Drone technology has become a new innovation for theme park nighttime entertainment. These drone light shows are incredibly impressive and provide a new way to experience nighttime spectaculars at theme parks.
We have already seen this new drone technology take place at Disneyland Paris with an impressive light show, “Disney Electrical Sky Parade,” which features 500 synchronized drones. This show went viral after its debut in January 2024 and many Disney Parks fans in the United States expressed a wish that we would see similar technology come to Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
Well, I have good news for those fans! Disney has announced a new drone show coming to Walt Disney World this summer. Keep reading for all the information on this new drone show and what it might mean for the future of Walt Disney World nighttime entertainment. Keep scrolling for all the NEW photos released!
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Disney Dreams That Soar – NEW Drone Show
The new drone show coming to Walt Disney World is called “Disney Dreams That Soar” and features “Disney stories celebrating the joy of flight with state-of-the-art drones choreographed to create designs in the sky and paired with a “soaring” musical score and memorable movie quotes.”
The new drone show will include scores from Disney soundtracks and an original song created just for the show. The show will feature quotes from “Peter Pan,” “Dumbo,” “Wall-E,” “Big Hero 6,” “Star Wars” and more.
Let's look at the NEW photos released of what characters and films will be included!
New Disney Springs Drone Show Photos Shared
First we got a look at Dumbo as a character featured in the show.
Peter Pan will also be featured.
The show will also include a call out to Star Wars.
Pixar characters are also celebrated with this preview of Wall-e and Eve.
Up is also featured with Carl's iconic house.
Big Hero Six will also make an appearance!
This preview image includes a sneak peak at Orange Bird!
This new drone show at Disney Springs looks breathtaking and is a great way to incorporate nighttime entertainment in this area of Walt Disney World.
Where is the Drone Show at Walt Disney World?
Disney Dreams That Soar will run nightly at Disney Springs from May 24th through September 2nd.
I anticipate this new show will be popular but since drone shows can be easily viewed from many locations every guest should be able to get a good view. This is a great way to enhance the nighttime offerings at Disney Springs since this is a popular place at Walt Disney World to grab dinner after a long day in the parks.
This new drone show joins other exciting summer announcements for 2024 including new Lion King offerings at Animal Kingdom, a brand new character coming to Hollywood Studios, an Encanto show at EPCOT, plus the end date of ALL construction at EPCOT's World Celebration.
Theme Park Drone Show Popularity Rises
Disneyland Paris was one of the first Disney Parks to incorporate such large drone technology into their theme park entertainment. With their new show, “Disney Electrical Sky Parade,” they blew fans away with 500 synchronized drones that took on the form of popular floats from the classic Main Street Electrical Parade.
This drone show incorporates drones along with video projections, lights, and fountains across Sleeping Beauty Castle. The drones take on the form of illuminated floats like the iconic train of Mickey Mouse and friends, Elliott the dragon, and Cinderella's carriage.
You can watch a clip from the show we previously shared below on the Mickey Visit Instagram. Be sure to click below to follow @MickeyVisit for even more fun from the parks.
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We previously shared news that the former Vice President of Disneyland Paris entertainment, David Duffy, will be moving to Walt Disney World Resort to lead live entertainment at the resort. We hoped at the time this might lead to some of this impressive technology coming to Walt Disney World!
Disneyland Paris isn't the only theme park that has incorporated drones into their nighttime spectaculars recently. Universal Studios Hollywood has also incorporated drone technology in their Harry Potter show “Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle.” The show ends with an impressive drone image of a Patronus stag, the figure associated with light and good in the Harry Potter franchise.
There have also been rumors flying that Universal Orlando is making steps towards creating their own large drone show. Nothing on this scope has been officially confirmed but fans have reported seeing drones being tested in Universal Studios Florida. Perhaps we might see some drone technology incorporated in the new Epic Universe theme park Universal Orlando is opening in 2025 or this will be a new show using drone technology for Universal Studios Florida. Universal Orlando faces the limitations, similar to those of Disneyland, of being walled in by residential areas which makes fireworks tricky. Replacing fireworks with drones are a way to help fix that problem!
These rumors have been further flamed since the Paris owned drone company, Dronisos, opened a location in Orlando to better serve theme park clients. Again, none of this is confirmed but all seems to track with this rise in popularity of theme parks to utilize drone technology!
With that all being said, it absolutely makes sense that Walt Disney World would make a move to bring more drone technology to the parks. Walt Disney World did host a limited time run drone show at Disney Springs back in 2016 called Starbright Holidays but since then we have not seen any moves towards further drone technology… until now!
Potential for Animal Kingdom Drone Shows?
If this show goes well, this would be the perfect nighttime entertainment to bring to Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom has been without a nighttime spectacular since 2020 when the popular Rivers of Light come to an end. A drone focused nighttime spectacular would fit seamlessly into the design of Animal Kingdom since there are no fireworks associated with these shows which is essential to protect the well-being of the animals that live in the park.
It would be a dream to see a new nighttime spectacular come to Animal Kingdom since the park has so much to offer after sundown especially with the lights of the Pandora- The World of Avatar coming alive at night. It is rare to enjoy Animal Kingdom in the dark unless you visit on a late closing day during peak crowds or visit in the winter.
We would also love to see this show added as part of the entertainment offerings for Disneyland. We could see it coming to World of Color or in place of the fireworks show. Though we would love to see this, the lack of space around Disneyland could be a limiting factor as the drone shows require landing areas and certain amounts of air space distancing to perform safely.
Here's hoping this is the first step of more to come with drone show technology at Walt Disney World.
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