The best ways Disney has used drones — a look back before the biggest show yet

On March 29, Disney Cascade of Lights debuts at Disneyland Paris. It’s set to be a 16-minute spectacular combining hundreds of both aerial and aquatic drones. Those will operate next to water screens, fountains, projections and pyrotechnics — all over a 3-hectare lake. I’ve written about why I think it might be the best drone show Disney has ever attempted, and if you know Disney’s drone history, that’s saying something.

But it’s hardly the first time Disney has used drones. In fact, Disney has been sprinkling drones into projects here and there for roughly a decade.

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Here are some of the highlights of Disney’s work with drones.

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2016: Disney Springs holiday light show at Walt Disney World

Way back in December 2016, Disney gave us what was one of the first fully FAA-approved entertainment drone shows in the United States. Called Starbright Holidays, it ran at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World in The show featured 300 Intel-powered (remember Intel? one of the early leaders in light shows?!) drones flying in synchronized patterns set to Christmas music, running twice nightly for six minutes. It was short-lived, ending after the 2016 holiday season.

Related read: ‘Better than fireworks’: people react to drones flying over Disney World

2022: Disney Paris drone shows

While the U.S. parks went quiet on drones — largely constrained by FAA regulations — Disneyland Paris in a way became Disney’s global testing ground.

The first major Paris drone show was Disney D-Light, followed by a Marvel-themed drone show at the sister park Walt Disney Studios (now Disney Adventure World) in 2023. These shows established Disneyland Paris’s partnership with Dronisos, the French drone show company that has since become Disney’s primary drone entertainment partner in Europe. Dronisos has gone on to become one of the most important drone show companies in the world, in no small part because of its Disney relationship.

2024: The Electrical Sky Parade at Disneyland Paris

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The most celebrated of all pre-Cascade Disney drone shows was Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade at Disneyland Paris, which launched in 2024 and ran through January 6, 2025. The show paid homage to the iconic Main Street Electrical Parade, where drones formed the shapes of iconic parade floats including a train and Elliott from Pete’s Dragon, flying against the backdrop of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

I saw it with my own eyes in August 2024 and was thoroughly impressed – and it was basically the best day ever when I finally saw it!

But that wasn’t all. In July 2024, Disneyland Paris also broke a Guinness World Record with a Bastille Day show produced by Dronisos, featuring a tricolor Mickey Mouse head made out of 1,571 drones — setting the record for “Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors/drones.” That record has since been surpassed by others, but it showed what Disney and Dronisos could do when they wanted to make a statement.

2024: Disney Dreams That Soar at Disney Springs in Florida

Back in the U.S., Disney finally returned to its home turf in summer 2024 with Disney Dreams That Soar at Disney Springs. With this show, 800 drones flew in a free show at the outdoor shopping and dining district, featuring over 30 characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. The show ran from May 24 through September 2, 2024, drew massive crowds, and was universally loved.

Sadly, though it has not returned since.

Related read: ‘Disney Dreams That Soar’ drone show takes flight at Disney Springs

November 2025: The Bellagio in Las Vegas

In a remarkable two-week stretch in November 2025, Disney deployed drones for two very different high-profile moments.

On November 22, following the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Disney debuted a one-of-a-kind show at the Fountains of Bellagio. Mickey Mouse took the stage in front of the famous Bellagio fountains, conducting an immersive performance combining the Bellagio water show, pyrotechnics, projections and just a light touch of drones overhead — set to a Disney/F1 mashup soundtrack. I liked this one because drones were not necessarily the key attraction (the fountains got the spotlight!) but drones augmented the fountains just so well.

Watch the show here:

November 2025: Disney Destiny’s cruise christening in Florida

Less than two weeks later after the Bellagio show, on November 10, Disney christened the Disney Destiny cruise ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The christening ceremony combined live music, a dozen vocal performers, scenic projections onto the side of the ship itself, and a 15-minute drone show overhead — marking what Disney described as a first for Disney Live Entertainment: the integration of drones and projections in a single nighttime spectacular.

The show featured characters and music from Hercules, The Lion King, Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Black Panther, all choreographed to a pop-rock medley. Thirty projectors were used to put images on the ship’s hull, with drones playing above. Watch it here:

I don’t care if you don’t like Disney — this show is seriously impressive, particularly how they incorporated live performers and projections on the ship.

October 2025: The secret tests that set the Internet on fire at Disney’s hidden ranch in California

In between those two November events, something interesting happened in the skies over Santa Clarita, California. For two consecutive nights in late October 2025, residents reported elaborate drone formations flying over Disney’s Golden Oak Ranch — a nearly 900-acre movie backlot owned by Disney, located about an hour north of Disneyland and 25 minutes from Walt Disney Imagineering’s Glendale headquarters.

Footage spread rapidly on social media showing formations of Genie and Agrabah’s palace from Aladdin, Mickey’s sorcerer hat, Gramma Tala’s manta ray from Moana, Captain Hook’s Jolly Roger, Maleficent’s dragon form, Ursula, and more. The scale was visibly more impressive than anything Disney had previously staged in the U.S., largely driven by tighter formations, smoother animation and more drones.

Walt Disney Imagineering acknowledged the tests, but didn’t outright announce anything — and we still don’t have any official word as to what those tests were about.

It does, though seem like this could be testing for the new Disneyland Paris Cascade of Lights show.

March 29, 2026: Cascade of Lights in Florida

And — though not a comprehensive list of every time the Walt Disney Company has flown a drone — this brings us to this weekend. Cascade of Lights marks a new kind of drone show. Besides aerial drones, this will be the first Disney show to deploy aquatic drones that operate on the water’s surface, creating a second drone fleet on an entirely different plane. Combined with the aerial drones above, custom Dronisos-designed weather-resistant aerial drones, 240+ floodlights, water screen projections, and a score recorded at Abbey Road with a 90-piece orchestra, it’s the most technically ambitious thing Disney has attempted in the drone space.

Can you believe this Disney drone show history? It’s been just ten years since that six-minute Christmas experiment with 300 Intel drones. These days, we’ve got epic cruise ship christenings and a 16-minute lake spectacular with aerial and aquatic drones.

If you’re in Paris on or after March 29, here’s everything you need to know about watching it. And if you’re watching the drone show world more broadly — this one is worth paying attention to.

And before you head to a Disney park, save money buy shopping through Drone Girl’s preferred authorized ticket discount seller, Undercover Tourist.

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