NEED TO KNOW
- Disneyland is adding more magic to “It’s a Small World” for the theme park’s 70th anniversary
- Starting May 16 guests can check out bigger parades, spectacular fireworks and interactive surprises as they “Celebrate Happy”
- The limited-time festivities are happening now in Anaheim, Calif.
Disneyland is celebrating its 70th anniversary with some new magic coming to “It’s a Small World,” which opened at the park in 1966.
As the “Celebrate Happy” theme kicked off Friday, May 16, parkgoers visiting the Anaheim, Calif. location from now through summer 2026 can witness Miguel and his trusted alebrije Dante from Pixar’s Coco join in on the ride’s song with the dolls, while silhouetted by a stunning marigold bridge.
Artist Concept/Disneyland Resort
“It’s a Small World,” which turned 50 in 2014, is an Old Mill boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at Disneyland.
It opened on April 22, 1964, at the New York World’s Fair before moving to California two years later. Versions of the ride also exist at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., Tokyo Disneyland in Japan, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.
The attraction was created as a salute to UNICEF, “in which visitors enjoy a 10-minute boat ride seeing scenes of foreign lands,” The New York Times reported when the ride debuted.
The late brothers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman wrote the cheerful “It’s a Small World” tune that a 2014 TIME article called “very likely the most played song in music history.”
When the song turned 60 last year, the Walt Disney Company unveiled a brand-new short film titled The Last Verse as a tribute. For Disneyland’s 70th celebration, guests can watch it inside the famed Main Street Cinema beginning July 17, to mark when Walt Disney opened the park on July 17, 1955.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
“We don’t live in the past, but we honor the past,” stage show director for Disney Live Entertainment, Scott Damien Arroyo said at a media preview of the “Celebrate Happy” festivities. “We really are always looking backwards as we move forwards.”
For the special occasion, Disneyland will also be hosting activities such as the “Celebrate Happy Cavalcade” parades on Main Street near the Main Street Magic Shop.
Christian Thompson/Disneyland
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and more beloved characters will line the streets with song and dance.
There will also be the “Tapestry of Happiness” projection show, which is new for the 70th celebration, and located at Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World” ride.
“I call this a little show with a big heart,” creative director of Disney Live Entertainment, Susanna Tuber, said. “It’s beautiful. It’s a five-minute projection show on the facade of ‘It’s a Small World’ that’s going to play three times a night.”
Richard Harbaugh/Disneyland
She also described the show as a “love letter to all these Disneyland iconic experiences.”
Across from Disneyland, the Disney California Adventure Park has its own fair share of parades, projections and fireworks galore. There are also special activities like the one at Toy Story Midway Mania, where guests can look out for 70th anniversary “stickers” that Andy has stuck in different places along the midway.
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Six animated films — Encanto, Coco, Soul, The Princess and the Frog, Zootopia and Moana — join the Animation Courtyard.
More details on all the “Celebrate Happy” 70th anniversary magic happening at Disneyland can be found at Disneyland.com.
