Whether you’ve only visited Disneyland when on a big vacation, or you’re somebody who hits the park on a regular basis, the most popular stuff is always whatever is brand new. When a new attraction hits, that’s when people make plans to go, but even if you’re somebody who tries to do and see everything, there’s a decent chance you missed Disneyland’s newest parade, because it only ran for two weeks. But almost three years after its initial debut, Magic Happens will be back.
This morning Disneyland announced that the Magic Happens parade, which had been confirmed to be returning at some point at the D23 Expo earlier this year, will make its second debut on February 24, 2023, nearly three years to the day that it debuted in 2020.
The Magic Happens parade debuted at Disneyland at the end of February, 2020, just two weeks before the park would close due to the global pandemic. While other theme parks would reopen a few months later, Disneyland Resort remained closed for over a year, and when it did finally reopen, it did so without major crowd focused events like parades. For most of the last year and a half it was unclear if Magic Happens would ever actually return until the Expo confirmation.
Magic Happens boasted some really creative parade float design, some fun music, and even the debut of characters that had never before been seen at Disneyland. All this combined made the parade highly anticipated. Unfortunately, if you made plans to visit the park to see the parade from mid-March 2020 on, you missed your chance.
2023 marks the beginning of Disney’s company-wide 100 Years of Wonder, celebrating the centennial of the company, Disneyland Resort will be kicking off the event in pretty massive style, as Magic Happens is just one of the major new additions coming to the park.
On January 27 we’ll see Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway open at Disneyland. On the same day both resort parks will get new nighttime spectaculars, with Wondrous Journeys beginning at Disneyland and World of Color - One coming to Disney California Adventure. After Magic Happens begins again in February, the rest of the newly redesigned Mickey’s Toontown will open to guests on March 8.
Now, for Disneyland Resort fans, the question won’t be if they should hit the park in 2023, but when. There are three dates in the first three months when new attractions will be arriving for guests. It’s going to be an incredible kickoff to Disney’s 100th anniversary celebration. One has to wonder just what else will be coming the rest of the year.
