The new Adventure Bay area at Disneyland Paris debuted a new nighttime spectacular: Disney Cascade of Lights. Watch our full video of the show.

About the Show

In its first-ever nighttime spectacular, Adventure Bay in Disney Adventure World brightens up the water with a water and drone show. It’s “an invitation for every guest to believe in their own strength, to embrace wonder, and to feel the power of storytelling in a way only Disney can deliver.”

Cascade of Lights is designed using water barges in a 360-degree configuration. This layout allows guests from any point of the bay to experience the show. In addition to water screens, choreographed fountains, large-scale projections, dynamic lighting, special effects, and pyrotechnics, the show also features first-of-its-kind aquatic drones in addition to aerial drones.

The show has a musical score recorded by a 90-piece orchestra. Guests can enjoy new arrangements of beloved songs, including an original adaptation of “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and the show’s original anthem “We Can Be Heroes.”

Show Procession

Fifteen minutes before the show starts, a music loop not unlike the one at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic starts playing, which does not match the tone of the show all that well. The show begins with several small-scale fireworks, before the fountains begin dancing to the theme song “We can be heroes,” performed in both French and English. Drones and spotlights also play a major role throughout the spectacle.

The projections on the water showcase the upcoming movies and characters featured in the show, while asking the viewer if they have ever felt the touch of inspiration. The drones make a swirling motion across the whole lake. “Heroes are called to help others, inspiration leads the way,” is spoken in French and English before the first character segment, Mulan.

Mulan sings “Reflection” in English, after which an orchestral version of “I’ll Make a Man out of You” starts playing.

Several fireworks ignite as Mulan goes back into Reflection. These are the type of fireworks Disneyland Paris is allowed to fire every night, as a fireworks show like “Happily Ever After” would not be allowed due to regulations.

The second segment is Hercules, where drones spell out “Zero” and “hero” in the sky while “Zero to Hero” plays in English. Disneyland Paris has gone to lengths to ensure the show has minimal environmental impact by using fully electric barge boats, naturally filtering the lake with different fish species, and employing residue-free materials in fireworks and pyrotechnics.

Hercules sings “Go the Distance” in French after a drone “lightning bolt” hits the stage. All of this is accompagnied with projections on four water screens, although these appear to be only partially visible from certain angles.

A circle of drones form a Greek pattern as the song ends and fireworks erupt. Adventure Bay stretches three hectares (30,000 square meters). The central structure and 360° approach, plus over 240 floodlights and strategically placed speakers, provide a good viewing experience.

The next segment revolves around the Zootopia movies, as the lake takes on the appearance of a concert, with the drones in the sky acting like stage lights at a concert. Gazelle sings “Try Everything” and “Zoo.” Projections of Judy and Nick, among other characters, appear and disappear throughout.

Gary De Snake appears in drone form during the “Zoo” segment, before segwaying into Vaiana (Moana in France).

Everything in Disney Cascade of Lights revolves around a story driven by the concept of “Inspiration,” represented by the drones in the sky. Inspiration was the motivation for the characters selected for the show, who each have an emotional link with which the audience can resonate. Moana’s segment is in French as she sings “How far I’ll go”.

Vaiana’s grandmother, in the shape of a manta ray, appears in the sky with drones as the French version of the Moana 2 song “Beyond” plays for a few seconds.

The drones return to the same earlier ” inspiration” motions before talking about hope and going into the “Avengers” section. Fireworks erupt to the theme of the Avengers before showing several key characters on the water projection screens. Note the usage of the water drones lighting the lake.

The Avengers section is one of the longest, before a drone version of the Avengers logo is rotated up into the sky, and more fireworks close it.

The inspiration drones come back as the narrator proclaims, “Anyone can feel the call of inspiration.” After this, the water projection screens seem to start an Encanto segment, although Finding Nemo appears to quickly take its place.

Dory and Marlin appear in the sky as a continuation of the opening song appears to play. The water screens show Anna and Elsa before focusing on the Up characters.

Drones in the shape of three balloons appear above the water projection screen before the finale starts. Frozen does not get a full segment.

“Now it is time, let inspiration touch your heart” is said by the narrator as the main theme of the show starts playing in full.

Most noteworthy is that the water drones are also using sparklers for this moment, as the drones scatter to make way for the remaining fireworks in the show, though they remain floating around the lake.

After the show ends, the drones remain visible on the lake for a few moments, glowing like stars as the fountains also continue, albeit without the projection effects. As you exit the park, a version of the theme song plays on Adventure Way. To learn more about the background of the show, be sure to read our article here.

Full POV Video:

Watch our full video of Disney Cascade of Lights below:

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