Overview
- Bloomberg and trade coverage show Disney has begun live testing next‑generation devices in its parks, including a projection‑mapped, 3D‑printed facial shell installed in Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean.
- The new animatronic approach uses a rigid, 3D‑printed face with no moving parts and high‑fidelity real‑time projection driven by a game engine to create changing expressions and cut mechanical wear.
- Imagineering is developing free‑roaming prototypes such as a low‑altitude, hovering Star Wars food‑cart droid, a six‑foot hydrofoil manta ray inspired by Moana, and sub‑surface mechanical dolphins that use jet‑pump propulsion and GPS.
- Walt Disney Imagineering says it is ‘working backwards’ by iterating these systems in California and Florida parks so software, sensors and choreography can be proven before wider deployment in Abu Dhabi.
- The program aims to broaden show possibilities and lower maintenance costs but will need operational, safety and regulatory solutions for low‑altitude propulsion, object avoidance, open‑water robotics and GPS coordination before routine guest use.