Disneyland Celebrates 60th Anniversary With Lights, Fire, Diamonds

Disneyland in Anaheim will celebrate its 60th anniversary with lights, fire, and diamonds — the 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary. Disney Parks Chairman Tom Staggs announced the anniversary plans with a small preview that promises to turn the entire park into a stage. The celebration will start on May 22, with no scheduled end date.

Fans of the “Main Street Electrical Parade,” cancelled in 1996, are in for a pleasant surprise. KTLA reports that the new “Paint the Night” parade is inspired by the classic procession, and will include 1.5 million LED lights. The characters costumes will also be fitted with lights that will sync to the music and overall show.

The Los Angeles Times reports the nighttime fireworks show is receiving an overhaul as well. Not only will the pyrotechnics be upgraded, light projectors will give life and texture to Main Street, Matterhorn, Rivers of America, and other parts of Disneyland. The projection systems will be able to show clips from Disney movies and characters.

Disney California Adventure across from Disneyland will celebrate too, even though it has only been around since 2001. “World of Color,” California Adventure’s water and light show, will be changed to tell the story of Disneyland’s history using water and fire, somehow.

Steve Davison of Disney’s Parades and Spectaculars department explained a bit further.

“Our new show, World of Color: Celebrate is gonna celebrate the imagination that Disneyland brings to us everyday, we’re going to salute the wonderful world of Walt Disney. So through all these projections and lights and special effects, and a lot of brand new animation, we’re going to bring Walt’s dreams to life, and we’re going to use it as an opportunity to show you some things out of ‘World of Color’ that you’ve never seen before.”

Then there’s the diamonds.

Cinderella’s castle in Disneyland and Cathay Circle Theater in California Adventure will be encrusted with diamonds to celebrate the year.

The new shows should offset criticism from the subtle price increases expected at the Disneyland park.

As previously reported by Inquisitr, Disneyland plans on raising its prices sometime in mid-February. It will only be a few dollars, but with one-day passes already nearing $100, the increases will likely come with some complaints.

Otherwise, Disneyland is likely in for a busy year as fans flock to the new spectaculars. A short preview of the Disneyland unveiling event can be seen below.

[Image: Disneyland Hong Kong, Credit: Eagle4life69/Wikimedia Commons]