Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration Begins May 16, 2025, at The Happiest Place on Earth
Family and friends are invited to 'Celebrate Happy' with joyful décor, food and beverages, merchandise and more
New and recently debuted experiences, such as 'Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!', Tiana's Bayou Adventure and dining at Downtown Disney District offer more reasons to visit
ANAHEIM, Calif., May 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration kicks off May 16, 2025, honoring seven decades and counting of The Happiest Place on Earth with must-visit festivities across the resort through summer 2026.
In 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland Park with a hope that it would be "a source of joy and inspiration to all the world." This limited-time celebration highlights that feeling of absolute happiness through jubilant entertainment, décor, food and beverages, merchandise and more.
Over the course of its industry-defining, 70-year history, Disneyland Resort has expanded to include two theme parks, three hotels and the Downtown Disney District. The resort has a bright future ahead, with more growth to come that will create happiness for generations.
High-energy and heartfelt entertainment, day into night
From effervescent moments to breathtaking spectaculars, the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration entertainment lineup will inspire guests to sing along and dance.
"Paint the Night" parade makes its highly anticipated comeback to Disneyland Park, featuring vibrant floats and more than a million brilliant LED lights. The nighttime spectacular "Wondrous Journeys" dazzles Disneyland Park once again with projection effects and music nodding to Walt Disney Animation Studios films; the show is enhanced with fireworks on select nights.
At Disney California Adventure Park, the all-new nighttime spectacular "World of Color Happiness!" is inspired by Walt Disney's words from the opening day dedication of Disneyland: "To all who come to this happy place... welcome!" The water show features a rendition of "Rainbow Connection" performed by R&B group Boyz II Men, plus an original song "Makes Me Wanna Move," performed by FITZ – frontman and namesake of multi-platinum hitmakers Fitz and the Tantrums. Colorful floats and more than two dozen characters from Pixar Animation Studios films fill the streets of Disney California Adventure Park with the return of the high-energy daytime parade "Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!"
Additional entertainment highlights include "The Celebrate Happy Cavalcade" daytime processional and "Tapestry of Happiness" nighttime projection show on the façade of "it's a small world" at Disneyland Park, plus "Celebrate Happy: A Little Bit of Magic Every Night" projections on the façade of Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney California Adventure Park. "Celebrate Happy," a new theme song performed by the Jonas Brothers, can be heard in various new entertainment experiences.
Walt Disney Records released "Music From Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration," now available on the Disneyland Official Playlist, wherever guests stream music.
Select shows, performances, and experiences, including parades and nighttime spectaculars, will temporarily pause to make way for seasonal entertainment offerings, then resume at later dates. Check the Disneyland app or Disneyland.com for entertainment schedules.
Special anniversary décor and offerings, available for a limited time
The entire resort is adorned in bold blue, magenta and purple décor with golden accents – including an elegant medallion on Sleeping Beauty Castle. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and some of their pals are dressed in custom outfits at Town Square at Disneyland Park.
The wide variety of themed food and beverage items includes more than 70 new celebration offerings. Foodies can delight in nostalgic classic eats with a modern twist, themed candies and fun new novelties.
Multiple merchandise collections will be released over the course of the celebration, including apparel, collectibles, toys and more. From the colorful Disneyland Resort 70th Anniversary Celebration Collection to the vintage-inspired Vault Collection, there is something for all ages and a variety of style preferences.
Recently debuted and new experiences
In addition to the limited-time anniversary fun, guests can "drop on in" to enjoy the recently debuted water attraction, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, and a number of new experiences.
Miguel and his trusted alebrije, Dante, from Pixar Animation Studios' "Coco" recently joined the Mexico area of "it's a small world" at Disneyland Park.
An all-new live show, "Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!", debuts in the Disney Theater at Disney California Adventure Park on May 16, 2025. Inspired by Disney Jr.'s Emmy® Award-winning hit series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and the upcoming "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+", the interactive show created for young children features upbeat original songs and character appearances.
