Disneyland’s First Ever Pride Nite Was A Success

With Pride Month in full swing, Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California hosted its first-ever Pride Nite after-hours event. In addition to a great deal of love and joy, this special ticketed event was filled with multiple character encounters, photo opportunities,  entertainment, food, and more.

In addition to the event’s first night on June 13th, there is another one taking place on June 15th.

Here’s a look at what the event had to offer:

Character Encounters

Throughout the seven lands of Disneyland, there were many character encounter opportunities available:

• Main Street, U.S.A,
  • Cruella De Vil
• Adventureland
  • Jane Porter and Terk
• New Orleans Square
  • Goofy
  • Princess Tiana and Louis
• Frontierland
  • Donald Duck and Daisy Duck
    • Clarabelle Cow
• Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
  • The Mandalorian with Grogu
  • Rey
  • C-3PO
• Fantasyland
  • Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse
  • Mulan and Mushu
  • Ariel (from the live-action story)
  • Anna, Elsa, and Oaken
  • Tinker Bell & friends
  • The Muses from Hercules
  • Maleficent
  • Evil Queen
• Tomorrowland
  • Phastos from Eternals
  • America Chavez from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

We even saw a couple of unannounced characters including Angel on stage at the ‘Ohana Dance Party With Stitch in Tomorrowland as well as the Queen of Hearts roaming about Fantasyland.

Not all of the characters participated in standard meet & greets throughout the night. Some were more formal interactions with Photopass photographers, while others were selfie lines and others simply roaming while asking kindly for photos.

Entertainment

Welcome Pride Cavalcade

This cavalcade entertained guests at 9:55 pm and 11:30 pm and featured Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and Pluto in addition to Clarabelle Cow leading the way.

The cavalcade was set to Disneyland Paris’ “Around the World” song which all of the performers danced to while entertaining guests.

Fond Farewell With Mickey Mouse & Friends

Right before the event ended at 12:45 am, the characters from the cavalcade, stood on the train station and danced to several pop anthems.

Dancing

Throughout the park, there were several locations where people could dance together including:

• Rivers of America
• Golden Horseshoe
• Tomorrowland Terrace

Welcome Fireworks

At 9:30 pm, Disneyland kicked off the event with its welcome fireworks show which started with a quote from Walt Disney: “To all who come to this happy place welcome.”

The show also included music from films including The Greatest Showman.

Photo Opportunities

Since photos from Photopass photographers throughout the park were free for guests, there were several special photo spots placed throughout the park including rainbow steps and Sleeping Beauty Castle to name a few.

Special Food Offerings

There were several special foods that could be purchased throughout the park, including:

• Rainbow Grey Stuff (Red Rose Taverne)
• Chicken Gravy Fries (Stage Door Cafe)
• Tinga Chicken Quesadillas (Glactic Grill)

And many more that can be found on the park map that was handed to guests as they entered the park.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I thought this event was thoroughly planned out and a fun event for guests in attendance. The fireworks show was short, but sweet and made me cry happy tears (I was overswept with emotion). As a Disney World local, I liked that some of the characters like Tinker Bell & Friends interacted with guests as opposed to simply just snapping a photo. However, I did feel that some of the other character experiences were rushed which shouldn’t have been the case as this was an event guests were paying extra for and the lines were not super long.

The special Rainbow Grey Stuff I tried from Red Rose Taverne was delicious and the line was not long.

It was nice to be able to enter Disneyland and celebrate love and inclusion without feeling unsafe. The atmosphere was a very positive one and I felt welcomed by both the other guests and cast.

I hope to see a Pride Nite happen at other Disney parks, specifically Walt Disney World soon!

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