Disneyland 70th Anniversary Entertainment Strategy – See the Highlights & Skip These Offerings

One of the best parts of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration is all of the special entertainment offered at the parks! From the return of the fan-favorite Paint the Night parade and an all-new World of Color show to parades and other cool offerings like projection shows in Carthay Circle and “it’s a small world,” there is a lot of entertainment to squeeze into one trip.

It can be overwhelming trying to figure out how to do and see it all, so we’ve put together a strategy for getting to all of the 70th anniversary entertainment! Keep reading for more details. You can also check out our larger Disneyland 70th anniversary guide for details on all of the offerings that will be available during the celebration.

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70th Anniversary Entertainment Overview

We typically recommend 3 days as the perfect amount of time to do and see everything at Disneyland, and this is even more the case when visiting during a special celebration like this. 2 days at Disneyland Park and 1 Day at Disney California Adventure will give you enough time to see all of the major 70th anniversary entertainment highlights. However, it is possible to squeeze in all of the major 70th anniversary entertainment into 2 nights! We cover a few different options you can consider below.

Regardless of your trip length, you’ll want to make sure you devote the first part of the day to getting on popular rides in the mornings, ideally take a mid-day break, and devote the second half of the day to entertainment.

Here are the major Disneyland 70th anniversary entertainment offerings broken down by park:

Disneyland Park 

• Paint the Night is a fan-favorite nighttime parade returning for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, featuring over a million LED lights and several popular Disney and Pixar characters. You can read about some of the new changes that were made to the parade here. The parade will run at 8:45 PM and 10:45 PM each night.
• Wondrous Journeys is a returning show celebrating the legacy of Walt Disney Animation Studios, featuring stunning projections, a flyover by Baymax, and fireworks on select nights. This nighttime spectacular takes place at 9:30 PM each night. You can see our review of this show in our overall Disneyland fireworks guide. 
• The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade is a daytime 70th anniversary character cavalcade that runs along the parade route, featuring favorite Disney characters, Mickey and friends in their 70th attire, and some rare additions like Duffy and ShellieMay. This calvacade takes place twice daily at 1:30 PM and 2:45 PM. You can see photos and more details about this cavalcade in our separate article here.
• Tapestry of Happiness is a 70th-anniversary projection show on the facade of “it’s a small world” that is a “visual love letter” to Disneyland, inspired by the work of Mary Blair. Showtimes are at 9:50 PM, 10:20 PM, 11:30 PM, and 11:45 PM. On nights when the park closes at 11, it shows at 9:50 PM and 10:20 PM.
• Shadows of Memory is not a 70th-anniversary offering, as it’s carrying over from Disneyland’s Season of the Force celebration, but it’s a pretty spectacular offering, and we definitely recommend seeing it. The show takes place every night. On nights with one showtime, it shows at 10:15 PM. On nights with two showtimes, it shows at 8:45 PM and 10:15 PM. You can see our review of this great projection show here!
• Fantasmic!, though it’s not a 70th-anniversary offering, is a classic nighttime spectacular on the Rivers of America. This has two nightly showtimes at 9:05 PM and 10:30 PM. This plays on weekdays during busier times of the year with longer park hours and on weekends during slower times of the year.

Disney California Adventure 

• World of Color Happiness! is the new 70th anniversary World of Color show hosted by the Inside Out emotions. The show is inspired by Walt Disney’s famous opening-day words, “To all who come to this happy place…welcome.” The show takes place at 9:00 PM and 10:15 PM, but note that there is only one 9:00 PM showtime on nights when Grad Nite parties are occurring. 
• Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! is a returning daytime parade at Disney California Adventure featuring over two dozen Pixar characters from favorite films. The parade takes place twice daily at 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM. 
• There is a special 70th anniversary projection moment on the exterior of Carthay Circle that takes place throughout the night that features Tinker Bell and a projection of Sleeping Beauty Castle. There are no official showtimes for this offering.

