As the Disney Dreams That Soar drone show enters its final days of operation, where could we see drones next at Walt Disney World? Just about every theme park could benefit from them (not you, Magic Kingdom), but we’ll rank each park separately, along with what we’d love to see.
1. Animal Kingdom Drone Show (Rivers of Light in the Sky)
The leading contender has to be Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The park has an attendance problem, and it’s only going to get worse when Epic Universe opens next summer. Disney has had a conservative entertainment rollout (to say the least) compared to what we expected to see. So far, only a nighttime parade has been announced for Magic Kingdom next summer, but there has to be more yet to be announced, right?
Animal Kingdom is suffering. The park basically keeps banker’s hours when compared to the other three Walt Disney World theme parks, and there really isn’t anything on the horizon to turn those fortunes around. If Epic Universe demands an extra day or two from guests visiting Universal Orlando next summer, something will have to give. With early ticket deals likely combining access to Epic Universe with access to Universal’s other theme parks, people might have to cut some Walt Disney World time out of their vacation. The first park on that list right now has to be Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as much as I personally love the park.
A shot in the arm is needed, and the easiest way to do that would be to roll out a nighttime drone show in the abandoned Rivers of Light Discovery River Amphitheater. Drones were extremely popular at Disney Springs (yes, I know the show was free to watch), and they would certainly do well at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. A modified Rivers of Light fountain-only show with a drone component has to have been tossed around the offices of Disney Live Entertainment by now.
Rivers of Light certainly grew on me, IP updates notwithstanding, and the show score is excellent. Throw in some visuals in the sky and you’re filling up that amphitheater twice per night, bringing back dessert parties, selling dinner at your restaurants, and restoring access to the nighttime ambiance of Pandora – The World of Avatar. Add in a new Tree of Life projection show and you’ve got the makings of a Wild Summer nighttime event that will not only help Animal Kingdom’s attendance issues but also relieve some of the stress that Magic Kingdom will feel with the Disney Starlight nighttime parade (and there will be stress on Magic Kingdom).
2. Disney’s Hollywood Studios Drone Show (Star Wars)
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is number two on our list because Fantasmic, while great, can only do so much for that park. Star Wars fans are down bad. There used to be a phenomenal nighttime show at Hollywood Studios that combined projections on the Chinese Theater with a proper fireworks show. With the World Drive fireworks launch point essentially abandoned at this point, and the prospect of a real fireworks show sitting at slim to none, we’re “resurrecting” our idea for a Star Wars drone show from our Disney Dreams That Soar review.
Years ago, Disney World abandoned the fireworks launch site on the west side of World Drive. When thinking about what might be possible, a drone launch site from the shuttered Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser parking lot could provide some amazing views from within Batuu. Views from in front of the Chinese Theater wouldn’t be any more skewed than they were with the World Drive fireworks launch site. Disney could create a nighttime spectacular that is viewable from two different locations and perhaps even create two different shows – one from within Batuu, and one with projections and rooftop fireworks on the Chinese Theater – both using the same drone images. Come on Disney, give us a real Star Wars nighttime show again!
3. EPCOT (Illuminate the Sky)
Luminous: The Symphony of Us is a worthy nighttime show at EPCOT. That said, there are some segments of the show that we’d love to see get reworked. I’m not sure if Luminous is creating the foot traffic that Disney was hoping for, but with Festivals propping up EPCOT, maybe it doesn’t matter.
I think the fireworks package for Luminous is really, really good, so EPCOT’s inclusion on this list is more of an illustration of how much Magic Kingdom doesn’t need drones more than a call for drones to show up at EPCOT.
In terms of where drones could be launched from, the obvious choice would be over World Showcase Lagoon, either floated in on a barge, or launched from a dock. Other feasible areas could be in a construction staging parking lot south of The American Adventure (but that’s probably too close to the Disney Skyliner). Another spot that might play well as a compelling backdrop to entertainment on the CommuniCore Plaza stage and, more broadly, World Celebration Gardens is a launch point behind the Wonders of Life building/Cosmic Rewind area. There’s also a new parking lot directly next to the Cosmic Rewind building that seems to be lightly utilized at the moment.
This is real back-of-the-napkin stuff, so don’t expect it to come to fruition at all, but it’s fun to consider what might be possible as drones provide a canvas that is relatively dynamic and uses space that is plentiful around the parks: the sky. We’ve seen some great stuff at Disneyland Paris that could be implemented at Walt Disney World should the coffers open up a bit in the new fiscal year.
4. Magic Kingdom
Disney, please don’t put a drone show at Magic Kingdom. We should rank this fifth behind extending the drone show at Disney Springs. Heck, Disney Springs was an operational nightmare at times and even that would be better than what Magic Kingdom would be looking at with an overly weighted nighttime lineup next summer.
I don’t even think Disney would want to sink too much more money into nighttime entertainment at the most visited theme park in the world when there are construction projects on the horizon and they aren’t having any difficulties getting guests to stay for Happily Ever After.
I think the name of the game will be balance, and trying to make other theme parks enticing for guests to visit at night once Disney Starlight debuts next summer. Ideally, that means a compelling drone show at one of the other theme parks listed above. We’d also love to see some layering or unexpected use of drones in combination with ground-based entertainment. The Disney Dreams That Soar drone show was wonderfully done for the location it was presented in, but we’d like to see drones used in conjunction with other elements when used as a nighttime spectacular in the theme parks.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!