Rivers of Light FP

[_Mickey_]

I'm sure the answer to this question is somewhere out there on the boards, so please excuse me for asking again, but what are people seeing with FP availability for Rivers of Light?

Here's my conundrum, I'm going to AK the last week in April (the 26th to be exact), and it will be the first time seeing ROL. As such, I want to make sure I get seating for my party (3 of us), without having to worry to much about getting to the standby line on time. I also want to make sure I get a fairly decent seat.

Looking at the availability for FP for ROL the week before (second last week in April), it looks like it is not at all difficult to get a FP for it.

However, I noticed that up until the last week in April (the week I'm going) there are two showings of ROL a night. The next week is showing 1 show a night (any idea if they will up it to 2 shows for that week?). If it sticks to being 1 show a night for that week, obviously it might then be harder for me to grab a FP (I am staying of site, so my window is 30 days).

I guess my question is, what is the likelihood that I will be able to get a FP for 3 people for ROL, 30 days out for a day with only 1 show?

If it doesn't look like I can get a FP, I will look at trying to get a dining package. If that fails, when should I plan on lining up in the standby line (1 hour before, 90 min, etc.)?

One more thing (then I promise I'll stop typing), how do the 3 different seating sections (dining package, FP, standby) compare? I know from experience with Fantasmic, that the dining package section is not necessarily the best.

Thanks!!

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

they just added the ROL 1st show for April on March 18th. So you should have a good chance of getting a fastpass. especially if they add a second show as you are almost in your window. I have a fastpass for this Saturday so I can report back with more details then

 

[_Mickey_]

they just added the ROL 1st show for April on March 18th. So you should have a good chance of getting a fastpass. especially if they add a second show as you are almost in your window. I have a fastpass for this Saturday so I can report back with more details then

Okay, Thanks!

 

[CAS239]

You should be able to grab a ROL FP at your 30 day mark with no problem. Even easier if they add a second showing per day.

All areas have a good view. The FP area they fill one section up before moving on to the other FP section right next to it. Imo the first area of FP they fill has the most "centered" view of the show.

With FP I'd recommend showing up 45min+ ahead of showtime for a good choice of seats. You pick whatever row you want. If you want to show up closer to showtime then you'll still get in, but won't have as wide array of seats to choose from.

 

[_Mickey_]

You should be able to grab a ROL FP at your 30 day mark with no problem. Even easier if they add a second showing per day.

All areas have a good view. The FP area they fill one section up before moving on to the other FP section right next to it. Imo the first area of FP they fill has the most "centered" view of the show.

With FP I'd recommend showing up 45min+ ahead of showtime for a good choice of seats. You pick whatever row you want. If you want to show up closer to showtime then you'll still get in, but won't have as wide array of seats to choose from.

Great info - thanks so much!

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

I attended the 1st show on Saturday 3/25. I had a fastpass for the 1st show with a return time of 805-830 show start 845pm. We arrived in Asia at 750pm. They had already begun filling the fastpass section. It looked like there were 5 sections for fastpass the entire area in Asia. If facing the water they start with the section to the left and move to the right. Sections one and two were filled when we arrived and they were working on section 3. They were allowing you to pick any row you wanted but you had to slide all the way to the left of the row. At 808pm just after the fastpass had opened I looked and they were filling the last section so please do not wait until the window opens to arrive.

As far as a good seat: The view from any of these seats was great, unless you were sitting behind a pole. The poles are located on the left side about half way up. So try to sit in a row below the poles. Or choose a higher row but where you will be on the middle or right side of the row. They use the whole lake for the show and the main projection is in the back of the lake near the lake seating for flame tree BBQ. They also have 2 small projections on each side of the lake.

I don't know if the second show at 10pm was unusual but cast members were sending people over to the Asia side instead of Dino at 955pm as there was still the entire 5th section there empty. So If you are okay with the second show I wouldn't think getting a fastpass would be a problem or even catching it by standby. This was spring break week for Orange county.

Also for those who cannot get i,n there is great viewing from the bridge and around Asia. For those who noticed Flame tree BBQ mentioned I would not recommend trying to grab a lake front table and watching from there. the show will be backwards. You will miss the projections and lazars. And you will get wet as the water from the projection screen will blow into this area.....

For those attending the first show if you need to grab a snack afterwards flame tree bbq and the popcorn cart near there were open till 930. we grabbed a snack at flame tree. When we left at 1005pm the only food option we saw was the ice cream cart right before you go over the bridge to exit the park.

The show itself was about 15 minutes long.

 

[KatieDarling]

I just attended the ROL show on Saturday as well and the fast pass didn't get me anything special - I arrived at 8:15 and the stands were mostly full and filling up fast. We got a seat no problem, but having the FP didn't help.

We did end up with a pole in our view and while it didn't bother me too much, my husband commented on it a couple times so it may be something to avoid if you can. Here is a picture for reference:

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

Again don't wait for fastpass window to open up. Be there at least an hour before your show start

 

[_Mickey_]

Thanks for the updates/info guys!

My FP window opened this morning for my Animal Kingdom day, and remarkably I was able to get FP for ROL. I say remarkably, as for some reason the week we are there ROL switches from 2 showings a night to just 1 show a night. I had been watching the FP availability for ROL all week, and it had looked like FP would be gone by the time the 30 window opened. Just in case I managed to snag a ROL dining package to ensure we had seats - I'll cancel now we have FPs.

I will definitely plan to be there well in advance!

As a side question, the show is 15 min right? What is the likelihood of someone being able to hightail it from the theater to the Safari before the last truck leaves (the park is set to close at 9:30 that day)? I really wanted to experience the night safari, but the sun does not set till about 7:50pm that day, so there is not enough time to go before ROL.

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

Very Good.....Assuming your show starts at 845 and is done at 9pm. 30 Minutes is plenty of time to exit and get to Africa. The theater empties pretty quickly. We waited for the theater to completely empty before we left and leisurely walked over to flame tree and arrived about 915.