"The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60" special will run from 8-10pm (Eastern and Pacific) on Feb. 21 on the Disney-owned television network. The two-hour special will feature some of the new entertainment at the Disneyland Resort celebrating the original park's 60th birthday, including the new World of Color - Celebrate! show and the Paint the Night parade.
Features on Disneyland attractions will be cut in with taped musical performances from the park as well as a celebrity event at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, which is right across the street from the Disney-owned El Capitan. However, the Dolby has a better set-up for televised events, thanks to its annual role as the venue for the Academy Awards, which will take place at the theater on Feb. 28.
Disneyland's actual 60th birthday was last year, on July 17, 2015. The "Diamond Celebration" for the anniversary started last May and will continue through September 5 of this year. So why a TV broadcast in February, especially with the Rivers of America attractions closed by then, with construction walls blocking that huge section of Frontierland? And February might be the least nice time of the year for weather in Southern California, with an El Nino forecast to bring more rain that normal for the month.
But February is a "sweeps" month, when TV networks collect important viewership ratings that help set advertising rates. By scheduling this program then, Disney apparently believes that a Disneyland anniversary special will deliver a large audience to ABC, and Disney wants to ensure that the special delivers maximum benefit to the network, if not the park itself.
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By the way, my family loved the 60th anniversary!
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