New Disneyland Cavalcade Will Feature Rare Disney Characters

Disneyland kicks off the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the resort on May 16, 2025 and the celebration runs through summer 2026. This big anniversary celebration includes the return of the popular Paint the Night parade, a new World of Color show, decorations throughout the park, and a new discount ticket offer.

There are so many new entertainment options being introduced to the resort for this celebration including a brand new Disneyland cavalcade featuring fan favorite characters plus some rare additions!

Cavalcades are like “mini parades” that run throughout the park along the parade route and they’re relatively easy to catch! I am especially excited for this one because of the rare characters announced for this lineup.

Disneyland 70th Anniversary Cavalcade Introduces Duffy and ShellieMay

Disneyland cavalcade
Photo via Disney

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As part of the Disneyland 70th Anniversary, Disneyland will debut a brand new character cavalcade called “The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade.” This new cavalcade will work its way down the traditional parade route which goes from “it’s a small world” to the end of Main Street, U.S.A.

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This new cavalcade is hailed as an “energetic and contemporary” celebration of seven decades of happiness featuring characters in their 70th attire like Goofy and Max, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald and Daisy Duck, Princesses, Heroes, and more.

But the real exciting part to note is that this cavalcade will include the rarely seen Duffy and ShellieMay characters which are the beloved teddy bear characters from Duffy and Friends. We rarely see these characters in the parks and most often just at special after hours events so this is an exciting piece of news for Duffy fans! Perhaps this is a step in the direction in making these characters a more permanent addition to Disneyland?

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About Lindsay Brookshier

Lindsay Brookshier has been recognized as a Disney expert since 2017 and has been featured by outlets including CNBC, SFGate, NerdWallet, and Visit Anaheim. She holds a Master’s degree in English and visits Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Orlando multiple times each year, giving her first hand insight into park operations, seasonal trends, crowd patterns, and touring strategies.

Her experience also extends to Disney Cruise Line, where she has sailed on every class of ship, visited both of Disney’s private islands, and participated in specialty sailings such as Marvel Day at Sea and Very MerryTime cruises. This depth of travel allows her to provide practical, data informed travel guidance across Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Universal theme parks, and related destinations.

As Content Director of Mickey Visit, Lindsay oversees editorial strategy and daily content. She also leads the development and analysis of Mickey Visit’s crowd calendars, using historical wait time data, ticket pricing trends, and seasonal attendance patterns to forecast park crowd levels. Lindsay writes touring plans, authors in depth reviews, and offers expert analysis on Disney experiences. She also serves as an expert on Disney discounts and merchandise, tracking ticket offers, hotel promotions, seasonal deals, major merchandise collaborations, and collectible releases across the parks and online.

Lindsay comes from a lifelong Disney family and has been visiting Disneyland since the 1990s. She is currently planning a Disney Cruise Line wedding and her favorite ride is the Haunted Mansion.

See her Muck Rack profile here.

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