Night 1 – Disneyland Park 70th Entertainment

Utilize our Disneyland Park morning strategy to focus on rides during the first part of the day. Given that the 70th anniversary entertainment runs in the late evening, I strongly suggest taking a midday break after rope-dropping the park in the morning to recharge or put your kids down for a short nap.

There are two showtimes for Disneyland’s “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade,” at 1:30 PM and 2:45 PM. This doesn’t require as much advance planning as a parade does, so you should be able to grab a spot about 10-15 minutes before showtime with minimal waiting. The first showing will start at “it’s a small world” and end Town Square, and vice versa for the second showing. To save time, we recommend aiming to see the first cavalcade of the day and watching near “it’s a small world” so that you’re among the first out when it’s finished.

Now, onto the evening entertainment! Because the Paint the Night parade is a nighttime offering, you’ll have a pretty jam-packed night of entertainment if you want to get to all of the highlights. There are a few different options you can consider to see it all.

Option 1: If you’re interested in castle viewing for fireworks, you can utilize our viewing hack of watching the 8:45 PM showing of Paint the Night Parade on Main Street next to Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe and moving in right afterwards to watch the 9:30 PM fireworks from the Partners Statue. We detail this exact strategy in our separate article here. You’ll want to plan to get to this spot around 90 minutes before the parade starts, but it’s worth the wait as you’ll be enjoying prime viewing for both the parade and fireworks rather than needing to stake out a spot twice.

From here, you can plan to head over to “it’a a small world” to see the 10:20 PM showing of the new Tapestry of Happiness projection show on the facade. As soon as the fireworks end, we recommend heading straight to “it’s a small world” to get a viewing spot.

Option 2: Your other option is that you can watch the Paint the Night parade at 8:45 PM from outside of “it’s a small world” and stay put to watch the fireworks from this same spot at 9:30 PM. We recommend lining up about an hour before the Paint the Night parade for this. This is a good option if you’re not attached to the traditional Main Street/castle viewing, and there will be projections on the facade of “it’s a small world.” Right afterwards, you won’t have to move at all to see the 9:50 PM showing of Tapestry of Happiness. An advantage of this option is that you won’t have to move at all, and there are nearby restrooms and food stands in this area. This is probably the best option to consider if you have little kids.

Option 3: You may want to consider this third option if you’re visiting for only 2 days and want to squeeze everything in (or if you’re a Star Wars fan and generally prefer the Fire of the Rising Moons view of the fireworks rather than castle viewing). With this option, you can catch the 8:45 PM showing of the Shadows of Memory projection show in Galaxy’s Edge, then stay put for the Fire of the Rising Moons fireworks viewing over the Millennium Falcon at 9:30 PM. You’ll want to save a spot pretty early for Shadows of Memory, as this show is very popular and viewing fills up quickly. I would recommend at least 30-45 minutes of spot saving.

You’ll get the best view for this show by staking out a spot as far back in the designated viewing area in front of the Millennium Falcon as you can. If you’d rather have guaranteed prime viewing for this show from the Docking Bay 7 patio, then check out the dining package offered here. The view of both the projection show and fireworks from here is excellent! You can see more details in our Disneyland dining packages article.

Afterwards, you can head over to Fantasyland to see Tapestry of Happiness at 10:20 PM and stay in this area for the second Paint the Night showing at 10:45 PM. The downside of this option is that you will be waiting a little longer for the parade to reach you, as during the second showing of the day, the parade route starts in Town Square and ends at “it’s a small world.”

(Note that this strategy only works if you are visiting during a time when the Shadows of Memory show runs twice nightly. Be sure to check the Disneyland events schedule to see how many showtimes there will be on the day of your visit. If it only has one 10:15 PM showtime during your trip, then you’ll need to choose between this and the 10:20 PM showing of Tapestry of Happiness).

Night 2- Disney California Adventure 70th Entertainment

During your second day at Disney California Adventure, you can utilize our Disney California Adventure morning strategy to get on all of your top rides in the earlier part of the day. The 70th anniversary entertainment schedule at this park is a little more spread out, so you’ll have more flexibility in your planning on this day.

