It isn’t often that you get to see Mickey Mouse in the Pacific Northwest. For the most part, the world’s most famous mouse spends his days in the California sunshine. But last week, Mickey and his friends were in town to share the details of the Disneyland Diamond Celebration. It is hard to believe that the Happiest Place on Earth has been around for six decades. For a place that is rooted in nostalgia, they seem to always have something new to try. For this milestone year, the Disneyland Resort has a new evening parade, fireworks show, and a new water show that all look pretty amazing. 
Paint the Night – All-New Electrical Parade I am the most excited about Paint the Night, which is a modern version of the classic electrical parade. Paint the Night uses more than 1.5 million LED lights that flash and glow. And just like the original electrical parade, Paint the Night has a unique soundtrack and you can find lights on nearly everything, including the costumes worn by the dancers. The parade has a mix of classic and modern Disney characters that range from Tinker Bell to Lightning McQueen to Anna and Elsa from Frozen. When I was a senior in high school, I got my first job working at Disneyland and spent many nights doing crowd control for the Main Street Electrical Parade. I lost count of the number of times that I watched that nighttime classic. I am glad that Disney has a new evening parade to delight the next generation of guests.
Disneyland Forever Fireworks A visit to Disneyland just isn’t complete until you see the fireworks. Years ago, I was dazzled when Disneyland synced the fireworks to music. Then they added projections to Sleeping Beauty Castle and “it’s a small world.” With the new Disneyland Forever fireworks, you are surrounded by scenes from Disney movies as they project images onto the buildings along Main Street USA. So when the Lion King part of the fireworks starts, you see a stampede running across Simba’s Pride Lands. The buildings turn into a dense jungle for the Jungle Book portion and it then looks like you went underwater for the Little Mermaid section of the fireworks. Main Street has always been my favorite place to watch the fireworks because of Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background. But with these special effects, you really want to grab a prime spot on Main Street so that you will be in the heart of the action. 
World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney Over at Disney California Adventure, the evening water show has been updated to a celebration of the story of Walt Disney and the creation of Disneyland. World of Color is fun to watch because of how they incorporate the various water effects, lasers, projections, fireballs, and music to create a wonderful evening show. Neil Patrick Harris is featured prominently in the show which is usually offered every night. I recommend getting a Fastpass to reserve a spot in the best place to watch World of Color. 
It was fun to learn about all of the new things at the Disneyland Resort and I left the presentation inspired to visit the Happiest Place on Earth during the Diamond Celebration. Thank you to Disney for including me in the #DisneySMMC roadshow and for the custom pair of “Disney Dad” mouse ears. I will wear them with pride during my next visit to the Disneyland Resort. Images via Disney
