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

[oceanbreeze77]

The Jungle Book scheduled up to September 5th has me curious. I'm wondering if they're being cautious in case RoL fails again or have by this point come to the conclusion they can't get RoL out this summer but haven't gotten round to admitting it to guests, or think they can at least get RoL out by September 6th, hence the date

I posted this in another forum but My theory is that disney is just allowing this scheduling time to give themselves more time, and If in fact it does open before Sept, then those dining packages would just be valid for ROL. I agree with you that they might just be using caution

 

[wdwmagic]

Well definatly not a good sign for RoL since JB dining packages can be booked through September...

I don't see any connection. They can just switch those packages to RoL.

 

[TTA94]

I don't see any connection. They can just switch those packages to RoL.

I don't know if this Fall talk is coming from good sources? Some on Twitter has said guest relations is now hearing Fall?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Honestly I don't know if some people pull information out of their a**, I just saw on FB from this lady that nighttime hours are temporary and won't be starting again until April of 2017. Oh lord

 

[Pirate665]

 

[marni1971]

They seriously need to tell everyone something. I'm sure they know..

They do not know.

They won't make another mistake until they're 101% sure. And then things could turn around in a matter of days.

 

[wdwmagic]

They seriously need to tell everyone something. I'm sure they know if they can or can not get the show ready this summer. If it's the fall then just tell us!

Honestly I feel there is other factors than just when RoL is ready.. I feel their also going by what time of year is better based on how well Jungle Book does, AKs attendance, etc.

It is pretty obvious from the last minute delay of RoL that the situation is very fluid. They thought they were going to make it, albeit very tight, and then in the final week it was decided to delay.

I think it is fair to say at this point they don't know when it will be ready. Jungle Book gives them something to s how, and a use for that lovely theater, and gives them time to do RoL right. No amount of crazy speculation online is going to change any of it. The show hasn't been abandoned, and it will start when they are good and ready. May be July, August, September, October, November or beyond.

 

[No Name]

So how about that update "no later than mid-May??"

I think the update we got was that The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic would be coming as an interim show, and they would give themselves more time to fully work out RoL's issues. At the time that RoL's delay was announced, there was no announced plan in place for when shows would begin, when the nightime entertainment would start, etc. Now there is.

They made that announcement days after they announced the delay, so I think that was our update. Now that the Jungle Book show is coming out, why talk so much about RoL, anyway? It would be weird to focus attention on RoL days before their interim show is about to premiere.

 

[wdisney9000]

They made that announcement days after they announced the delay, so I think that was our update.

I would not call it an "update" when the company misses an announced date and then deflects the attention away by announcing something else instead.

Jungle Book show is coming out, why talk so much about RoL, anyway?

Because RoL is what should actually be coming out.

It would be weird to focus attention on RoL days before their interim show is about to premiere.

It would be weird NOT to focus attention on RoL which was announced to be open and advertised and people have planned trips assuming it would be debuting by the date the company said it would be. Unless you enjoy the pacification of the company pulling the wool over your eyes.

 

[FigmentJedi]

So showerthought here, but I just realized that Rivers of Light actually missed an opportunity to bring more mythological creatures into the mix at the park and have that dragon in the logo make sense. You know how the show has those four animal spirit guide floats (Turtle, Tiger, Owls, Elephants) and a cosmic finale based around constellations and stuff? What I think they could have done was utilize the Four Animal Symbols from Chinese/Japanese astrology. Representing the four seasons and four compass points, they consist of a Turtle, a Tiger, a Phoenix and a Dragon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Symbols_(China)

Avatar basically snuffed out any chance for the park to have dragons in favor of space pterodactyls and the show's already a blend of Inuit myths about the aurora and South Asian aesthetics. A pinch of East Asian stuff probably wouldn't have hurt. But hey, we're well past that point and I just want to see this show finally open.

 

[Prototype82]

3 seconds ago I just spoke to a DAK cast member. (((Apparently))) Rivers of Light is on indefinite hold, Iger saw it, didn't like it, and there's a chance Jungle Book could be permanent. Shanghai might help snuff it out. I know cast members get a lot of rumors and different information. So don't treat as fact, PLEASE. Just not the cheeriest lunch I've ever had in the parks...in all honesty, I can't find any of this credible.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

3 seconds ago I just spoke to a DAK cast member. Apparently Rivers of Light is on indefinite hold, Iger saw it, didn't like it, and there's a chance Jungle Book could be permanent. Shanghai might help snuff it out. I know cast members get a lot of rumors and different information. So don't treat as fact, PLEASE. Just not the cheeriest lunch I've ever had in the parks...

