From CNET
The Federal Aviation Administration last week granted Disney a waiver so it can show off its amazing drone skills in the Orlando and Anaheim parks. Not a company known to wait well, it's already released a video teasing Disney's use of the drones to create what appears to be a floating, rotating Christmas tree.
The clip, posted Monday to its Disney Parks Blog, is brief (less than 30 seconds, and is just a teaser), but shows several people coordinating the drone effort, probably licensed drone pilots as required by the FAA waiver.
In the application to the FAA from October 2015, Disney stated that the drones (which it calls "Flixels"... how adorably Disney is that?) would operate in no-fly zones away from guests in restricted areas. In addition, the filing stated that these Flixels are less than 40 inches in diameter, weigh less than 10 pounds and fly at "six knots groundspeed" or about 7 mph.
The drone-love is nothing new for Disney -- it filed multiple patent applications in 2014, including one for marionettes supported by drones. And this year, the company was granted a patent for a drone with an attached projector.
Keep in mind this is a teaser and not a guarantee that we will see anything this new this holiday season. Much like the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout or Star Wars-Land, no timeline for these experiences has been announced.
Comments
The sound is kinda creepy but it shows that Hollywood sound effects people have their limits.
I gues the FAA was not involved in the making of the Clip ;-)
Place looks like the usual field Ascending (now Intel) is testing their Systems...
(The same as for the Intel 500 demo, talking about FAA but flying by German air law :-D )