Many fondly remember Mickey's 50th birthday in 1978. In addition to a primetime TV special, a nationwide tour, extensive news coverage and a major merchandising campaign, Disneyland played a major role in the year-long celebration. A daily birthday parade debuted in early 1978, and the walk-around version of Mickey received a whole new curvilinear look. When the big day finally arrived on November 18th, anyone also celebrating their 50th year was admitted into the park for free. Following a celebration in Town Square, Mickey and his pals arrived in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle to cut an enormous birthday cake, serving a free slice to all in attendance. Several original songs were also composed and recorded that year to commemorate Mickey's golden anniversary, including a special birthday tribute by musical artist Davy Jones which became a huge novelty hit. The enormous success of this park wide event set a precedent for many anniversary celebrations to follow, remaining a tradition to this day.

Disneyland's 25th Anniversary was one of the biggest commemorative events in park history. A special theme song was written just for this occasion, "Disneyland is Your Land," which was featured in both the anniversary parade and in an all-new live stage show performed at the new Space Stage in Tomorrowland. The live show also featured several other original songs, and familiar park favorites, highlighting all of Disneyland's themed areas and attractions with an all-singing, all dancing, musical revue. The year kicked off with a prime time television special featuring Hollywood legend Danny Kaye as the master of ceremonies. For the program, Kaye both wrote and performed a musical tribute to Disneyland entitled, "Once Upon a Time in Anaheim." The events of 1980 were promoted as a Family Reunion, welcoming all past generations of Disneyland guests to return to the Happiest Place on Earth and be a part of its year-long homecoming celebration. Throughout the year, the park was decked out in blue and silver banners and bunting and a lavish 25th Anniversary Family Reunion Parade was presented twice daily. The procession was divided into seven segments, each honoring one of the park's seven themed lands. The Main Street Electrical Parade also featured a special "Fanfare of Lights" anniversary float. When the milestone anniversary date arrived on July 17th, the park remained open a full 25 hours for a gala birthday bash. After the ceremonial cutting of an enormous layer cake, the festivities came to a culmination with a spectacular 25th birthday version of the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks, with a musical retrospective of the past quarter century.

1984 was a huge year for Disneyland. The summer Olympics were in Los Angeles, a brand new Fantasyland had just opened, and of course, Donald Duck celebrated his 50th Birthday with a year long event and daily parade. The catchy parade theme song, "Happy Happy Birthday to You," had first been featured in a 1983 Disneyland Record called, "Splashdance." New lyrics were incorporated into the parade version, becoming a special anthem devoted to everyone's favorite fine-feathered friend. The parade also featured many members of Donald's extended family, from Grandma Duck, to Uncle Scrooge and Huey, Dewey and Louie. Even a gaggle of real live ducks waddled their way down the parade route. Throughout the year, Donald traveled the United States on a Disneyland ambassador tour, receiving many citations, awards and accolades along the way, including the keys to many major cities, an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, (of which he had been a serving officer since World War II) his footprints added to the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1985 marked Disneyland's 30th anniversary, and a year long park-wide celebration commemorated the three decade milestone. At the Disneyland main gate, the all-new Gift-Giver Extraordinaire counted each click of the turnstiles, awarding every 30th guest a special prize, from souvenir pins, complementary Disneyland admission, airline tickets to any continental U.S. destination, and new 1985 General Motors cars to every 30,000th guest. A star-studded, two hour, primetime television special aired on NBC in mid February of that year, hosted by John Forsythe and a young Drew Barrymore. The grand finale featured a lavish musical production number with the USC Trojan Marching Band and the versatile entertainer Peter Allen, culminating in the roll out of a giant birthday cake and a fireworks spectacular. A new anniversary parade complete with an original song was presented daily, featuring Mickey and all the gang. Later that year the "Family Cavalcade" event paid tribute to Disneyland's many dedicated cast members and their families with a special procession down Main Street. Topping off the many festivities held throughout the year was an event called "Skyfest," sponsored by the city of Anaheim. One million multi-colored balloons were released into the skies above Disneyland amidst much fanfare and wall-to-wall media coverage.

