Disneyland Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary with Fun Both Old and New
Photo by Christian Thompson, courtesy of Disney
Disneyland doesn’t turn 70 until July, but there’s nothing wrong with celebrating early. The park kicked off its birthday party earlier this month, with a combo of new experiences and returning favorites paying tribute to its seven decades. If you’ve never been to the original Disney theme park, now’s the time; if you’re a regular, well, you’ve probably already checked out the 70th offerings. Either way, there’s a wealth of new and familiar tributes commemorating the park’s birthday right now, with even more on the way.
Let’s start with the entertainment offerings. In the afternoon Main Street USA is briefly taken over by the Celebrate Happy Cavalcade, a daytime celebration through Disneyland featuring Mickey and his pals partying on a fancy new float, along with appearances from a handful of other characters, from Alice and the Mad Hatter to Goofy’s teenage son Max. For hardcore Disney nerds the big talking point about this is the inclusion of Duffy the Disney Bear—an ‘00s-era creation that wasn’t particularly popular in the States, but became a phenomenon at Tokyo Disney. Disney reintroduced Duffy in the American parks in 2010, and Celebrate Happy might be his most prominent gig over here yet; he and his pal ShellieMay head up the procession on the back of their own custom bicycles. If you’re wondering what Disney means by the word “cavalcade,” imagine a bite-sized parade, with only one float, a few groups of dancers, and Duffy and ShellieMay on their bikes. It’s all choreographed to “Celebrate Happy,” the Jonas Brothers’ official theme song for Disneyland’s 70th—which you will hear, like, a dozen times during any day in the parks right now.
One of Disney’s most popular nighttime parades is back, as Paint the Night has returned to the Disneyland Resort for the first time since a 2018 run at California Adventure. It’s an appropriate time for it: Paint the Night originally debuted in 2015 as part of Disneyland’s 60th anniversary Diamond Celebration. It was a visual marvel then, with over a million brilliant LED lights studding its technologically advanced floats, and it remains an amazing spectacle today. It’s not exactly the same as you might remember it from 10 years ago; the first float has a new, more advanced mechanism to make Tinker Bell’s show-opening flight even more realistic, and there have been some tweaks to the soundtrack throughout. It also marks the return of one of its most dramatic floats, a recreation of Elsa’s Ice Palace from Frozen, which hasn’t been seen since the parade left Disneyland in January 2017. Paint the Night’s still got it; it’s a bright, beautiful trip through Disney’s history.
Another recent favorite also returns for one more engagement. Wondrous Journeys, the spellbinding show that made me a believer in Disney’s nighttime spectaculars, is back for another run. Originally debuting in January 2023 as part of the celebrations for Disney’s 100th anniversary as a company, Wondrous Journeys wrapped up that August before a brief, three-week return in the spring of 2024. I’ve always looked forward to Disneyland’s nighttime shows because the lines for the rides get shorter during them, making it a perfect time to hop onto a ride without much of a wait; the stunning Wondrous Journeys makes me wonder what I’ve missed over the years. It’s an overpowering, senses-rattling tribute to a century of Disney animation, using music, projections, fireworks, and a flying Baymax drone to pay tribute to every animated feature in the company’s history. Most impressively, though, is how it makes me feel; it packs a surprisingly strong emotional wallop into its sensory overload, making it something truly special. No lie: Wondrous Journeys is better than many of the movies it references. If you’re at all a fan of Disney animation, you owe it to yourself to see it in person. The best view can be found about halfway down Main Street; you’ll be fully immersed in the show, with projections on all the storefronts around you, and still have a clear view of the castle and the fireworks above it.
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