Get your party hats ready. Last night, during a special after-hours presentation on Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland Park, Tom Staggs (Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts) announced that the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration, which will mark the resort’s 60th anniversary, will begin Friday, May 22.

 

Later in the evening, John McClintock (senior publicist of Disneyland) confirmed that the celebration will be “long”, with no ending date announced as of  yet.

 

Sleeping Beauty Castle will be dazzling (but will not be “bedazzled”, never fear) with diamonds for the celebration, and for this celebration Carthay Circle Theatre in Disney California Adventure Park will be decorated for the festivities as well, each sporting its own diamond medallion featuring the letter “D.” and lots of glittering accents.

The official take on this:

“The entire resort will sparkle with Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration décor and festive banners in shades of Disneyland blue. Also bearing the diamond anniversary theme, creative merchandise and food items will be designed to complement the celebration. We’ll have more to share on those special items soon. “As time has shown, Disneyland marked the beginning of something bigger than anyone could have imagined and this Diamond Celebration embraces its rich history while honoring Walt Disney’s commitment to pushing boundaries to create exciting and innovative new experiences for our guests,” said Staggs.”

We didn’t get to see merchandise or food offerings (other than some fun Frozen treats); last night’s event focused on the live-and-in-person type of thing: the crowning jewel of each park decorated for the event and live shows and spectaculars (Imagineer Steve Davison’s babies), so that was the evening’s focus.

 

Disneyland Forever Fireworks Show

 

We were treated to what Davison described as a very rough test cut of a moment from the fireworks show. Images were projected onto the Main Street facades. Even rough, it was impressive:

 

“Basically,” Davison explained in the Q&A immediately after the presentation, “…we’ve mapped out the street. Every single inch, every single corner…but what’s going to happen is, the whole street is going to be projected – in a crazy way…everything’s going to connect to each other. Everything’s going to become a storytelling device. This is a whole new palette for us. We’re going to put things all over the park, so you’ll see something different at small world…at Fantasmic…we’re going to have little things happen, windows open and shut. When you hear the music for the finale, you’re going to cry. The opening is fabulous. I wanted to bring Walt into this in a big way. We might or might not see him in the orange groves…? We’re going to tell the story in a fun way, and THEN we’re going to move it into the future.

The score will be recorded next week at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Paint the Night Parade

 

For our next big entertainment unveiling of the evening, Tom Staggs and Steve Davison shared that we’ll soon be painting the night in fantastic new light with one of the brightest gems of the Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration, the “Paint the Night” parade. The “Paint the Night” parade brings some of the most innovative floats, vibrant costumes, dazzling special effects, unforgettable music and energetic performances ever presented at Disneyland Resort. This new state-of-the-art nighttime parade floods Main Street, U.S.A. with stunning color, fun surprises and more than 1.5 million brilliant LED lights. Mickey Mouse uses his vivid imagination to harness the power of Tinker Bell’s pixie dust and “Paint the Night” in Disney dreams, bringing to light beloved characters and stories from “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Toy Story,” “Frozen” and more.

World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney

 

“World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney” brings the focus of the show back to Disneyland’s roots: Walt, Mickey and Minnie. The show’s logo matches the same clean, diamond-and-blue lines of the rest of the celebration.

“Everything you saw out there,” continues Davison, “is just the beginning.”

 

Some other tidbits:

• The celebratory shows and parades will run throughout the anniversary celebration – no Christmas parade or shows will be running in 2015, according to Davison at the press Q&A.
• #itsallconnected – The parade floats will communicate with the costumes, the toys in the audience, the environment, everything will work together.
• Everything is still in the planning stages – rehearsals start in a few months. This means that everything above is subject to change.

It was amazing to be in the audience and feel the energy surrounding the three new entertainment offerings for the 60th anniversary of the Disneyland Resort. There are many details yet to be announced, so there’s still more for us to uncover in the months to come.

Are you ready for the big 60th Anniversary celebration at Disneyland?

 

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