Shanghai Disneyland 10th Anniversary “With You, It’s Magic+” Review: Is It Worth Visiting?

HKDL Trip Report 2023 Part One Introduction – 2026-08-09T190436.988

On February 26, 2026, Shanghai Disneyland announced their much awaited 10th Anniversary plans. Coming off some solid years thanks to the Zootopia expansion, Shanghai Disneyland’s 10th Anniversary was eagerly anticipated among Disney fans. Details of the celebration were kept under wraps until less than a month before the celebration started. When it was finally announced, I booked a trip to Shanghai Disneyland for the end of May 2026 to experience everything this anniversary has to offer.

I have experienced an anniversary in every Disney resort except Walt Disney World. I was present for Tokyo Disney Resort’s 30th Anniversary, Disneyland Paris’ 25th Anniversary, Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary, and Hong Kong Disneyland’s (HKDL) 5th, 10th, and 20th anniversaries. This would be my first time experiencing a Shanghai Disneyland anniversary, and needless to say I was excited.

But how does it stack up to the other recent anniversaries put on by Disney? Does the anniversary live up to the growth and grandness of Shanghai Disneyland? In this review we’ll be diving into everything about the 10th Anniversary, from the entertainment to the merchandise, food, characters, decor, and everything in between, to give you a full sense of what this celebration has to offer.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

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Table of Contents

Overview of the 10th Anniversary

This is technically Shanghai Disneyland’s first fully realized anniversary celebration. Its 5th anniversary celebration, while introducing good entertainment options like Mickey’s Storybook Adventure and the stellar ILLUMINATE nighttime spectacular, was celebrated under COVID restrictions. This would be the park’s first real opportunity to celebrate a milestone, and so all eyes were on the park after it revealed its 10th Anniversary logo during its 2026 new year celebration.

Then on February 26, 2026 came the big announcement of all the offerings that would be part of the park’s 10th Anniversary. The park would be getting a new castle stage show called The Heart of Magic, would replace the Finding Nemo float in the Mickey’s Storybook Express parade with a Zootopia unit, and would feature a 5-minute extension to ILLUMINATE called Magic Together. There would also be a Duffy and Friends pre-parade, as well as various merchandise, food and beverage offerings, and decorations scattered throughout the park.

If I’m being honest, when I heard this announcement and looked at all the offerings that were coming, I was a little disappointed. I couldn’t believe, for starters, that Shanghai Disneyland wasn’t getting a new parade for their 10th Anniversary, instead choosing to upgrade their current parade. Mickey’s Storybook Express is starting to show its age, and if there was a time to upgrade their parade, it’s now. And the Duffy Pre-Parade was a cute idea, but it’s like they dangled a full new parade in front of us but then decided to not go through with it.

Not changing ILLUMINATE is an understandable decision, given that it just premiered with the 5th anniversary and is popular with guests, but I was also expecting a new stage show to premiere at the park the way Mickey’s Storybook Adventure did for the park’s 5th anniversary. They have the Storyhouse Stage in Adventure Isle sitting empty and instead they decided to replace their castle stage show?

The whole anniversary just felt like it should’ve included more. In contrast, Hong Kong Disneyland added a whole new 11-float parade, a new anniversary-only castle stage show, and a 10 minute prologue to Momentous along with decor and food for their 20th Anniversary. Even Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary seemed to be adding more things than this anniversary, and the general consensus around Disneyland’s 70th was that it was weaker than its previous anniversary celebrations.

Still, I was optimistic about this anniversary. Disney’s track record for anniversaries this decade has been mostly amazing. Paris’ 30th, Tokyo’s 40th, Disneyland’s 70th, and Hong Kong’s 20th were all spectacular, with the only major disappointment being Walt Disney World’s 50th. So with somewhat middling expectations, I booked a trip to Shanghai Disneyland to experience the Disney Park’s newest anniversary.

And not only were my expectations met, they were surpassed by a country mile.

Shanghai Disneyland’s 10th Anniversary is a solid anniversary celebration. With great new and refreshed entertainment, amazing merchandise options, and stellar decorations, this anniversary lives up to the grandeur of Shanghai Disneyland. It’s not the best anniversary this decade, as Paris’ 30th and HK’s 20th are probably more deserving of that title, but this anniversary is no slouch either.