On the official day of its 70th anniversary – July 17, 2025 – Disneyland Park will debut new tributes to its cherished history and optimism for the future. "Walt Disney – A Magical Life" at the Main Street Opera House will feature a cinematic presentation of Walt Disney's journey, culminating in a visit with Walt in his office, brought to life for the first time ever through Audio-Animatronics storytelling. The Main Street Opera House will also be home to an all-new gallery experience of art, artifacts and more documenting Disneyland from its very early stages to the icon it is today.
Also debuting on July 17 are an homage to the songwriting duo, the Sherman Brothers, in the Main Street Cinema and a new verse playing in the titular song of "it's a small world."
Guests can discover a range of diverse dining and shopping options at the Downtown Disney District, which will continue its evolution during the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration. Recent additions include the Disney Wonderful World of Sweets candy shop, The D-Lander Shop, Parkside Market food hall, and many more locations.
Great value on Disneyland Resort vacations
To welcome as many guests and families as possible, Disneyland Resort always offers a range of ticket, dining and hotel options, as well as promotional offers throughout the year. When planning their visits, guests are encouraged to check Disneyland.com/offers for a list of available offers that could help them save money.
With many choices in attractions, entertainment, dining and rotating limited-time offerings, guests may consider extending the fun through multi-day vacations and overnight stays at the Hotels of the Disneyland Resort. Magic Key annual passes will also become available for purchase at select times, subject to availability.
About the Disneyland ResortLocated in Anaheim, Calif., the Disneyland Resort features two spectacular theme parks – Disneyland Park (the original Disney theme park) and Disney California Adventure Park – plus three hotels and the Downtown Disney District dining, entertainment and shopping complex. The Hotels of the Disneyland Resort are Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the Disneyland Hotel – both AAA Four Diamond properties – and Pixar Place Hotel. When it opened on July 17, 1955, Disneyland introduced the world to a new concept in family entertainment and continues to use creativity, technology and innovation to bring storytelling to new heights. Open daily, year-round. For more information, guests can visit Disneyland.com.
To enter a park, both a theme park reservation and a valid ticket for the same park on the same date is required. Park reservations are limited, subject to availability, and not guaranteed. Parks, attractions, entertainment, experiences, services, and offerings may be modified, limited in availability or unavailable, and are subject to restrictions, and change or cancellation without notice. Park admission and offerings are not guaranteed. Visit Disneyland.com/updates for more information about visiting the Disneyland® Resort.
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More Parks via Getty Images) Called Frozen Ever After, it is found in Disney's futuristic Epcot park in Orlando and features the same digital face technology as Buzz Lightyear. However, whilst that character was rooted to the spot, those in Frozen Ever After appear to walk, have natural arm movements and, most impressively, turn to face the boat, with their eyes tracking it, as it travels through the room. The ride opened in 2016 but just one year later it had been upstaged with the debut of a land themed to Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom park in Orlando. Its boat ride travels through a dark and dense indoor jungle filled with glow in the dark plants. For the finale, the boat passes a life-sized Audio-Animatronic of one of the blue-skinned Na'vi humanoids who star in the movie. The towering model looks identical to the computer-generated on-screen characters in the movie and has arms which flail around wildly as it appears to play drums set into alien-like shells. Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) reportedly had to develop 20 new technologies to bring it to life with its head alone having 42 degrees of freedom in addition to independent shoulder movements. Its latest counterpart isn't just more advanced, it took every spell in Disney's spell book to bring it to life. The robot is the star attraction in Walt Disney – A Magical Life, a new show which opened in Disneyland on July 17, the park's 70th anniversary. Fittingly, it takes place in the same Main Street Opera House where Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln debuted decades earlier and, eventually, is scheduled to return, running in rotation with the new show. The Opera House sits opposite Walt's former apartment above Disneyland's Fire Station and the location is no coincidence as the new show celebrates the legendary animator's life. It starts with a queue inside a period-style room featuring art and designs for Disneyland hanging on wallpaper