Disney is hard at work utilizing renewable energy within its theme parks around the world, including Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland and even the Disney Cruise Line.
An all-new solar facility is being built on Castaway Cay, the private island for the Disney Cruise Line. When completed, this new solar array will power 70% of Disney’s private island in The Bahamas. This new facility represents a larger effort by Disney to power our parks more responsibly. This facility includes a total of 4,320 solar panels that soak up the warm island sun.
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort is no stranger to solar energy. In 2016, a not-so-hidden Mickey shaped solar array was developed near Epcot in collaboration with Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) and Duke Energy, sharing that authentic Disney flair across 22 acres of land. And in 2019, Walt Disney World Resort and RCID joined Origis Energy USA to develop a revolutionary 270-acre, 57-megawatt solar facility that generates enough renewable clean energy to operate two of Disney?s four theme parks in Central Florida annually, all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50,000 tons per year.
Today, Walt Disney World Resort and RCID continue to find ways to expand their use of solar energy and have teamed up with local utility partners in Central Florida to develop two new 75MW solar facilities, expected to come online in 2022 and 2023. Combined with their existing solar facilities, the Walt Disney World Resort and RCID renewable energy portfolio consists of approximately 212MW of solar capacity which is projected to bring Walt Disney World?s renewable energy consumption up to 40% of its total power use once online.
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is setting the standard for solar energy in Europe ? working on the one of the largest solar canopy plants in collaboration with Urbasolar. This solar plant will provide practical and innovative use of 67,500 solar panels sitting atop a covered parking lot. This project will not only save space, provide shade and protect guest vehicles from inclement weather, but it will also produce 31 gigawatt-hours of energy per year and provide enough renewable clean energy to power 17% of the resort. The plant will also have a special Disney touch, illuminating in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head that can be visible at night from the sky.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is also setting an example locally, serving as home to the single largest solar panel site in Hong Kong. The park has installed 5000 solar panels on 20 buildings and attractions – reaching approximately 2.2 million kWh, the same amount of energy generated by 544 three-person Hong Kong households for one year.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Solar arrays can also be found at Disneyland Resort and Tokyo Disneyland. 1,400 solar panels sit atop the Radiator Springs Racer attraction at Disneyland while one full acre worth of solar panels span across Tokyo Disneyland, serving as the power source for the iconic Dreamlight Parade floats.
Disney says that they are committed to achieving net zero emissions for their direct operations by 2030.
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Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @iamcg83