I’ll go through every new offering that debuted as part of the anniversary in the succeeding sections, giving my commentary on them as I go. I will also give my overall thoughts on this anniversary in the last section, followed by my score of the entire anniversary. Let’s begin!

Theme “With You, It’s Magic+”

The theme of the anniversary is “With You, It’s Magic+”. The symbol at the end is supposed to represent both a plus sign, which alludes to the new magic that is to come in the resort’s future, as well as reference to the Mandarin character for 10. It’s an ingenious design choice, and is probably the most creative logo for an anniversary since the iconic “30” Mickey logo design for Disneyland Paris’ 30th Anniversary.

I love that the theme of the celebration incorporates the guests and cast members into the celebration. By including the phrase “with you” into the slogan for the anniversary, Shanghai Disneyland sends a clear message that it’s people who make the dream happen. It’s also very inviting and inclusive in that it tells us that this celebration was made for everyone.

I really love the design aesthetic of the celebration as well. The use of blue and gold throughout, as well as the design of the main logo for the anniversary, all give off a sense of grandness, sophistication, and magic. It gives the celebration a regal and important tone and character that underscores all its offerings (in a good way). Overall, I really like the theme, scope, and design of the anniversary. It’s creative, inspired, and feels special.

Now let’s get into the entertainment!

The Heart of Magic

This is the flagship offering of Shanghai Disneyland’s 10th Anniversary. The Heart of Magic is a castle stage show whose plot revolves around Mickey and Friends discovering that the crystals underneath the Enchanted Storybook Castle have lost their magic. They then decide to set off on a quest to restore the heart of the magic.

Along the way they’ll encounter stories emanating from the crystal. This includes segments featuring Cinderella, Winnie the Pooh, Tangled, Mulan, Hercules, Frozen, Toy Story, Coco, and Turning Red. These nine stories are separated into three acts that all revolve around a particular theme. These all culminate in a full finale number featuring characters from these stories and Mickey and friends.

Read my full review and guide to The Heart of Magic.

This show is fantastic and is a more than worthy anchor for the entire 10th Anniversary celebration. It has a captivating story that expands on the park’s lore, memorable and high energy scenes, intricate costumes, grand stage design, and incredibly catchy music. It’s probably, and I’m not exaggerating here, the best castle stage show ever put on in any Disney Park.

I love how innovative they were when it came to designing the viewing areas of this show. Including satellite stages and bridges connecting them was a genius idea that adds so much to the immersion of the show. Having dancers populate three extra stages scattered around the viewing area makes the whole space come alive.

Every element of this show comes together so perfectly to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience. The set pieces present in this show do so much to bring us into the worlds of these stories. From the giant Hunny Pot in the Winnie the Pooh section to the incredible Pegasus in the Hercules section, every single set element was designed to help bring these movies to life.

The costumes in this show are just as amazing as the set design. Special mention should be given to the costumes of Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Mulan, Hercules, and Elsa as it’s clear that the creative team wanted to create costumes that had their own aesthetic but were still tied to the original costumes of these characters. And in that regard, they succeeded. Every single performer was also top notch, performing choreography that was high energy and also appropriate for every single movie.

Of course, we have to talk about the music of The Heart of Magic. The music of this show is exceptional, featuring a catchy original song as well as stirring musical arrangements for each segment. Picking songs that aren’t as popular, such as Loyal Brave True and Everything is Honey was also a good choice. I also loved how new orchestral arrangements were made for some songs, most notably in the Toy Story section.

All in all, this is a great show that more than holds its own as the centerpiece of this anniversary celebration. I would highly recommend watching this show as it’s one of Disney’s best and proves that we’re still in a renaissance for Disney Live Entertainment. If Disney Live Entertainment can still make shows like this, we’re in good hands.

New Zootopia Float in Mickey’s Storybook Express

I will admit, Mickey’s Storybook Express is starting to feel a little tired. Debuting with the park in 2016, this parade has been the only regular daytime parade ever put on by the park. So imagine my surprise when they announced that, instead of giving the park a new parade, they would simply be changing one of the floats into a new Zootopia float. I was disappointed by this, but I will say that the new float (or should I say unit as it’s more than 1 float) is beautiful and, as a whole, I think is the best Zootopia unit of any parade.

