What to Know
- Disney 100 Years of Wonder — Disney100, if you please —begins in late January 2023, all to honor the Walt Disney Company's centennial
- "Wonderous Journeys," a new nighttime spectacular, will debut at Disneyland park on Jan. 27, 2023; "World of Color — One" opens at Disney California Adventure
- Special merchandise, platinum-hued decorations, and other celebratory details will debut near the end of January
The Walt Disney Company has become festively famous for celebrating milestones in a major, Mickey-tastic, ultra-mondo way.
So the question has been, in the years leading up to 2023, exactly this: How will the entertainment icon honor what might be the milestone-iest of all milestones, the company's 100th anniversary?
If you know the company's history, then you know that Walt Disney arrived in Southern California in 1923, bringing his big dreams to Hollywoodland, his creative talent, and a cadre of characters that would soon come to memorable life (including, just a few years after his Los Angeles arrival, a particular, and particularly plucky, mouse).
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Not long after he stepped off the train in Los Angeles, the visionary launched his company, and animation, and the art of dream-making, would be changed forever.
The company weaves the number "23" into several different properties — D23 is the name of the Official Disney Fan Club — so you can bet that 2023 will be an especially ebullient year and especially so at The Happiest Place on Earth.
That ebullience was happily heralded, in part, at the recent D23 Expo, the mega fan convention that takes place in Anaheim every few years.
Some of the splashy centennial spectaculars, like the debuting "World of Color — One" at Disney California Adventure, were discussed during the September 2022 event, but there were some remaining details to be revealed, the magical must-knows about the multi-month Disney100 celebration.
Those magical must-knows were trumpeted, with platinum panache, on Oct. 6 as Disneyland Resort unveiled what fans can expect.
First and foremost, Jan. 27 is the day to keep in merry mind, for that's when the festivities official launch.
Look for both the new nighttime spectaculars, including "Wondrous Journeys" at Disneyland park and Disney California Adventure's new "World of Color," to bring the excitement, as well as a host of "special entertainment moments" festooning both Anaheim theme parks.
Platinum-hued decorations will pop up around the Disneyland Resort, too, with "banners and bunting" upping the convivial air of the ongoing event. (Truly, though: Does any other place on the planet excel at both banners and bunting quite like Disneyland, The Buntingest Place on Earth, so effortlessly does?)
And merchandise honoring Disney's 100th anniversary? Look for all sorts of shimmery items to fill the shelves of the destination's stores.
"Magic Happens," which first rolled in early 2020, will also make its return. Indeed, this is the playful procession that finds Mickey Mouse rocking his stylish Sorceror's Apprentice-inspired apparel, one of the parade's many enchanting details.
And speaking of Mickey? The brand-new Mickey & Minney's Runaway Railway attraction will enjoy an early opening on Jan. 27, too, ahead of Toontown's spring 2023 return.
Something especially sweet? "Disneyland Resort cast members will be among the first to experience the new offerings with special #DisneyCastLife opportunities at the start of the celebration."
For everything that's ahead for Disney's extravaganza-tastic 100th year, and how Disneyland Resort will rise to the momentous occasion, visit the official Disney Parks Blog now.
