Disneyland Paris anniversaries: a timeline of the big milestones

Disneyland Paris opened its doors on 12 April 1992, as Euro Disney. So every 12 April marks the park’s anniversary. Since then, the park has celebrated a big anniversary every five years. Each edition brings a new parade, night-time show or cavalcade, and sometimes new rides.

My father was a Cast Member when the park opened in 1992. I’ve seen several of these anniversaries as a visitor. Here’s what made each one stand out.

Disneyland Paris opened on 12 April 1992, as Euro Disney. It was the resort’s first park. The second, then called Walt Disney Studios Park, opened ten years later, in 2002.

The detailed story of that opening is told in the article on the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992. Here, I’m sticking to the anniversaries.

For its 15th birthday, the park launched a new daytime parade: Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade. The celebrations ran for more than a year, from spring 2007.

Above all, 2007 saw two rides open at the studios park: Crush’s Coaster and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, in June. Tower of Terror followed soon after, in early 2008. It’s rare to get so many new things around a single anniversary.

The 20th anniversary kicked off in early April 2012. The highlight was the night-time show Disney Dreams!, created especially for the occasion. Video projections on the castle, fountains, lasers, fireworks: a very full-on end-of-night show for its time.

Disney Dreams! ran from 2012 to 2017. It then made way for the 25th anniversary show.

The 25th anniversary ran from 26 March 2017 to 7 September 2018. Two major new additions: the daytime parade Disney Stars on Parade and the night-time show Disney Illuminations, which replaced Disney Dreams!.

A Star Wars sequence was also added to Disney Illuminations. The same year, two rides reopened in Star Wars versions: Star Tours and Hyperspace Mountain.

The 30th anniversary began on 6 March 2022. The daytime cavalcade was called Dream... and Shine Brighter!, performed on Central Plaza in front of the castle.

The highlight is Disney D-Light: a drone pre-show (around 200 drones from the French company Dronisos) just before the night-time show, set to the song "Un monde qui s’illumine". It was named Best Live Show 2022 at the Park World Excellence Awards. Given its success, the celebrations were extended until 30 September 2023.

Disney 100 marks 100 years of the Disney company, founded on 16 October 1923. It was created by Walt Disney and his brother Roy as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, before becoming The Walt Disney Company. So it isn’t a park anniversary. The distinction matters, as many visitors mix them up.

The resort marked the occasion with a special day on 16 October 2023, with character meets that are rarer than usual. A touring exhibition, "Disney 100: The Exhibition", then came through Paris.

The park should celebrate its 35th birthday in spring 2027, going by previous editions. So far, no anniversary parade or night-time show has been officially announced.

This 35th anniversary will come after the transformation into Disney Adventure World, the second park reinventing itself. I’ll update this page as soon as Disney shares its programme. In the meantime, for night-time shows, Disney Tales of Magic at Disneyland Park and Disney Cascade of Lights at Disney Adventure World are on the bill (one per park).

To dig deeper into the park’s history and behind the scenes, here are two complementary reads: the transformation into Disney Adventure World and the secrets of Disneyland Paris.