New nighttime show 'Rivers of Light' confirmed to be coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
If all of the permits are being filed does this not normally mean that work is happening NOW? If so, I haven't seen any suggestion of where these works are happening based on Animal Kingdom update photos or what the the 'controls' are going to control?
I actually wonder if the "controls" are actually a central control tower like the one in Fastasmic.. for the show video, audio and light guys.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
If all of the permits are being filed does this not normally mean that work is happening NOW? If so, I haven't seen any suggestion of where these works are happening based on Animal Kingdom update photos or what the the 'controls' are going to control?

Yes, it is likely that work has already begun, but it's not surprising that it would be obvious at this point. They could easily be doing work back stage at this point, or installing equipment indoors.
 

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I actually wonder if the "controls" are actually a central control tower like the one in Fastasmic.. for the show video, audio and light guys.

"Controls" could be any number of things. Shows like this, especially those with show elements spread out over a large distance, have multiple smaller show control systems that are linked into the show lighting, audience area lighting, fountains, hydraulic lifts, pyro, and whatever else in the immediate area. These sub-controls are then connected to a master controller which often does nothing but send out a single timecode and "go" commands so that each sub-controller runs its' pre-programmed cues in sync with all of the over sub-controllers.

To paint a parallel picture, you have Reflections of Earth. Every barge on the water has its own controller. The show lighting in each country in connected to a controller local to that country. The searchlights on top of the various countries and Innoventions buildings have their own controllers. The main show control in the Mexico booth runs the master timecode, but each pavilion controller knows when in the show to turn on the strobes, to turn on the edge lighting, etc. All it needs is the "start" command and to keep its own clock synced up to the master show controller. Each sub-system can also be manually inhibited by techs if something malfunctions.

To get back to Rivers of Light, since there is a live talent element to the show, master control will most likely be in the middle of whichever direction the show plays to so that the stage manager can keep an eye on the overall show, just like the Fantasmic tech booth is in the back center. This means the RoL tech booth with most likely be in the Nemo to EE stretch.

And since the Tree of Life is WAAAYYY on the other side of the lake, it needs its own sub-controller to handle any effects installed on the Tree, even if it's just a few twinkle lights and the ability to dim the Tree's floodlights up and down.

(Sorry, didn't mean to make this post quite so darn long...)

-Rob
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
"Controls" could be any number of things. Shows like this, especially those with show elements spread out over a large distance, have multiple smaller show control systems that are linked into the show lighting, audience area lighting, fountains, hydraulic lifts, pyro, and whatever else in the immediate area. These sub-controls are then connected to a master controller which often does nothing but send out a single timecode and "go" commands so that each sub-controller runs its' pre-programmed cues in sync with all of the over sub-controllers.

To paint a parallel picture, you have Reflections of Earth. Every barge on the water has its own controller. The show lighting in each country in connected to a controller local to that country. The searchlights on top of the various countries and Innoventions buildings have their own controllers. The main show control in the Mexico booth runs the master timecode, but each pavilion controller knows when in the show to turn on the strobes, to turn on the edge lighting, etc. All it needs is the "start" command and to keep its own clock synced up to the master show controller. Each sub-system can also be manually inhibited by techs if something malfunctions.

To get back to Rivers of Light, since there is a live talent element to the show, master control will most likely be in the middle of whichever direction the show plays to so that the stage manager can keep an eye on the overall show, just like the Fantasmic tech booth is in the back center. This means the RoL tech booth with most likely be in the Nemo to EE stretch.

And since the Tree of Life is WAAAYYY on the other side of the lake, it needs its own sub-controller to handle any effects installed on the Tree, even if it's just a few twinkle lights and the ability to dim the Tree's floodlights up and down.

(Sorry, didn't mean to make this post quite so darn long...)

-Rob
Thank you! that clears a lot of my questions!
 

El Grupo

Well-Known Member
"Controls" could be any number of things. Shows like this, especially those with show elements spread out over a large distance, have multiple smaller show control systems that are linked into the show lighting, audience area lighting, fountains, hydraulic lifts, pyro, and whatever else in the immediate area. These sub-controls are then connected to a master controller which often does nothing but send out a single timecode and "go" commands so that each sub-controller runs its' pre-programmed cues in sync with all of the over sub-controllers.

To paint a parallel picture, you have Reflections of Earth. Every barge on the water has its own controller. The show lighting in each country in connected to a controller local to that country. The searchlights on top of the various countries and Innoventions buildings have their own controllers. The main show control in the Mexico booth runs the master timecode, but each pavilion controller knows when in the show to turn on the strobes, to turn on the edge lighting, etc. All it needs is the "start" command and to keep its own clock synced up to the master show controller. Each sub-system can also be manually inhibited by techs if something malfunctions.

To get back to Rivers of Light, since there is a live talent element to the show, master control will most likely be in the middle of whichever direction the show plays to so that the stage manager can keep an eye on the overall show, just like the Fantasmic tech booth is in the back center. This means the RoL tech booth with most likely be in the Nemo to EE stretch.

And since the Tree of Life is WAAAYYY on the other side of the lake, it needs its own sub-controller to handle any effects installed on the Tree, even if it's just a few twinkle lights and the ability to dim the Tree's floodlights up and down.

(Sorry, didn't mean to make this post quite so darn long...)

-Rob

Great info. Thanks for sharing. Just curious, roughly how many techs are involved in a Reflections of Earth and Fantasmic show?
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Very interesting set of permits filed today:

Asia Viewing Area
Asia Viewing Area Control Building
Dinoland EER Completion
Dinoland Viewing Area
Discovery Island Light Bunkers Completion

All are by Balfour Beatty Construction and all expire 10/31/2016. So it looks like there will be two viewing areas for the show.

Ewwwwww, light bunkers. That sounds interesting. So I think 2015 is likely or at least possible. And it is good to hear that like Pandora, there does not seem to be any truth to major cut backs happening. :cool:
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Ewwwwww, light bunkers. That sounds interesting. So I think 2015 is likely or at least possible. And it is good to hear that like Pandora, there does not seem to be any truth to major cut backs happening. :cool:

The October 2016 date seems to be a blanket end date that is being put on all the AK expansion related permits, sort of like they are doing with the Disney Springs permits, so this project could finish well before that date.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member

Forgot about that. So based on that I would think they would need to have major construction done by the end of 2015 to give them a couple months for programming and rehersals.

Here is a picture that someone else posted earlier int he thread show a guess as to where the seating areas would be, this seems to be a like scenario. Have both areas close together like that would allow people to be generally facing the same direction. I would think we would see construction wall go up for the seating areas soon.

riversoflightseating-jpg.52732
 

twebber55

Well-Known Member
Forgot about that. So based on that I would think they would need to have major construction done by the end of 2015 to give them a couple months for programming and rehersals.

Here is a picture that someone else posted earlier int he thread show a guess as to where the seating areas would be, this seems to be a like scenario. Have both areas close together like that would allow people to be generally facing the same direction. I would think we would see construction wall go up for the seating areas soon.

riversoflightseating-jpg.52732
I was also thinking to the left of the nemo show theatre
 

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