Disneyland This Week—Tons of 70th Offerings Debuting, Big CROWDS Expected Early, Cool New Freebie, and More

Welcome back to Mickey Visit Disneyland This Week! Each week at Mickey Visit we unearth Disneyland news and tips you could easily miss completely. We have all of the essential dates for your visit. This week we have photos we took of all the 70th Anniversary decorations going up at Disneyland.

These news and date updates provide the most important information for your visit every single week whether you are a frequent visitor or visiting for the first time in years. We cut through the noise to hone in on what dates and news matter for this week. Click here to see our most recent Disneyland This Week update from last week for all the things you missed at Disneyland and our first Disneyland This Week update for all my thoughts on what we are hoping to achieve with these weekly updates.

My name is Gavin Doyle. Each week I and members of my team including Lindsay Brookshier, Emily Midgley, and Bridget Waldman from @CaliforniaDisneyBliss, will work together to bring you the most essential Disneyland information. This is your one-stop resource for everything happening at Disneyland the week of May 12, 2025.

One Big Thing in Disneyland News – 70th Anniversary Celebration Brings Several New Offerings

This is a big week for Disneyland, as the 70th anniversary celebration kicks off on May 16! Disneyland is hard at work right now putting up the remaining 70th anniversary decor ahead of the event’s start date. The parks will have a very full entertainment schedule of returning favorites and some new additions. We will break down some of the major highlights (and what we’re most excited about)! We have been in the parks and see tons of new decorations going up like the one seen above. I love that photo snapped by a member of our team this weekend.

When the fan-favorite Paint the Night parade returns to Disneyland Park, it will feature the popular “Frozen” ice castle float for the first time since the parade’s initial run. Tinker Bell has also received a new look for the parade! We will be keeping an eye out for any other changes to this parade. Fans are very excited about this and have long been asking Disney to bring this beloved parade back.

We’re also curious to see what the new World of Color show brings to the table. We know that the show is inspired by Walt Disney’s opening-day words, “To all who come to this happy place… welcome!” It will be interesting to see how they manage to tie a celebration of the parks into this show that will heavily focus on newer films and franchises.

The “Tapestry of Happiness” projection show at “it’s a small world” is an offering that we’re especially excited to experience. The show will be a “visual love letter” to Disneyland that will up the facade of the attraction in a style inspired by Disney Legend Mary Blair, featuring the original “Celebrate Happy” theme song written for the celebration. We have very high hopes for this and think it is going to be a highlight of the celebration. One thing to note is that the showtimes for this are quite late in the evening (9:50 PM,10:20 PM, and 11:30 PM) as they are staggered with the Paint the Night parade and Wondrous Journeys fireworks showtimes. This timing does make the experience a little less accessible to families with small kids because it’s so late, but it also makes it convenient to stay in the area and pair up a showing with certain parade/fireworks showtimes.

The 70th anniversary celebration also brings a variety of special foods and merchandise to the resort. You can access a free PDF printable of these foods in our Disneyland 70th anniversary food guide. There are also several special merchandise collections that will be offered during the celebration, as well as an interesting new scavenger hunt-type offering called “Key to Disneyland.” This looks like it will be a pretty interesting and fun new offering, and we’re looking forward to sharing more details about this experience!

While we don’t have enough room here to delve into all of the 70th anniversary offerings coming, you can see our full Disneyland 70th anniversary guide for everything you need to know.