which has a floral design. The line winds around exhibits including original Audio-Animatronics from the Tiki Room and furniture from Walt's apartment in the park. Before the show begins, a screen set into a gilded frame shows a video of interviews with theme park luminaries talking about Walt's impact on the industry. Guests are then ushered into a theater to watch a 15-minute film about Walt's life narrated by Disney's chief executive Bob Iger. Finally comes the main event as the screen rises and the curtains behind it open to reveal a meticulous recreation of Walt's Burbank office on a stage. There, leaning against the edge of his desk, dressed in his trademark grey suit, is the first-ever Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney. This segment of the show only lasts about two minutes and features dialogue taken from Walt's own speeches. The Audio-Animatronic's mouth doesn't just move in time to the speech, it also gesticulates to the audience, puts its hand on its hip, as Walt often did in television appearances, and even steps forward going from leaning to standing up. Its movement is eerily lifelike and it took much more than the wave of a magic wand to pull it off. According to Disney, the sculpt depicts Disney in 1963 and it took WDI seven years to develop, from concept to creation. The designers reportedly even studied muscle structure and nuances of speaking and gesturing so that they could correctly mimic Walt's mannerisms and movements. The result features many innovations never before seen in a humanoid figure, including new methods to create more realistic skin and replicate the twinkle in Walt's eye which Imagineers established was because of what is known as a corneal bulge. Staggeringly, despite nailing such complex details, the designers failed to hit the spot when it comes to Walt's most visible and fundamental feature of them all – his face. Unbelievably, Disney showed this off to the world before the attraction had even welcomed a single guest. It had strong similarities with a communications clanger last year when Disney released a far from perfect video of the controversial new Tiana's Bayou Adventure boat ride leading to a torrent of negative coverage. The caliber of the footage of Walt Disney – A Magical Life came to light when media and Influencers began posting their own preview videos soon after the official one was released. "I think it looks significantly better in videos posted by content creators than the one posted by Disney's official socials," said Dakota Randall. 'Kind of stunning they went with a clip this unimpressive after the debacle of the initial ride-on video of Tiana's' The problem was quickly spotted by Eddie Sotto, a former Disney Imagineer who was the architect of the turn-of-the-century themed Main Street at Disneyland Paris which is widely acclaimed as one of the most elaborate, ornate and immersive theme park lands that has ever been built. Talking about the footage of the Walt Disney – A Magical Life, Sotto said "in the company released videos, he seems to be lit rather flat. Lighting plays a big part in creating your impression of how face is shaped." It is remarkable that Disney released a video of the robot in anything other than perfect conditions knowing how closely it would be scrutinised but that was just the start. Ironically, despite being billed as Disney's most lifelike Audio-Animatronic, its face bears little resemblance to Walt's leading to a deluge of excoriating criticism from fans. Perhaps the biggest bone of contention is that the robot lacks Walt's extremely distinctive almost oval-shaped face. "I think a lot of it is the head shape truthfully. It throws the other features off, Walt's is a bit more oblong," said Max Taff. Tim Devine added that the 'proportions are off. Walt's head was a bit elongated. This model looks squished.' Many observers were dumbfounded by its appearance given the length of time it took WDI to develop, the ability of the designers and the fame and importance of the subject. "It's simply his face that just doesn't look right," said Greg Tymop. "To the brilliant minds at WDI, that should've been the easiest part of this whole project, no?" Others were less forgiving. "This is so far off visually I'm not sure how this was approved," said Elijah Erfon while KingdomParksIII analysed all the aspects which don't don't resemble Walt. 'Eyes arent right, eyebrows arent right, nose isnt right, mustache isnt right, head shape isnt right. These all contribute to him looking the movements of the animatronic are honestly very impressive, his face not looking like him is incredibly distracting and hard for most people to overlook. The voice over and bad lip-syncing certainly doesn't help either.' It soon caught the eye of leading pundits with Jonas Campbell saying "I cannot tell you how much I dislike this." It continued following the media preview as WDWInfo added that 'when I first saw the Audio-Animatronic, I didn't think it looked like Walt Disney at all, and honestly, I wondered if I was seeing things. It took a few minutes of hearing Walt's voice for it to sink in. Once it did, I was enamored, more by his words than his appearance.' Theme park industry expert Robert Niles also attended the preview and concurred that "his head is a bit too wide, given photo and video references of the real Walt. The AA looks more like Walt's maybe Walt himself if he had not been dragging down a couple of packs of cigs every day. 