Last week my Twitter and Facebook feed exploded in a riot of Disneyland 60th celebration news.

I personally can’t wait, and while may of the festivities start in May, the actual 60th birthday is July 17th.    I will be there on the 17th to celebrate this along with Disneyland, one of my favourite places in the world.  I’m not sure if I’m starting a tradition here but I was also there for the 50th 😉

To summarise, the main changes coming to Disneyland in honour of the 60th are as follows –

A new night time parade inspired by the Mainstreet Electrical Parade, called “Paint the Night”.  The Mainstreet Electrical parade hasn’t run at Disneyland since 1996!  Fans have long been calling for this parade to return and after seeing SpectroMagic at Walt Disney World and comparing it to the Mainstreet Electrical parade at Tokyo Disneyland, I saw a couple of years ago, the technology has come a very long way!  I have no doubt this will be outstanding!

The nightly fireworks show, will be updated to include light projections on the castle, the Matterhorn, It’s a Small World and the Rivers of America.  This too is a technology that is pretty amazing.  I’ve seen it used in Sydney at their Vivid Sydney Festival and I can only imagine how Disneyland will utilise this technology.  It will be beautiful!

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Disneyland and the Carthay Circle Theatre at Disney’s California Adventure will both have temporary bling installed to represent the Diamond Anniversary.

Also at Disney’s California Adventure, the nighttime water show World of Color will have a change to tell the story of Walt Disney and Disneyland.  I’m really looking forward to seeing that too.

There will also be 60th merchandise.  I know this because I tweeted @DisneylandToday saying I hoped there would be and got a response straight back saying there would – better save my money for that…

Also while not officially announced, there are several other attractions going through refurbishment currently, which may also be in preparation for the 60th.  Much of this is rumoured to be around enhancements to the Fantasyland dark rides having some upgrades.  While this at the moment is purely rumoured, I really hope its true.

So be sure to watch this space around July for lots of Disneyland updates about the celebration.  Be sure to follow my blog.