To honor the 50th anniversary of the "Fairest in All the Land" many special events took place at the "Happiest Place on Earth" throughout 1987. This most magical of milestones was kicked off by a global theatrical re-release of Walt Disney's 1937 animated masterpiece. A special episode of The Disney Sunday Movie premiered on prime-time television in tribute to Snow White's Golden Anniversary, with Dick Van Dyke as master of ceremonies and featuring musical guest star Linda Ronstadt. Snow White would also become only the third Disney animated character to receive a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In Disneyland, a reunion celebration event was held, inviting back every former cast member who had ever portrayed Snow White from 1955 to the present day. There was also a daily procession down Main Street honoring Snow White, called the Golden Anniversary Celebration Parade, which featured all the characters from the film, and other popular Disney friends in medieval garb. Over at the Videopolis stage in Fantasyland, a live musical stage show reinterpreted all the memorable songs from the Disney classic with toe-tapping dance routines, delightfully wicked moments, and charming performances.

After the phenomenal success of the Mickey Mouse 50th birthday promotion of 1978, one decade later Mickey's 60th was recognized in a similar fashion. In Disneyland there were several events dedicated to the main mouse all year long. The Gift-Giver Extraordinaire, which was originally installed for the 30th Anniversary celebration three years prior, was put back into operation. Now, instead of every thirtieth guest, every sixtieth guest to enter the park would win a prize, Mickey's 60th also continued a trend that started with the "Blast to the Past" promotional event from earlier that same year. In addition to a traditional parade, a secondary street party would be presented at alternating times throughout the day. At several prime locations, a block long collection of floats would stop, and a live show would commence in front of spectators lined up along the parade route. Of course there was also a more traditional Disneyland parade as well. It was presented with a underlying tone of humor, as dancers dressed in outfits resembling Swiss cheese, and anthropomorphic mice dressed in international costumes rode atop trains planes and automobiles as if they were traveling from the far points of the globe to congregate for Mickey's special 60th celebration.

The 35th anniversary of Disneyland began at the very start of a new decade, kicking off the New Year at the 1990 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. A musical tribute to Disneyland was performed live on Colorado Boulevard at the opening to the coast to coast parade telecast, promoting the park's upcoming year long Mardi Gras and South American inspired carnival celebration. Following the success of the park's 30th anniversary prize giveaway promotion, the Gift-Giver Extraordinaire begat the all-new Dream Machine, which was erected in Central Plaza. Here guests would present that day's admission ticket to see if they were a lucky winner of a fantastic prize, including one new car every day. Further promoting the event, one of Disneyland's recently retired Mark III Monorails was specially outfitted as the Mouse-O-Rail, bringing Mickey and his pals across the United States on a goodwill ambassador tour. The participants in the 35th anniversary parade, better known as Mickey's Party Gras, danced to a Latin American beat while dressed in Carmen Miranda inspired costumes. They performed beneath colorful inflatable floats towering several stories high, pausing along the parade route at several key positions to invite audiences out into the streets to participate in an impromptu Conga line. Disneyland was also officially rededicated that year, with President Ronald Reagan invited as the honored guest speaker. Reagan had in fact been one of the original hosts of the 1955 Disneyland opening day TV broadcast, so he appropriately returned to deliver a special address for the 35th Anniversary in what would be one of his last public appearances.

After the extravagant promotional events which marked Disneyland's 25th, 30th and 35th anniversaries, recognition of the 40th anniversary was much more modest by comparison. However, the milestone did not come and go without a whimper, far from it. The big news of 1995 was the grand opening of the new Indiana Jones Adventure, an 'E' Ticket attraction located in the jungles of Adventureland. So to tie into the park's latest offering, the promotional slogan for that year became "40 Years of Adventures." After a gala press event and grand opening ceremony were held for the debut of the new Indiana Jones attraction in early spring, by the time the park's anniversary rolled around, the entertainment division had to scramble to somehow top themselves. Yet another gala press event was announced for the big day. Giant inflatable Disney characters were placed above the buildings along Main Street, arching over the thoroughfare were rows of rainbow colored balloons, and an enormous banner was placed on the southern face of the Matterhorn reading "Happy 40th Birthday." A special ceremony held in front of castle involved the unveiling of a unique time capsule shaped like Sleeping Beauty Castle, and appropriately dubbed the "Time Castle." After it was filled with all manner of Disneyland memorabilia from the year 1995, it was buried in the castle forecourt with a bronze plaque placed atop its location to act as a marker. There it shall remain until July 17th 2035, and reopened on Disneyland's 80th anniversary. Following the lowering of the "Time Castle," the activities moved to the Matterhorn where Mickey announced two surprise guests. First country singer Randy Travis appeared atop the highest peak of the mountain to perform Happy Birthday to Disneyland, followed by the climactic arrival of Indiana Jones, who bravely glided over the park, on a tight wire suspended from the top of the Matterhorn, as an adventuresome tone was set by the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme music.