I doubt Iger's opinion is what caused the delay. This delay is costing Disney money, not to mention the embarrassment of releasing a date and then having to cancel last minute. Even if the CEO hated it, you put the show out there and work to integrate changes in the weeks after.

That said, RoL does seem to be the sort of thing Iger wouldn't like. Original concept and music, no Disney characters or IP, symbolism and abstract show elements, a storyline geared toward appreciating nature rather than retelling Disney movies... There's not much chance for "synergy" with this one, which means it goes against everything that he thinks the parks should be.

 

[wdwmagic]

3 seconds ago I just spoke to a DAK cast member. (((Apparently))) Rivers of Light is on indefinite hold, Iger saw it, didn't like it, and there's a chance Jungle Book could be permanent. Shanghai might help snuff it out. I know cast members get a lot of rumors and different information. So don't treat as fact, PLEASE. Just not the cheeriest lunch I've ever had in the parks...in all honesty, I can't find any of this credible.

That isn't right. The problems are technical related.

Jungle Book uses a fraction of the system they have built for RoL, and won't become permanent.

 

[Bolt]

3 seconds ago I just spoke to a DAK cast member. (((Apparently))) Rivers of Light is on indefinite hold, Iger saw it, didn't like it, and there's a chance Jungle Book could be permanent. Shanghai might help snuff it out. I know cast members get a lot of rumors and different information. So don't treat as fact, PLEASE. Just not the cheeriest lunch I've ever had in the parks...in all honesty, I can't find any of this credible.

They wouldn't be working on it 3rd shift if it was on an indefinite hold.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I think the update we got was that The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic would be coming as an interim show, and they would give themselves more time to fully work out RoL's issues. At the time that RoL's delay was announced, there was no announced plan in place for when shows would begin, when the nightime entertainment would start, etc. Now there is.
.

They said this on the disney parks blog regarding RIVERS OF LIGHT: "We’ll share more information about timing on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May"---. So yes we should be getting an update on the progress ROL soon.

 

[Prototype82]

That isn't right. The problems are technical related.

Jungle Book uses a fraction of the system they have built for RoL, and won't become permanent.

Absolutely my thoughts. It comes down to this crazy game of telephone. Everything has been fabricated. It makes no sense.

 

[Sped2424]

Is the target still July 4th?

Yes.

 

[TTA94]

Yes.

Thing is, RoL opening sooner than September raises the question of what will happen to those who reserved dining packages up until September? I guess either they will switch over from Jungle Book to RoL, OR the more likely event is Jungle Book remains for the 9pm performance, along with its dining packages, and then RoL takes over the 10:30pm time slot Without dining packages until Jungle Book ends for the summer and the RoL opening craziness ends. Then in the Fall RoL opens up its dining packages?

 

[note2001]

Oh my Lord, is the world burning? Can we have a small reality check here?

I don't know if it's due to a red mars in the sky or what that's causing this behavior on a number of threads lately, but please step out into some fresh air and take a breather before posting. (The world is beautiful out there and remember, this is just a show.) No one knows what Iger or anyone else has said. We don't know if the dining packages currently labeled as Jungle Book will or will not be transferred over to ROL. Fact is: we know nothing and it should make no difference in our day to day routines. If I ran into a cast member who started telling me what was going on, unless it was from someone known to be close to the source (and I know no names), I'd have a good discussion but walk away still not knowing any more facts than I did before.

 

[FigmentJedi]

I doubt Iger's opinion is what caused the delay. This delay is costing Disney money, not to mention the embarrassment of releasing a date and then having to cancel last minute. Even if the CEO hated it, you put the show out there and work to integrate changes in the weeks after.

That said, RoL does seem to be the sort of thing Iger wouldn't like. Original concept and music, no Disney characters or IP, symbolism and abstract show elements, a storyline geared toward appreciating nature rather than retelling Disney movies... There's not much chance for "synergy" with this one, which means it goes against everything that he thinks the parks should be.

I'd imagine if Bob wasn't happy with the idea of an original Tapestry-esque show, he would have meddled with it far earlier in the game.

Besides it does have synergy: They promote the show as being done in conjunction with that whole DisneyNature nature documentary label and it uses a mix of archive material from that and newly shot footage from those various documentary teams.