Diamonds are now a family’s best friend at the celebration that has been 60 years in the making. 60 years of laughs, smiles, innovations, technology advancements and most importantly pixie dust. Disneyland’s 60th anniversary is ready to dazzle everyone with diamonds and innovations that will leave you wondering “how?”. While we will be covering many different aspects of Disneyland’s Diamond Celebration, we wanted to start with some facts.
After all, what’s an anniversary celebration without knowing how we got here?
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1. Opening day
July 17th, 1955 Disneyland opened it’s doors to the public with 18 ticketed and 5 free attractions. The attractions included Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Mark Twain Riverboat and Autopia.
2. No Ticket Needed
When Disneyland opened, there were no tickets to enter the park. Instead, guests would pay for admission to the park and then purchase tickets inside the park for attractions. Not until October 11th, 1955 were the first ticket books purchased.
3. Hidden Tributes
Disneyland resort is full of hidden tributes, Main Street U.S.A. holds many of them. The second story windows of the shops on Main Street U.S.A. have the names and professional specialties of past cast members and others who helped turn a dream into a reality.
4. Trivia
Mickey’s Toontown has its own secrets as well. The second story windows are full of Disney Animation trivia. See if you can answer them all during your next visit.
5. Monorail
Disneyland opened the first monorail system in the Western Hemisphere that operates daily. The first ride was on June 14, 1959 and since then the monorail has traveled around 780 million miles and counting.
6. Apollo in Tomorrowland
The Apollo landing was an exciting time for all of America in 1969 and Disneyland knew the importance of the event. The Tomorrowland Stage was the focus as Disney showed the event live to all of their guests.
7. Nasa Vs. Disneyland
Disneyland had an attraction known as Tomorrowland Rocket to the Moon/ Flight to the Moon. The name was changed in 1975 to Mission to Mars because Nasa took the dream-like experience and made it a reality with the Moon landing in 1969.
8. A Small Inspiration to The World
The Blue Bayou, (the restaurant inside the Pirates of The Caribbean attraction) has been cited numerous times to be the inspiration to many themed restaurants. All of those themes restaurants are scattered around the world and you can find even more of them in the Disneyland Resort.
9. Light Up The Night
Disneyland was home to the very first version of the Main Street Electrical Parade in 1972. Then it ended in 1974 then reappeared in 1977 after a revamp. Then, in 1996 the park retired the parade only to bring it back for it’s final run in California Adventure from 2001 to 2010. Though you haven’t seen the last of it and more on that later.
10. Changing With The Seasons
Disneyland started changing with the holidays in 1977. The first attraction to get a holiday revamp was “It’s A Small World” then the “Haunted Mansion” then in 2009, “Space Mountain” became “Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy” for Halloween. Finally, the Jingle Cruise started in 2013.
11. 60 Years of Trains
The Disneyland Railroad has traveled enough distance to go from the earth to the moon-250 times.
12. Dun Da Dun Dun
The vehicle at the entrance of the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction is a star. The vehicle is the actual vehicle from the movie “Raiders of The Lost Ark” that dragged Indy and almost ran him over.
13. CatFish
The Rivers of America used to be filled with catfish. Visitors to Tom Sawyer Island used to be able to actually fish for them just off the docks.
14. Building From The Past
The King Arthur Carrousel is built out of parts from genuine 19th-century carrousels. The horses alone are more than 100 years old.
15. The World is a Carrousel
The horses on the King Arthur Carrousel are fully restored every year-one row at a time.
16. Two Icons
The Carthay Circle Theatre stands at 79 feet 6 inches and the Castle stands at 77 feet.
17. Diamonds Everywhere
The entire resort is covered in Diamonds for the Diamond Celebration, from the flags to the souvenirs all the way down to food and the containers. Diamonds are everywhere at the Disneyland Resort.
18. How Your Fantasy Fares
The new Fantasy Faire show in Disneyland now tells the story of Frozen with a new and fun spin.
This Slipper is worth $28k, has white glove service and it’s own security team. One lucky winner will be the owner. For more details go to Disneyland.com/60
19. A Royal Welcome
If you want a meet and greet with the two princesses from Arendelle then head over to Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome in California Adventure.
20. Speed of Light
Cars Land is where you’ll find Radiator Springs Racers, a fast-paced ride through the world of Cars. Throughout the ride there are 16 neon signs, see if you can spot them all during your next race.
21. The Red Car
The Red Car Trolley in California Adventure was designed to resemble the Pacific Electric Railway system that operated in 1901 through 1961.
Now that we know some fun history and facts about the Disneyland Resort, it’s time to dive into the Diamond Celebration attractions.
22. Paint The Night
Imagine the Main Street Electrical Parade on steroids, what you’re picturing is Paint The Night. The parade will feature 1.5 million individually controlled lights. All of which will be covering costumes and floats.
23. Paint The Past
In the Paint The Night Parade, you will notice a few tributes to the original Main Street Electrical Parade. The big “drum” float is back in a new way. Also, if you look closely at Tinkerbell’s wand you’ll see a light at the tip of her wand. That light was in the original Main Street Electrical Parade.
24. Disneyland Forever
The new firework show immerses everyone in the world of Disney using projection mapping. There are more than just one viewing spots as well. You can find projections on the mist screens on Rivers of America, on Main Street U.S.A., on the facade of It’s A Small World, and the Matterhorn.
25. Goodnight Kiss
The finale song of the Fireworks show is called “Kiss Goodnight” and was written by Richard M. Sherman who is a Disney legend. You may have sung one of his songs regularly, “It’s a Small World.”
26. Under Water World of Color
The new World of Color-Celebrate! uses a submersible platform that has over 20,000 points of control. Using lighting to paint 1,200 fountains with vibrant colors.
27. Diamond Studded Icons
Both Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Carthay Circle Theatre have a bit of diamond dust on them. The castle has more than 100,000 blue, glass crystals and the Carthay Circle theatre has a large diamond “D” hanging on the front.
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