Fans of Disneyland live entertainment have been eating well over the last few years. The Magic Happens daytime parade, the Wonderous Journeys fireworks show, and the beautiful World of Color - One have all debuted in recent years, and each has been something special. However, Disneyland has been missing one of its best parades for several years. But that may be changing very soon as it looks like Paint the Night is coming back.
The Disneyland Instagram account just dropped a brief tease that, while it is short on details, all but confirms the return of the popular nighttime light parade. It gives us a look at Mack, the big rig from Cars that's one of the original parade floats, and also includes a bit of Owl City's song "When Can We Do This Again?" the song from Wreck-It Ralph which was the parade's main theme. Check it out
It's difficult to describe just how happy I am right now. Paint the Night is an absolutely beautiful parade. It's a spiritual successor to the classic Main Street Electrical Parade, but one that has been modernized in every possible way.
The parade lights up Disneyland at night in a way that few other things can. The music is wonderful. Some of my happiest recent memories at Disneyland involve this parade. I am getting ready to make some new ones soon.
A follow-up comment on the post from the account simply says 'Stay tuned for more" so there's no information regarding just when Paint the Night will return. It certainly won't happen before the Christmas season ends so we're likely looking at a late January 2025 parade start at the earliest.
2025 marks the 70th anniversary of Disneyland. The Paint the Night return will likely be considered part of that event. We don't know whether the official start of that celebration will come in January, as the birthday year begins, or start in mid-July, closer to when Disneyland officially opened. All we can hope is that the celebration will last at least a full year and that things, like Paint the Night, will last the duration of the celebration.
The return of Paint the Night comes alongside a special appearance by another of my favorites, The Mad T Party band, at D23 in August, While it wasn't confirmed the band was set to return, I've suspected that they could also be part of the 70th anniversary. The last time the band played at Disney California Adventure was part of the park's 60th anniversary.
It's beginning to look like next year is planning to be a sort of "Greatest Hits of Disneyland" anniversary party, which honestly sounds amazing. Considering that Walt Disney himself will be on hand next year, 2025 at Disneyland is only looking better every day.