In anticipation of the big plans already under development for the 50th anniversary only five years away, the comparatively modest events centered around Disneyland's 45th anniversary were not as heavily promoted as in years past. However, two major shows did premiere that year. The floats created for the new 45th anniversary parade were highly influenced by the design aesthetic of Disney's latest animated feature, "Fantasia 2000." The parade made no reference to its anniversary tie-in, including in its soundtrack. The original musical score was adapted from the graduation march, also known as "Pomp and Circumstance," which was also featured in one of the animated segments from "Fantasia 2000," but after only a few weeks the music was changed. Noting the audience's lukewarm reaction, it was deemed far too slow in its pacing and much too somber in mood. Quickly a medley of classic Disney themes replaced the low-key march, livening up the mood immeasurably. The parade far outlived the 45th anniversary, running until 2004 under the name, "Parade of the Stars." Also premiering for the 45th was the first completely new fireworks show presented in Disneyland since the Fantasy in the Sky had debuted in 1958. "Believe, There's Magic in the Stars" utilized the latest in computer technology to sync the show's musical score to the precise timing of each firework explosion, adding an amazing new dramatic element. Upon the success of this production, Disney would produce many other similarly programmed pyrotechnical shows in the years to follow.

Disneyland's 50th anniversary was one of the largest promotional events in the park's long history. The celebration all began on January 1st when a special anniversary float was featured in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade, as well as a parade kick-off show staged by the Disneyland entertainment division for the live coast-to- coast telecast. The year long event was publicized as "The Happiest Homecoming on Earth" inviting the many generations who had grown up with Disneyland to return once again and remember the magic. The original theme song written for the 50th anniversary was in fact titled "Remember the Magic." However, it would never be used. As plans further developed, an adapted version of the song "Welcome to Our Family," from the recent Disney animated feature "Brother Bear," was chosen instead. Musically, it perfectly captured the spirit of the opening remarks to Walt Disney's famous July 1955 Disneyland dedication, "To all who come to this happy place... welcome." The in-park festivities began when a newly refurbished Sleeping Beauty Castle, decked out in 24 karat gold embellishments and colorful 50th anniversary banners and bunting, was unveiled during a special star-studded ceremony hosted by Julie Andrews, who had been chosen as the official 50th anniversary ambassador, and Art Linkletter, one of the hosts of Disneyland's original opening day ceremonies five decades earlier. The main theater of the Disneyland Opera House became the showcase for a special new film presentation documenting the 50 year history of the park, through rare footage and clever dialogue, as provided by none other than Steve Martin and his sidekick Donald Duck. The lobby outside the theater showcased original blueprints, concept art, rare memorabilia, archival photographs and detailed models including an intricate scale model of how Disneyland appeared on opening day. The 50th anniversary parade was known as the "Parade of Dreams." It featured an opening float in the shape of the Main Street train depot layered in gold leaf, followed by a procession of scenes from classic Disney films and a grand finale with Mickey and Minnie positioned atop a golden representation of Sleeping Beauty Castle and dressed in royal attire. Each evening was topped off with an amazing fireworks spectacular called "Remember Dreams Come True." The narration was provided by Julie Andrews and featured an opening segment borrowed from Disney World's fireworks show, "Wishes," followed by a musical tour of Disneyland played in synchronization to the pyrotechnical display and colorful imagery projected onto the walls of the castle. Another special theme song written for the 50th celebration was, "Remember When" performed by Leann Rimes. It became the exit music to each performance of "Remember Dreams Come True" and was also used as part of a special Disneyland rededication ceremony held on July 17th, where giant monitors were positioned throughout the park showing nostalgic footage of the Happiest Place on Earth and the man behind the magic, Walt Disney.

