River Of Lights Capacity Problems???

Was anybody there?? Was it really this bad?

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Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Animal Kingdom finally got its nighttime show going this weekend. The debut of Rivers of Light at Disney's animal-themed park is opening to rave reviews, possibly justifying the 10-month delay of its debut.

However, a glaring issue with the spectacle of lights, music, and water projections is that the richly themed amphitheater that hosts the show only has 5,000 seats. Social media was ablaze with snapshots of guests shut out of the weekend performances, settling for standing on park paths behind the river to catch obstructed views.

It gets worse. Disney's Animal Kingdom is able to double the show's capacity by wedging two performances into the calendar on some nights, but the logjam of guest traffic after the first show as folks were leaving Rivers of Light, and another batch of guests queueing up for the second installment, proved to be unsettling gridlock.

There were more than 10.9 million visitors at Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2015, according to industry tracker Themed Entertainment Association. This translates into an average of nearly 30,000 guests a day. Just a sixth of those guests will have amphitheater access to Rivers of Light for any given performance, or a third of the park's guests on a night with two shows.

Still, it gets worse. We're just talking about an average of 30,000 guests a day. During peak periods -- when one-day tickets cost 20%, or $20 more -- there will be a lot more than 30,000 visitors, so folks are paying more on nights with fewer opportunities to catch Rivers of Light.

Image source: Disney.

Coming out of the dark
There's no denying that Rivers of Light will be a game changer. It appears to have overcome the initial technical glitches that postponed the waterfront show's debut at least twice last year. However, the venue's limited capacity -- something that I've been saying would be an issue since last year -- is a glaring problem that will only get worse.

Disney's Animal Kingdom needed a nighttime performance to encourage the theme park to extend its operating hours. Disney World's three other parks have signature shows at night. However, capacity isn't an issue at EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, where everyone in the park can grab the aerial visuals without an actual amphitheater. Disney's Hollywood Studios has Fantasmic, but that show plays in a larger 6,900 seat arena -- and Disney's Hollywood Studios lags the attendance levels of Disney World's three other parks.

It's also a safe bet that attendance will spike in three months when Pandora -- The World of Avataropens. Disney World's most ambitious expansion since 2012 will make the park even more popular. Disney shareholders will argue that a surge in attendance is a good problem to have, but if folks are bellyaching about crowded walkways and the inability to get into signature shows now, just imagine how things will be when a lot fewer than a third of those day's visitors have a shot at catching Rivers of Light.

Disney can't just add more performances. As a nighttime show, it has to wait until dusk surrenders to darkness, something that happens much later as we head into the peak summer period.

The only currently scheduled performance on May 27 -- the day that the Avatar-themed expansion officially opens -- is 9:15 p.m., and it's safe to say that a lot less than a sixth of the Memorial Day crowds will be able to grab a seat for Rivers of Light that night.

I was not there to definitively say if the story is accurate, but this problem has been assumed since construction on the theatre began - the area was not originally designed to hold a nighttime show akin to Fantasmic, but it's kind of the only place that Disney had available in the park that wouldn't require big changes to the flow of the park.

The issue of high demand, low capacity isn't new to Disney either - the Candlelight Processional is a great example of it. From what I understand, World of Color also has the issue of a small area for guests to view the show.

For now, at least until initial demand wears off, fastpass and the dining package are really going to be guest's best chance to see the show.

Well I'll say it's definitely not of a capacity like Wishes or illuminations. One of the things addressing this is multiple shows in one night. There are going to be issues early on too because it brand new and everyone wants to see it.

One big things I've heard is there is a huge crowd issue when letting out the first show and lining up for the second show. This creates a bottleneck in that area.

Hopefully, by the time I get there in September, the demand will have diminished a bit. But when something is brand spanking new... see the demand happening for at least a couple of years. I'm really looking forward to seeing it and I'm going solo, so it may not be as bad for me. I'll definitely get a FP for it!

Saw this coming a mile off.

FP and dining packages will become a must - especially when park capacity and guest numbers are increased with pandora.

Its interesting how people currently say the dining packages are very appealing and quite easily accessible. I wonder how soon it will be before the dining package prices go up (and menu options go down) considerably? - yet people will still have to do it to guarantee seeing the show. There by Disney finds a way of indirectly charging/paying for RoL.

Not too shocking. They will never have the "opening day" capacity because it doesn't make sense long term. Many of those people probably found out about it that day or maybe the day before and thought "Hey lets go see that!"

I was there and it wasn't that bad. I didn't give it a second thought. And I was in the crowd going to the second show as the first show was exiting. The issue is somewhat overstated in that article.

Arriving from the Asia side, we were diverted into KRR loop where we were held before reentering the main pathway for a whopping 5 minutes at most, until the exiting RoL first show crowd passed by us. It wasn't something where I thought, this is ridiculous.

