Getting Accessible Ready for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations

By alantvuong on August 11, 2025

Recently in late June of this year, a friend and I visited Disneyland Resort for a 4 day park visit for their year long 70th anniversary celebration. We had 2 days for Disneyland Park and 2 days for Disney California Adventure Park. We did not get the park hopper option as we planned to spend 2 full days at each park and don’t need to pay to park hop.

About the 70th Anniversary Celebrations

Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California and was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company on July 17 1955. It was the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney himself.

Celebrate Happy

I have been following social media and when it was announced that the 70th anniversary celebrations would take place from May 16, 2025 through summer 2026, I knew I had to visit at some point within those dates. The announcement said that there would be special shows, food, decorations and merchandise to help celebrate.

Disneyland Park

I saw online they had a special Canadian resident offer and chose the 4 day, 1 Park-Per-Day Ticket for $89 US Per Day. Total was $355 US per person, which was a savings of $119 US. The deal was too good to pass up so a friend and I decided to go late June.

DAS (Disability Access Services)

I also registered for DAS (Disability Access Services) online and did a video chat prior to visiting Disneyland as this saves us a lot of time instead of doing it in person at Guest Services at one of the theme parks. DAS allows myself and my companion to go on a virtual queue on the Disneyland app and not have to physically wait in line for a ride. This time we were not able to book 2 advance DAS selections.

DAS on the Disneyland app

Once we were at the theme parks, the DAS icon did appear on the Disneyland app. This really helps a lot as I can’t sit and wait in long lines. Once we return to the ride, we usually go to the Lightning Lane line and scan our tickets to redeem our DAS selection. After a 10 minute wait, we were able to make another DAS selection.

MagicBand+

MagicBand+ are plastic RFID wristbands that can be used at Disney theme parks and cruises. They can be used as theme park tickets, room keys, credit cards, PhotoPass cards, and various Disney experiences. They range from $34.99 to $64.99 each and come in a variety of different colors, designs and are waterproof.

the 70th anniversary MagicBand+ was sold out everywhere so I bought something similar

I wanted to get the special 70th anniversary MagicBand+ but the cast member told us it was sold out everywhere. I ended up getting another one that was similar to the 70th one that costs $44.99. Lines at the gift shop weren’t too bad when I bought mine. It was really easy to link the band to my phone and to my Disneyland app.

$44.99 and worth it

I really enjoyed the band and wore it for the rest of my 4 day park visit. I used it as my ticket to enter the parks, to scan my DAS selection at each ride, and load my PhotoPass pictures. I also saw that it lit up with certain colors for the parades and nighttime shows. I thought that was pretty cool. The battery lasts really long as I only needed to charge them every 2 days.

lighting up with different colors with the night time shows

Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney is a great way to get some of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebrations without having to pay admission entrance. It is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex and opened in January 2001 as part of the Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure Park expansion. Downtown Disney connects the 2 theme parks with its 3 hotels.

big World of Disney store in Downtown Disney

We did visit Downtown Disney 3 times this trip. The first time, my friend and I was in Tomorrowland and was planning to take the Monorail from Tomorrowland station to Downtown Disney station but with the hot weather, the Monorail had to be aired out because it was too hot inside with no air conditioner. We had to walk/roll there to meet some friends.

meeting up with friends

When we all met up at Downtown Disney, we went browsing some of the stores, checked out some of the 70th anniversary decorations and had some food at Black Tap. It was great to meet up with friends and have a Disney experience without everyone having to pay the expensive price of a theme park ticket.

at Black Tap

Our second visit to Downtown Disney was eating a quick lunch before heading to Disney California Adventure Park on our third day. Being a D23 member, I had a voucher for discounts at select restaurants and shops. We chose to get a couple small items at Wetzel’s Pretzels which was pretty good and filling.

the cheese dog was so amazing

Our last visit was on our last night after leaving Disney California Adventure Park. We did our last minute shopping at World of Disney to buy some gifts and souvenirs. We thought it was better this way since we had the entire trip to think about what we wanted to buy, and to buy it just before heading back to the hotel.

late night shopping before heading back to the hotel

Final Thoughts

Visiting Disneyland for their 70th anniversary celebrations was totally worth it. With proper planning and getting the DAS approved, it really made my trip memorable. The MagicBand+ was really cool and I am happy that I bought one. Downtown Disney was also fun. I will try my best to return in 5 years for their 75th anniversary.