Review: Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is Better Than Disney World’s 50th.

Disney kicked off Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary Celebration with the new World of Color: Happiness, plus the return of Paint the Night parade and Wondrous Journeys fireworks, as well as a variety of other entertainment and plussings throughout the California parks. The event offers a surprising amount of substance for what could be considered a minor milestone as compared to Disneyland’s 75th Anniversary ‘Diamond Jubilee’ in only 5 years.

We won’t bury the lede: “Celebrate Happy” is easily the best anniversary event that either of the domestic parks have done since Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary. It surpasses the Disney100 celebration, which always felt like a bit of an afterthought (and was never really celebrated fully in Florida), as well as Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.

Honestly, I’m still bitter about that second one. As Walt Disney World fans first and foremost, we had been anxiously awaiting the 50th for over a decade. I was looking forward to something on par with Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, which is widely viewed as the best anniversary event Disney has ever done. Instead, the World’s Most Magical Celebration felt like salute to all things Disney…but mostly intellectual property that was popular at the time on the Disney+ streaming service.

Obviously, certain ‘world events’ offered a convenient excuse as to why Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary underwhelmed. And to some extent, that’s valid. But it wasn’t just the substance of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary that missed the mark, but its tone. Too much emphasis was placed on synergy and characters from the last few years, and not nearly enough on Walt Disney and other people who made the magic possible, or even the Vacation Kingdom’s rich history and legacy. The tone missing the mark is not the fault of COVID-19, time crunches, staffing shortages, or anything else. It was purposeful. There’s no good excuse for that.

On the substantive front, Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary brought us the Disney Enchantment fireworks at Magic Kingdom, Harmonious nighttime spectacular at EPCOT, and KiteTails at Animal Kingdom. There was also the opening of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which was delayed by roughly a year in order to coincide with the kickoff of the celebration. The fact that all three pieces of marquee entertainment were all quickly retired says pretty much all that needs to be said about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.

My favorite elements of the celebration ended up being the crashes in KiteTails (symbolic of the celebration), Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth, ‘Portrait of Walt Disney World’ book, along with the food & beverage program, merchandise and music. Even so, the “afterthought” Disney100 at Disneyland arguably surpassed Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.

Since this is a review of California’s current anniversary and not me continuing to air my grievances about something that happened ~5 years ago at Walt Disney World, it’s probably worth turning our attention to Disneyland70. But the past does inform the present, so I figured that was worth sharing. It’s thus probably no surprise that Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is the best domestic special event in the last decade.

While we’ll discuss the substantive entertainment in turn below, what surprised me most about Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is the jovial tone. I wasn’t sure how the whole “Celebrate Happy!” thing would land, and it still does feel a little linguistically awkward, but the vibe is right.

The 70th is essentially a big birthday bash for Disneyland, with an upbeat energy and mood we haven’t seen at any of the domestic anniversaries in the last decade-plus. After the more serious and sophisticated Disneyland 60th Anniversary and Disney100 (Walt Disney World’s was kind of in no man’s land–and also, it’s on the other coast), having a more cheerful and colorful celebration is a nice change of pace.

Also, there’s the reality that Disneyland’s 75th Anniversary is right around the corner, and doing yet another refined, rare mineral or metal celebration might’ve meant the events blending together too much. The 70th isn’t just about this event, it’s about positioning the parks for 5 years from now when that bigger milestone occurs.

Instead, what Disney delivered is an anniversary more on par with what we might see at Tokyo Disney Resort–right down to that awkward “Celebrate Happy!” catchphrase. It’s a celebration that is anchored in the past with just the right amount of nostalgia and memories, while being focused on offering an energetic and exciting celebration for today.

Again, a big birthday bash feels like the right way to describe Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary, from the vibrant colors (that work really well together and are an excellent change of pace) to the earworm music by the Jonas Brothers to the fun photo ops throughout the park to the celebratory merchandise and food & beverage program.

