Disneyland Celebration

DISNEYLAND REMEMBERED by the Annual Celebration!!

Disneyland has certainly evolved through the years, hasn't it? In the early years, Disneyland promoted itself by adding new attractions, with an occasional anniversary celebration during milestone years. These promotional events began (in the early days) as unifying themes for the year, later became actual celebratory events, and more recently appear to be nothing more than slick advertising slogans that utilize the terms Magic, Dreams, Memories, or Celebrate.

THIS PAGE IS BUILT BASED ON MY LIFE AND EXPERIENCE AS A DISNEYLAND LOCAL (FROM BIRTH, C. 1965 & later, a 5 month CASTMEMBER) AND AS SUCH I HOPE I CAN REPRESENT MY LOVE AND EXPERIENCE... AND, HISTORICALLY SHARE ALL THE INFO I HAVE GAINED REGARDING ALL THE HISTORY THAT HAS OCCURRED SINCE JULY 17, 1955... If you can help me explore any Disney history I am unaware of... PLEASE, PLEASE DO! I hope to be one of the awesome 2 dozen websites that share and collect Disneyland history.

Clearly, I have my favorite eras, and my favorite promotions... but what I have tried to compile here is a unification of 60+ years of Disneyland observances. I am sure you have your favorites too. Herein, I hope I have captured all the promotional campaigns of Disneyland that lasted long enough to establish fond memories from the past. As I love to do, I have tried to take all existing graphic images and unify them within a standard size and shape. (Seasonal events for New Year's Eve, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas were excluded, unless they became a significant promotional element for a given year)

**The art represented below is not my original work. Most, if not all, is copyright the Disney Company, for which, as a fan, I do not represent. In my attempt to locate images, not all source material is known. The intent of this webpage is to attempt to share historical promotional graphics that share Disneyland history, as I recall it. Again, I do not represent that any of these images are my original work, other than several works needing to be "reconstructed" to a higher resolution for this site, for which minor artistic adjustments might have been needed. Please contact myself if credit or correction needs to be made. Thanks.

Disneyland '59 [1959]

Summer of 1959 saw the first major expansion of Disneyland with 6 new attractions, including the opening of the new Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Monorail, the Submarine Voyage and three other new adventures. The new offerings were so important, it was these attractions that introduced the new, original E-ticket rides!

Tencennial Celebration [1965]

The first major milestone celebration was Disneyland's 10th year "Tencennial Celebration" (Walt's own play on the Centennial, century term). One of the more famous episodes of the Disneyland TV show showcased this event. I love watching this celebration on DVD knowing that I won't see some of my favorite Disneyland characters, specifically from The Jungle Book (still 2 years away), nor The Aristocats, Robin Hood, Country Bears, The Rescuers, Pete's Dragon, or The Fox and The Hound...

Disneyland '66 [1966]

Disneyland had not built much in the prior 3 years, as Walt was developing projects for the New York 1964-65 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows... 1966 was a "BIG" return to Anaheim for Walt... Small World was the first of several Wold's Fair projects to wander back to California.. this logo was probably just a mimic of the Disneyland '59 idea, but 1966 was truly a transitional year for Disneyland.

20 Years of Happiness [1975]

I have been collecting historic Disneyland graphic images for nearly 20-30 years... and I just found this item as I originally created this webpage (just 12 hours ago, in 2015). I am very excited to know that the 20th anniversary was not ignored (anyone have 5th or 15th anniversary details to share?) but in my 5 decades of love for this park, this is truly the first details to have emerged (other than '75-76 Bicentennial events).

America on Parade [1976]

Disneyland, like all of the USA, came up with a "1776-1976" style theme like everything else in America at the time. It seemed that the Bicentennial was like celebrating July 4th for an entire year... everything that spoke of Americana was of utmost importance for an insane amount of time. Being that Disneyland itself was just now becoming a classic part of Americana during this same period, it was a brilliant choice to embrace the moment with patriotic Mickey. 1975-76, and the addition of America Sings were perfect marketing elements of the day... I was a 10-11 year old Anaheim kid myself, and despite my favorite Disney character being the awesome Pluto, I (still to this day) loved my swim trunks featuring colonial Mickey, Goofy, and Donald. (AND STILL, this logo is to this day, my all-time favorite Disney graphic)

Disneyland 25 "Family Reunion" [1980]