'WDI edited together audio clips of Walt speaking for the animatronic's speech. Imagineers swore to me that they did not use AI for Walt's voice, but that they did have to normalize the clips to make it sound like a single speech. In doing so, I feel like they lost some of the bass and timbre that came to distinguish Walt's voice in his later years. WDI chose to visually depict Walt circa 1963, yet we hear what sounds like a younger Walt coming from an older Walt's body.' Others saw the experience as touching and praised the emotional weight of hearing Walt's artificial voice in his recreated office. Aside from the face, the robot itself has had almost uniform praise and the same goes for the rest of the experience. "There's going to be a lot of talk as to whether this looks exactly like Walt or not, but this project is so much more meaningful and layered than that discussion," wrote IGN. Reflecting this, USA Today's reporter wrote that 'I did not go into this show expecting, nor wanting, to see a mere physical replica of Disney. I wanted to experience his essence, to get a sense of how people felt in the legend's presence. This is something 'A Magical Life' undoubtedly delivers on.' Some content creators tried in vain to claim that they saw similarities between Walt's face and that of his robotic representative but all it takes is a quick look at photos of them to see that this is far from the case. The deluge of disenchantment from fans and media at the preview was soon picked up by newspapers and magazines with People publishing a round-up of what it called "harsh words for the figure". The New York Times added that "fanatics are short-circuiting over" it. The situation was made all the more embarrassing by the fact that just a few weeks ago Disney's arch rival Universal unveiled a ride in Orlando filled with ultra-realistic animatronics of classic monsters which look exactly like they do on-screen. The coup de grace came when fans pointed out that the Audio-Animatronic of Walt looks uncannily like Mike Lindell, staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and chief executive of pillow manufacturing company My Pillow. Pictures of the two faces alongside each other went viral due to the strong similarity between them. Many observers thought that the Walt Disney Animatronic looked more like My Pillow founder Mike ... More Lindell (Photo by) "Mike Lindell: A Magical Life looks fantastic," wrote Jonas Campbell whilst Bill Zanetti added that he "just went and saw the new Mike Lindell attraction. Amazing likeness." PhantazMick01 said that "someone mentioned it looks like the MyPillow guy. And now I can't unsee it. Fix it immediately." He is part of a growing chorus. The face of the Audio-Animatronic looks so unlike Walt that after just a few days of operations it has fueled suggestions that it could be updated, or plussed as it is known in the industry. It wouldn't be the first time as the same thing happened to Disney's Audio-Animatronic of Trump in the Hall of Presidents at its Magic Kingdom park in Orlando. "Please please fix that awful face you designed" of Walt, said David Luis while Shawn Smith added "they might have to redo Walt." Sotto echoed this saying "the face needs to be fixed." However, he added that 'the film is a great lead in and the figure is just a part of that bigger it's very good. Exhibits nice, film great, I enjoyed it in total.' When asked if he thinks WDI will update any of its Audio-Animatronic Sotto replied "probably the face since there is significant pushback, but maybe not." Disney declined to comment on whether it will update the robot but it may not be long before it gets an opportunity to do work as it broke down on its very first day. Exactly 70 years after Disneyland opened, the Audio-Animatronic of its founder reportedly came to an abrupt halt just after standing up causing the lights to go down and the show to stop. "This whole project just continues to go from bad to worse. It's a shame really," wrote the Savethemagic account. "This is why Walt shouldn't be an animatronic. The second it breaks you dishonor the man and he's a side show attraction," added Goofy Fun. "Walt Disney's likeness going viral for all the wrong reasons," said DisneyScoopGuy. "This is exactly what I was worried about when they announced a Walt Disney animatronic was coming to Disneyland." He wasn't the only one who had this concern. One of Walt's closest living family members pleaded with Disney not to proceed with the robot according to the LA Times. After the robot was announced last fall Walt Disney's granddaughter Joanna Miller described it in a Facebook post as "dehumanizing him". She added that relatives of late Disney artist Sam McKim told her that Walt "never wanted to be an