They even brought back Duffy and ShellieMay for the occasion, making it really feel like an event pulled from the Tokyo Disney Resort playbook. The presence of those delightful bears and the catchy theme song are the obvious reasons to draw a comparison between Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary and a similar celebration at Tokyo Disney Resort.

For me, it’s a bit more niche than that. It’s in the little details that aren’t the least bit marketable, but that make the big difference.

One of my favorite things about Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is the special MagicBand+ touchpoints that are scattered throughout the park. Now, I am loathe to recommend anyone purchase a MagicBand+ specifically for the celebration as I find the device to be generally underwhelming (especially at Disneyland), but I’m nevertheless impressed by these little portals that spit out freebies (in Frontierland and Main Street), and the interactive moments at the other stations.

Honestly, the portal in Fantasyland (near the castle walk-through) might be my favorite addition of the entire celebration. That’s not meant in a backhanded way at all. To the contrary, this cute interactive display is distinctly Disneyland, and absolutely oozes charm. Everyone in our group who was this was impressed, and shared similar sentiment: it’s nice to see that Imagineering still knows how to do things like this–and has the ability to get these placemaking projects funded.

It’s a similar story for me with the “Key to Disneyland” device. I absolutely love the idea of this piece of merchandise–which guests can use to embark on an adventure and activate special features while visiting 70th Anniversary lock stations in each land of Disneyland. Tokyo Disney Resort has had stations and special merchandise almost exactly like this for a couple of their recent milestone anniversaries.

The drawback to both of these additions is the paywall–I don’t mind there being a merchandising element (again, that’s exactly how Tokyo does it), but both the MagicBand+ and Key to Disneyland are prohibitively expensive for many/most guests. I’d think it would be better to sell more devices for less money than this approach, as having an incredibly high adoption rate (I would guess that over half of guests purchase the TDR trinkets during those anniversaries) is what makes these interactive experiences a big part of the fun in Tokyo.

Here’s hoping that Disneyland diehards still have MagicBand+ on hand from when the gift shops were giving them away (quite literally) with any purchase last year due to slow sales. I’m guessing many do. Or maybe these interactive portals will finally be enough for locals to justify buying the wearables (doubtful).

Then there are the attraction enhancements debuting for the Disneyland 70th Anniversary.

In “it’s a small world” at Disneyland, Miguel and Dante from the Pixar film “Coco” join the other children in song, silhouetted by a stunning marigold bridge. This doesn’t really need a review–it’s just two characters, barely qualifying as a plussing. Now, the upgrades coming on July 17 to “it’s a small world” are a totally different story.

Then there’s Toy Story Midway Mania. This is actually a bigger change than I was expecting, with 70th ‘stickers’ being added to props throughout the queue and ride, but more importantly, the value of targets changing with the ’70’ sticker being added to the front, significantly increasing their worth. As a result, you will almost certainly set a new personal record on Toy Story Midway Mania. Not a huge substantive change, but a fun one.

Last but not least is “Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!” This is the new #1 attraction in all of Disneyland Resort, so you should take my ‘review’ of it with a grain of salt. Both Sarah and I felt the original songs in this were much better than before, as is the story conceit.

“Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!” feels more cohesive and like an actual attraction. It’s really good. 10/10 for what it is. With that said, our toddler daughter only gave it a 5/10, reasoning that it should’ve just been the “Hot Dog Song” on loop a half-dozen times. She’s already been ranting about it on her Twitter account–guess we’re raising a tough critic!

Now let’s take a look at the main draws: the new parade, fireworks, and World of Color, all of which we were able to experience during a media preview of the Disneyland 70th Anniversary celebration…

World of Color Happiness Review

Let’s start with the biggest all-new entertainment, which is World of Color: Happiness! This nighttime spectacular is inspired by Walt Disney’s words from the opening day park dedication from seven decades ago: “To all who come to this happy place… welcome!”

