February 12, 2025, 2:00 PM ·
Disneyland is pushing back the debut of its new Walt Disney Audio Animatronic figure as it prepares new exhibits honoring the company’s founder and the park’s history.Walt Disney – A Magical Life had been set to open with the start of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration on May 16. Now, the show will open in the Main Street Opera House on Disneyland’s actual 70th birthday, July 17, 2025. The new show will not be the only change in the building to debut that day.Disneyland is collaborating with The Walt Disney Family Museum, which is lending more than 30 items for display in new exhibits in the lobby of the Opera House. Items include an original rocking chair, lamp, and table from Walt’s Main Street apartment, as well as Walt’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Starting July 17, the outer lobby will feature a new gallery depicting Walt Disney’s development of Disneyland. This gallery will include artwork and memorabilia from Walt Disney Imagineering and the Walt Disney Archives, as well. In the inner lobby, where the U.S. Capitol model has stood, a new exhibit will detail the story and history of Walt Disney’s Audio-Animatronics technology. From there, guests will enter the Opera House theater, where the new show will play.
Walt Disney – A Magical Life. Concept image courtesy DisneylandDisneyland also is changing the exhibit in the exit corridor of the Opera House theater. This new display will include a showcase of past changes to the park, as well as previews of what is to come at the resort. (Maybe this will be a little taste of what the Blue Sky Cellar once was?)After the new production’s initial run, the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln show will return and run in rotation with Walt Disney – A Magical Life. Disney has not revealed the exact date when that will happen, however.Sherman Brothers tributeDisneyland also is changing the program at the Main Street Cinema. Starting July 17, a new film honoring the Sherman Brothers will run in the theater, replacing the original Mickey Mouse shorts that now run there.”The Last Verse” honors the work of the late Robert and Richard Sherman, who composed some of Disney’s most beloved songs, including the theme to “It’s a Small World.” The three-and-half minute video introduced a new verse to that song, which will premiere in the It’s a Small World ride on July 17, as well.The Main Street Cinema currently screens “Steamboat Willie,” the 1928 short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks that marked the official debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. That film has passed into the public domain now, so if you’re missing it, you can watch it again here:Again, all these changes debut July 17.To save on tickets to Disneyland, please check out the current available discounts via our partner’s Disneyland tickets page.To keep up to date with more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekly newsletter.
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