Disneyland This Week—Major Attraction CHANGES & Date Shifts, “Ski Week” Crowds, Downtown Disney Construction

Welcome back to Mickey Visit Disneyland This Week! Each week we'll unearth Disneyland offerings and tips you could easily miss completely. We have all of the essential dates for your visit.

These updates are written for the frequent Disneyland visitor but also written in a way that you can share them with friends who call on you as their Disneyland expert. Each week we cut through the noise to bring you the essential info. 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. Please COMMENT below if you like these updates and share anything that makes them more useful.

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 February 17, 2025.

One Big Thing – Looking Ahead to Disneyland's 70th Anniversary Celebration

Theme park reservations are now open to book for the Disneyland 70th anniversary kickoff date for all guests and Magic Key holders. The 70th-anniversary celebration spans from May 16 through the summer of 2026, bringing special decor, foods, and merchandise, the return of some favorite entertainment offerings like Paint the Night parade and Wondrous Journeys, and more.

One of the biggest highlights originally slated for May 16 was the Disneyland 70th anniversary attraction featuring the first-ever Walt Disney animatronic, “Walt Disney – A Magical Life.” However, as we learned during this past week, this key new attraction has been delayed, as Disneyland has now shared that it will be opening on the park's actual 70th birthday on July 17 along with a new gallery experience and special exhibit in the lobby of the Main Street Opera House. You can see details on the delayed opening of the highly-anticipated attraction here.

With this change, May 16 now holds a little less weight than it did previously due to the absence of this attraction opening. There will still be a new World of Color show debuting on this date in addition to the return of Paint the Night and Wondrous Journeys, plus tons of new foods, character costumes, decorations, and the general excitement of kicking off a new anniversary celebration.

Even though we're a little disappointed that the opening of “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” has been delayed, the show itself is a really interesting concept and we are very eager to see how it is executed. There will doubtlessly be a ton of interest in the attraction when it first opens, which is why it will have its own run for a period of time before it will “eventually” play in rotation with “Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln.”

Starting also on July 17, there will be a change made to “it's a small world” introducing a new addition to the song as part of Disneyland's 70th anniversary celebration to honor Disney Legend Richard Sherman. See details on the changes coming to “it's a small world” here. Both of these experiences debuting in July space out the fun offerings of the celebration a bit more so that guests continually have something to look forward to. Though the delayed opening undoubtedly is because the show isn't quite ready, I am very pleased that there is now something special and new on the park's actual 70th anniversary.

In this time of short attention spans driven by our buzzy social media world, big celebrations like this need to continue to offer new things to keep guests coming back. It doesn't work anymore to have everything launch all at once and run for 16 months. We'll be watching and reporting closely on how the 70th remains fresh. After that July 17th launch, we'll then look to January 2026 and how the anniversary offering will be “relaunched” post the Disneyland holidays celebration to keep it fresh running into that summer.

Important Disneyland Dates This Week

• Heads up! You can expect higher Disneyland crowd levels this week due to “Ski Week.” Many schools have time off this week for “Ski Week” following Presidents' Day weekend. As we discuss below, this week will have longer hours of operation and you can expect crowd levels to be higher at the parks through this Sunday.
• NEW special food offerings are now available at locations across Avengers Campus to celebrate the release of Captain America: Brave New World. Offerings include:
  • Red Gamma Gulp: Red velvet cold brew with cream cheese cold foam – available at Pym Test Kitchen
  • Captain America Shield Sipper (Limit two per person, per transaction; no discounts apply) – available at Pym Test Kitchen, Terran Treats, Shawarma Too, Shawarma Palace, Fairfax Market – see all current novelties in our Disney popcorn buckets article
  • Liberty Punch: Litmus Lemonade layered with blue Hawaiian and topped with citrus meringue foam – available at Pym Tasting Lab
  • Pepperoni Pizza Pocket: Pepperoni, mozzarella, and house-made marina sauce wrapped in empanada dough – available at Shawarma Too
  • Red Rage Wings: Spicy chicken wings tossed in habanero sauce and served with potato bites and ranch dressing – available at Pym Test Kitchen
  • Cheese Pizza Pocket: Mozzarella and house-made marinara sauce wrapped in empanada dough – available at Shawarma Too

