Holiday World treats Indiana audiences with return of drone show, fireworks in 2025
At Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, amusement park attendees this summer can once again watch hundreds of drones, some carrying pyrotechnics, during the Holidays in the Sky event, happening now until early August
Here's what we know about it.
The drone show features displays of patriotism and other holiday-themed images along with music and fireworks.
The show's pyrotechnic moments include a lightning strike targeting a haunted house and a rocket-shaped drone formation that erupts with fireworks to simulate a rocket launch, according to a news release.
'We keep finding new ways to make Holidays in the Sky more impressive,' said Lauren Crosby, Director of Events & Entertainment in a news release. 'The new pyrotechnic elements are taking the show to the next level–you truly have to see it to believe it!'
Holidays in the Sky debuted in 2022, according to a park spokesperson last year, who said only two other theme parks in North America had drone shows at the time.
According to Holiday World, the best place to watch the drone show is at the Party Plaza in the Thanksgiving section, which is just past Good Gravy! roller coaster on your way to Thunderbird wing coaster.
500 illuminated drones take part in the show, according to the theme park.
Can't make the show on July 4? No worries. The drones are scheduled to fly nightly from now until Aug. 3.
Weather permitting, the show begins at 8:50 p.m. Holiday World suggests attendees to arrive early for its "Light the Night" DJ dance party, which starts at 8:20 p.m.
Story continues after photo gallery from 2024.
The drone show lasts about 15 minutes, according to Holiday World.
Holiday World is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays. On July 4, Holiday World will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to its online calendar.
Tickets to Holiday World can be purchased at the gate or online (which is cheaper). A one-day ticket to Holiday World on July 4, 2025 was listed at $66.99 online or $74.99 at the gate. Any day tickets began at $71.99 started at $86.99 online.
In addition to discounts for military, first responders and nursing professionals, Holiday World offers "preferred seating and snacks" tickets to its drone show starting at $29.99 in addition to the cost of entry. A more expensive package for the drone show includes front-of-the-line privileges to its theme park rides.
Visit holidayworld.com for a map of the amusement park and a legend showing services throughout the park.
Holiday World is at 452 E. Christmas Blvd., Santa Claus, Indiana.
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When Eisner stepped down he could have retired thanks to his sizeable pile of Disney stock which has soared even higher in value under Iger, closing at $119.35 today. Instead, he built up a boutique media company called Tornante after seeing signs showing the word on a cycling trip through Italy. Meaning 'hairpin turn', the name was fitting as Tornante headed in a completely different direction to Disney by producing hit adult animation series on Netflix such as Bojack Horseman and Tuca and Bertie. Despite his close ties to streaming, Eisner is still a big believer in movie theaters as this reporter revealed in the Daily Mail in 2023. He has also recently written a book called Camp, about the lessons he learned at summer camp, and has diversified outside media. Tornante has made investments in prize-draw company Omaze and trading card business Topps, which was sold to Fanatics in 2022 for an estimated $500 million. However, they were just trailers for the main event. Soon after Eisner turned 75 in 2017 he took perhaps his biggest swing yet when he acquired British soccer club Portsmouth FC. The team was founded in 1898 and was experiencing one of the toughest times in its history. In 2012 the historic team had fallen two tiers below the top flight Premier League after collapsing into administration – the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy – for the second time in two years. Its plight was so serious that it had to be rescued by its fans before its real life prince charming came along. Eisner had some experience in sports as under his leadership Disney bought the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and founded the Anaheim Ducks NHL squad which went on to win the World Series and the Stanley Cup respectively. Accordingly, making a success of a soccer team may sound like a cinch, especially for someone who built up the world's biggest media company. However, Eisner wasn't willing to buy his way to the top and burn up blockbuster losses. There is good reason for this. Eisner was one of the first of a string of American celebrities to invest in British soccer teams. He was followed by Ryan Reynolds, Michael B Jordan and Will Ferrell who invested in Wrexham FC, AFC Bournemouth and Leeds United respectively. Eisner wasn't jumping on a bandwagon and instead bought Portmouth FC, or Pompey as it is affectionately known, because he is a devoted soccer fan himself. He even invited Ferrell to matches leading to his investment in Leeds. Eisner's goal is getting Portsmouth back into the prestigious Premier League by building it up organically. What's more, he wanted it to be the springboard for a behind the scenes show along the lines of the hit Ryan Reynolds Disney+ docuseries Welcome to Wrexham. Eisner revealed the rationale behind it in a 2019 interview with this author for the Daily Mail at his office in Beverly Hills. When asked why a media boss would want to own a soccer team he replied 'football is the most direct [investment of my] media strategy. It is the most obvious and the clearest as opposed to the least obvious.' He explained that 'content, in my opinion, is still the essential ingredient in the media and having content is still the most important thing in platform that is appealing to an audience has to have something that lights up the Christmas Tree. And what lights up the Sky Christmas Tree or the ESPN Christmas Tree is live sports.' Known as appointment viewing because fans have to tune in at a specific time to watch it live, sport commands premium prices by broadcasters. "The only thing that demands viewing when it happens is sports. Yes, you have replays and you have all sorts of analysis of sports but