Disneyland kicks off 70th anniversary celebration in SF's Presidio with special hot air balloon
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There was applause as a hot air balloon inflated, commemorating Disneyland Resort's 70 Anniversary on Friday.
It was in the Presidio in San Francisco as part of a nationwide tour.
And we got to go inside live on ABC7 Mornings.
"We are live inside the hot air balloon. Look how huge this hot air balloon is. It's actually inflating right now," said ABC7 Anchor Gloria Rodriguez at the morning event.
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Megan Roth of the Disneyland Resort says the balloon is handmade.
"It is pretty big. It is 75 feet tall, and that doesn't include the basket. Once it's fully inflated, it actually would hold 90K basketballs. So to picture that, you can get an idea of how big it is inside," Roth said.
Mickey and Minnie joined us, wearing their 70th anniversary outfits.
"Do you like them? You love it," said Rodriguez to Minnie as she gave her dress a twirl.
The actual 70 Anniversary is next week but the celebrations have already started at Disneyland.
The "Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration" celebrates happiness. It features "Tapestry of Happiness," a projection show on the facade of the "It's a Small World" ride with the original 70th celebration theme song, "Celebrate Happy."
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Also featured will be a new "World of Color" nighttime spectacular, the "Paint the Night" nighttime parade with more than a million LED lights and the "Wondrous Journeys" fireworks show. That's a favorite for Disneyland Resort Ambassador Raul Aquino Rojas.
"It's one of my favorite nighttime spectaculars -- the fireworks, the music, the projections that you get to see. It' s just so amazing. We have 100 years of Disney storytelling just told within those 15 minutes of the Wondrous Journey show," he said.
Disneyland has special ticket offers. Plus, there are special 70th anniversary décor, new outfits for characters, merch for visitors and a special Magic Band and Magic Key just for the anniversary.
Disney is the parent company of ABC7.
