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Credit: DisneyDisney has been such a large part of so many people’s lives for so long that it seems hard to think of a time when we didn’t have Mickey Mouse, Disney theme parks, and Disney movies. In 2023, The Walt Disney Company celebrated its 100th Anniversary, and the celebration extended to Disney parks all over the world.
And next year, there will be an equally special celebration — the Disneyland Resort will celebrate its 70th Anniversary! That’s right — it has been 70 years since Walt Disney welcomed everyone who came to that happy place.
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Disney loves to celebrate special occasions, and Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is no exception. Beginning May 16, 2025, guests will be able to enjoy a ton of exciting new experiences. Beloved parades will return, classic characters will don the celebratory best, there will be limited-time food and drink options, themed merchandise, and more!
There will also be not one, but two new projection shows, including one in an area that has never held center stage!
The theme of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary will be “Celebrate Happy” and the two new projection shows will fully embrace that.
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The first projection show will take place on the facade of “it’s a small world” in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park. The iconic attraction has been used as an alternative viewing spot for nightly fireworks shows like “Disneyland Forever” and “Mickey’s Mix Magic”. There was even an Encanto (2021)-themed show that took place on the front of the attraction multiple times per night.
The second show will take place over in Disney California Adventure Park on the front of the Carthay Circle Restaurant. Carthay Circle has been used to project images during events like the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween Party, but it has never been the star of the show.
According to Disney, both shows will take place each night for a “special moment” that will feature music, themed lighting, and projections.
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Months of Exciting Entertainment
These two new projection shows are not the only exciting entertainment options coming to Disneyland for its 70th Anniversary. Beloved new shows will return, and a new nighttime spectacular has been created!
As part of Disneyland’s 60th Diamond Celebration in 2015, a new nighttime light parade was created called Paint the Night. The Paint the Night Parade was an absolute hit and drew big crowds every single night. Sadly, the parade closed in 2017, and fans have been begging for its return ever since.
Earlier this month, Disney announced that the Paint the Night Parade WILL be returning for the 70th Anniversary. It will most likely take place in Disneyland Park, as another parade will be taking place in Disney California Adventure.
This past summer, Disneyland guests got to enjoy the return of Pixar Fest, which spanned both Disneyland Park and DCA. Over in Disneyland, the Fantasyland Theater was transformed into a Pixar paradise, and over in DCA, there were food booths and the brand-new Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! parade.
The parade featured rarely seen characters, including Luca and Alberto from Luca (2021), and even members of the band 4*Town from Turning Red (2022)!
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Both Better Together and Paint the Night will return when the 70th Anniversary kicks off on May 16.
In addition to Paint the Night and Better Together, the Wondrous Journeys fireworks spectacular will also return and light up the skies over Sleeping Beauty Castle. The incredibly beautiful and moving show premiered at Disneyland Park in 2023 as part of the company’s 100th Anniversary, and guests were thrilled to hear that it will be a part of the Disney magic once again.
Over in California Adventure, there isn’t a nightly fireworks show. Instead, there is World of Color, a stunning show featuring lights, original music, massive water projections, and even fire in front of Pixar Pier.
In celebration of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary, a new World of Color show will premiere — World of Color Happiness! According to Disney, the show will be hosted by Joy from Inside Out (2015) and will honor seven decades of Disneyland “with a brilliant array of signature fountains, dynamic lighting, colorful lasers, fog and dramatic flame effects—creating awe and wonder.”
The new show will also feature music from Turning Red, A Goofy Movie (1995), Tangled (2010), The Lion King (1994), and more.
In an exciting, yet somewhat controversial move, Disney also announced that Imagineers were creating a first-of-its-kind animatronic of Walt Disney himself. The new animatronic will be a part of a new show called “Walt Disney – A Magical Life”, which will play in rotation with Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln.
Inside the Magic will keep readers updated as we learn more details about Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary celebration, including information about limited-time food and drink offerings and specialty merchandise.
Will you be heading to Disneyland Resort to celebrate its 70th Anniversary? What experiences are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!