Rivers of Light --- Almost Ready for Prime Time

[jaxonp]

December.

 

[writerguyfl]

Does anyone believe this show will come anywhere near Wishes/Castle Show, Fantasmic, or Illuminations?

I'm curious. Why would you assume Rivers of Light wouldn't be as good as the other nighttime shows? If anything, each of those shows are proof that Disney is very good at this type of entertainment.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

So the thinking now is anything before December, even a soft opening, is out? Have been holding the Wed before Thanksgiving open to see it.

Thank you for all the info you guys provide!

December.

 

[Justin Mendoza]

I'm worried about the quality of this show as well, to be honest. I'm sure it'll be decent, but when I visited last December, both Wishes and Fantasmic felt unfortunately lackluster...but Illuminations was perfect, as always.

With the constant pushbacks and butt-covering, who knows what'll come out at the end of this assembly line at this point. Still relatively excited for Pandora and most of the other big projects...I just wish everything wasn't so wishy-washy...even if it were only transitional, but goodness knows when we'll actually be on those attractions thanks to Disney's famous habit of being awful with dates.

 

[Micca]

each of those shows are proof that Disney is very good at this type of entertainment.

Just because those shows (other than the Castle projection show) were created in another era. I don't know that there's a budget to support another show of this scale. Wouldn't mind being wrong, I hope they knock it out of the park.

 

[rteetz]

So the thinking now is anything before December, even a soft opening, is out? Have been holding the Wed before Thanksgiving open to see it.

Thank you for all the info you guys provide!

I wouldn't get your hopes up but anything is still possible at the moment.

 

[rteetz]

Just because those shows (other than the Castle projection show) were created in another era. I don't know that there's a budget to support another show of this scale. Wouldn't mind being wrong, I hope they knock it out off the park.

Oh there is definitely budget for it, and with the delays this has been a very costly project.

 

[Polybound]

Nothing yet. Last I heard was by the end of the month.

Which month? April, June or September? For that matter, which year, '17, '18 or '19?

 

[writerguyfl]

Just because those shows (other than the Castle projection show) were created in another era. I don't know that there's a budget to support another show of this scale. Wouldn't mind being wrong, I hope they knock it out off the park.

Although I've not seen them in person, the clips of the nighttime shows created for the Disneyland Resort look impressive to me. Those would be this "era".

(For the record, I hope you're wrong, too! haha)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just because those shows (other than the Castle projection show) were created in another era. I don't know that there's a budget to support another show of this scale. Wouldn't mind being wrong, I hope they knock it out off the park.

The Star Wars Projection show is new and is fantastic ... and World of Color (which they just updated) is still relatively new and an amazing show as well. Not many Disney night time shows aren't really good

 

[skier_pete]

The Star Wars Projection show is new and is fantastic ... and World of Color (which they just updated) is still relatively new and an amazing show as well. Not many Disney night time shows aren't really good

This exactly - the weakest are really the projection shows -and those aren't "Main" shows. Everything else is top notch.

I am expecting that this one will be too. The delays have the opposite effect on me to those thinking the show will be bad. Disney is refusing to release a bad show (yes, the Jungle Book show was bad - but temporary). They could just as easily say "let's just scrub this for something simpler" but they appear to want to get it right and not reduce the content.

 

[HopperFan]

Although I've not seen them in person, the clips of the nighttime shows created for the Disneyland Resort look impressive to me. Those would be this "era".

(For the record, I hope you're wrong, too! haha)

But .... if they were using tried and true it should have been running long ago. They clearly don't have a handle on this technology, and based on some of JBA that will be used and was working poorly ... I think folks concern is legit.

 

[dazza3]

I'm just disappointed it is around 20 minutes long, perhaps even shorter if cuts need to be made.

Could be a very long wait for a short show. I'm sure it will be great, just wish it was half an hour like fantasmic

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Do not count on RoL quickly.
2) The dates have been pushed back, AGAIN.
3) WDW does not want to hire boat/barge drivers (read: PEOPLE).
4) And, the automated/driverless barges are not working.
5) More "technical" problems that could be solved by just hiring people, instead of doing-it-on-the-cheap.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I'm glad my trip isn't until March, I THINK they might hit that deadline.

 

[rteetz]

The GPS issues have been mostly resolved from everything I've heard.

The issue is also not that Disney doesn't want to hire drivers for the floats. These floats don't have driver seats, so unless you want to see a guy standing on each float manually driving it that ain't happening.

I also don't know but where Disney is doing this on the cheap, every day this isn't up I should costing them money.

 

[Polybound]

Could it be possible that the Brass has reviewed the show and it just fell flat, lacking the WoW factor that WDW night time shows are known for?

 

[ELSA711]

So no ROL for my trip next week

Guess it will be another early night for our AK day! Maybe we'll hit the lodge for a bit.

 

[Josh Hendy]

The issue is also not that Disney doesn't want to hire drivers for the floats. These floats don't have driver seats, so unless you want to see a guy standing on each float manually driving it that ain't happening.

Maybe at the conception of the show driverless barges were presented as both a cost saving and a safety factor along the lines of monorail automation.

But given the technical problems and severe cost overruns, this could be another case where "spreadsheet smart" does not add up to "actually smart".

I've used GPS in a boat before and I don't think I would ever trust it for safety or extreme reliability. It doesn't react to movement very quickly and after moving across a flat body of water it invariably states that my altitude (!) has changed by several meters.

And when the GPS inevitably has glitches, how do the human performers on the barges halt them? They might have an E-stop button on their own barge but how do they stop the following barge from crashing into them? With good old 100% reliable WiFi?

And if the performers on the following barge aren't ready for the E-stop or collision then what's to stop them pitching overboard or onto the railings or the deck of the other barge?

 

[Madonna3]

I agree. I wonder how much effort it would take to either just replace the barges with ones that could be steered by cast members or if they could just modify the existing barge to allow it to be manually operated.