It does beg the question though... how has the social media age been around this long and no one has made a theme park version of RT?
Disney did, but I don't see this show available to review yet.
https://reviews.disneyworld.disney.go.com/
It does beg the question though... how has the social media age been around this long and no one has made a theme park version of RT?
Having been there, I can tell you, that's not how it worked for Fast Pass (and considering Fastpass was full for both shows, how could it?).9pm show seating gets first preference, if the 10:30 show goes on, same for FP.
My family and I saw the show on Saturday. We actually thought it was pretty good. It was a change from many previous Disney night time shows. Was it the best no, but it was not even close to being the worse night time show at a park (including Disney).
That's what I was told by several cast, and the way it was supposed to work is that anyone who had FP and stayed from the 9pm show would be seated first. And then whatever room was left they would take the 10:30 peopleHaving been there, I can tell you, that's not how it worked for Fast Pass (and considering Fastpass was full for both shows, how could it?).
I'm all for extending hours when there's enough to see and do - of quality - to warrant it. Like I've already said elsewhere I'm looking forward to trying the Night Safari myself. But that alone isn't enough to make me spend the whole evening in the park. Which is a shame since I was looking forward to trying RoL.
That's what I was told by several cast, and the way it was supposed to work is that anyone who had FP and stayed from the 9pm show would be seated first. And then whatever room was left they would take the 10:30 people
The trolls would sink their teeth into that one!
It's a shame that this show is seemingly sinking like a rock. I hope Disney is able to fix the issues with the water screens.
@marni1971 have you heard any word on whether they're getting the GPS navigation issues unbugged? I hope there is some solid progress on RoL.
Had fastpasses for the 9pm show Sunday night. All things considered with the show, I didn't think it was bad but obviously not amazing. They seemed really concerned with guest reaction though and I will say that their procedures for crowd control with this show are a complete mess. But wait, wasn't hte 9pm show canceled? Why yes it was....
So our fastpasses were for the 9pm show with an arrival time of 8:25-8:45. We came out of Nemo at about 7:40 and to our dismay, could see across the water that the fastpass section was nearly half full with people streaming into it. So much for not needing to be there till at least 8:25... So we make our way around and get in there to be seated and notice that they were letting people in on the standby side already too. What's the point of fastpass if you have to get there an hour and a half early for good seats and the standby folks at that time are getting the same kind of seats on the other side of the water? So that was the first fail... Then it starts to rain and they let us know that if we leave, we may not be able to come back in (cast members didn't seem sure), even if we go for rain ponchos. So our choice was sit in the rain or potentially forfeit our chance to see the show. We had umbrellas with us but weren't allowed to use them for safety concerns. I can't fault them on that point because I understand other people getting hit in the head.
Finally they came around selling rain ponchos. After about 20 minutes of rain and lightning, the rain starts to stop (but not the lightening) and they announce that the show is canceled and that we all need to evacuate the seating area as quickly as possible and that we can take shelter in the Nemo theater across the water... This was hilarious because for all that time we were sitting there with the lightning in the distance and suddenly now, though it was no closer, they were suddenly acting like it was an emergency we all get out.
When asking about our fastpasses, we were told that they would give us a new fastpass we could use and that would be good through the following day and to expect an email from them with details on how to redeem it. Said we were not going to be there the following day and noted that according to the app, there were no available fastpasess left for the night. They just shrugged and said we needed to keep moving.
We decided to try for the nightime safari and see if it was open. As we got to Africa, it began to rain again and a little harder. It was open so we got in line for the 60 minute wait. Upon sitting down, we were told 3 things by the driver: 1. - It's night time so it's dark so you might not see much. 2. - It's night time so it'd dark so I need to focus more on the driving so I might not see much to point out to you. 3. - It's night time so it's dark and you might want to use your camera flash but don't because it freaks the animals out, makes it hard for me to see driving and can pose a risk to other passengers... All valid points but that was some way to bring the hammer down on any expectations you might have had as a rider... It actually wasn't that bad. The route was a bit different from what they do during the day. We passed a few areas where they had recored sound of animals which was pretty cheesy but I guess they were doing this to "enhance" it in case there was nothing to see. We saw plenty though so it was cool.
