Disneyland Planned a Drone Show, But It Never Happened

Drones have been impressively incorporated into some of Disney Parks' nighttime spectaculars in recent years, with shows in Disney Springs and Disneyland Paris dazzling guests and receiving high praise.

Recently at D23, it was revealed during one of the panels that there was originally a drone show planned for Disneyland that never came to be. Drones were going to be incorporated into one of the major nighttime spectaculars at the resort, but restrictions regarding the use of drones prevented this from happening.

Keep reading for more details on the drone show that never came to be, plus a look at the future of drones in Disney shows!

Scrapped Drone Show Plans for Disneyland

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During the D23 panel “Magic After Dark – The Story of Disney's Nighttime Spectaculars,” the Vice President of Parades and Spectaculars at Walt Disney Imagineering, Steven Davison, talked about how drones were going to be used for Disney California Adventure's World of Color show.

Imagineering had worked with Intel on this project, as Davison shared: “We originally worked with Intel when they first brought the drones out. They were supposed to premiere at this water thing across the street we won’t talk about [this panel was happening in the Anaheim Convention Center the water thing was clearly World of Color]. But it's interesting because there’s so many restrictions in America with the use of drones that we're finally getting a chance to actually look at them and use them.”

Recent shows have demonstrated how effective and captivating the use of drones can be in Disney's nighttime spectaculars, so it would have been interesting to see how they would have been incorporated into this favorite show.

We suspect the reason it may have not worked out for Disneyland is due to space constrictions. The Disney Springs drone shows have taken place over the water so that the drones are not directly over the crowds, and drones have been seen falling from the sky into the water during shows. While the potential use of drones in Disney California Adventure's World of Color show would have been over the water, we are guessing that Paradise Bay did not have a big enough radius for the drones to be performing at an approved distance from the crowd.

However, especially after the success of the recent “Disney Dreams That Soar” show, it feels like a drone show could definitely headed for one of the Disney World parks soon. A park like Animal Kingdom, for instance, could be a good candidate as drones could fly over the water of Discovery River and finally give that part a worthwhile nighttime offering that could last.

Intel drones were featured as part of the show “Starbright Holidays” at Disney Springs in 2016, which included drones in “synchronized choreography set to a specially orchestrated arrangement of classic holiday music” and marked the “first time in the United States 300 show drones have flown at one time” according to Disney.

Some of the most recent drone shows that have dazzled fans include “Disney Dreams That Soar” at Disney Springs, featuring 800 drones choreographed to create over 30 characters, and “Disney Electrical Sky Parade” in Disneyland Paris that pays tribute to Main Street Electrical Parade. Previous drone shows at Disneyland Paris include “Disney D-Light” for its 30th anniversary in 2022 and “Avengers: Power the Night” in 2023.

The new “Disney Dreams That Soar” show took the drone offerings to the next level with an incredible mix of movement and choreography that brought more energy to the drones than previous shows.

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During the panel, Davison also commented on the potential for the use of drones in future nighttime spectaculars. “I think it's a great alternative to fireworks, you know, we always look at that, we look at the environment, you know, how can we do things and tell stories.” He went on to say, “I've seen the newest versions of drones and where they're headed, it's beautiful, it's spectacular, they're really jumping into this and I think we've just hit the beginning of it and where it can go.”

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