The Zootopia float starts with Nick and Judy leading a chorus of dancers all dressed as different animals. Then you have a Gary the Snake mini float where he sits on top of a screen billboard-like mini-float showing a silhouette of Gazelle with some costumes and props at the back. He’s accompanied by dancers dressed as Lions and Zebras.

Then comes the main float, which is supposed to look like Gazelle’s tour bus. Various characters from the movies like Chief Bogo, the Lemmings, Gazelle, and Mr. Big and Fru Fru populate the bus. After the bus, you have some dancers dressed as Lemmings which is then followed by a float featuring Clawhauser DJ-ing on what looks like a part of Gazelle’s stage.

While the rest of this parade feels tired, this new section of the parade feels brand new, colorful, and chock full of personality. While I prefer the design of the Zootopia float in the Friendtastic parade at Hong Kong Disneyland more, this is an overall better unit than that. It was interesting to have both Nick and Judy not on the main float, but I think the design of the main float more than justified that.

Having the main float with a lot of characters was a good choice. It’s the best Zootopia unit even just for that. Almost every major player of the Zootopia franchise was present in that float, so it was nice to see them all represented in a parade. I like that it also had the Zootopia 2 characters, which was a nice touch and so far the only Zootopia unit to include those characters. The final float with Clawhauser is also well-done. I like the addition of the lemmings at the back of the float holding letters spelling out Gazelle.

The costumes in this part of the float were all superb as well. I still like the Friendtastic Parade Zootopia costumes more, but these ones were still incredible to look at. They also had more animals represented in the costuming which I liked as well. In addition, the musical arrangements for this float were excellent. Hearing Zoo in this parade had me immediately dancing while watching the parade. How it blended and flowed with Try Everything too was just so catchy and put a smile on my face.

I also like how the 10th Anniversary logo was included in the parade. You could see the logo at least once in almost every unit, such as on the flag Dumbo has in his trunk at the beginning of the parade and on the back of the Tangled float. It’s a creative way to update the parade specifically for the anniversary, and it’s all done in a very subtle way.

My only minor gripe is that the new Zootopia unit is so good and obviously updated and given a 2020s makeover that it makes the rest of the parade pale in comparison. The only unit that I think matches the quality of the Zootopia float is the Mulan float at the very end. Every other unit feels like it’s screaming for an upgrade. But since they just spent the money to get Zootopia in this parade, this parade will probably survive for at least another 5-10 years, which is a bit of a shame since the park could really use a new one. But for what it’s worth, this upgrade is exceptional and is a more than welcome addition to the Shanghai Disneyland 10th Anniversary lineup.

FriendSHIP! Duffy and Friends Special Pre-Parade

Along with the updates to Mickey’s Storybook Express, the park also debuted a special Duffy and Friends Pre-Parade as part of the 10th Anniversary. This pre-parade features audience participation from a select group of lucky guests, as well as an all-new float especially made for the 10th Anniversary featuring all 7 Duffy and Friends.

The parade starts with a banner being carried by two dancers. Then, a chorus of about 12-15 guests follow behind the banner, all carrying props inspired by sailing. They do simple choreography and are being led by another dancer. It’s a cute moment and no doubt will become the highlight of those lucky guests’ day. They are then followed by a car that carries the grand marshal for the parade, who is another lucky guest or guests.

Then comes the main part of the pre-parade: the Duffy and Friends float. Situating LinaBell in the front, Duffy at the back, and ShellieMae, CookieAnn, StellaLou, Gelatoni, and OluMel in the middle, the float looks like a ship and even includes waves at the bottom of the float. It uses the color scheme of the anniversary, and a version of the anniversary theme song plays as this float passes. Each friend is also clad in their 10th Anniversary bespoke outfits.

I really love this pre-parade and kind of wish they debuted a whole parade using this aesthetic. Imagine if instead of train cars, every float was a boat and you could have boats themed to movies like Moana, Lilo and Stitch, and the Little Mermaid. But I can also see why they wanted to keep this as something exclusive to the 10th Anniversary.

I really love the audience participation. Having guests be a part of the parade just makes it so much more fun. I also love the inclusion of a grand marshal, something missing from Disney parades nowadays. Of course, the main parade float is gorgeous, so much so that I’m a little sad it’s only going to be presented for the 10th Anniversary. You can tell a lot of love and care went into the design of the float and it really captures the spirit of Duffy and Friends. The music was also arranged incredibly well. I love the sound of this version of the anniversary theme song, and I’m glad Shanghai Disneyland released it on Spotify so I can listen to it anytime.