In January of 2015, Disney executives held a special after-hours press conference at Disneyland to announce all of the future planned festivities for the park's upcoming 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration. The year ahead promised to be an exciting one. The celebration officially kicked-off on Memorial Day weekend with a special 24-hour party. The event included the official unveiling of a diamond studded Sleeping Beauty Castle, the world premiere of two all-new pyrotechnical shows and a new nighttime light parade imported from Hong Kong Disneyland. With over 1.5 million sparkling lights, the "Paint the Night" parade brought the traditional Main Street Electrical Parade to a whole new generation, with the majority of floats and characters based on the hit animated films from the Disney/Pixar era. Appealing to all generations, the new "Disneyland Forever" fireworks spectacular featured a blending of Disney standards from past to present, as well as a special new song written by Disney legend Robert Sherman called "A Kiss Goodnight," sure to rank among Disney's most tuneful classics in years to come. As the fireworks were set off behind Sleeping Beauty Castle, the buildings along Main Street were illuminated with the latest advancements in light projection mapping, synced perfectly with the corresponding soundtrack. Many other special live entertainment offerings were found throughout the park during the 18 month long celebration, including a brand new incarnation of the classic Disneyland Band and a special birthday tribute presented daily by the Main Street Dapper Dans, including the classic Sherman Brothers, "Anniversary Song" originally written in 1965 for Disneyland's 10th anniversary, but now performed with new 60th Anniversary lyrics. Across from the Disneyland main entrance, Disney California Adventure Park had been delighting audiences since 2012 with its breathtaking nighttime water show, "The World of Color." For the Diamond Anniversary, an all-new version of this favorite after hours event was presented nightly, hosted by one of Disney's greatest celebrity fans, Neil Patrick Harris. The new show paid tribute to Walt Disney highlighting his belief that dreams can come true, which made possible the creation of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Mickey Mouse celebrated yet another milestone in 2018 when he reached his 90th year. Of course, Minnie was also turning 90, but a lady never likes to disclose her age. The festivities kicked off on November 4th when ABC broadcast a prime time concert special called "Mickey's 90th Spectacular, featuring loads of A-List celebrities paying heartfelt tributes to the big cheese. November 18th would mark the official birthday, and Disneyland held a special ceremony in Town Square featuring Mickey, Minnie, and a cavalcade of 90 Disney characters. This was the beginning of a year long park wide celebration "Get Your Ears On: A Mickey and Minnie Celebration." The Esplanade and Main Street were decorated with special buntings and banners and the monorails each received special "skins" with a Mickey Mouse motif. The popular daytime parade "Mickey's Soundsational" had a return engagement with two brand new anniversary floats at the head of the procession marking the Mickey milestone. At the Tomorrowland Terrace bandstand, nighttime dance parties with a live DJ allowed Mickey fans to "bust a move" with their favorite characters. A brand new night time projection show called "Mickey's Mix Magic" combined classic and new animation with favorite Disney tunes reinterpreted in a contemporary pop style. These projections could be seen all along Main Street, on Sleeping Beauty Castle, It's a Small World and a water curtain along the Rivers of America. On weekends the projections were complemented by a fireworks display. Over at Downtown Disney, a new Mickey and Minnie "Pop Up" gave Instagramers the opportunity to pose for selfies in a series of colorfully themed rooms. To provide the proper musical atmosphere, visitors could download a playlist from Walt Disney Records onto their mobile devices featuring favorite Mickey Mouse songs spanning his entire career.

The original Disney Brothers Studio was founded in October of 1923, marking 2023 as the 100th anniversary year of the Walt Disney Company. The centennial celebration began in late 2022 and will continue through July of 2024. All divisions of the Walt Disney organization will be celebrating this magical milestone in its own special way, and this naturally includes the Happiest Place on Earth. The Disneyland celebration kicked off on January 27th 2023. Both Disneyland and California Adventure have been decked to the nines in colorful blue and platinum banners, flags and bunting. Sleeping Beauty Castle received a magical makeover. The Opera House is showcasing a special Disney 100 exhibit. A special new Disney100 guided tour features fascinating stories from the Walt Disney Company from past to present. The Magic Happens Parade has returned, as well as a special Disney100 Cavalcade. And in Disneyland after dark, two nighttime spectaculars, Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland and World of Color One at California Adventure, thrill and amaze park guests every evening.