Disneyland 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration

The Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration kicked off on May 20, 2015 with the premiere of World of Color – Celebrate! at Disney California Adventure. On Thursday the 21 Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever Fireworks and then a 24 hour party on Friday the 22nd. This page has a summary of the posts and related sections I posted from the event.

I was at Disneyland from mid afternoon Wednesday through Friday night, here are some quick numbers from that time of what all the posts are being drawn from:

• Hours in the Park – 36
• Miles walked – 26.5
• Hours of sleep – 8 (total!)
• SLR Pictures – 4,300
• Cell Phone Pictures – 373
• Live posts from the parks – 120
• Video Clips – 32 totaling about 90 minutes

Rapid Reaction:

• Wednesday – Diamond Mad T Party – I was really impressed with the park integration for the Diamond Anniversary. They have a new finale that features Disney tunes as well as Walt plus photos that is great! Also the Tweedles do a Disneyland home video bit that works. Moving the dance crew to the stage works to keep the crowd moving between the two areas easier.
• Wednesday – World of Color – Celebrate! — I really enjoyed this show. I am a disneygeek and Disney History fan so this played right into my wheelhouse. Some of the new effects were great to see too. I am curious how the show will play with say your family trip from out of state or the average 7 year old. They will definitely react to “Let it Go” but what about all the history. Also as is my ongoing issue with World of Color this show relies even more on the projections and the viewing envelope is so small to really see them I think that is a challenge.
• Thursday – Paint the Night – I enjoyed the parade in Hong Kong and was curious to see what changed. The floats are impressive and the energy level is great. Without the long show stops the parade seemed much shorter to me. The new additions for Disneyland were great! The Drum, a couple of the smaller characters groupings between floats, and Frozen units are all new. I am looking forward to watching this many times in the future!
• Thursday – Disneyland Forever – The Step into the Magic theme is right. The projections, lights and other effects all work to bring you into the show. Usually with fireworks shows it is a passive experience and you watch something in the distance. Disney brought the show closer with some effects in recent years and this takes it to the extreme. At several points I found myself looking around so much I forgot about the large firework bursts going off overhead.
• Friday – Overall the day was decent for me. I avoided the massive lines and spent a majority of the day in Disneyland and did not attempt to leave or park hop. Walking around it felt like a busy day but not even holiday busy for the most part because so many guests were camped out for so long for the evening shows. I followed many of the problems because of the closure of the park and have to say for those of us inside it was great but I can understand the problems and frustrations of those outside. I think it was a poor decision to premiere three big shows, kick off a major anniversary, and hold a 24 hour day on top of a holiday weekend! I think many more previews of the shows to reduce some of the demand would have helped substantially.
• Friday – Disneyland Forever from New Orleans – I watched the show from the Pirates Bridge because that is where I had a FastPass for Fantasmic from. They run the projection screens and have some low level fireworks and other effects throughout the show. It is a solid alternate experience if you do not know what you were missing on Main Street USA. You do not feel immersed like you do on Main Street. It is a good experience but no where near as good.

My Posts from the Events:

	Wednesday, May 20, 2015 My full picture & video set includes a look around both parks as final touches are being applied for the 60th Anniversary, my 1st look at Grizzly Peak Airfield, a preview of the Diamond Mad T Party and concludes with the premiere of World of Color – Celebrate! World of Color – Celebrate – A quick set of pictures from the Premiere My pictures that were posted live as I walked the Parks on Wednesday My thoughts & observations from Wednesday – 1st Impressions of Grizzly Peak Airfield, Diamond Mad T Party & World of Color – Celebrate!
	Thursday, May 21, 2015 My full picture & video set from Thursday – Include a visit to the Haunted Mansion to see the Hatbox Ghost, a trip to the Disneyland Dream Suite, a check of the Matterhorn, the Final Touch moment for Sleeping Beauty Castle and then the premieres of Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever A quick preview of my pictures from the Premiere of Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever My pictures that were posted live as I walked the Parks on Thursday My thoughts & observations from Thursday – 1st Impressions of Paint the Night & Disneyland Forever In April I was able to see the Hong Kong Disneyland Paint the Night Parade on April 9. If you would like to compare the two here is my picture and video set from there.
	Friday May 22, 2015 My full picture & video set from the 16 hours of the 24 for the Diamond Celebration I attended including the opening festivities, crowd shots throughout the day and I conclude with a look at Disneyland Forever from the Pirate’s of the Caribbean Bridge My thoughts & observations Friday and the 24 Kick Off to the Diamond Celebration My pictures that were posted live as I walked the Parks on Friday

YouTube Playlist with Videos from the events:

Disney Press Releases:

• 05/19/15 – “Disneyland Forever” Fireworks Fun Facts
• 05/19/15 – “Paint the Night” Fun Facts
• 05/19/15 – “World of Color – Celebrate!” Fun Facts
• 04/14/15 – Unique Dining, Shopping and Interactive Street Entertainment Add to the Fun of Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration
• 04/14/15 – Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration Adds Disneyland Diamond Days Sweepstakes and Dazzling, New Nighttime Spectaculars Beginning May 22
• 04/14/15 – 60 Amazing Facts about Disneyland Resort For the Diamond Celebration of 60 Magical Years
• 04/14/15 – Disneyland Diamond Days Sweepstakes Will Give Away Diamonds, Stays in the Disneyland Dream Suite and Daily Prizes During Dazzling Diamond Celebration
• 03/11/15 – Diamond Celebration Will Light Up the Disneyland Resort Beginning With Dazzling 24-Hour Event, May 22-23

Random Fun Fact…

• all three new nighttime shows feature hand drawn animation aspects.
  – World of Color Celebrate the Peter Pan portion is hand drawn and created just for the show.
  – In Paint the Night the Frozen Float features artwork that is originally hand drawn
  – Disneyland Forever – Some of the animation used throughout the show.