Disneyland appears to be gearing up for a 70th anniversary celebration in 2025 to rival the yearlong parties for the 50th and 60th anniversaries that brought new or returning parades, fireworks shows and nighttime spectaculars along with themed decor, food and merchandise.
Disneyland cast members will launch 70th anniversary preparations with a “Road to the 70th” backstage party on July 17 — the Anaheim theme park’s 69th birthday.
The “Disneyland Forever” fireworks and projections on Sleeping Beauty Castle celebrating the park’s 60th anniversary in 2015. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Disneyland employees — known as cast members in Disney parlance — will celebrate the Road to the 70th with backstage photo ops, Porto’s Bakery treats, puzzle contests, tours of Walt Disney’s fire station apartment and other activities.
While Mickey Mouse never misses a chance to celebrate a significant milestone, it’s still far too early to start saluting the septuagenarian park’s eighth decade – even by Disneyland standards.
Thousands crowd on Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland in 2015 as the park celebrated its 60th anniversary with a 24-hour party. (File photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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When will the 70th anniversary celebration officially start? How long will it last? What’s the theme?
Disneyland officials have not yet released any details on the 70th anniversary celebration.
But the early cast member kick-off suggests the 70th anniversary will be a big party on par with the 50th and 60th anniversary celebrations that each stretched for more than a year.
Disney characters dance on the steps of Main Street Station wearing their 100th anniversary costumes at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, on Thursday, January 26, 2023. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Disneyland’s 70th anniversary might feel a lot like Disney’s 100th anniversary — when the park celebrated the company’s centennial in 2023. A 70th anniversary is known as a platinum anniversary — the same metallic color theme that dominated Disney100.
Disneyland celebrated Disney100 in 2023 from January to September, when the party moved to Epcot in Florida for the remainder of the year.
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Disneyland didn’t do anything for the 65th anniversary in July 2020 — because the park was closed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 60th anniversary stretched over two years — from May 2015 to September 2016. The 50th anniversary ran just as long — from May 2005 to September 2006.
A time capsule was buried during the 40th anniversary in 1995 with plans to unearth the park’s memories, messages and milestones on July 17, 2035 — Disneyland’s 80th anniversary.