The 70th Anniversary is off and running at Disneyland Resort! A wide range of entertainment, which began on May 16th, was added to the parks in honor of the milestone. The festivities will last through the summer of 2026 with the actual 70th anniversary falling on July 17th, 2025. This post will review the Celebrate Happy Anniversary as a whole before breaking down the individual components. For a more thorough look on everything offered, check out our guide!

I should address the 800 pound elephant in the room. ‘Celebrate Happy’ is a phrase that I’ve mocked many times since it was announced. The phrase is a wild choice that doesn’t make sense grammatically. It feels like a mistranslation of a different language’s phrase. I will continue to joke about the phrase, especially now that signs with the anniversary slogan are all over the resort.

With that caveat (be warned: my brain won’t let me pass up a chance to joke about this) out of the way, Disneyland Resort’s 70th Anniversary is fantastic! I came into the anniversary with muted expectations. 70 is a strange number to throw a big celebration, with 75 just around the corner. This is also coming off of Disney World’s 50th anniversary, which was quite disappointing even with the pandemic excuse.

The Celebrate Happy Anniversary does opt to bring back more fan favorites than it does introduce new shows and rides. Like I said, the 75th will be a much bigger deal so having anything of substance this time around is a treat. I expected to enjoy the entertainment returning – Wondrous Journeys is one of the best fireworks shows Disneyland has ever made and a nighttime parade back in the castle park is a treat.

What I didn’t expect was how well all of the returnees and new shows would mesh together. Celebrate Happy might not make a lot of sense but there is a silly, fun atmosphere in both the anniversary’s slogan and what is actually offered. There’s a good amount of lighthearted joy in all of the options at the Disneyland 70th, which is a wonderful change from the real world.

Even in the theme park realm, Disneyland Resort’s 70th Anniversary is a nice change of pace. None of the festivities take themselves very seriously. There’s the breezy character cavalcade, the Muppets pre-show before World of Color and the bouncy Paint the Night soundtrack. This is a stark contrast to everything (KiteTails not included) offered at Walt Disney World’s 50th. Harmonious, Enchantment and even those gold statues had a self-serious note to them. That can work sometimes but wasn’t executed well in that instance.

Celebrate Happy has gone in the exact opposite direction. Some of the shows are certainly heartfelt, specifically Wondrous Journeys, World of Color Happiness and Tapestry of Happiness. But even those slightly more serious tones are centered around joy. I came in puzzled by the anniversary’s slogan, and still am in the grammatical sense, but by the end of the first full day of the anniversary I was won over easily. Confusing catchphrases can’t stop this amount of fun!

As a whole, Disneyland Resort’s 70th Anniversary is well worth visiting for. That’s especially true for as long as Wondrous Journeys runs. The Halloween and Christmas fireworks shows are significantly worse, in our opinion. It’s been a long time since the two parks have offered this much entertainment and that burst of energy has given the whole resort a great atmosphere.

The Wandering in Disney Celebrate Happy Meter

There are quite a few individual components to Disneyland Resort’s 70th Anniversary! While we give the Celebrate Happy festivities high marks as a culmination, I thought it was worth rating each item. What better way to do that than with the very official Celebrate Happy Meter that I just made up! I’ll rate each new (or returning) offering on a scale 1-10 on just how well they celebrate happy. There’s also a short synopsis on why I rated each item like I did.

Wondrous Journeys – 10/10

Wondrous Journeys scores perfectly on our Celebrate Happy Meter. The firework show is one of the best Disney has ever created and is heartfelt and sincere. Balancing that while also staying joyful isn’t easy for a firework show to pull off but this does so with relative ease.

Paint the Night – 9/10

Paint the Night isn’t a perfect nighttime parade but it sure is good to have it back. There are a few stunning floats but where the parade really stands out is in the energetic costuming, lighting and soundtrack. Once the parade comes into view, it’s a party for the next 20 minutes. While I can’t give the parade perfect marks because there are better nighttime parades out there (Tokyo) this is a great fit for Celebrate Happy celebration!

World of Color Happiness – 9.5/10

I’ve already reviewed this new edition of World of Color so I won’t belabor the point. This show is really up my alley and is my favorite version of DCA’s nighttime spectacular since the original.

Celebrate Happy Cavalcade – 8/10

As far as character cavalcades go, this is very cute. Duffy, ShellieMay and Max lead the group of characters down the parade route, and it feels very Tokyo Disney coded. I wish this was a little bigger, or even a full blown daytime parade. But I really like it for what it is.

Tapestry of Happiness – 10/10

This projection show at it’s a small world is one of my favorite parts of the anniversary. Tapestry of Happiness mixes a Mary Blair art style with animation that celebrates Disneyland. Win-win! The show has a sense of humor and another dose of joy. This isn’t very long but is well worth stopping by to see.

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration Parade – 7/10

To be honest, I just don’t like this parade very much. It scores as high on the totally real meter as it does because a bunch of characters do seem to be celebrating happily. The parade is fun if you or anyone in your group loves to see characters, otherwise this is one of the few things at the anniversary that is fine to skip.

Celebrate Happy at Carthay Circle – 8/10

This is a very quick projection show on Carthay Circle each night. I liked it but it’s nowhere near as good as Tapestry of Happiness while trying to accomplish the same thing. If you’re in the area then check it out but if not then the Celebrate Happy Meter tells you that it’s okay to skip.

Ride Additions – 9/10

For being small additions, I thought the Small World and Toy Story Mania enhancements were fun. The former comes in the form of Miguel. He looks fantastic and fits seamlessly into the iconic boat ride. Toy Story Mania doesn’t look as good but the concept is clever – Andy (or whatever kid is decorating Toy Story Mania) has got a bunch of 70th anniversary stickers from Disneyland and placed them all around the room. There are targets for 700 (and a few 7,000) points throughout the game. There was some real thought put into both of these additions and that gave the attractions a nice boost.

Decor – 10/10

In the days leading up to the 70th while just walking around the parks, before the entertainment debuted, I wasn’t sure about the decor. On its own, there are some color clashes, specifically on Main Street. The music box structure in the esplanade looks nice but is a strange choice. But the bright colors of the anniversary are a great fit with the entertainment. Along with that, there were some lovely surprises like the Magic Band touchpoints that let guests get commemorative tickets or show little vignettes! This has led to a perfect score on the Celebrate Happy Meter!

The Disneyland 70th Anniversary is an unexpected hit and one we’re looking forward to enjoying for the next year!

Are you excited for Disneyland Resort’s 70th Anniversary? Let us know, along with any questions you have, in the comments below. If you are planning a trip to Disneyland Resort then check out our planning guide. Looking for discount Disneyland tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!