70 years of magic, more goodbyes, and all the Disney Parks news to care about this week (7/18)
Are you celebrating happy?
It’s a time of reminiscing at Disney parks — Disneyland’s celebrating 70 years, Rivers of America is history, and more.
🎉 Disneyland turns 70: Celebrate Happy!
Yesterday, July 17, marked seven decades of magic. Sheeesh! And kids are still running into the park just like they did on day one.
The party theme — “Celebrate Happy!” — includes the Paint the Night parade revival, the Celebrate Happy Cavalcade, a “Tapestry of Happiness” projection on It’s a Small World, new food, merch, and even a $70 resident ticket deal. If you can’t make it in person, this is the kind of lineup that makes you wish teleportation was a real park perk.
You can read more about the festivities here (and below).
It’s a Small World gets new lyrics to celebrate Disneyland’s 70th
Another first-time ever tweak: the all-time classic attraction now includes a brand-new third verse — lyrics by Richard Sherman, who wrote the original alongside his brother but penned the new verse before his death in 2024 — to reinforce world unity.
If you don’t want spoilers, close your eyes:
Mother earth unites us in heart and mind
And the love we give makes us humankind
Through our vast wondrous land
When we stand hand in hand
It’s a small world after all.
Meet the new Walt Disney animatronic at Disneyland
As part of the 70th Anniversary “Celebrate Happy!” festivities, Disneyland unveiled its first fully standing Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney on July 17 at the Main Street Opera House. The lifelike figure tells his own story using archival recordings and moving from a seated to standing position — real tear-jerker potential.
Sad face accuracy concerns? Maybe. But tech marvel? Absolutely.
Rivers of America permanently closes at Magic Kingdom
Meanwhile, at Walt Disney World, the past is being anything but celebrated.
The frontier flows have dried up: the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Liberty Square Riverboat officially closed on July 6. Magic Kingdom maps and signage have already been updated. This epic closure clears the stage for the upcoming Piston Peak National Park (Cars Land) and a new Villains land. Frontierland fans, brace yourselves — this is Disney’s boldest land overhaul yet.
Quick Hits
There will surely be plenty of 70th anniversary merch to sort through, but if you specifically want a statue of Walt sitting on his desk, well they’ve got you covered.
The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland will be closed from August 9 to August 21 to receive it’s annual and ever-longer-lasting Nightmare Before Christmas holiday theming.
If you’re at Disneyland in the next couple of days, you can grab a couple of limited-time menu items at Oga’s Cantina in celebration of the cantina’s less-old-than-the-park’s birthday.
You can now get a peach-flavored Dole Whip at DLR. Yum.
Roundtable Topics
Does animatronic Walt cross into uncanny doom, or is it heartwarming Imagineering wizardry?
Are we ready to witness the complete tear-down of frontier nostalgia for Cars & Villains?
How do you feel about Small World’s new verse?
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What’d we miss? Let us know!