Of course, having Duffy and Friends represented on a float is a great way to include these popular characters in the celebration. While I’m not the biggest Duffy and Friends fan, I really like these characters and I love seeing how much joy they bring people. And true enough, the crowd went crazy for them. The only other time the crowd was this energetic for characters was for Nick and Judy in the Zootopia unit.

All in all, this is a simple yet very effective addition to Shanghai Disneyland. I’m really glad that Duffy and Friends are at least represented in the parade performance somehow. Given how they’re a big part of a lot of guest’s experience at Shanghai Disneyland, it’s only right that they’re included in the anniversary celebration somehow. The pre-parade also perfectly captures the spirit of the anniversary, so in that regard it’s already very successful.

Magic Together: A Special 10th Birthday Celebration

Tacked onto the end of ILLUMINATE, Magic Together is a special 10th Anniversary-only tag to the nightly fireworks show. It uses a version of the Magic Together theme song created for the anniversary, and pays tribute to the many rides, attractions, and characters you can find at the park. It’s a fun, sometimes emotional, retrospective on the last ten years of Shanghai Disneyland, while also boldly looking to the future of the park.

I won’t go into every sequence of the show, but there are scenes themed to Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, Zootopia, Tron, and Pirates of the Caribbean, which are all featured on rides and attractions at the park. There’s even a section dedicated to Spider-Man, which is obviously a reference to the soon-to-open ninth land in the park themed to the Marvel superhero. There’s even a section with Duffy in it, which comes at the emotional climax of the show. All of this is set to an enchanting musical score that will have you moved and feeling chills.

There are also new effects in this show. Throughout the gardens of imagination, the screens that feature characters on them in the daytime come alive at night and show projections themed to whatever character or movie is being represented on the castle. There’s also a screen that appears twice in the show that shows an animated Mickey Mouse. It’s a clever piece of tech that is used incredibly well in the show.

Overall, it’s a well-done segment that truly feels like a celebration of 10 years of Shanghai Disneyland. I wish the show included things like drones into the show, but the projections, water effects, fireworks, and music more than make up for the lack of drones in the show. I also love how it felt like a natural extension of ILLUMINATE and didn’t feel jarring going from one to the other. Be sure to check it out if you’re coming for the anniversary at any point in the next year.

Music

The music made for this anniversary is incredibly good. I love the main theme of the anniversary “Magic Together”. It perfectly captures the spirit of the anniversary and is just very catchy. It’s a lot better than Celebrate Happy from Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary and almost ties The Most Magical Party of All from Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th Anniversary. I also like how different versions were made for the different anniversary offerings. Magic Together sounds different when it’s used in the Duffy Pre-Parade as compared to its use in the Magic Together fireworks show, which speaks to how well the music team did in creating the song.

The other standout song is the Heart of Magic, the main theme of the new castle stage show. Even though I don’t understand the lyrics, I think the composition of the song is so strong and captures the essence of the show it represents. It’s quickly become one of my absolute favorite pieces of music in any Disney Park, and I don’t even know how many times I’ve played it on my phone. It’s fun, catchy, and instantly transports me to my memories of the show.

As a whole, the park absolutely knocked the anniversary music out of the park. It’s a lot better than the collection of songs we got for Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary and almost ties the slate of songs we got for HKDL’s 20th Anniversary. Now if only we could get a recording of the entire Heart of Magic show and the music to the new Zootopia float. One can dream.

Merchandise and Food

Shanghai Disneyland’s merchandise selection for the 10th Anniversary is incredible. They have everything from shirts, sweaters, pins, bag charms, candies, figurines, blind boxes, hats, plushies, and collectibles. As an avid pin collector, I liked that their pins also commemorated the attractions found in the park. I thought that was a nice touch. A lot of the merch follows the color scheme of the anniversary, which is already very pretty.

My one complaint with the merchandise is that a lot of it was only released on the anniversary day itself. I would’ve loved to have purchased some of the items released on anniversary day but I visited two weeks before then. I understand having to roll out new anniversary merch throughout the year to keep guests coming back, but I wish the main features of the merchandise were kept available year-round. Also, some items were already sold out during my trip and they never restocked. I think they should have accounted for some items’ popularity and had a larger inventory of them.

