When Adventure Bay opens at Disney Adventure World on March 29, guests will be welcomed into an entirely new era of storytelling made possible only at Disneyland Paris.
As the sun sets each evening, the grand lake will take center stage and transform into “Disney Cascade of Lights,” a groundbreaking spectacular featuring hundreds of drones, choreographed fountains, projections, water screens, and pyrotechnics.
From the earliest days of development, the team at Disney Live Entertainment knew they wanted to tell a story that felt distinct. Together, they centered their narrative on something both timeless and universal: heroes. Not just the iconic Disney characters we’ve grown up with, but also the everyday heroes in the audience who do incredible things in their everyday lives.
This idea became the creative heartbeat of the show. But bringing that vision to life on a lake surrounded by guests required a whole new way of thinking. A lake for a stage meant the “actors” of the show would be figurative — fountains, lights, water screens, pyrotechnics and, for the first time in a Disney Parks nighttime spectacular, a fleet of aquatic drones.
Brand-New Aquatic Drones Elevate the Performance
Early virtual programming helped outline the flow of the show, but when the team finally transitioned to seeing it live on the lake, that’s when the story found its soul. Together they finetuned cue after cue, from lighting and media to pyro. Absolutely nothing was left unturned, with every detail carefully shaped to ensure each moment lived up to the team’s vision.
While aerial drones provide soaring imagery, the brand-new aquatic drones push the boundaries of nighttime entertainment in an exciting new direction. Skimming just above the surface of the water, they bring the show closer to the audience than ever, deepening the sense of immersion.
Disneyland Paris is no stranger to drone technology, but this new approach introduced a unique challenge as the drones would need to perform in damp conditions and in close proximity to pyrotechnics. To meet that demand, the standard drones were upgraded to be more durable and waterproof.
The entire show is anchored by a sweeping orchestral score recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, giving it a cinematic richness and an unexpected immersion that envelops the audience no matter where they stand.
A Signature Song Makes Its Nighttime Debut
At its heart is the show’s original song, We Can Be Heroes, an anthem celebrating the hero within each of us and one of the earliest creative elements to take shape. From the first demo, the team knew the song had emotion, texture, and embodied the heroic spirit.
Woven around the new music are some of Disney’s most beloved songs that mark the emotional turning points in a hero’s journey. These include Walt Disney Animation Studios classics like “Reflection” from Mulan, “Zero to Hero” and “Go the Distance” from Hercules, “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, and “Try Everything” from Zootopia.
Each song was chosen not only because guests adore them, but because each one of these songs poses the question at the core of becoming a hero: What am I capable of becoming?
The Live Entertainment team at Disneyland Paris has created something entirely its own, a breathtaking fusion of innovation and storytelling that can’t be experienced anywhere else in the world.
It’s a deeply personal and moving show, surprisingly so for something so technologically ambitious and set on such a grand stage. It’s the perfect way to end the day, in a shared moment of awe, music, and wonder.
Want to dive deeper into how this nighttime spectacular came to life? Watch the latest episode of Disney Unscripted for an inside look at the final days of rehearsals for “Disney Cascade of Lights.”