World of Color: Happiness explores “happy” through a kaleidoscope of emotions, hosted by the Inside Out characters and takes guests on an (emotional) roller coaster through moments and music from “Turning Red,” “A Goofy Movie,” “Tangled,” “The Lion King” and more. The specular also features fountains, dynamic lighting, colorful lasers, fog and dramatic flame effects. If you’re familiar with World of Color, you know the drill–it’s the same setup and structure with this show.

On paper, World of Color: Happiness checks all of the right boxes for me. It starts out with a hilarious Muppets pre-show that had me laughing out loud at multiple points and grinning ear to ear throughout, as it’s one of the (rare) instances of Disney truly getting the Muppets and putting them to great use. Although the moral of the story is a little unclear…should I or shouldn’t I jump into the bay? Anyway, high marks for the pre-show (10/10), even if Joe the Legal Weasel is a bit of a debbie downer.

From there, World of Color: Happiness starts strong. Using Joy and the other Inside Out characters to explore how the other emotions color our happiness is an interesting–and effective–choice. The first stop at Boy Band Island brings the house down, and is the unequivocal highlight of World of Color: Happiness. Well, after that Muppets pre-show.

After that, the nighttime spectacular just meanders a bit too much. Again, on paper, I like what they’re doing. There’s a clear narrative through-line and the song choices mostly make sense through the prism of the show. I also greatly appreciate that they’re comparatively underutilized choices from the recent Disney songbook–I don’t even mind the presence of Wish, as the featured song is a good one.

I was also ecstatic to see no live action movies or remakes shoehorned into the show. I thought for sure we were going to get stuck with a Fantastic Four: First Steps or Freakier Friday segment jammed in there.

There’s also something to be said for how upbeat and jovial World of Color: Happiness is–it feels like a party. I just don’t think it quite sustains its initial energy or builds from there. Instead, it feels like a slow release, until the legendary Boyz II Men perform the not-so-climatic “Rainbow Connection.”

As someone who loves that song, I’m hardly complaining about its presence–and the rendition is quite moving. It just feels like the pacing is a bit off, and that the show peaks early and gradually winds down from there until a rather mellow finish. The best parts are the pre-show, opening act, conclusion, and post-show. The middle feels like it offers connective tissue that’s often absent from World of Color ‘sequels,’ but it’s also not particularly memorable.

Perhaps World of Color: Happiness will grow on me. To be clear, I don’t think it’s bad or even underwhelming by any measure. It edges out World of Color – ONE (which we scored an 8.5/10) to be the third best (out of 7) World of Color of all time, after the OG (10/10) and Season of Light (10/10). I’d give World of Color: Happiness a solid 9/10. I love the concept, which is perfect for both World of Color and this anniversary. It doesn’t quite stick the landing, but is still the best anniversary World of Color to date–much better than ‘Celebrate’ for the 60th!

“Tapestry of Happiness” Review

At Disneyland, the facade of “it’s a small world” comes to life each night through light, music and effects in the “Tapestry of Happiness” projection show. This creates an animated mosaic of Disneyland attractions, moments and memories brought to life in a unique style inspired by the work of legendary Disney artist Mary Blair.

“Tapestry of Happiness” is a visual love letter to Disneyland, bringing all of us together through memories of The Happiest Place on Earth. This is basically a spiritual successor to “Remember… Dreams Come True” but without the fireworks and much shorter. While I’d obviously prefer a fully-fledged nighttime spectacular, there is something to be said for the comparative ease of viewing the projections on the facade of “it’s a small world.”

We both absolutely adore “Tapestry of Happiness,” and view it as the sleeper hit of the celebration. There are several goosebumps moments; while it’s wistful about the past and history of Disneyland, it’s also upbeat and happy. It also features the “Celebrate Happy” theme song, providing guests even more exposure to that earworm. “Tapestry of Happiness” is a 10/10 for what it is (just remember–what it is is much smaller-scale than a nighttime spectacular).

“The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade” at Disneyland

As the “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade” winds its way along the parade route, favorite characters encourage guests to dance and clap along in an energetic and contemporary celebration of seven decades of happiness. You may spot pals including Goofy and Max in their 70th attire, as well as friends not often seen at Disneyland, like Duffy and ShellieMay!