The 1970's and 1980's were AWESOME times at Disneyland... the Park was just figuring out how awesome it was itself. The year 1980, was the first major milestone the Park acheived, and since I was just an impressionable 14-15 year old, I was hooked. In 1980, the Park was still optimizing the A-E ticket books. As part of the year-long 25th celebration, each of the (at the time 7) lands were announced as "ticket-free" for a month at a time. Ride Peter Pan, Alice, and Small World as much as you wanted during Fantasyland month. On the actual 25th BirthDAY... the park was open from 12:01am-1am, celebrating a full 25 hour day on the actual 25th anniversary on July 17th. (FYI. I was still just 15 and had no driver's licence, so I tragically missed out on this event, although I really tried to be there. Thanks Mom & Dad)

The New Fantasyland [1983]

This was the best Summer of my life, especially as the 3rd person to cross the drawbridge upon it's second and last lowering...ever. I was a 17-18 year old as this Summer approached and on May 25th, I crossed the newly lowered drawbridge in the AM, rode the brand new Pinocchio attraction mid-day (and later in the PM, watched the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi premiere on opening day). The current Fantasyland may be "normal" to today's guests, but I recall the original and further, I love the current version!

Happy Birthday Donald Duck [1984]

Donald Duck turned 50 in 1984.... and Disneyland didn't miss out on the opportunity to celebrate this milestone!! (FYI. Donald's birthdate is a day after my own birthdate.) As part of the celebration, several food service locations offered a DD Birthday Ice Cream mix that looked White, Blue and Yellow/Orange...the exact same colors (and flavors) of Donald himself... Oh, and for the first time in 25 years, the "cold war" nuclear grey submarine fleet looked happy and "Donald" colored bright!!

Disneyland's 30th Year [1985]

Disneyland's 30 logo was SO AWESOME, it inspired the logo of the Studio/Home Video departments for the next 20 years. The actual Disneyland promotion, which included the awesome, yet simple gift via the Gift Giver Extraordinaire offered every 30th guest a prize.

Look's Like We Started Something [1986]

The best part of the 30th celebration was the Gift Giver... and the Disneyland team figured out how to make that wonderful option a great element for another year, with a unique twist.

Totally Minnie [1986]

The Summer of '86 was the Summer of Minnie. It was certainly a simple theme, but was one that was appropriate for the time period.

Circus Fantasy [1986, 1987, 1988]

MORE DETAILS TO COME. Circus Fantasy 1986-1988

State Fair [1987, 1988]

MORE DETAILS TO COME.

Blast to the Past [1988, 1989]

MORE DETAILS TO COME.

35 Years of Magic [1990]

Splash Mountain may have arrived a few months late in 1989, but the 35th Anniversary Dream Machine, located in the Hub (where the Partners Statue is now) was ready from January 1st, 1990. The Mickey Mouse watch a friend of mine won during this promotion, from the Dream Machine, was the best Mickey Mouse watch I have ever seen!

40 Years of Adventures [1995]

For me, personally, 1995 was an odd year. This was the first year that Annual Passports were available to the general public (as a Magic Kingdom Club member, I had had one for years). and as such, the opening of Indiana Jones was the first truly public "private" event. Despite that, I am really looking forward to the opening of the 40th Time Capsule in 2035... as I was there when the 40th Time Capsule was placed in the ground on July 17th.

MSEP Farewell Season [1996]

The first time I ever saw the MSEP, as a pre-teen Anaheim local, was 5 years after it premiered... in Orlando, FL, 1977. Despite that, I have always loved this parade. In 1986, the parade ended it's run at Disneyland Park, much to my dismay. I had moved to San Diego by this time, so I failed to see any Farewell Season Performances during late 1996.

Light Magic [1997]

I am a bit sad to admit (and a bit NOT SAD to admit) that I never had the opportunity to see Light Magic. My view on this, based on the images I viewed on a "new source", the internet, was that this parade was heavy on the performance corridor stop (which I dislike) and very light on the Disney character aspect (which, other than some bland pixies, I love Disney characters) so the parade premise was a failure, to me, from the start.

I do have to apologize to anyone who does not share my opinion, but as this is my website, I am free to share that the promotions below strike me as corporate blather. Even my least favorite promo above, Light Magic, was a unique experience that occurred only at Disneyland Park. Sadly, the "exciting & unique" events that occur after 2000 are just bland, corporate promotions... none of which feature Disneyland as the unique experience it deserves to be. While I find these events uninspired, certainly the graphic design and visual skills are the best the Park has ever seen.

Happiest Homecoming on Earth - Disneyland's 50th [2005]

Year of a Million Dreams [2006-07]

Where Dreams Come True [2007-08]

What Will You Celebrate? [2009-10]

Let the Memories Begin [2011-13]

If I sound disappointed with this promotion, it might be that no matter how much I looked online, I could not find any images that presented this event as a "Disneyland" event . (All 3 of the previous promotions where, at least, displayed graphically with Disneyland, Disney World, AND Disney Parks option)