It’s been almost 60 years since Disneyland opened in a former orange grove in Anaheim, California. To celebrate their birthday (which is actually on my birthday, July 17), they’ve spruced up some of the oldest rides, blinged out Sleeping Beauty’s castle, debuted a new fireworks show and created a new nighttime parade. And to kick it all off, they opened the park for 24 hours one day in late May, for a totally out-of-control celebration.
It was Toby and my last chance to spend a day at Disneyland before we moved, but we had no idea it would be so insane. Apparently, people lined up at 4 a.m. to be among the first into the park when it opened at 6, and by about 1 p.m., they weren’t letting anyone in who hadn’t been inside already. We were very lucky we managed to get in at all.
Unsuprisingly, they had a ton of special merchandise, and, of course, the people who showed up at 4 a.m. had bought most of the best stuff. But there were still some cool things left, like the Cinderella carriage popcorn holder and the bedazzled Minnie Mouse ears.
Unlike some of the crazies, we didn’t feel the need to sit on the sidewalk for 12 hours waiting for the parade. Instead, we rode several rides, skipped the first parade and watched the new fireworks show near the castle. It was really awesome, but I would suggest trying to stand/sit somewhere on Main Street if you can, because they project images up on the buildings during the show.
We still saw the parade, of course, but we waited until the special one they had later that night. It was pretty fantastic, although I am partial to the OG Electric Light Parade. We ended up leaving the park around 2:30 a.m., when they were finally letting people in. We were going to go to a special late-night showing of the new World of Color show at California Adventure, but it was too crowded to even try to get in.
We went back the next day in hopes of riding the revamped Matterhorn, though the lines were still too long. I did get to wear my new Diamond Celebration ears and eat part of a ridiculous 60th anniversary cupcake, though.
I’d definitely recommend checking out Disneyland this year for the 60th anniversary celebration — the parade and fireworks are pretty epic, and they’ve upgraded several of the older rides. Plus, the characters all have special anniversary outfits. I prefer Mickey ice cream sandwiches and churros to the cupcake, but there was also a make-your-own ice cream sandwich option at the ice cream shop on Main Street that was pretty legit (we got mint chocolate chip ice cream, of course). If you’re interested in the Cinderella popcorn holder, try Fantasyland, but they also had other cool popcorn holders and even a beer stein with the castle on top that we were able to get at Jolly Holiday cafe. And if you ever decide to go on a 24-hour day, please get there before noon. People can be nuts!