Important Disneyland Dates This Week

• The private Pixar Place Hotel theme park entrance to Disney California Adventure is closing for construction to install the new entry gates. You can see details about that closure here and how long it’s expected to last.
• A ton of 70th anniversary merchandise dropped today throughout Downtown Disney and the parks. While different merch collections will be popping up in the days ahead, right now, different stores seem to be carrying different items. Disney Home has vintage items, World of Disney has the colorful 70th merch, and Elias and Co. has more of the vintage collections.
• “it’s a small world” reopens from its extended closure on Tuesday, May 13. The ride has been closed for maintenance, and its reopening date was pushed back a couple of weeks from when it was originally supposed to be and then delayed again to this week. When “it’s a small world” reopens, it will feature Miguel and Dante from Coco in the Mexico area of the attraction.
• Sorcerer’s Workshop and Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome in Disney California Adventure are both reopening tomorrow on Tuesday, May 13. 
• Grad Nite parties take place at Disney California Adventure this week on Monday, May 12 and Sunday, May 18. The park will close at 9 pm on these dates. Guests can stay for World of Color, but they need to exit after the show.
• The validity period of the SoCal resident ticket special ends on Thursday, May 15. You can always expect an uptick in crowds near the end of the validity period for a ticket special. You can expect crowds to start climbing leading up to this day as locals get the last day(s) of their visit in. Crowds will stay high as the Disneyland 70th anniversary celebration kicks off right after this point.
• There is a new adorable pop-up in Downtown Disney! Nectar Life has arrived in this cute pink van by the D-Lander store. Guests can snag bath and beauty essentials here until their Downtown Disney permanent store opens sometime later this year. You can see details on that new store coming in our separate article here. 

Key Disneyland News You Missed

• A private theme park entrance to Disney California Adventure just reopened following an extended closure to install new entry gates. You can see the details in our separate article here.
• Disneyland announced the next Magic Key sales date for two types of passes. You can see details and benefits of these pass types in our full Disneyland Magic Key guide.
• Last week, Disney announced where its next theme park will be built! See all of the details about the location, what to expect, and concept artwork that was shared in our separate article here.
• Disney has filed a permit to remodel the old FastPass distribution area in front of Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! into a seating area. This news was originally shared by Theme Park IQ on X. This new dining area addresses one of the biggest issues of Avengers Campus we previously discussed, as the land in general is quite exposed with a lack of shaded seating areas.
• Disney recently unveiled the new entrance gates that are now being used at the resort. These work a little differently than what visitors are used to, so make sure to check out the details in our separate article here.
• Disneyland recently announced a significant number of new menu items coming to the Disneyland Resort hotels. You can see details on these new food items in our separate article here.
• Costco Travel is no longer selling Disneyland Resort vacation packages. You can see details in our separate article here, including details on the best discount alternative.
• Universal Studios Hollywood just made some major new announcements, including a major summer event and a big update to a classic ride at the park. The summer event will introduce the opportunity for all guests to enjoy a popular “Wicked” character interaction.

Best Disney and Universal Ticket Deals

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Magic Key Benefits Continue in May

Special perks for Magic Key Annual Passholders are available this month. See details below.

• From May 27 to June 2, 2025, Magic Key holders will have access to a Magic Key 70th Celebration event at the Hyperion Theater Courtyard that includes a free Paint the Night poster. Magic Key holders will need to join a virtual queue to access this experience. You can check out all of the details, including event times, in our separate article here.
• Magic Key holders can enjoy special food offerings, including the Box O’ Sliders at Galactic Grill and the new Neapolitan Sampler at The Golden Horseshoe, available for purchase on the Disneyland app. The Neapolitan Sampler offering features three sample-size ice cream floats, one of each of the following: Coca-Cola Cherry Float, Sprite Float, and Barq’s Root Beer Float.
• For the Pixar Putt mini golf course, Magic Key holders get a special discounted rate of $25 per Magic Key Holder.

Disneyland Operational Updates

• Disneyland has mostly longer hours of operation this week, with Disneyland Park open until 12 am and Disney California Adventure open until 10 pm, except for a few anomalies. Disney California Adventure will close at 9 pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday, and Disneyland Park will close at 10pm on Wednesday and 11pm on Sunday.
• Grad Nite will take place at Disney California Adventure on May 12 and 18, closing the park at 9 pm. When Disney California Adventure closes early on these nights, you can see World of Color at 9 pm and stay through the show, but you have to exit right after.
• The World of Color show runs each night except Tuesday, May 13. The show will switch from World of Color – ONE to the new anniversary show, World of Color: Happiness!, starting May 16.
• The Mickey’s Mix Magic projection show will play on Monday, May 12, and fireworks will be shown from Tuesday to Thursday with this show. Starting Friday, May 16, the Wondrous Journeys fireworks return. Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga will show every night, and Fantasmic! plays on the weekend.
• The nighttime parade Paint the Night will return on Friday, May 16, 2025, and a new daytime Celebrate Happy Calvacade will debut on the same day. Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration will also be starting at Disney California Adventure on this date.