It was about 9:30 when we got out of the safari so we decided to see if the 10:30 show had been canceled yet. They said it hand't so we tried heading that way. Went around Everest which was a mistake because the line starts way back inside Dinoland. I use the term "line" loosely because it felt more like being in a cattle pen.
At 9:45 while standing in the herd, I got an email from Disney about a "change to your upcoming Disney FASTPASS+ experience". This email let me know at 9:45 that the 9:00pm show would be canceled and that we essentially had a wildcard fastpass that could be used anywhere on property except for another showing of Jungle Book.
Gee Disney, it would have been really great to know that before standing in line for an hour for the Safari.
We sat there next to the Triceratops spin till about 10:10 and really began to wonder about the show because they hadn't said it was canceled but seemed to be cutting it close on seating. Then a big group of people started to leave. They said that an announcement was made but nobody heard it because of the ride noise next to us so one of them had gone up to find out and it was that the 10:30 show might be canceled or might be delayed. Given that the night was blown at this point, we decided to stay and at about 10:20, the herd started moving.
At this point, I was pretty certain that no matter how amazing the show ended up being, it wouldn't have been worth the mess but we were already invested so why not?
The loading of the theater was crazy. They were just letting people stream in from one point, were making people avoid the very first section and then just letting everyone go where ever they wanted. People were all over the place. At 10:30, the lights went down and the show started, even though people were still coming in.
The show itself wasn't bad. Expectations were an important thing I think, here. If you were expecting Fantasmic or something else on that level, you were sure to be disappointed. It was better than a lot of what they show in the American Stage Theater. It was no spectacle, though. It was entertaining. Though I felt cheated by the way everything was handled, I didn't feel cheated by the show itself. There were certainly elements that didn't feel thought through. The barge with the singers were kind of away from both seating sections and those people were preforming to an open water way in order to be viewed by both sides. It certainly showed that it was put together rather quickly in regards to that and a few other small things but if this were part of a lineup of normally rotating shows that changed out every 3-4 months, I think it would be okay again, as long as expectations were set appropriately. If it lasts more than the summer, they either need to improve it a lot or they're going to have a problem.
Exiting the theater was just as much of a mess as going in. Practically no crowd control and being let back out into a poorly lit pathway where it was wall-to-wall people moving at about a half step pace trying to get out of that section was miserable. Very poorly thought out.
The show was ok - nothing amazing but ok. Everything else was a disaster. I was shocked at how badly they handled everything.
Soooo, that image was PhotoShopped?It doesn't.
pretty sure those are the projector "cannons".A couple of questions:
1. From the few photos & videos I've seen, it looks like there are lights on behind the projections (I think they're lighting the trees?). Would turning those lights off help be able to see the projections clearer? I know that it wouldn't help the fact that the fountains don't meet in the middle, but could it help the image?
2. For those of you who have had to walk through Finding Nemo the Musical to queue for the show, what was on the stage? Was it just dark, or could you see backstage, or just the show logo? Also - would the fact that they are using the theatre as a walkway basically take away their ability to perform later shows during the AK extended hours?
Because its not needed? I'm pretty sure that everyone uses TripAdvisor for that.It does beg the question though... how has the social media age been around this long and no one has made a theme park version of RT?
I actually wonder, wouldnt it be easier to put very strong nightvision lights on the truck and give nightvision cheap gogles to everyone?Had fastpasses for the 9pm show Sunday night. All things considered with the show, I didn't think it was bad but obviously not amazing. They seemed really concerned with guest reaction though and I will say that their procedures for crowd control with this show are a complete mess. But wait, wasn't the 9pm show canceled? Why yes it was....
