News ‘Rivers of Light: We Are One’ coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom summer 2019

[Kman101]

Nothing will happen without some kind of movie IP tie-in with a merchandising guy in charge of P&R.

And not that "Frozen Land" couldn't be good, it just seems a bit... over the top... for one movie. We'll have to see how it turns out at WDSP.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread topic.

Yep, almost nothing happens without an IP tie in ... that's likely how things get greenlit now. I bet they wanted to re-do Mizner's but were told to tie it to an IP, for example. I can see why Chapek feels this is the way to go, but he's misguided. But I can see why he thinks how he does, and guests aren't helping this by eating up everything thrown their way (and that doesn't mean everything with IP is horrible, folks know I have mixed feelings on the IP, feeling they aren't the worst to utilize but the execution has often lacked)

I have nothing against Frozen Land ... but agreed. Three of 'em are coming (Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris) with a fourth a probability (Anaheim)

Anywho ... back to ROL being replaced by an IP fest. I've seen a lot of folks thrilled over it changing (which again tells me the average folks magically assume adding characters will 'fix' the show ... LOL). We'll see how it is when the show debuts ...

 

[Tom Morrow]

I stand by what I said pages ago.. The average guest might say they want IP, but that's because they don't think heavily about it one way or another like we do. If you create a non-IP attraction that kicks , people will love it and not care that it isn't IP.

Everyone pro-all-IP ignores that the first 35 years of WDW were largely non-IP experiences and people absolutely loved it.

I'm also not saying that there should be NO IP. But it should be balanced.

 

[cosmicgirl]

I stand by what I said pages ago.. The average guest might say they want IP, but that's because they don't think heavily about it one way or another like we do. If you create a non-IP attraction that kicks ***, people will love it and not care that it isn't IP.

Everyone pro-all-IP ignores that the first 35 years of WDW were largely non-IP experiences and people absolutely loved it.

I'm also not saying that there should be NO IP. But it should be balanced.

Agreed! My favorite things about Disney Parks are the things I didn't know I wanted. Those include attractions, parades, and shows. But they all have something in common: they surprized me because they were unpredictable (to me, at least). Slap a movie on there and 9 times out of 10 I know how the story will go before my first ride. And sure, there's a time and a place for that. I can enjoy Fantasyland rides as much as the next person, but they're not why I want to go back to the parks.

Now there are, of course, exceptions and I completely agree with @Kman101 that it all boils down to execution. That's where the other 1/10 comes in. SW:GE is the best example of this in my case. I've never seen a SW movie in my life and have no real desire to see them. However, I'm looking forward to GE because of the level of detail and immersion that WDI has poured into it. I have nothing but admiration for the execution (so far), even though the underlying IP does nothing for me.
I did consider catching up on the movies before visiting GE but at this point I've decided not to because I want to know what GE will be like for someone with no prior knowledge of SW other than the names of its most famous characters. If they can win me over with the story they've nailed the execution. With IP.

ETA:
That said, I'm not looking forward to (eventually) having three Fantasmics in three parks that aren't MK. I would prefer they keep IP out of RoL but at this point we can only hope it's done tastefully. That Jungle Book thing might've been the worst Disney show I've ever seen with 9/12 parks under my belt.

 

[GhostHost1000]

let's be honest... IP isn't going to make or break this show... it's just changing the gauze for wound that is still oozing

 

[MisterPenguin]

What about Mystic Manor in Hong Kong?
That is original and not IP related. Did that attraction get built before Bob Chapek ?

Mystic Manor is using an IP developed for the parks: S.E.A.

Perhaps when Jungle Cruise the movie comes out, it will be more cemented in Disney cinema.

 

[Andrew C]

Mystic Manor is using an IP developed for the parks: S.E.A.

Which was inspired by the Adventurers Club on Pleasure Island.

 

[Kman101]

I stand by what I said pages ago.. The average guest might say they want IP, but that's because they don't think heavily about it one way or another like we do. If you create a non-IP attraction that kicks ***, people will love it and not care that it isn't IP.

Everyone pro-all-IP ignores that the first 35 years of WDW were largely non-IP experiences and people absolutely loved it.

I'm also not saying that there should be NO IP. But it should be balanced.

Agreed completely. Most of us rational folks agree it should be balanced

 

[Kman101]

let's be honest... IP isn't going to make or break this show... it's just changing the gauze for wound that is still oozing

Exactly what most of us have been saying. Adding IP doesn't "fix" the show. It only fixes it because guests think it was boring so suddenly they'll think it's amazing because there's a shot of Simba's mom licking him against DisneyNature footage of the real thing. I mean, it could be nicely done, but unless they fix the actual flaws in the show itself, it's going to still be the same, at the end of the day. Casual folks just don't think like we do.