I know that they will long term, come up with a seamless audience control system utilizing temporary stanchions and ropes that will eliminate this issue in the future.

Roxyfire said:

Many of those people probably found out about it that day or maybe the day before and thought "Hey lets go see that!"

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It was announced last Wed, but I'm sure most people didn't read about it until Thurs or even Fri.

FastPasser said:

I was there and it wasn't that bad. I didn't give it a second thought. And I was in the crowd going to the second show as the first show was exiting. The issue is somewhat overstated in that article.

Arriving from the Asia side, we were diverted into KRR loop where we were held before reentering the main pathway for a whopping 5 minutes at most, until the exiting RoL first show crowd passed by us. It wasn't something where I thought, this is ridiculous.

I know that they will long term, come up with a seamless audience control system utilizing temporary stanchions and ropes that will eliminate this issue in the future.

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Good to know! Thanks!

rteetz said:

Well I'll say it's definitely not of a capacity like Wishes or illuminations. One of the things addressing this is multiple shows in one night. There are going to be issues early on too because it brand new and everyone wants to see it.

One big things I've heard is there is a huge crowd issue when letting out the first show and lining up for the second show. This creates a bottleneck in that area.

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We found that even after the Jungle Book Show - crowds leaving and huge lines waiting to get in. They had illuminated signs showing where to go for lining up for the show vs getting the Everest, etc - but i am sure this will be even more people

At least the night we were there it was rather well organized, so wasn't like angry mobs or anything - but was a lot of people in one area not really designed to have such crowds

while overall, I agree and was surprised when they announced the capacity to the RoL seating.

But my sensationalism meter spikes when I read this:

Still, it gets worse. We're just talking about an average of 30,000 guests a day. During peak periods -- when one-day tickets cost 20%, or $20 more -- there will be a lot more than 30,000 visitors, so folks are paying more on nights with fewer opportunities to catch Rivers of Light.

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really, cant that be said about any park during peak times? You are not getting the same amount of ride chances at MK in peak times as you would say in January. You want to debate the surge pricing that's fine, but it really has nothing to do with RoL (sorry if that was off-topic)

THat said, I agree with other posters about Dining packages and a little part of me is wondering if Disney has kind of planned for that, limiting capacity and then 'selling' the opportunity to get in.

It was a mess getting into the show when it was Jungle Book. I hope they figure that part out quickly as it was frustrating back then.

glvsav37 said:

THat said, I agree with other posters about Dining packages and a little part of me is wondering if Disney has kind of planned for that, limiting capacity and then 'selling' the opportunity to get in

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I wouldn't be surprised, it's actually a smart move from a bean counter perspective.

LadyDiznee123 said:

Hopefully, by the time I get there in September, the demand will have diminished a bit.

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I sure hope you get to see it but based on the continued popularity of 7DMT and FEA I wouldn't expect it to diminish for some time to come.

glvsav37 said:

THat said, I agree with other posters about Dining packages and a little part of me is wondering if Disney has kind of planned for that, limiting capacity and then 'selling' the opportunity to get in.

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There is a strategy about scarcity creating demand and increasing overall desire/need/want and this total revenue

I know when the Mets built their new stadium they purposely built it on the smaller side in hopes of increasing demand

Thanks for posting this info, helped me decide to do the dining package... guess Disney's plan to sell the experience is working...

The only issue I had Friday night was the transition between the first and second show.
On the FP/Everest side we were basically gridlocked, but a lot of it had to do with guests not following the flow of traffic. We would develop a rhythm and start moving then someone would decide to cut across and block the path, or try to cut under the ropes (the ropes aren't just there for fun people), or in some way decide they deserve to get out of the crowd faster than everyone else.

Overall though, I found it no worse than any other show. Every park with a nighttime experience gridlocks at some point, either going in or heading out. It's just what happens when that many people gather into one location.

The column is a reprint of a Motley Fool column. If there is a way to highlight or sensationalize anything about Disney Motley Fool will do it. Every time.
I go to RoL this weekend. I'm not really concerned. Anything from Motley Fool on this topic should be met with a good dose of skepticism.

lpereira said:

The column is a reprint of a Motley Fool column. If there is a way to highlight or sensationalize anything about Disney Motley Fool will do it. Every time.
I go to RoL this weekend. I'm not really concerned. Anything from Motley Fool on this topic should be met with a good dose of skepticism.

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Have fun! Let us know how it goes.

I really hope this is better if we end up taking our July trip that we were wanting to do.

Isn't this situation caused by the people leaving the first show being there while the people for the 2nd are arriving? Currently the schedule is showing that tonight is the last night with two shows until April 9th. That will last for only two weeks then it reverts to one show nightly until at least the end of June. Unless they add 2nd shows, is this even going to be an issue?