The food for this anniversary was amazing. I loved that every restaurant had different noodle dishes from around China. Noodles are a big part of birthday celebrations in China, so having every restaurant offer them was a genius move by Disney. It was nice getting to explore the different anniversary food options they had for the park.

Decor

The decor in the park was stunning and is probably the best decor of any Disney celebration this decade. I loved the little statues carrying the logo of the anniversary, as well as all the statues of Mickey and Friends and Duffy and Friends around the Gardens of Imagination.

I also loved that the logo was secretly hidden in places all around the park, such as on the back of Rex’s remote control on Rex’s Racers or on the tiled mosaics inside the castle. Just like with the floats, it made for a really cool scavenger hunt trying to find all the little 10th Anniversary touches.

Characters

Mickey and Friends and Duffy and Friends all had special outfits to mark the occasion. All the outfits matched the colors and style of the anniversary, and in my opinion are some of the most stylish outfits made for an anniversary. They’re definitely my favorite, easily surpassing the Hong Kong Disneyland 20th Anniversary outfits. This is just another example of how much work and thought was put into every offering of this anniversary, which as a guest I very much appreciate.

My Thoughts on Shanghai Disneyland 10th Anniversary

I think the 10th Anniversary is an astounding success. What I thought was going to be a disappointing anniversary actually surpassed my expectations in every way. The only thing I can think of that I was disappointed by was the availability of the merchandise. Every other aspect of this anniversary blew me away.

The entertainment for the anniversary was superb. The Heart of Magic more than lives up to being the centerpiece of the anniversary, taking castle stage shows to new heights with its impeccable stage design, costumes, choreography, music, and performances. I’ve been watching YouTube videos of the show ever since I returned from my trip because I can’t get enough of this show. You will not regret carving out time to watch this show during your trip.

The Zootopia unit added to Mickey’s Storybook Express is fun, eye-catching, and includes a lot of your favorite Zootopia characters. The dancers and performers all add so much to this parade and truly make the float come alive. Of course, the Duffy and Friends pre-parade is also so much fun. I particularly love the audience participation included in this pre-parade, as well as the main float itself along with all-new costumes for every single friend.

Magic Together is a great way to end a day at Shanghai Disneyland. I love how it pays tribute to attractions around the park, and the music of this projection show is also spot on. Shanghai Disneyland really thought of everything when it comes to this celebration. From the music to the merch, food, decor, and costumes, every detail was meticulously thought out to deliver a great guest experience.

This anniversary isn’t the best anniversary I’ve ever experienced. That distinction still goes to Hong Kong Disneyland’s 20th Anniversary. I find that the theme of the anniversary isn’t as fleshed out and cohesive as that of HKDL’s 20th Anniversary. The entertainment offerings, while good, don’t all revolve around the main theme of togetherness that the theme espouses.

But still, it is a solid anniversary celebration that has a different and distinct vibe from the other recent anniversary celebrations around the world. It’s not perfect, and is missing a new parade and maybe a drone show, but for what it is I think it’s a perfect celebration of the park’s short but storied history.

What I love most about this anniversary is how much it centers on the guest. From the slogan of the anniversary “With You, It’s Magic+” to the entertainment, food, and merch, everything seems to have been designed as a way of thanking guests for visiting the park over the years. That’s what separates this from other anniversaries, it’s less a celebration and more an opportunity for the park to extend its gratitude to the fans who have been here all these years.

It’s the passion of these fans that keeps Disney Parks afloat. Without the passion of their fans, the Disney Parks wouldn’t be the tourism and entertainment behemoths they are today. The Disney Parks owe their success to the people who keep coming through their gates day after day, and it’s nice that Shanghai Disneyland recognizes that with their anniversary.

I can’t wait to see what the future of the park will be like. There’s already some special things on the horizon with the opening of the Spider-Man land in the near future, as well as the construction of two new hotels and an expanded Disneytown. If rumors are true, a second park may even be in the works for the resort. Whatever the future holds, if all their future projects are as amazing as this anniversary celebration was, then the park is in good and capable hands.

9.5/10

Shanghai Disneyland 10th Anniversary Conclusion

And that’s the end of my review! I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into everything about the Shanghai Disneyland 10th Anniversary celebration. I hope I was also able to convince you to book a trip to visit Shanghai Disneyland for the anniversary. Trust me, you won’t regret it. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me on my socials.