Sarah is over the moon about this cavalcade, specifically because it features Duffy & Friends. Like her mother, Megatron is a big fan of bears, and that includes Duffy & Friends. Although her favorite characters of the crew are LinaBell and Gelatoni, she nevertheless is a big fan of  “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade.”

My seemingly unpopular opinion is that “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade” is only okay. The characters are cute and the music is catchy, but it feels like there was the opportunity for something more here–especially with Magic Happens on hiatus. I don’t know, perhaps I had unrealistic expectations for this cavalcade, but Disneyland billed this to be something slightly bigger and better than what they’ve done before. It really isn’t. Setting aside the Duffy factor (especially since many guests won’t even recognize these bears), it’s pretty pedestrian.

I don’t dislike “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade.” To the contrary, seeing Duffy & ShellieMay is nice, and that earworm music is fun–I’d just caution against getting your expectations up or waiting anything more than a few minutes for this. It’s a decent piece of entertainment that would’ve benefited from bigger ambitious or more creativity: 7/10. I would expect the most common verbal review to be “it’s cute.”

Paint the Night Parade Review

This fan-favorite, dazzling nighttime parade will make its grand return to Disneyland for the 70th Anniversary celebration, lighting up the parade route with stunning color and more than a million brilliant LED lights. Paint the Night features innovative floats, vibrant costumes, incredible special effects, unforgettable music and energetic performances.

Mickey Mouse uses his vivid imagination to harness the power of Tinker Bell’s pixie dust and “Paint the Night” in Disney dreams, bringing to light beloved characters and stories from Pixar and Disney Animation films such as “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars,” “Toy Story”, “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Frozen” and more.

Historically, I have not been as ‘high’ on Paint the Night as other Disney fans. It’s not my favorite or even second-favorite nighttime parade that Disney has ever done. Initially, I thought it felt too contemporary for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary, and didn’t strike a better balance between old and new (especially since the Diamond Celebration is rooted in nostalgia).

Nevertheless, I’ve always understood why so many Disneyland diehards love Paint the Night parade: the music is catchy, the floats are formidable, and it’s a great modernization of the light parade concept. Not only that, but there’s a palpable and downright fun energy to Paint the Night. It’s the kind of parade that hypes you up and puts a smile on your face. It makes you happy, which also makes Paint the Night the perfect parade for Disneyland’s 70th.

On a personal note, we also now have something else we didn’t over a decade ago when we first saw the parade: nostalgia. Paint the Night no longer feels “too contemporary” for me–that didn’t even cross my mind until reading my old review. Instead, we got goosebumps when hearing that music and seeing Tinker Bell, and afterwards reminisced about the debut at Hong Kong Disneyland and that first wild summer of the Diamond Celebration.

I would hazard a guess that many longtime Disneyland fans will feel similarly, having been wondering for a while: when can we do this again? Paint the Night Parade is 9/10 or maybe 9.5/10 for us thanks to the new nostalgia-factor. Not quite perfect, but a modern classic–and far superior to like the 1,955th farewell run of Main Street Electrical Parade.

Wondrous Journeys Fireworks Review

“Wondrous Journeys” celebrates the legacy of Walt Disney Animation Studios classics that have inspired Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom. Throughout the show, you embark on a journey filled with artistry, music, storytelling and heart as you experience moments from beloved stories like “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Peter Pan,” “Frozen,” “Big Hero 6,” “Moana,” “Encanto” and more.

The show features state-of-the-art projection effects that transform Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle, “it’s a small world” and the Rivers of America. On select nights, the show will be enhanced with fireworks.

Not much to say here that I haven’t already said. Wondrous Journeys is only a couple of years old and we loved it from the jump, so I don’t think further discussion is necessary here. As before, Wondrous Journeys is one of Disney’s best-ever fireworks show–if you need to hear more, check out our Review: Wondrous Journeys is Greater Than Happily Ever After Fireworks.

