At Disneyland, thank cutting-edge tech for nighttime magic (pictures)

Walt Disney opened an Anaheim, California, theme park 60 years ago. To mark the anniversary, Disneyland reinvented its nighttime programming, which it calls its "spectaculars."

The electric-light parade "Paint the Night" has advanced significantly over the years, but Mickey still headlines the program.

Floats are tracked by GPS to ensure clockwork precision every evening.

The parade has 1.5 million sources of light. That's one for every person in a city the size of Philadelphia.

Lights in the performer's costumes are controlled by their own system.

Its electric-light parade is now the biggest to be illuminated almost exclusively by light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.

A float based on the Mack the truck character from Pixar movie "Cars" has a novel three-dimensional display in his trailer, built from thousands of suspended glowing orbs.

Mack's 3D technology was inspired by an installation at Burning Man, the experimental art festival in the Nevada desert.

Across from Disneyland in its sister park, Disney California Adventure, a water show called "World of Color - Celebrate" explains how Disney entertainment has changed over the decades.

The centerpieces of the program is a 380-foot screen created by jets of water and mist.

The water projection allows stars like Mickey and Neil Patrick Harris to narrate the show.

Lights illuminate jets of water to appear as different colors, which sometimes sync with the lights around the park -- even the light-up ears in the Mickey Hats that audience members may be wearing.

The "World of Color" show isn't all water -- it integrates blazing jets of fire as well.

The latest incarnation of the program includes a clip from the forthcoming "Star Wars" franchise reboot.

Chuck Davis is the parks' entertainment tech guru. His favorite part of the show is when a 100-foot plume of flame blasts into the air -- though he loves it partly because he's a big "Star Wars" fan.

The show beams lasers into the sprays of water to create different effects.

The fireworks display occurs over Sleeping Beauty's Castle, in front of the park's statue of Walt Disney walking hand-in-hand with Mickey Mouse.

The new program using projection mapping technology to dress structures in the park in animation, such as twinkles of light.

Projections turn Matterhorn Mountain into the volcano from the tank in "Finding Nemo."

Visitors to the park begin staking their spots for the nighttime spectaculars hours in advance.

Disney developed a mapping technology to project on the park's castle, mountain and buildings along Main Street USA. The technology creates 3D models of the structures because their facades aren't flat surfaces that easily accept projections.

The projection mapping allows Disney to "shrink wrap" live animation onto complicated buildings.