So our fastpasses were for the 9pm show with an arrival time of 8:25-8:45. We came out of Nemo at about 7:40 and to our dismay, could see across the water that the fastpass section was nearly half full with people streaming into it. So much for not needing to be there till at least 8:25... So we make our way around and get in there to be seated and notice that they were letting people in on the standby side already too. What's the point of fastpass if you have to get there an hour and a half early for good seats and the standby folks at that time are getting the same kind of seats on the other side of the water? So that was the first fail... Then it starts to rain and they let us know that if we leave, we may not be able to come back in (cast members didn't seem sure), even if we go for rain ponchos. So our choice was sit in the rain or potentially forfeit our chance to see the show. We had umbrellas with us but weren't allowed to use them for safety concerns. I can't fault them on that point because I understand other people getting hit in the head.
Finally they came around selling rain ponchos. After about 20 minutes of rain and lightning, the rain starts to stop (but not the lightening) and they announce that the show is canceled and that we all need to evacuate the seating area as quickly as possible and that we can take shelter in the Nemo theater across the water... This was hilarious because for all that time we were sitting there with the lightning in the distance and suddenly now, though it was no closer, they were suddenly acting like it was an emergency we all get out.
When asking about our fastpasses, we were told that they would give us a new fastpass we could use for something else and that would be good through the following day and to expect an email from them with details on how to redeem them. Said we were not going to be there the following day and noted that according to the app, there were no available fastpasess left for the night. They just shrugged and said we needed to keep moving.
We decided to try for the night time safari and see if it was open. As we got to Africa, it began to rain again and a little harder. It was open so we got in line for the 60 minute wait. Upon sitting down, we were told 3 things by the driver: 1. - It's night time so it's dark so you might not see much. 2. - It's night time so it's dark so I need to focus more on the driving so I might not see much to point out to you. 3. - It's night time so it's dark and you might want to use your camera flash but don't because it freaks the animals out, makes it hard for me to see driving and can pose a risk to other passengers... All valid points but that was some way to bring the hammer down on any expectations you might have had as a rider... In the end, It actually wasn't that bad and although nothing was as clear as day, it did create an interesting experience. The "sunset" effect on the savanna portion was kind of neat, too. The route was a bit different from what they do during the day. We passed a few areas where they had recored sound of animals which was pretty cheesy but I guess they were doing this to "enhance" it in case there was nothing to see. We saw plenty though so it was cool.
It was about 9:30 when we got out of the safari so we decided to see if the 10:30 show had been canceled yet. They said it hand't so we tried heading that way. Went around Everest which was a mistake because the line starts way back inside Dinoland. I use the term "line" loosely because it felt more like being in a cattle pen.
At 9:45 while standing in the herd, I got an email from Disney about a "change to your upcoming Disney FASTPASS+ experience". This email let me know at 9:45 that the 9:00pm show would be canceled and that we essentially had a wildcard fastpass that could be used anywhere on property except for another showing of Jungle Book.
Gee Disney, it would have been really great to know that before standing in line for an hour for the Safari.
We sat there next to the Triceratops Spin till about 10:10 and really began to wonder about the show because they hadn't said it was canceled but seemed to be cutting it close on seating. Then a big group of people started to leave. They said that an announcement was made but nobody heard it because of the ride noise next to us so one of them had gone up to find out and it was that the 10:30 show might be canceled or might be delayed. Given that the night was blown at this point, we decided to stay and at about 10:20, the herd started moving.
At this point, I was pretty certain that no matter how amazing the show ended up being, it wouldn't have been worth the mess but we were already invested so why not?
The loading of the theater was crazy. They were just letting people stream in from one point, were making people avoid the very first section and then just letting everyone go where ever they wanted. People were all over the place. At 10:30, the lights went down and the show started, even though people were still coming in.
The show itself wasn't bad. Expectations were an important thing I think, here. If you were expecting Fantasmic or something else on that level, you were sure to be disappointed. It was better than a lot of what they show in the American Stage Theater. It was no spectacle, though.
Comparing it to Illuminations, Wishes, or parades would be extremely unfair and I find it interesting that so many people on here who know they threw it together in 3 weeks would try to make a comparison with it and shows that they know are developed over years. Feels like intentionally or not, building up a straw man to knock down. Would the average guest go in with the same expectations? Hard to say but it didn't seem like they were pushing it that hard in the park. Did Disney somehow misrepresent it? I don't know. Besides the blog video they posted, I didn't see much about it anywhere in advance so I'm guessing most people who were there went in not knowing a lot about what it would be.
