

PiratesMansion4 days ago

Can we just let the news that a perfectly good day parade won't be performed for a whole year for no good reason without people immediately, unprompted, pipe into this thread for no other reason than to be like "Buh buh buh WDW can still run two parades (even if one of them is still running in a half-a$$Ed state, we're going to just ignore that part)!" Seriously.