New Character, Stage Show & More Entertainment Coming for Disneyland’s 70th
Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary starts this summer, with a big celebration featuring lots of new & returning entertainment. In addition to the marquee nighttime spectaculars and night parade, Disney has announced new character experiences coming to both parks in May and June 2025. This shares details of the brand-new Toy Story meet & greet and Mickey Mouse stage show, as well as the returning Pixar and Stitch dance parties.
As a reminder, the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration will start on May 16, 2025 and run through Summer 2026! The event will honor seven decades of happiness and many moments of joy in the making. You’ll get to “celebrate happy” (Disney’s words, not mine) with limited-time entertainment, colorful décor, themed food and beverages, collectible merchandise, and so much more!
Note that what’s covered here supplements the previous Guide to Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration. This is just what’s been newly-announced and additional details, but is not comprehensive. Wondrous Journeys, Walt Disney – A Magical Life, character costumes, and more are still slated to debut during the year-long celebration. Here’s the announcement from Disneyland:
Generations of young families have been creating cherished memories at the Disneyland Resort for the last 70 years, and this year forwards that tradition with lots of offerings for family fun!
In harmony with special entertainment coming for the 70th anniversary of Disneyland Resort, we are excited to share even more details about some new and returning entertainment coming to the parks beginning this spring. Check out what’s being added to the lineup at The Happiest Place on Earth.
Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live! Show Coming to DCA
Discover an all-new show, “Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!,” debuting on May 16, 2025 at the Disney Theater in Disney California Adventure. This is the direct replacement for Disney Jr. Dance Party, which quietly came to an end earlier this month. Upon its conclusion, Disneyland revealed a new show was in development.
“Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!” is inspired by Disney Jr.’s global hit series “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and the upcoming “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+” debuting later this summer. The stage show will feature upbeat original songs, plenty of interactive fun for the little ones, and appearances by beloved Disney characters to sing and dance with.
In “Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!,” Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse welcome guests to Mickey’s house for a fun-filled party. Their friends Goofy, Daisy, and Pluto haven’t made it yet, so Mickey and Minnie take the party on the road to find them, ultimately uniting everyone for a high-energy finale.
Sarah is incredibly excited for this. Disney Jr. Dance Party had become one of her top attractions at DCA, and she was really disappointed when the previous incarnation closed. Not for her own sake–for our daughter. I have no strong opinion on this news; I assume it’ll be the same idea as the old show.
Rex Character Meet & Greet from Toy Story at Pixar Pier
From first photos to forever memories! In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Pixar Animation Studios film franchise Toy Story, Rex will make his debut at Pixar Pier in California Adventure for a limited time beginning June 1, 2025. Capture the fun as you meet one of the most lovable toys of the bunch in a camera-ready magical moment.
You may not know it given my disdain for Dino-Rama, but I am vehemently pro-dinosaur. (Which is precisely why I’m a Dino-Rama hater–I hold dinosaurs to the highest of standards.) Accordingly, I am fully on board with a Rex meet & greet, and wonder why this didn’t happen earlier.
In the last year or so, it seems that Disney Live Entertainment or Creative Costuming or whoever had been working on the updated Toy Story character costumes turned their attention to Rex. He began meeting at Shanghai Disneyland and was also on select sailings of Disney Cruise Line. The new look is a bit on the slim side, but Rex very much looks like a toy dinosaur. Can’t wait to see him at DCA.
Pixar Pals Playtime Party Returns to Fantasyland Theatre
Ready, set, play! The magical young family experiences continue with the high-energy Pixar Pals Playtime Party returns on May 23, 2025 to Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland for a limited time.
Dance and play as you enjoy interactive games, activities, and photo locations inspired by fan-favorite Pixar films, plus look out for appearances by beloved Pixar pals. You can even watch a selection of iconic Pixar shorts on the big screen.
I have mixed feelings about this. These interactive experiences they’ve started staging in Fantasyland Theatre are a lot of fun, and our daughter loves them. She gets more out of these than she would a stage show. Selfishly, I’m okay with this. But I also feel that dance parties and this sort of thing could be added just about anywhere (see the other news in this announcement), whereas this specific venue exists for actual stage shows and should be put to its best use.
I also think that the one big thing Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary is missing is an ambitious stage show. Add that to the Hyperion, an even better venue and more conspicuous vacancy, and I’m fine with Fantasyland Theatre being used for this.