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You can see either showing of the daytime Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! parade (showtimes are at 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM). There is a dessert party dining package option for this parade that includes reserved seating, but with so much space along the Disney California Adventure parade route, this is not super necessary. We recommend watching this parade near Goofy’s Sky School or along Hollywood Land. For the best viewing, we suggest saving a spot about 45 minutes before the parade begins if you want to sit on the curb or be in the front. However, for general standing room, you can arrive as close as 20 minutes before.

There is a fun, two-minute projection show on the exterior of Carthay Circle Theater. It happens throughout the night, so you don’t have to plan too much to catch this, but we do recommend taking the time to stop and enjoy it when it’s playing!

You can then catch the new World of Color Happiness! show in the evening at 9 pm or 10:15 pm, depending on which day of the week you are visiting. Be sure to check the Disneyland events schedule to see how many showtimes there will be on the day of your visit. You can see details about viewing for the show and the virtual queue system in our separate Disneyland World of Color article. We recommend lining up about an hour before showtime for either section. You also have the option to enjoy the World of Color Dessert Party, which includes seated viewing.

Night 3 – Back to Disneyland Park

If you have a third day at the parks, you have a bit more flexibility to circle back to Disneyland Park to see any non-70th anniversary entertainment you may have missed!

Option 1: If you didn’t see Shadows of Memory during your first night at Disneyland Park, you can catch the 8:45 PM showing on this night. From here, you can stay for the 9:30 PM showing of Fire of the Rising Moons.

This order would be reversed if there is only one showing of Shadows of Memory. In this case, you would line up for Fire of the Rising Moons in front of the Millennium Falcon (see our viewing tips in the section above) and stay put for the 10:15 PM viewing of Shadows of Memory.

Option 2: If you have already seen the fireworks your first night and would rather see Fantasmic!, you can go straight from the 8:45 PM Shadows of Memory showing to the Rivers of America to save a spot for Fantasmic! at 10:30 pm. You could try to do all three (projection show, fireworks, and Fantasmic!), but it’s cutting it a little close for Fantasmic!, and you might not be able to secure the best viewing spot for Fantasmic! if you do this. While it is a pretty straight shot from Galaxy’s Edge to the Rivers of America, the area surrounding the Millennium Falcon will be pretty congested after the show, so foot traffic will be traveling slowly, at least until you clear out of the area.

Option 3: If you already saw both Galaxy’s Edge shows the night before or would rather just see Fantasmic, you can see either the 9:05 PM or 10:30 PM showing.

What Should I Skip If I’m Short On Time?

There is quite a lot of entertainment for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary! If you’re not up for it all, or if you’re limited on time and squeezing everything into a 1-day trip, you may be wondering what can be skipped vs. what are the must-sees. For families with little kids in particular, it’s a lot to juggle with so much of the entertainment happening late at night.

If you’re choosing one park for the nighttime entertainment, we would definitely recommend prioritizing the entertainment at Disneyland Park and seeing the Paint the Night parade and Wondrous Journeys instead of the new World of Color Happiness! show. These are definitely the top two Disneyland 70th anniversary experiences to prioritize, and it makes sense to pair them together for viewing purposes.

The showtimes for Tapestry of Happiness are unfortunately pretty late in the evening (to make the schedule work with the other nighttime entertainment), so if you’re visiting with little kids, it is probably wise to skip this one. Shadows of Memory (a non-70th anniversary show) is scheduled as far out as the calendar currently goes, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to skip this one, as you’ll likely be able to catch it on a future trip.

If you’re visiting with a park hopper ticket, we would recommend prioritizing the “Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!” parade in Disney California Adventure and skipping the “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade,” as this is a full daytime parade vs. a shorter cavalcade. There isn’t a way to really plan for the Carthay Circle projection moment that happens throughout the night, so just keep an eye out for it in case you want to spontaneously watch it.

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