What We’re Thinking About This Week

• Emily is kind of obsessed with the Magic Key Paint the Night poster that was just revealed. The design is so cool!
• Gavin is curious to see how the Southern California ticket ending will impact crowds this week and is excited to be in the parks seeing everything new coming for the 70th anniversary.
• Lindsay is over the moon about the return of Paint the Night after so many years of fans requesting its return! This is one of her favorite Disney parades and she highly recommends everyone take the time to see it.

Where In Disneyland Is This?

Hint: This is a recently reimagined attraction! Share your guess in the comments below.

Answer to last week’s “Where In Disneyland Is This?” Click here to see that image so you can guess first.

The new “Royal Street Jazz Club” seating area in New Orleans Square!

Disneyland Crowd Calendar This Week

This week, you can expect to see average crowds that will pick up as we get closer to the end of the SoCal resident ticket validity period. From that point onwards, you can expect above normal crowds as the Disneyland 70th anniversary celebration kicks off.

You can see our rating of all upcoming dates in our Mickey Visit Disneyland Crowd Calendar.

New Disneyland Ride Closures This Week

This week, Chip ‘n’ Dale’s GADGETcoaster is closing May 19 for refurbishment. Here are some of the current ride closures that are continuing into this week:

• Matterhorn Bobsleds is closed for refurbishment
• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room is closed for refurbishment
• Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome is closed for refurbishment (reopening this week!)
• Sorcerer’s Workshop is closed for refurbishment (reopening this week!)
• The Disney Gallery is closed for refurbishment
• “it’s a small world” is closed for refurbishment (reopening this week!)

You can see reopening dates for some of the above attractions and other upcoming closures in our Disneyland ride refurbishment guide.

Other Disney Content We’re Watching

Each week we’ll share some of our favorite information and fun content from across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube in an effort to spotlight some of the great creators who work so hard to share details from Disneyland.

First up, we have this really fun video from Noah Sunday-Lefkowitz (@noahsundaylefkowitz on Instagram) pointing out hidden speakers across Disneyland!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Noah Sunday-Lefkowitz (@noahsundaylefkowitz)

Next up, we have this post from @versace_vibez on Instagram sharing a look at the new Princess Aurora headband at Disneyland!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Versace (@versace_vibez)

We also wanted to share this construction update from David (@_freshbaked on Instagram), sharing a construction update for the new steakhouse and barbecue eatery coming to the Tortilla Jo’s location where demolition is still happening.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Fresh Baked Disney (@_freshbaked)

Heads up! Reservations Open for Disneyland Dining / Park Reservations

For any trips before the below dates, you should be considering booking park reservations and dining reservations.

• Today is the 60-day window for Disneyland dining reservations for July 11, 2025. 
• Today is the 180-day window for making Disneyland theme park reservations for November 8, 2025. This applies to most non-Annual Pass tickets.
• For Magic Key Annual Pass Holders, the 90-day window from today to make theme park reservations is August 10, 2025.

See our top tips for getting Disneyland dining reservations and the best Disneyland restaurants we would recommend.

Disneyland Lightning Lane Cost This Week

• Today, the Lightning Lane Multi Pass service costs $36 if you purchase it when you arrive.
• For the two Lightning Lane Single Pass rides, the cost is $28 for Rise of the Resistance and $22 for Radiator Springs Racers.

You can see our guide to Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Disneyland for our expert tips on making the most of the service.

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