I could sleepwalk through Disneyland. I’ve been there so many times in my life, more than any other single theme park, that it feels as familiar as my own home. Except that, unlike my house, while most of Disneyland is the same from one day to the next, there is also almost always something new and interesting on any given trip. Right now the resort is celebrating its 70th anniversary, and there’s a lot that’s new and returning for fans to experience.
I’ve already written my thoughts on Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration, a near-perfect blend of the new and the nostalgic. I had a lot of fun experiencing all the new entertainment like the Tapestry of Happiness, the returning favorites like the Paint the Night Parade, and even the updated attractions. Disneyland, as it is right now, is near perfect, which already has me worried about what will happen when the 70th anniversary celebration comes to an end.
Disneyland Resort Has So Much To Keep Fans Busy
I spent a couple of days last week at Disneyland Resort as part of the preview of the 70th Anniversary Celebration's incredible entertainment offerings, and by the end of it, I was more exhausted than I had been after a trip there in years. There’s just so much to see and do at the resort right now.
An evening at Disneyland Park alone will keep you awake and keep you moving late, as there are four different nighttime shows for guests to experience. The ongoing show Fantasmic now appears alongside fireworks, a nighttime parade, and a new projection show on the facade of It's A Small World.
That’s a lot of entertainment to fill your night, and unless you literally are only going to be there for one night, I wouldn’t even try to do it all at once. That said, the fact that there’s so much going on is fantastic. Both Disneyland Resort parks have parades. One’s during the day, the other is at night. Both parks have great nighttime entertainment, and there’s so much new food you simply can’t eat all of it in one trip.
On top of all the normal rides and shows, there are a lot of fun activities to keep guests engaged when just walking around the park. There’s a special Disneyland “key” guests can purchase that will interact with several locations, as well as special MagicBand+ contact points, new for the 70th, which make the MagicBand+ something worth having at Disneyland.
@themeparkdirk ♬ original sound - Stephen "Dirk" Libbey
In a word, this resort feels “full,” maybe for the first time in a long time. It's not a surprise that Disneyland is bringing out the big guns for a big anniversary. I just hope it doesn’t stop when the anniversary does.
Disneyland Resort Needs To Keep The Fun Coming Even After The 70th Anniversary Has Ended
Sometime in the summer of 2026, the 70th Anniversary celebration will come to an end. When that happens, the decorations will go away, as likely will at least some of the entertainment that debuted for the event. That’s fine. It’s to be expected, I just hope that when it does, it gets replaced by something else.
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure should both have a parade every day of the year. There should always be fun activities outside of rides and shows for people to check out. This is what Disneyland needs to be on a normal day, not just when there's a big party to promote.
When it's time for the 70th anniversary celebration to wrap up, I hope that we see most of its entertainment either continued or replaced with something else. It can be something new, or it can be the return of something popular, but the resort needs to have the same busy schedule it now has. Disneyland feels alive in a way that I haven't felt it in a while, and I really don't want to see that go away. It would be a great loss.
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