Rivers of Light at AK a good show?

[Disneymom1102]

Curious if you found River of Light to be a good show or not? I'll be 8 months pregnant with a toddler in tow and not sure if it's worth fighting the crowds afterwards and getting back to resort that much later, considering toddler and I will both be exhausted and cranky! Opinions?

 

[AngiTN]

I did but many did not. It is a dancing water and light show, set to music, with some videos on water screens. Mostly it's the water and light show. I find it unique and beautiful. But I also love to sit and watch the dancing fountain show at Epcot. I am not typically one to suggest watching videos online but in this case it may be helpful to you to know if you have any interest in it or not. In your case, I'd have to have a lot of interest in the type of show it is before I would go. For me, even in your shoes, the answer would be yes.

 

[DOOM1001]

Every show is worth watching once,this one was okay at best and far from amazing,I was glad that I got a FP for it and didn't have to do much waiting around for it.Another thing I don't get about it is how small the theater is seriously limiting the amount of people that can watch the show.I have little desire to get out there for the show again,Pandora I liked but I have no need to see RoL again anytime soon.On the talk of shows the summer nighttime show at Sea World called Ignite is pretty amazing,not as good as a HEA,obviously, or an Illuminations but overall an excellent nighttime show.

 

[CAS239]

You should see it at least once, but personally I wouldn't invest too much time into it. I had high expectations for it going in and it didn't live up anywhere near it. Wife didn't really know what the show was about prior to seeing it and after it was over we both looked at each other and were basically like "that was it? We waited all that time and that's it??". So it was a one and done for us. I'd watch it again but it would have to be with a less than 5 min wait. When we first watched it it was when it had only been showing for a week or two and we waited in our seat close to two hours with a FP to see it.

It's definitely the worst night time show Disney has in my opinion. But you might love it. I think majority of people think it's alright but nothing special, then about 50/50 split with those who love it and those who hate it.

Idk what you've seen but I recommend seeing Happily Ever After, Star Wars A Galactic Spectacular, Fantasmic, and Illuminations (that's my ranking order) over seeing RoL

 

[butiflfeet]

Definitely see it and decide for yourself. I loved it! But I'm a weirdo I guess. I don't really like Disney World's Fantasmic at all. Disneyland's on the other hand is awesome!

 

[smidgy]

we thought is was boring. I think a toddler would be very bored. I'm glad I didn't invest in a dining package. we fast passed it, but that was before pandora opened. we still invested a lot fo time to stand in line before the FP section opened as my husband is in a wheelchair and we wanted one of the wheelchair spots in the front and towards the center. one and done for us.

 

[mousefan73]

Can you see parts of it by walking by the sitting area or do you have to officially be in the theatre area to see or hear? We are thinking of doing a quick look and moving on. To beat crowds.

 

[BigredNole]

It is a great show to see once. After you have seen it, no need for a second.

 

[CAS239]

Can you see parts of it by walking by the sitting area or do you have to officially be in the theatre area to see or hear? We are thinking of doing a quick look and moving on. To beat crowds.

There's a few spots outside the arena to view it but people grab those up. You really have to be in the arena to view it.

 

[MrsDuck]

I think it leaves a lot to be desired but it is very pretty. Once was enough for us.

 

[AngiTN]

Definitely see it and decide for yourself. I loved it! But I'm a weirdo I guess. I don't really like Disney World's Fantasmic at all. Disneyland's on the other hand is awesome!

In in the weirdo camp with you. Do not like Fantasmic (at HS) at all. Don't care if I ever see it again but we will see RoL each visit.

 

[loves to dive]

In in the weirdo camp with you. Do not like Fantasmic (at HS) at all. Don't care if I ever see it again but we will see RoL each visit.

Another semi-weirdo here. We loved it, I sat with my eyes wide and clapping my hands like a little girl (which I'm not) just about the whole show. I do like Fantasmic but don't see it but maybe every 5th trip. I pass on Illuminations, I think I've seen it may 4 times in all the time it's been running and I've been going for over 30 years.

 

[JennyDrake]

Every show is worth watching once,this one was okay at best and far from amazing,I was glad that I got a FP for it and didn't have to do much waiting around for it..

SAME HERE. Some of the visuals are very good, but it doesn't have a real story line and none of the music is memorable/stuck in your head.

 

[Minnesota!]

Ok - piggybacking. Currently have a ROL dining package - that will cost us about $200. I would rather not.

However, I would also rather not stand around with 5,000 of my closest friends after a hot August day in Florida, in a tight-quarters standby line.

How are the crowds at each of the 915/1030 shows? How early would I have to show up to see the show? I am ok with staying in the park until the later show (or coming back for it...we are going to be just over at AKL). If I can avoid the $200 ROL dining package, and only have to wait 20 or so minutes for a seat - I am ok with that.

Thoughts?

Also - any chance that a 4/5/6 FP would come available for ROL later in the day?

 

[Guyton dis lover]

Saw it , Liked it, Will do it down the road.

 

[FastPasser.]

Curious if you found River of Light to be a good show or not?

I do find it to be a good show.

I'll be 8 months pregnant with a toddler in tow and not sure if it's worth fighting the crowd

In your case, I'd wait for more relaxed circumstances to see it. I don't think toddlers are able to appreciate it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Curious if you found River of Light to be a good show or not? I'll be 8 months pregnant with a toddler in tow and not sure if it's worth fighting the crowds afterwards and getting back to resort that much later, considering toddler and I will both be exhausted and cranky! Opinions?

I thought it was a good show. Was it a great show? No, but certainly worthwhile seeing at least once. And you can get in (with FP+) an hour ahead of time. Sitting for a while is certainly very nice.

When doing the world with small kids, I found that it's a GREAT idea to take an afternoon break (noonish-3 or 4) back at the resort and come back in the evening for the nighttime fun.

 

[Beer Me]

Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I thought it was pretty amazing. Definitely not bombastic or action packed but really beautiful and unique.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We had the Tiffins RoL dining package and didn't end up even using the tickets because of the poor reviews we'd gotten from other guests at the resort. We saw the show while riding and re-riding EE and that was good enough for us. None of us had any desire to watch a fountain show when we could be re-riding EE.

OP, in your situation I would say skip it.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

It was a one and done show for us. We saw it in April when there weren't too many bugs out at night and collectively decided then that it would be miserable to try attend the show on our next trip which is in August. We are all glad to have seen it, but don't see the need to see it ever again.