Wondrous Journeys is every bit as good as I remember. If Happily Ever After is a 10/10 nighttime spectacular (and it is), Wondrous Journeys is 11/10. I’m not sure it’s tonally perfect for “Celebrate Happy,” but honestly, I do not care. I’m just glad it’s back.

“Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” Parade Review

“Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” returns to the streets of Disney California Adventure. This delightful daytime parade is filled with incredible music, dynamic and colorful floats and nearly 30 favorite characters from Pixar Animation Studios films, including “Luca,” “Turning Red,” “Up,” and more.

My initial sentiment on the Better Together parade was fairly mixed. Well, we watched it more (and more) over the course of the interminably long Pixar Fest last year, and it’s the one thing about that event that really grew on me. The soundtrack is an earworm. Getting this back without the rest of Pixar Fest is the best of both worlds–a huge win, in my book.

Still, there’s a part of me that wishes we could have the superior Magic Happens over at Disneyland with a better cavalcade at Disney California Adventure. Imagine a cavalcade featuring all of the Duffy & Friends plus the Muppets and Goofy Movie characters. Dare to dream. For its part, Better Together is a 7.5/10 daytime parade (great music and characters, subpar floats).

Ultimately, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary Celebration thus far. It is easily better than Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary (a sad statement that is equally an indictment of that event), and it punches above its weight for what I’d call an in-between (but still milestone) anniversary.

Ten years ago, the Diamond Celebration is what deepened our love for Disneyland as freshly-minted California locals. We visited the parks more during the 60th Anniversary than any other year before or since. We were visiting multiple times per week, and that event is precisely what laid the foundation for our comprehensive Anaheim hotel reviews & rankings that remain an ongoing project and point of pride for this site.

Fast-forward to today, and I can already tell that Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is going to be what makes us fall in love with the parks all over again, during a new season in our lives. It’s still early, but this is already a great celebration for us–we’re already looking at the calendar for dates we can make hotel reservations to “Celebrate Happy.”

Obviously, that’s personal. Other Disneyland diehards might call us biased–either by virtue of having a positive experience during a media event (although I’d note that our friends who visited as regular guests had superior views of Paint the Night and the cavalcade on those same nights) or due to having a toddler (the above photo was taken during a regular general public character encounter–the magic of Disneyland!). And maybe that’s fair to point out.

However, I’d argue that the detractors of the Disneyland 70th Anniversary are viewing the celebration on paper in contending that it doesn’t offer enough. When you’re actually in the park, the energy is more encompassing and engaging and–at the risk of belaboring the point–feels like a big birthday bash.

Beyond the marquee entertainment that had subsections here, the celebration nails the “little things” from the music (albeit not the Esplanade loop!) to the food to the merchandise–and the little interactive portals. There’s a lot to this celebration beyond what meets the eye.

I’d take that a step further and say that the cheery and colorful “Celebrate Happy!” Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration is just what the world needs right now. A lot of different people have anxiety and unease for a lot of different reasons, and this birthday bash is absolutely the antidote to that.

Cheesy as it sounds, it’s an anniversary rooted in the past with an eye towards the future in celebration of today. Perhaps a better moniker than “Celebrate Happy!” would’ve been the “Here You Leave Today And Enter The World Of Yesterday, Tomorrow And Fantasy Celebration.” This is the kind of escapism that Walt Disney created his original magic kingdom to embrace, and there’s the same optimistic and nostalgic sensibility to this celebration. I can think of no more fitting tribute to the man behind decades of magic–and I can’t wait to see what’s next as the more history-oriented portion of the 70th debuts on July 17, 2025.

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and many other SoCal cities!

Your Thoughts

Have you seen any of the “Celebrate Happy” entertainment? What did you like? What didn’t you like? Are you hoping to visit Disneyland Resort for the 70th Anniversary? Is Paint the Night + Wondrous Journeys fireworks + World of Color: Happiness good enough for you? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!