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Niles: Disneyland finds a winner with Bluey — but is it enough?

March 24, 2026

The most important investment a theme park can make is not a roller coaster or dark ride. It’s in finding a new generation of fans.

Companies that choose to stick with their current customers will “sunset” along with that generation. Successful brands choose instead to find ways to cultivate new generations of fans. The Disneyland Resort is doing that this summer with a new show featuring children’s TV star Bluey.

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“Bluey’s Best Day Ever” opened in Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theatre last weekend. A line of families stretching from the theater all the way back to Sleeping Beauty Castle on the show’s first day testified to the popularity of this animation franchise from Australia. For those who made it into the theater, Disneyland rewarded them with a delightful variety show featuring storytellers, live music and dancers.

Disney loves to use its own IP, but the company made the right move in licensing the Bluey franchise. If you want to appeal to kids, why not turn to the characters that they already love? Disney saw a gap in its appeal and spent the money to fill it.

“Bluey’s Best Day Ever” also helps fill a post-pandemic gap in the Disneyland Resort’s entertainment lineup. The park lost a lot of live entertainment when it reopened from the lockdown. It’s great to see families filling the Fantasyland Theatre again. But the resort still needs an immersive live theater production like “Aladdin” or “Frozen” to complete its line-up.

The new production does not immerse guests in Bluey’s world the way that Aladdin or Frozen welcomed people into those stories. Human beings do not inhabit Bluey’s canine world. By bringing human musicians, dancers and storytellers onto its stage, “Bluey’s Best Day Ever” plays as a celebration of the Bluey franchise rather than an extension of it.

Which is fine, and something that kids and their parents will love. Bringing Bluey from the screen to real life helps Disneyland create a unique connection with young Bluey fans — one that the park hopes will help make them Disneyland fans for life.

But other theme parks are winning fans with the type of fully immersive live theater productions that Disneyland used to offer. Right now, Universal Orlando Resort leads the way with amazing productions of the How to Train Your Dragon-themed “The Untrainable Dragon,” the Wizarding World-themed “Le Cirque Arcanus” and “The Bourne Stuntacular,” all of which far exceed any show that Disneyland has to offer. At Universal Studios Hollywood, “Waterworld” remains a fan favorite after 30 years. Knott’s Berry Farm just reopened its renovated Bird Cage Theater, providing new life for the melodramas that it presents there.

These shows draw in and connect with new fans in ways that the story theater and variety productions that Disneyland has been offering in recent years cannot.

“Bluey’s Best Day Ever” is a big win for Disneyland. At the same time, its debut reminds long-time fans of what Disneyland is missing. That’s the flip side of winning new fans. As they stick around, they remember what brought them and will hold a brand to its past standards of excellence.

Orange County Register

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Niles: Disneyland finds a winner with Bluey — but is it enough?

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