xLabs use case
How the xLabs team designed the aquatic robots of Disney Cascade of Lights at Disneyland Paris, and took them from a first prototype to an industrial system performing daily on Adventure Bay.
Show
Disney Cascade of Lights, Disney Adventure World, Disneyland Paris
Premiere
29 March 2026, on Adventure Bay
Format
16-minute nighttime show, 360° around the bay, every evening
Robots
Aquatic surface robots (the Ducks) synchronised with the aerial swarm
Role
Dronisos, Official Drone Show Provider of Disneyland Paris since 2022
Team
xLabs engineers: robotics, embedded software, mechanics, operations
The journey
01
Disneyland Paris wanted a nighttime spectacle on Adventure Bay where the audience stands all around the lake. Aerial drones alone could not tell the story at water level. The question for xLabs: can a swarm of robots perform on the surface of the water, in sync with the drones in the sky, with the reliability of a daily park show? [JD: contexte et contraintes initiales à compléter]
02
A flat surface robot, nicknamed the Duck, built to carry light, hold its position on the water and talk to the same brain as the aerial swarm. [JD: date du premier prototype, ce qui a marché et ce qui a cassé à compléter]
03
Each test campaign changed the design: hull, propulsion, sealing, positioning, light output, battery life, recovery after a fault. The software side matured in parallel: one choreography engine for air and water, with safety envelopes for both. [JD: nombre de versions, campagnes d'essais, chiffres clés à compléter]
04
Turning one working robot into a fleet means production tooling, spare parts, maintenance procedures, charging, transport and certification. This is where xLabs hands over to Dronisos operations, with documentation that lets a park team run the system without the engineers who designed it. [JD: taille de la flotte, cadence de production, certifications à compléter]
05
Since 29 March 2026, the Ducks perform on Adventure Bay every evening, synchronised with the aerial swarm: 16 minutes of show, a 360° audience, and a system designed to be checked, launched and recovered by the park's daily operations team. [JD: nombre de représentations, taux de disponibilité, retours à compléter]
Gallery
What we learned
A robot that works once on the test pond is a demo. A robot that a park team can launch, check and recover every night is a product. We design for the second from day one. [JD: à valider]
The Ducks share the choreography engine and safety logic of the aerial swarm. New robot families plug into the same platform instead of starting from scratch. [JD: à valider]
Spare parts, maintenance, charging, transport, documentation: the unglamorous half of robotics is what makes 365 nights a year possible. [JD: à valider]
Work with xLabs
Partners, parks and researchers: tell us what you want to try. We will prototype it with you, and take it all the way to an industrial system.