Credit: DisneyOne Disney park’s nighttime spectacular went wrong recently, causing damage to a park structure.
Nighttime spectaculars are a key part of the Disney park experience. For decades, these took the form of fireworks, with Fantasy in the Sky kickstarting a years-old trend when it first debuted at Disneyland Resort in the 1950s.
As of late, fireworks have become increasingly less important. While shows such as Magic Kingdom Park’s Happily Ever After and Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks are still extremely popular, the last few years have seen Disney parks incorporate advanced projection mapping and drone technology as a safer, quieter, and more sustainable alternative.
At Disneyland, for example, nighttime shows only use pyrotechnics on select nights, while Disneyland Paris—which still features fireworks—has gone all in on drones with the launch of its pre-show Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade in 2024.
Increasingly impressive though they may be, drone shows aren’t entirely faultless. As we’ve seen in the past, they can – and do – go wrong, with drones falling out of the sky, failing, or crashing on occasion.
This seems to have been the case for Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade at Disneyland Paris recently. As reported by @DisneyphileLIVE, two drones have been abandoned on rooftops in Fantasyland, including atop Le Carrousel de Lancelot, after seemingly falling from the sky during the nightly show.
In Fantasyland, two abandoned drones. It should be noted that the fall of one of them has clearly caused damage to a roof…
https://twitter.com/DisneyphileLIVE/status/1862834731051577672
Not only have these drones fallen from the sky, but they seem to have caused some damage in the process. Images show missing roof slats, which seem to have gathered at the bottom of the netting placed on the roof.
A similar situation was reported at Disneyland Paris back in May when fallen drones were spotted on a roof near Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The same occurred in the summer of 2023 when the park was still performing Disney D-Light, the predecessor to Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade.
Disney is set to take its drone shows to new heights in 2025, with the launch of Disney Tales of Magic in January. This will combine “state-of-the-art effects and fireworks immersing dreamers of all ages,” replacing both Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade and Disney Illuminations with one brand-new, revolutionary show.
That gives parkgoers just over a month to enjoy Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade, a show that’s proven deeply popular with those who remember Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade. Upon its debut in January 2024, onlookers claimed that they were left “weeping.”
Before then, the park will pause the show—which currently boasts a festive overlay—for nine days from December 5 for a temporary drone show inspired by Notre Dame to mark the Parisian church’s reopening after its traumatic fire in 2019.
Do you prefer fireworks or drone shows at Disney?