The show was entertaining. Though I felt cheated by the way everything was handled, I didn't feel cheated by the show, itself. There were certainly elements that didn't feel thought through, though. The barge with the singers were kind of away from both seating sections and those people were preforming to an open water way in order to be viewed by both sides. It certainly showed that it was put together rather quickly in regards to that and a few other small things but if this were part of a lineup of normally rotating shows that changed out every 3-4 months, I think it would be okay, again, as long as expectations were set appropriately. If it lasts more than the summer, they either need to improve it a lot or they're going to have a problem.
Exiting the theater was just as much of a mess as going in. Practically no crowd control and being let back out into a poorly lit pathway where it was wall-to-wall people moving at about a half step pace trying to get out of that section was miserable. Very poorly thought out.
The show was ok - nothing amazing but ok. I don't find Voyage of The Little Mermaid or the Beauty and the Beast shows to be all that great (no offense to cast) and I think this is at least more interesting on an entertainment level for adults than those. As a different experience for a different kind of park, I think it would fit in with the rest of the nighttime entertainment as something a little bigger than the other stuff with better capacity for an audience.
Everything else was a disaster. I was shocked at how badly they handled everything involving the crowd. From cast members that took stern to the level of being rude, to nobody seeming to know what was really going on to the "system" they had in place to manage crowds to the system they didn't have in place for managing bad weather, I'd say it was a complete fail.
It begs the question, what have they being for the last 2 years? Surely the water screen jets should have been perfectly aligned for the expected Spring opening of Rivers of Light? Why is that suddenly an issue now?To answer your question about the lighting since you're talking to a lighting guy here, the fixtures a (which are Vari lite 4000's for anyone that are curious) are meant to create beautiful beams of light. Not really meant for the trees. The problem with the screen are the jets themselves. That problem has already been on the list of fixes. The curtain needs to be perfectly aligned so that the footage can be perfectly shown. However, at the same time, the footage shown for jungle book was quickly put together, so as in Rivers of Light, the footage for that show looks perfectly clear and crisp, however with only 38 days to put Jungle Book, it was a quick put together. There's also a fix going to add more haze to the beams around the lake so that the beams can be fully shown.
To answer your question about the lighting since you're talking to a lighting guy here, the fixtures a (which are Vari lite 4000's for anyone that are curious) are meant to create beautiful beams of light. Not really meant for the trees. The problem with the screen are the jets themselves. That problem has already been on the list of fixes. The curtain needs to be perfectly aligned so that the footage can be perfectly shown. However, at the same time, the footage shown for jungle book was quickly put together, so as in Rivers of Light, the footage for that show looks perfectly clear and crisp, however with only 38 days to put Jungle Book, it was a quick put together. There's also a fix going to add more haze to the beams around the lake so that the beams can be fully shown.
MSEP is a close second. im surprised it still makes it down main street.In my opinion it's the worst at a Disney park by a long margin.
I'm just curious...which nighttime show at a Disney park do you think this is better than?
Wishes? Not close.
IllumiNations? Not close.
Fantasmic? Fantasmic has it's flaws but it's still a very enjoyable show that is loved.
Main Street Electrical?
Sorcery?
Celebrate the Magic?
Even the tech that IS working for Rivers of Light (the water screens) don't work well.
To put this into perspective, Animal Kingdom is my favorite park and I loved all of the nighttime experiences but Jungle Book fell VERY flat. If I had waited for the 3 hours prior to the 9:00 showing on Friday, I would've been rather ticked off. Mind you, it would've been my own fault for waiting, but at the end of the Safari they really talk it up as a "show you don't want to miss."
I still have high hopes for Rivers of Light but this falls well below Disney standards for nighttime shows.
MSEP is a close second. im surprised it still makes it down main street.
Does show control have separate control of lights, like on a whole hog or all effects ran of 1 computer?
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