if you know the score at the end of the game, the rest is really just icing on the cake." The drama of live sport also yields immensely passionate fans who crave content about their heroes. It explains why Welcome to Wrexham has been so popular but it wasn't the first mover in the streaming space. That accolade goes to Sunderland Til I Die, a 2018 Netflix series about the disputes and dilemmas behind the scenes at Sunderland AFC which had just been relegated from the English Football League Championship to League One. As Eisner explained, "all you have to do is watch Sunderland Til I Die on Netflix to understand the emotion of a team going into dissent." In fact, it was this show that convinced the actor Rob McElhenney to buy a soccer team leading to his investment in Wrexham with Reynolds. At the end of last season Wrexham was promoted to the Championship, one step below the Premier League. The odds seemed stacked against Eisner getting Portsmouth back to the top as English soccer is full of team owners who are prepared to pour billions into their squads in a bid to win on the pitch and earn international acclaim. However, afer seven calendar years in charge, his happy ending is within striking distance. Portsmouth won the League One title in the 2023-2024 season and was promoted to the Championship after a 12-year absence. Since then, the team has retained its place there and will make a renewed charge for promotion to the Premier League when the upcoming season gets underway on Friday. Perhaps indicating Eisner's confidence in its chances, he recently announced that Portsmouth is planning to film behind-the-scenes content over the coming year. It is a momentous milestone as it will give him the content he envisaged back in 2019. Most impressively, Eisner has managed to get this far without burning up blockbuster losses and putting the team in jeopardy. Quite the opposite actually as analysis of its latest financial statements reveals that the team now has the strongest capital structure in its 127-year history with no debt and net assets of $33.5 million (£26.5 million) as of June 30, 2024. Its net asset value has increased more than five fold since the supporters took over the club in 2013 which shows how strong the business has become. The metric is calculated by deducting a company's liabilities from the value of its assets so the higher the value, the lower the level of risk. The net result can be a sign of impending peril and, testimony to this, Portsmouth had net liabilities of $93.8 million (£47.5 million) in 2008 before it collapsed less than two years later. Since Eisner bought the team its cash reserves have risen 16.3% to $3.9 million (£3.1 million) which also gives strong confidence in the business. Its success has been shared amongst its staff as their pay has almost doubled to $13.4 million (£10.6 million) since Eisner took control even though employee numbers have decreased by 26.1% to 275. Staff and players were paid bonuses after the team was promoted and this partly fueled a $7.1 million (£5.6 million) net loss last year which pales in comparison to the red ink burned up by its counterparts in the Premier League. Everton FC for example reported a $67.3 million (£53.2 million) net loss last year whilst Tottenham Hotspur lost $33.1 million (£26.2 million). Both clubs have hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue as they share in the proceeds of the league's broadcast deals which are amongst the biggest in world soccer. It explains why Portsmouth's revenue is far lower though it rose 8.9% last year to $17.2 million (£13.6 million), the highest level since Eisner bought the team. Last year alone, matchday takings increased 6.3% to $8.7 million (£6.9 million) whilst broadcasting revenue rose by almost double that percentage to $3.2 million (£2.5 million). The increased broadcast exposure gave a 21.4% boost to the team's commercial and sponsorship revenue with partners including Nike and Uber Eats paying a total of $2.3 million (£1.8 million) in 2024. It was a family effort as the team is run by Eisner's dynamic entrepreneur sons Anders, founder of zero-sugar brand Activate Drinks, producer Eric and director Breck who made 2005 adventure film Sahara starring Matthew McConaughey and Penélope Cruz. They are accompanied by talented managers including chief executive Andrew Cullen, chief marketing officer Matthew Barker, chief commercial officer Mark Judges and the coach John Mousinho. Although Eisner's spending on Portsmouth hasn't been unchained, he hasn't left the club wanting. Its 2018 financial statements revealed that "the purchase of the club by Tornante resulted in an injection of £10 million [$13.2 million] new working capital which bolstered the balance sheet to a new positive total of £12.6 million [$16.6 million] net assets." It didn't stop there. As of June last year the Eisner family had invested $46.8 million (£37 million) in the club including $24 million (£19 million) alone on the redevelopment of its Fratton Park stadium. This began in June 2021, well ahead of the club's 125th anniversary, and was handled by Robert Stern who Eisner knew through his work at Disney. Stern designed Disney's Feature Animation Building in Burbank, California, with its soaring blue replica of Mickey Mouse's pointy sorcerer's hat. Stern was also behind Walt Disney World's lavish Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, which look like sprawling New England mansions, and their counterpart at Disneyland Paris, the Newport Bay Club. His work on Fratton Park had a magic touch as average attendance increased by around 1,000 to 18,952 in the year to June 30, 2024 and on February 17 last year Portsmouth had its first crowd of more than 20,000 spectators in 13 years. Its latest financial statements add that "in the second half of the season, we capped our season tickets to 15,000 and introduced a season ticket waiting list at Fratton Park for the first time in many years." In turn, the surge in spectators led to record hospitality kiosk and merchandising sales which is perhaps as significant a home run as the team's success on the pitch. "It is a game about winning. It is a game about progressing upwards. It is a game about strategy. It is a game about intelligent management," says Eisner. "Just like in the entertainment business."
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