that he did not want this. Having your predecessors tell you that this was out of so Sad and disappointed." She told the LA Times that her mother, Diane, who died in 2013 and was the guiding force behind the foundation of San Francisco's Walt Disney Family Museum, also put the brakes on it building an animatronic of Walt. "Grampa deserves new technology for this museum, but not to be a robot himself," she said according to Miller. The Times added that after her Facebook post, Miller wrote a letter to Iger saying "I strongly feel the last two minutes with the robot will do much more harm than good to Grampa's will remember the robot, and not the man." Miller was reportedly invited to meet with Iger and members of WDI who showed her the Audio-Animatronic ahead of its unveiling. She says that when she saw it "I think I started didn't look like him, to me." Walt Disney's grand-daughter Joanna Miller was upset by the representation (Photo by Rob ... More Latour/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images) The Times notes that WDI has not found any evidence that Walt did not want to be turned into an Audio-Animatronic and, according to CNN, Kirsten Komoroske, executive director of the Walt Disney Family Museum said three generations of Walt and his wife Lillian's family have seen the attraction and were "so moved and so touched." It added that Roy P. Disney, Walt's great-nephew, also attended previews and supported the effort. The Times notes that there is little that could be done to stop the show anyway as the Walt Disney Company bought the rights to Walt's name, likeness and portrait in 1981 for $46.2 million in stock which Miller claims was her family's biggest mistake. The new show comes at a crucial time for Disney. Its Experiences division, which includes its theme parks, generated just over a third of its $91.4 billion revenue last year but nearly 60% of its $15.6 billion operating income. They were record results and the same goes for the division's growth with revenue rising 5% and operating income up 4%. Heading into 2025, Disney said it expected to see 6% to 8% profit growth for experiences in the current fiscal year. However, since then the global tourism outlook has worsened, partly due to the threat of Trump's tariffs. In May the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) announced that U.S.-based travel agency air ticket sales dropped 4% year over year in April marking the third straight month of declines and the largest decrease in 10 months. "At the end of the day, travel is consumer discretionary spend and when people see capital market volatility, trade uncertainty, they tend to pull back in discretionary areas like travel and we do think that is happening right now," Trevor Young, analyst at Barclays told CNBC in June. The previous month investment research firm Morningstar reported that travel booking site Expedia was experiencing softening demand in its core U.S. market amid tariff uncertainty. Major hospitality companies Hilton, Hyatt and Wyndham also cut their full-year outlooks in May, citing the challenging macro environment and softening consumer demand amid concerns that travelers are holding off on trips. Perhaps most worryingly, in April the Conference Board survey showed that consumer confidence outlook had hit its lowest level since 2011 as tariff fears rose. Then, just last week it was reported that the esteemed University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey hit 61.8 in July which was 16% below December 2024 and far less than its high of over 100 at the start of 2020. The biggest mystery is how an Audio-Animatronic of such a significant figure ended up looking like this. One user on social media suggested: "here's what I think happened. WDI developed the latest generation AA head with all the new motors etc. but it wasn't the right shape for Walt's features so rather than design and build an entirely new head, they adapted his likeness onto the existing head." In reply Sotto said 'stuff like that is more probable than you think.' Sotto described this kind of design brief as a 'tall Order. As humans we have an innate sense of what is 'real' to us. Beyond physical comparison, so many subtle cues make up our 'likeness'. A bit of gravel in our voice, a pregnant pause, a glance. I wonder if it's even possible for an AA to emulate the charisma, passion, and 'inner child' in the eyes that actually come together to form the true 'likeness' of the Walt Disney we connected with on TV?' Jim Shull, a former Imagineer who worked on multiple Disney parks during a career which spanned three decades, agreed that this task would not be a walk in the park. "I have experience creating a show celebrating Mr. Disney because I was the Creative Lead for 'One Man's Dream', which was part of the '100 Years of Magic' celebration at Walt Disney World. During the design and production, I discovered that delivering a show about Walt Disney is harder than it might appear. Everyone has their memory of Walt and people soon started picking at the show presented." As leading news site That Park Place reported, the