For a few years between 2012 and 2015 Disney would hold annual 24-hour-long events at both
Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
They were a fun way for hardcore fans to spend an entire full day at the parks.
But did you know there was time Disneyland was open for twenty-five hours?
1980 was a special year for Disneyland as that July would mark the 25th anniversary
of the iconic park.
Now this was before the Eisner era, so Disney wasn’t yet in the habit of making big celebrations
out of every little anniversary.
However Disneyland’s silver anniversary was anything but little.
Disneyland 25 was a year long celebration of the park’s birthday, and while it wasn’t
as prize-heavy as later anniversaries would be, it certainly was packed with events.
Singer: It's a land of happy memories, that's 25 years new.
So come on and bring your family cause you're our family too!
Announcer: Everyone's joining the 25th birthday family reunion at Disneyland this holiday including
Papa Doo Run Run, Buddy Rich and the Buddy Rich Band, March 29th through April 5th, 9am till midnight.
Song: Join hands in Disneyland and join the jubilee and we'll be one big happy family!
Kicked off in January, Disney began by dedicating 7 full weekends to celebrating each of the
seven different lands of the park, which included Main Street USA and at the time Bear Country.
The main draw of these celebrations was that all of the attractions in that weekend’s
specific land were free for all guests.
Today it might seem odd to make specific rides free, but this was 1980.
Disneyland was still two years away from phasing out the famous ticket book system that was
in place since the park opened.
Disney featured a special 25th anniversary parade that had tributes to some of the park’s
lands, including a streetcar for Main Street, a stagecoach for Frontierland,
and a surrey for New Orleans Square.
It was all capped off with an authentic 1907 calliope.
In March the park offered weekend festivals that honored different nations, with special
performances and shows during “Festival Canada” and “Festival Japan”.
There was also a “Festival Mexico” planned for later in the year.
Canada and Mexico were obviously the US’s neighboring nations, and Japan was about to
become the home of Disney’s first international theme park just a few years later.
Festival Canada proved to be especially appreciative that year.
You see, just a little over a month before the festival, a team of Canadians, who we
would later learn were working with the CIA, were successful in rescuing six Americans
from Iran during the Iranian Revolution.
It was the basis for the film Argo and that year America was particularly fond of its
northern neighbor.
In May Disney introduced Encore Nights, wherein musical acts who had performed at one time
or another at Disneyland over those previous 25 years were invited to return and perform once more.
But the real show stealer would be July, the month in which Disneyland opened.
A one hour television special was recorded and aired on CBS that month, featuring Danny
Kaye as host as well as musical performances from the Osmonds and Michael Jackson.
For the big day itself, Disney decided to hold a 25 hour long birthday party.
Starting at midnight on July 16 and running until 1am on the 18th, Disneyland would remain
open to guests.
Tickets were $12.50 per person and in addition to admission, guests also received free birthday
cake and free family photos.
Disney also offered hats and noisemakers for the birthday countdown.
It was reported that between midnight and 6am over 17,000 guests showed up for the party,
and while many were tired the next day, there was a special celebration at the castle to
honor the opening of Disneyland back in 1955.
Later that evening a special show was performed to highlight various different dance styles
from the previous 25 years.
Now while a 25 hour event does top the annual 24 hour “One More Disney Day” events that
Disney held just a few years ago, it wouldn’t be the longest event at Disneyland.
Just seven years after the silver anniversary, in 1987, Disney would promote the opening
of Star Tours by keeping the park open for a consecutive SIXTY hours long.
Guests attending received a free watch and were able to come and go from the park as they pleased.
Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary celebration was a successful and wholesome honoring of
a historic and beloved theme park.
It wasn’t as flashy as giving away hundreds of cars, but it did pay tribute to the crucial
elements of what made Disneyland such a treasure: the people, the lands themselves, and that
all-to-familiar feeling of never wanting to go home.