Disneyland explores ways to use aerial drones in nighttime shows – Orange County Register

The aerial drone shows that wowed Disneyland Paris audiences during the French theme park’s 30th anniversary celebration could one day soon make appearances in the night sky above Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland.

Disney Live Entertainment director and screenwriter Wendy Ruth marveled at the “magnificent” use of drones in the Disneyland Paris nighttime spectacular and discussed the technological innovations that could be rolled out next at the Disneyland resort during a panel discussion on the nightly return of the Anaheim theme park. spectacular.

“We’re looking at it and curious how to do it,” Ruth said of the Disneyland Paris drone show. “There are definitely experiments to be had with a variety of drones – in size, what they do, and their programmability.”

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The new “Disney D-Light” drone show that debuted in March at Disneyland Paris marked the first time a Disney theme park has used autonomous aerial technology as part of a daily outdoor show.

Disneyland brought back the ‘World of Color’ and ‘Fantasmic’ water shows, Main Street Electrical Parade and ‘Disneyland Forever’ fireworks this spring as part of a spectacular nighttime entertainment package after a two-year pandemic hiatus. .

The potential use of drones by Disneyland’s entertainment department remains very much in the “blue sky” phase of development.

“We are experimenting. We are exploring,” Ruth said. “But it’s really hard to say, ‘Yeah, it happens,’ because a lot of it is an experience.”

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The research and development department at Walt Disney Imagineering is always on the lookout for the next technological advancements that can be introduced to Disneyland, Walt Disney World and other Disney theme parks around the world.

“We send Imagineers all over the world to go find out — to learn more about drones, to learn more about invisible LEDs,” Ruth said. “Those are things that we’re very interested in finding the right show to make it happen.”

According to Ruth, the level of innovation deployed at each Disney theme park around the world varies depending on location and guest expectations.

“Here at Disneyland, our guests don’t like to see a lot of change. They want what they know,” Ruth said. “But when we can do something like a ‘color world’ and surprise them and say, ‘You didn’t know you wanted this. You always see those characters you love. You always hear the music you love. We’re just presenting it in a whole new way.

Any Disneyland drone show should consider Federal Aviation Administration rules as well as the impact the performance would have on nearby neighborhoods and freeways.

“It’s exciting to see what people are doing,” Ruth said of the drone shows. “But when they do, they go to the desert to do these shows. We just have different settings.

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