Some have called Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade the best drone show ever. It’s time for me to make up my own mind.
I’m trading my drone controller for a pair of Mickey Mouse ears tonight. I’m not flying drones tonight, I’m looking at them and I’ll be doing it live tonight at Disneyland Paris. While most people are in town for the 2024 Paris Olympics, I knew I had to head to Paris before what is considered the greatest drone show of all time comes to an end on September 30, 2024.
This will be the second drone show I have ever seen with my own eyes. The first was also Disney themed. That was a Star Wars drone show hosted by Sky Elements that took place after an Oakland A’s baseball game. And maybe that’s not surprising. I love Disney as much as I love drones.
And although this will be my second drone show, I plan to see it three times! Yes, I will be watching this parade three nights straight to find out all the right angles to look out for as well as the best places to watch. Stay tuned for future editions of this Flight Diaries series as I promise to give you all the tips for watching Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade!
And even if you miss this particular show, expect more in the future. Disneyland Paris has quite a long history of drone shows, including past shows like Disney D-Light and Avengers: Power the Night.
The final performance of Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade on September 30 may be the last of this particular show (at least for now), but expect more shows to come soon. And hey, this show might come back on its own. After all, the 1970s parade keeps getting updated, returning to Main Street on an unpredictable but still quasi-frequent basis.
What you should know about Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade
Disney’s Electrical Sky Parade, brought to life by French drone light show company Dronisos, recreates popular scenes from the classic Main Street Electrical Parade. The show debuted in the 1970s, but the 2024 version has been revived with more than 500 drones. With it, the drones fly into formations of classic characters like Elliott the dragon from the 1977 movie “Pete’s Dragon”. Everything is synchronized to the same electro-synth-magnetic soundtrack that was famous in the 70s.
Most nights, it runs in the sky above Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland Paris.
The light show drones themselves are modified versions of aircraft from the French drone manufacturer Parrot. Parrot is perhaps best known for its now-defunct Bebop drone. Dronisos has contracted with Parrot to replicate on its platforms a specific drone-show product that is manufactured in France.
Dronisos uses several Parrot drones as a template. This includes the Mambo (originally marketed as a toy drone), which has since been renamed “Helios”. However, Helios is a light drone designed for indoor use only.
Dronisos also uses a redesigned Parrot Bebop 2, which he has mounted a light on and renamed the Zephyr drone. She also uses a more powerful Anafi drone, which she modified into a new aircraft called the Autan.
Disneyland Paris drones are not only powerful, but there are a lot of them. Also this summer, Disneyland Paris and Dronisos jointly set a Guinness World Record for “Largest Aerial Display of a Fictional Character Formed by Multirotors / Drones”. As part of the 2024 Bastille Day celebrations (which take place on July 14th each year), Dronisos sent a spectacular tri-color Mickey Mouse head into the sky made from 1,571 drones.
So with that I’m signing off to jump on Space Mountain before today’s drone show. Goodbye!