big question is 'how do you preserve the legacy of a man who was famously human, imaginative, and deeply personal, without reducing him to a technological novelty?' The answer could come from the late Blaine Gibson, a sculptor for WED Enterprises, the forerunner to WDI. Gibson worked with Walt on the Tiki Room as well as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and sculpted the statue of him and Mickey which stands to this day in Disneyland's Central Plaza. Gibson was reportedly asked in 1995 if there should ever be an Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt and replied: 'There are several reasons I would be against doing it isn't just the 'sacred' aspect of it. I know just how crude our medium is, relative to the human figure. You can't get Walt's can't program that smile that I've got on Walt's statue and have him be able to go into that. You'd have to move from a scowl to a smile, because Walt at times would get a twisted up expression and one eyebrow would go up. He had a facial range that was absolutely beyond our capability. Lincoln is believable because we have no personal memories or films of his speech and was a man whose movements meant something, and his expressions were so lively and enthusiastic. You can't get that with an animatronic figure.' Ironically, Walt Disney – A Magical Life opened just a few days after Disneyland unveiled a new ornamental etched window on Main Street honoring Walt and Lillian's 100th wedding anniversary. This is ironic as it was met with unanimous applause with expert pundit WDWPro describing it as 'good for Disney. Excellent addition to Disneyland and long overdue.' This might have been a better 70th anniversary flagship than the show as it's traditional, simple and far less controversial. However, Imagineering isn't known for taking the easy route. Indeed, Walt himself once said "it's kind of fun to do the impossible." That may end up being the perfect description of Disney's attempt to create an authentic Audio-Animatronic of him.
Black America Web
9 hours ago
- Black America Web
You Geaux, Girl! Princess Tiana Is Taking Her Enchanted Talents On A Nationwide ‘Joyful Celebration' Tour In 2027
Source: Walt Disney World A timeee was had at Disney's Big Easy brunch experience during Essence Fest 2025 in NOLA where creatives from Walt Disney Imagineering and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis announced Tiana's Joyful Celebration–a nationwide traveling exhibition coming to a museum near you in 2026. The innovative exhibition will allow visitors to help Tiana with her community parade through a fun-filled series of interactive experiences inspired by Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction which launched at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort last year. Source: Disney Beginning March 7, 2026, the exhibition kicks off at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis–the largest children's museum in the world–before expanding to 12 additional cities during a nationwide tour in 2027. Surrounded by love and wonder at NOLA's famed Dooky Chase's restaurant, guests were treated to delicious delicacies along with a special unveiling of concept art of the exhibition and a photo moment with Princess Tiana herself. Source: Disney Between beignets and buttered biscuits, we chatted with visionary Carmen Smith, Senior Vice President, Creative Development – Product/Content & Inclusive Strategies, who gushed about the upcoming exhibition which extends Tiana's beloved story beyond the parks. Source: Disney 'We want people who may not know her to get to know this beautiful princess who is full of strength and vigor and pride and joy,' said Smith who underscored the importance of bringing Tiana to families who may not be able to make it to the parks just yet. 'What makes [Tiana] so unique is she lives in all of us,' she added. 'This is a character that people identify with–that people from all walks can aspire to.' Building on the success of Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the Disney brand continues to thrive, especially at Disneyland Resort which celebrated its 70th Anniversary this week. Bustling with the brightest blues and pinkest pinks, the storied park brought together starry-eyed guests for an epic celebration at the happiest place on Earth. 'I'm excited!' said Sybil Crum, Vice President of Marketing & Commercial Strategy at Disneyland Resort, about the future of Disneyland Resort. 'I don't think there's any better way to describe it–just really excited. Happy. Grateful. Thinking about what's next–Walt Disney had a great quote, 'Disneyland will never be finished as there's imagination left in the world,' and there's plenty of imagination left.' Source: Disneyland Resort For more info on all things Disney Parks, click here. The post You Geaux, Girl! Princess Tiana Is Taking Her Enchanted Talents On A Nationwide 'Joyful Celebration' Tour In 2027 appeared first on Bossip. SEE ALSO You Geaux, Girl! Princess Tiana Is Taking Her Enchanted Talents On A Nationwide 'Joyful Celebration' Tour In 2027 was originally published on
