Disneyland’s 2025 Special Events Include Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary

Disneyland’s got a pretty big birthday coming up. The original Disney theme park turns 70 next July, and the official celebration is the highlight of a big year of special events coming to the entire Disneyland Resort all throughout 2025. 

The official 70th anniversary celebration starts on May 16, two months before the official birthday on July 17. It’ll ring in with all manner of special treats, merch, and entertainment, as well as birthday decorations and costumes throughout the resort, and the opening of a new attraction that will bring Walt Disney back to his beloved park in animatronic form. Walt Disney—A Magical Life, located in the Main Street Opera House (the longtime home of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln), starts with a film that explores the life of the man who made all of this happen, before introducing guests to an Audio-Animatronic of Walt himself in a recreation of his office from the Disney Studios lot in Burbank. That attraction also opens on May 16. And don’t worry, Lincoln heads: when Disney first announced Walt Disney—A Magical Life, they said it would alternate with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We don’t know how that will work yet—will they alternate shows on the same day, or will it be a seasonal thing, where one runs for part of the year before making way for the other—but presumably that will all be answered by the time Walt gets ready for his robotic closeup on May 16.

Also in store for Disneyland’s 70th is a refreshed suite of nighttime entertainment at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Paint the Night, the beloved nighttime parade that has become a modern staple, returns to Disneyland with its million LED lights in tow. And last year’s nighttime spectacular Wondrous Journeys—which I loved far more than I ever expected—will also return to Disneyland for its 70th. Meanwhile, across the esplanade, a new version of World of Color will bring the characters of Inside Out to Disney California Adventure. World of Color Happiness will be hosted by Joy and all the other emotions from Pixar’s smash hits, and will bring all the bright lights, awesome lasers, and water effects that World of Color is known for. All three nighttime events will be up and running for the 70th celebration in May. 

Disney’s not forgetting about the daytime, of course. The Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration afternoon parade will be running through the streets of California Adventure again for the 70th, with impressively elaborate floats starring characters from Pixar movies new and old. Disney promises upcoming announcements about additional entertainment for the 70th over at the Disney Parks Blog, so expect even more in honor of the resort’s birthday when next May finally rolls around. The official 70th celebration runs from May 16 through an as-yet-undisclosed summer 2025 date, so if you just have to be there start making those plans now.

Disneyland’s birthday joins an events calendar full of annual favorites. Disney California Adventure will once again celebrate the Lunar New Year, with this year’s event running from Jan. 17 through Feb. 16. The Celebrate Gospel Disneyland musical celebration is spread over two days, Feb. 8 and Feb. 15. The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, the Disneyland Resort’s answer to EPCOT’s beloved culinary events, will hold down the fort from Feb. 28 to April 21, whereas the yearly celebration of all things Star Wars, Star Wars: Season of the Force, will run at Disneyland from March 28 to May 11. Disneyland’s 70th then takes over everything from May 16 through the summer, right up until Halloween Time returns on Aug. 22. That runs until Halloween itself on Oct. 31, and will also be the first Halloween Time at Disneyland with the new Haunted Mansion shop that’s opening in 2025. A Celebration of Coco: Plaza de la Familia returns to California Adventure alongside Halloween from Aug. 22 to Nov. 2, and then less than two weeks later the winter holidays will be in full swing once again. Disneyland’s holiday events will run from Nov. 14 to Jan. 7, with Christmas decorations and music throughout the original park and the Festival of Holidays posting up at Disney California Adventure.

And of course there will be a series of separately ticketed nighttime events at the two parks throughout the year; you can find currently announced dates for those at the bottom of this page.

If you think you’ve seen Disneyland or California Adventure before, these seasonal events can shine a new light on these theme parks along with the rest of Disneyland Resort. And with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening in Disneyland last month, and the further ongoing transformation of New Orleans Square and Bayou Country under way, you’ll probably find something new at Disneyland no matter how often you go there.

You can learn more about Disneyland’s 70th birthday and other 2025 events over at the Disney Parks Blog, and here are the dates for those special ticketed events.

Sweethearts’ Nite: Jan. 21, 23, 28 and Feb. 4, 6, 9, 11, 13

‘90s Nite: March 4, 6

Star Wars Nite: April 8, 10, 22, 24, 29 and May 1, 4, 6

Pride Nite: June 16, 18

Oogie Boogie Bash: Aug. 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31; Sept. 2, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 28, 30; Oct. 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28, 31