“Stitch’s Interplanetary Beach Party Blast” at Tomorrowland Terrace
In a mood to groove? Families can dive into the interactive “Stitch’s Interplanetary Beach Party Blast” for a tidal wave of galactic-good fun. Stitch throws a space adventure filled with his favorite tunes, dance moves and surprises for all to enjoy!
Beginning May 23, 2025, this offering will return most nights for a limited time at the Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland. This dance-along may also feature Goofy, Pluto, Chip ‘n Dale, Clarabelle and other beloved pals to bop with.
Disneyland has done a few iterations on Tomorrowland Terrace dance parties in the last several years, and they’ve all been pleasant surprises. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t anything revolutionary (very much an “are what they are” type of thing), but “Stitch’s Interplanetary Beach Party Blast” is a fun twist on these. We’re looking forward to its return.
Ultimately, these sound like more strong additions at Disneyland Resort in Summer 2025. Although these aren’t be billed as part of the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration, they’re coming in “harmony” with that event–meaning more entertainment programming to help soak up the summer crowds.
What I find most interesting about this is that it’s clearly part of Disney’s internal initiative to cater more towards young families (a phrase used twice in the announcement, including the first sentence), which is a push that has seemingly kicked into overdrive since the high-profile Wall Street Journal report, which we’ve covered at length in Disney is Worried About Its High Prices and its progeny of posts, about internal concerns within the company about pricing out the middle class and young families.
From a personal perspective, this is all happening at the perfect time. We are one of those young families, and I find myself noticing the absence of this type of entertainment in the parks right now. I also know that only a few years ago, the addition of this type of stage show and dance parties wouldn’t have even registered for me. (I would’ve been excited to meet the dinosaur.) Crazy how perspectives can change along with the seasons of our lives.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of these new and returning character experiences coming to Disneyland Resort in Summer 2025? Are you looking forward to the Disneyland 70th Anniversary celebration? What entertainment are you looking forward to seeing during the event? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment on these character additions? 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!
This is great news for kids with small families! But as a local without kids, I *am* a little bummed. The stage shows at Fantasyland and the Hyperion added so much value to a ticket or AP/Magic Key for me back in the day. Here’s hoping for the 75th that they pull out all the stops!
But I wonder: Is Disney now keeping live stage shows behind a permanent extra cost paywall?
Animal Kingdom has a Festival of the Lion King, but between Broadway (Aladdin, Lion King, Frozen), Disney Cruise Line (Moana), and Jollywood Nights, the most alluring entertainment offerings are now extra cost.
I mean, it’s kind of working on me, sadly. I now want to go to WDW during the holiday season to experience Jollywood Nights. It’d be nice to have Disney Holidays in Hollywood run at the Hyperion during the Festival of Holidays at DCA!
For my daughter’s sake, I am happy there will be a replacement for the Disney Jr Dance Party so quickly. Same as Sarah, I really appreciated how much she loved it. I personally prefer Mickey and the Roadster Racers to Clubhouse, but clearly the Clubhouse branding has lasted for a long time and I know my daughter will likely love it just as much.
Now if they could restore performance days for Five and Dime and other atmospheric performers.
My favorite version of the dance party was the one on New Year’s Eve that, inexplicably, was playing nothing but Pitbull songs. Our daughter loved it just as much, despite never having heard Pitbull in her life up until that point.
Agreed about Five & Dime and the other atmospheric entertainment.
I really want to be happy that they’re adding more entertainment, but what I was really looking for was *all ages* entertainment, rather than entertainment that holds no appeal to anyone over the age of eight. I am not opposed to there being entertainment for families of small children and can understand why Disney is feeling particularly motivated to address that right now, as stated above. But ultimately, there should be some balance. Add this AND something at Hyperion and I’d be fine with all of this. Maybe this is a tone-deaf complaint in light of the return of Wondrous Journeys and PTN, which are definitely all ages things. But I really do miss those Hyperion productions, more strolling music, those random shows at DCA that were there the first five or so years after the park was redone and those things that really provided balance and don’t exist to the same level anymore.
And note to anyone from Disney that might be reading this, I would prefer “no entertainment” to “entertainment resurrected from the ‘beloved’ Pixar Fest”. Few things cause such a visceral negative reaction for me as anything tied to Pixar Fest.
I agree with pretty much everything you’re saying, and I certainly would personally prefer a Broadway-style Hyperion production, Minnie’s Fly Girls, etc.
The only thing I’d say is there’s really no such thing as “all ages” entertainment/attractions. Families with small children often aren’t making it late enough for fireworks and night parades, lengthy stage shows are too lengthy, etc.