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  • Disneyland celebrates Black History Month with Celebrate Soulfully, which brings a variety of offerings to the resort celebrating Black heritage and culture. You can enjoy special food offerings in Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Resort hotels during this month, and there are also special musical performances at Broken Spell Lounge and the lobby at the Disneyland Hotel as well as the lobby at Pixar Place Hotel.
    • Disneyland has added a window display on Main Street U.S.A. honoring Disney Legend Martha Blanding for Black History Month and Women's History Month. There is also a window display honoring Disney Legend Floyd Norman, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first Black animator, in Hollywood Land.
• LAST CHANCE to take advantage of Adults at Kids' Prices ticket sale! Available now for a limited time ENDS TODAY, you can take advantage of an adults at kids' prices ticket sale happening right now for Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood! If you're planning a spring visit, you can combine this offer with the spring kids' special ticket offer to maximize your savings. There is also an adults at kids' prices deal happening for Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando as well.
• Construction walls are up around the old Tortilla Jo's building in Downtown Disney. The restaurant closed last spring and the space has been sitting dormant for a while now. We know that a new steakhouse and barbecue eatery by Michelin-starred Chef Joe Isidori will be built on the former footprint of Tortilla Jo's. Now that construction walls are up, it looks like work on the new restaurants is finally starting!
• Reservations are now open for the Goofy’s Kitchen Celebrates Springtime! buffet which starts April 3, 2025. This themed character dining experience features floral decor, music, and Goofy and friends in “garden-inspired garb.”
• There will be some construction happening in New Orleans Square this month. Disneyland is working to replace concrete on the east side of the new Haunted Mansion shop Madame Leota's Somewhere Beyond to improve drainage in the area, and this construction will last for about a month. The shop is expected to stay open during the construction, but some props and theming from the exterior will be removed while the construction is taking place and then reinstalled. You can enter through the doors on the side closest to the Haunted Mansion exit.
• Disneyland Magic Key annual passes are still available for three out of the four pass types after they recently went on sale again a couple of weeks ago. Inspire Key is now only available for renewal only, but the other three pass types are still available for purchase. These have not sold out quickly the last few times sales have been open, but Disneyland is likely to pause Magic Key sales soon. See everything you need to know about Disneyland Magic Keys and perks.
• Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite tickets are currently on sale to the general public. The event takes place on select dates from April 8 to May 6, 2025 at Disneyland Park. At the time of writing, there are still tickets on sale for all party nights of the event except for May 4, 2025, which is sold out. We're surprised that the party is selling a little bit more slowly this year.

Key Disneyland News You Missed

• Disneyland has released the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival foods! You can see all of the foods that were announced for this year's festival and access a FREE 2025 printable of the foods in our Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival guide. You can also see all of the foods that we're most excited to try!
• Disneyland announced new details for its Season of the Force Star Wars celebration including a new nightly projection show in Galaxy's Edge! You can see more details and concept art, as well as other announcements made for the celebration, in our Disneyland Star Wars Season of the Force guide.
• We now have the reopening date for Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe! This popular restaurant is undergoing an extended refurbishment and now we finally have the reopening date and confirmation from Disney. You can check out reopening details in our original announcement of the restaurant's closure here.
• A class action lawsuit has been filed against Disney due to the impact of the changes that were made to the Disability Access Service (DAS). Ever since Disney implemented stricter guidelines for who qualifies for the pass, there has been backlash from visitors. You can read what we know about the Disney DAS class action suit and its implications here.
• Napa Rose will remain operational during its multi-month closure in a temporary location, including for the Disney Princess character dining breakfast. You can read what we know so far about the temporary location for Napa Rose here.
• Storytellers Cafe is also closing for refurbishment for a few weeks in March, and we are in that dining reservation window now. Disney shared that Hearthstone Lounge will be open in its place with expanded hours and offerings. During this refurbishment, you can still book the other Disneyland Character Dining experiences offered at the resort like Minnie & Friends – Breakfast in the Park at Plaza Inn and Goofy's Kitchen.
• Droid Depot, the droid-building experience in Galaxy's Edge, will soon no longer offer reservations at Disneyland. You can read more about when this Droid Depot reservation change will go into effect and our thoughts.
• Disneyland is offering a free Heroes Ticket for first responders who aided in the recent Los Angeles wildfires. You can our article with more details on the Heroes Ticket and a new way to support California fire relief.
• There were recently some changes made to better utilize the space in Cars Land. At Cozy Cone Motel, there is a new ordering window where guests place their order before going to the individual cones to order. There is also new theming and seating for Cars Land, called Red's Community Garden, which recently opened near the Cozy Cone Motel. The area now has a pergola with a “Red's Community Garden” sign featuring Red the fire truck from the films, and new tables and chairs have been added.
• Disney recently reported earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2025. See the key takeaways from the Disney earning call you should know including details about Disneyland and Disney World attendance this quarter, the success of Lightning Lane Premier Pass, how Disney views Epic Universe, and the impact of the hurricanes at Disney World.
• A pop-up mini golf experience inspired by Disney and Pixar films is now available at the Pixar Place Hotel. You can read details about how you can get tickets for this Disney and Pixar mini golf course and a photo tour of its setup in another location.