 

[TTA94]

Will the soundtrack be the same with lightly mixed in Disney tunes? No singing?

Not gonna lie I wouldn’t mind them taking the “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” segment from Disney Illuminations in Paris and mixing that in with RoL.

 

[trainplane3]

Will the soundtrack be the same with lightly mixed in Disney tunes? No singing?

Not gonna lie I wouldn’t mind them taking the “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” segment from Disney Illuminations in Paris and mixing that in with RoL.

Or they'll do what they just did with Phantom Manor and go from graceful PM soundtrack to HM and then back to PM without any sort of transition pieces.

 

[Figments Friend]

Saw the show for the first time today. I enjoyed it quite a bit. One half of the water screen projections was not running though and you could see the water on the left half but nothing was projected on it. (is this normal?)

I only wish the show was about 5 minutes longer considering that FastPass had us waiting 45 minutes for a 15 minute show. It felt too short.

Not sure what the point of the boats were as they would only serve to block the view from time to time.

However, we really loved the lights, color, water, and the animal floats and enjoyed seeing it. Would I call it a classic? Probably not. Did we have a fun time? Definitely. There is room for shows that aren’t Fantasmic or Happily Ever After. Sad to read this may turn out to be like all the Disney nighttime shows in the near future.

I'm glad that you were able to see this in person.
It is a nice slice of evening entertainment, but it was indeed better in it's earlier incarnation that included live performers.

The boats you mention originally contained live performers.
The Shamans and their Acolytes.
Originally, the Shamans started the show off by walking around the seating areas with colorful lanterns.
After interacting slightly with the audience, the show proceeded and they then all boarded those large sailing boats.
They then performed a routine along with the audio portion of the show, as well as 'summon the animals spirits' we get to see by using shadow puppet imagery projected onto the boats' sails.

If you were sitting near the edge of the lagoon where the show takes place, one could get a good look at the Shamans and Acolytes on the boats during their routines.
Now that the live performers have been cut from the production, a bit of the storytelling magic has been lost.
Glad you enjoyed what you were able to see, though.


-

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I'm glad that you were able to see this in person.
It is a nice slice of evening entertainment, but it was indeed better in it's earlier incarnation that included live performers.

The boats you mention originally contained live performers.
The Shamans and their Acolytes.
Originally, the Shamans started the show off by walking around the seating areas with colorful lanterns.
After interacting slightly with the audience, the show proceeded and they then all boarded those large sailing boats.
They then performed a routine along with the audio portion of the show, as well as 'summon the animals spirits' we get to see by using shadow puppet imagery projected onto the boats' sails.

If you were sitting near the edge of the lagoon where the show takes place, one could get a good look at the Shamans and Acolytes on the boats during their routines.
Now that the live performers have been cut from the production, a bit of the storytelling magic has been lost.
Glad you enjoyed what you were able to see, though.


-

Aye. RoL is being killed in two steps. The first knife in its chest was the removal of live actors. The second to make it more timeless, relevant, family and Chapek.

 

[TTA94]

Nobody’s been saying much in regard to the RoL changes... Is it safe to assume the changes will be very minor and basically not worth a special trip over to see Memorial Weekend?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Nobody’s been saying much in regard to the RoL changes... Is it safe to assume the changes will be very minor and basically not worth a special trip over to see Memorial Weekend?

It's not like anybody here is excited about the changes. It's just using animated characters as a band-aid solution to the execs problems with the show while stripping out the show's unique qualities and not putting in the effort to fix the technical flaws.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

I seem to remember people saying that the removal of the live actors was temporary. I guess not.

 

[Tom Morrow]

What is the last day for the current version of the show? I know it was posted somewhere, but I can't find it.

 

[raymusiccity]

I seem to remember people saying that the removal of the live actors was temporary. I guess not.

We saw the original version.....Just don't remember the live actors having much to do or contribute to the show.

 

[danheaton]

The live actors made a huge difference. I found myself watching them and the boats as much as some of the other parts of the show. I haven't seen RoL without it (I was a big fan of the earlier version), but I can't expect it would help. Adding characters also feels like it removes more of what made the show unique. I guess we'll see.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I also saw it with the live actors and I didn’t really notice them that much. I was more interested in the projection on the water and the boats.

 

[marni1971]

The live actors added a nice something for those who noticed them. Especially when I noticed they were lip syncing the narration. Made more sense and added to the show.