As a Disneyland homer, it can get frustrating at times to watch the other theme parks around the world offer bigger and better things than my home Disney park. While no other Disney theme park will ever be able to say that Walt Disney himself used to live and walked in their park, they do have so much coolness that Disneyland doesn’t. To celebrate Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary, they have raised the bar with their night-time offerings. In my humble opinion, Disneyland has set the standard by which I expect the other theme parks to rise to in years to come. For now, I’m just excited to see that we outshine all the other parks.

At the Magic Kingdom, they have the classic Main Street Electrical Parade. I absolutely love this parade. My last summer working at Disneyland was the last year this parade went down Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland. It moved to Hong Kong and Disney’s California Adventure before finding a home at the Magic Kingdom. This parade belongs on Main Street U.S.A. and Disneyland has never been able to replace this parade. When I went back to the Magic Kingdom for the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon, I was so excited about taking in this parade again.

As much as I love the Main Street Electrical Parade, I’m obsessed with Paint the Night as part of Disneyland’s 60th. This parade is the next generation of the Main Street Electrical Parade. It has it all and more. Not only are the floats and performers adorned in lights, but they use parts of the floats for moving video. That just takes the concept of the Main Street Electrical Parade to the next level. I love, love, love the soundtrack for Paint the Night and want to find out where I can download the music. It’s a great track to run with. It has so much energy and fun. This is a parade that must be experienced in person. The video only gives you part of the experience of it. The floats and performers are so much more spectacular in person. As the song says in the parade…When can we do this again?

After the Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom, everyone moves up Main Street U.S.A.  towards Cinderella’s Castle to get a good spot to view the combo of Celebrate the Magic and Wishes (the fireworks show). It’s a brilliant way of programming for the night-time offerings at the Magic Kingdom. Both Celebrate the Magic and Wishes are so much fun. I love them! When Brooke and I went to the Magic Kingdom for the Walt Disney World Marathon, we had no idea what Celebrate the Magic was. We’re so glad we checked it out!

The combination of parade and fireworks works well. So, Disneyland has decided to use the same formula with their night offerings to celebrate 60 years of magic. Disneyland Forever is a GAME CHANGER fireworks show! Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this show.

This is a fireworks show that must be experienced from multiple locations to take everything in. My first video was from on Main Street U.S.A. (where I saw the show). This video gives you an excellent view of what is going on at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. It’s so cool for me to see this video because on Main Street, I couldn’t see what was going on with the castle.

Another popular spot to catch fireworks at Disneyland has been from near It’s A Small World. Here’s a video of Disneyland Forever from that point of view.

The projections don’t stop with the usual spots. Here is the view from the Matterhorn!

Want to make sure you get to see Fantasmic and Disneyland Forever? No problem. This is what the show looks like from the Rivers of America. Seriously. Disneyland has raised the bar for your fireworks experience. This show is the most immersive fireworks show ever! As great as the fireworks shows are at other parks, the immersiveness and scope of this show far and away outshines all other shows. I totally expect Walt Disney World to up their game in the near future. For now, I’m pretty stoked on how Disneyland has the best fireworks show!

Lastly, Disney California Adventure hasn’t been left out of the fun. World of Color: Celebrate is the absolutely best version of this show yet! If you’re a fan of Walt Disney, this show might make you shed a tear or two. What makes this show superior to its predecessors is the presence of an MC. This is what I loved about World of Color: Winter Dreams. That show had Olaf as the MC. World of Color: Celebrate has Neil Patrick Harris and Mickey Mouse as co-MC’s. This show has a whole lot of Walt and does a wonderful job of representing Disney animation, both old and new. I have heard people criticize Neil Patrick Harris’s singing in the show. I don’t have that problem. I have heard another complaint that “Let it Go” is the only song that is done close to its entirety. I understand that Disney is milking Frozen for all its worth. I’m not going to say that this show is better than Iluminations yet. However, I do love the upgrade from previous versions of World of Color.

Enjoy all the videos. It was so much fun finding them to share. Disney does night-time better than anyone. Have you been out to see the shows yet? If so, what did you think? I realize some may be coming out for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. I hope these videos help build the excitement for you. Have a magical weekend y’all!