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Magic Key Benefits Continue in February

Special perks for Magic Key Annual Passholders continue this month and into the next. These are a way for them to incentivize passholder visits during what is a slower time for vacation goers.

• Magic Key Annual Passholders get $2 popcorn refills when they purchase a special stitch popcorn bucket ends this Wednesday on February 19.
• Magic Key holders can enjoy special food offerings including the Box O' Sliders at Galactic Grill, and Ice Cream Floats from Golden Horseshoe (pictured below).
• Magic Key holders can get select meal combos that include a special Magic Key tumbler at Alien Pizza Planet or Galactic Grill via mobile order, while supplies last.
• 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 shifts to longer hours of operation this week with Disneyland Park open until 12am and Disney California Adventure open until 10pm each day this week. The parks will return to shorter hours on Monday, February 24 for the weekdays.
• The World of Color – One show runs each night along with the Mickey's Mix Magic fireworks show. Fireworks will be shown along with the projection show Friday-Sunday (and on February 17 for Presidents' Day). Fantasmic! will also play on the weekends (and on February 17 for Presidents' Day).
• Disneyland has not announced a parade that will be offered in the time between now and the 70th anniversary celebration (click here for details). There is currently a Mickey and Friends Cavalcade along the parade route at Disneyland Park twice a day. Disneyland will be bringing back Paint the Night and Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration starting in May 2025.

What We're Thinking About This Week

• Lindsay is excited about the new projection show announced for Season of the Force! This celebration is such a great way to breathe life into Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
• Gavin is curious to see if any of the new Disney California Adventure Food and Wine items will turn out to blow me away. Nothing as weird as the peanut butter mac noodles with pop rocks from a few years ago, but always something interesting to find.
• Emily is a little disappointed that the opening of “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” has been pushed back a few months and the impact that has on the start date of the 70th-anniversary celebration. However, she's excited that we now have the Jolly Holiday reopening date!

Where In Disneyland Is This?

Hint: You'll find a favorite Disneyland treat at this location.

Answer to last week's “Where In Disneyland Is This?”: hidden Mickey in Avengers Campus across from PYM Tasting Lab. Click here to see that image.

Disneyland Crowd Calendar This Week

You expect higher crowd levels this week following Presidents' Day weekend due to “Ski Week.” As we discussed above, the parks will have longer hours of operation during this week. This week of “above normal” crowd levels is a contrast to the rest of this month, which is typically a mix of below normal and normal crowd levels.

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

New Disneyland Ride Closures This Week

During this slower time of year after the holiday celebration, we will often see more rides down for standard refurbishments or closures to remove holiday overlays.

Here are some of the other current closures that are continuing into this week:

• Sailing Ship Columbia is closed for refurbishment and reopening this week
• The Disney Gallery is closed for refurbishment
• The Disneyland Monorail is closed for refurbishment
• The Disneyland Railroad is closed for refurbishment
• “it's a small world” is closed for refurbishment.
• Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe is closed for refurbishment – see our closures guide below for the reopening date of this popular location!
• Grizzly River Run is closed for refurbishment

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, we have this helpful tip from Lindsay @chasingmagicdaily on Instagram showing a less crowded, family-friendly spot to watch the fireworks at Disneyland!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lindsay – Disney Creator & Disney Mom (@chasingmagicdaily)

I loved this video from Carly (@iamcarlyanderson on Instagram) showing off her top pick for getting from San Diego to Disneyland – a ride on the Pacific Surfliner train.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carly Anderson (@iamcarlyanderson)

Next this fun video from Jennifer Flake (@disneyhungry on Instagram) showing off a food that I would absolutely not have expected was worth trying.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jennifer Flake (@disneyhungry)

Finally, we have a video from Megan (@themagicmillenial_ on Instagram and @disneycontent) on Instagram highlighting an interesting “Crunchwrap” type offering at Red Rose Taverne. See her review…

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by DISNEY CONTENT (@disneycontent)

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 April 18, 2025.
• Today is the 180-day window for making Disneyland theme park reservations for August 16, 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 May 18, 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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