Rivers of light plan

[mom2rtk]

Years ago I seem to recall Disney tying to cut back the number of nights that fantasmic ran. It was a disaster IIRC.

If I was plannign thsi show, and I knew there was a limited nbe of seats available, I woudl tie the show to a dinne package, somewhat like CP. Yes, you can get in if there is availability, but you take a chance. There is going to be a new restaurant going in AK< and it is supposed to be signature, so I wonder how that will factor in.

I think I was the only one who actually liked it when Fantasmic only ran on limited nights. It made it SO easy to find a low crowd day in that park!

I'm really sort of surprised by how the seating seems to be looking for this show. They really messed up the viewing and capacity for World of Color at DCA. I would have hoped they would have learned from that mistake and found a way that didn't encounter similar issues for this one.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think I was the only one who actually liked it when Fantasmic only ran on limited nights. It made it SO easy to find a low crowd day in that park!

I'm really sort of surprised by how the seating seems to be looking for this show. They really messed up the viewing and capacity for World of Color at DCA. I would have hoped they would have learned from that mistake and found a way that didn't encounter similar issues for this one.

You would think.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I think I was the only one who actually liked it when Fantasmic only ran on limited nights. It made it SO easy to find a low crowd day in that park!

I'm really sort of surprised by how the seating seems to be looking for this show. They really messed up the viewing and capacity for World of Color at DCA. I would have hoped they would have learned from that mistake and found a way that didn't encounter similar issues for this one.

I think they did learn. They learned that they could sell a lot more dinner packages with the concept of limited seating areas.

 

[Accident]

It sounds like the whole park is going to be different at night so I'm going to be heading into AK early in the trip in case I need to do a second evening later in the trip to finish seeing it at night and catching the show. I assume it's going to be packed initially and only get worse when pandora opens.

I'll burn a fastpass for a down day just in case we need it.

 

[momof2n2]

I think I was the only one who actually liked it when Fantasmic only ran on limited nights. It made it SO easy to find a low crowd day in that park!

You just reminded me of this! We've never taken our kids before d/t perceived scare factor. We'd go on nights it wasn't running as those were lower crowd days.

 

[Tomh]

I'll be making my FP+ selections in about 6 weeks. I was hoping to see ROL FP+ in the mix. Not expecting it... But hoping.

Right around the same time we should be making ours. Our dates aren't 100% yet, but looking like the second half of August is when we will be there.

This is going to gladly mess up our usual AK day. We are usually finished up with AK early enough to go back to our resort, rest up and head out to Disney Springs for a nice supper at the Earl and/or WPE.

Typically, we are out of AK fairly early, and head over to the Polynesian for supper at 'Ohana, then hop the monorail to MK where we transfer to a bus for the trip back to our resort. 'Ohana will obviously have to be on a different night this trip, so not quite sure how that is going to work out, maybe on an MK night, who knows.

Years ago I seem to recall Disney tying to cut back the number of nights that fantasmic ran. It was a disaster IIRC.

If I was plannign thsi show, and I knew there was a limited nbe of seats available, I woudl tie the show to a dinne package, somewhat like CP. Yes, you can get in if there is availability, but you take a chance. There is going to be a new restaurant going in AK< and it is supposed to be signature, so I wonder how that will factor in.

Yes, I recall that, didn't last long, didn't work out well, and park attendance was lower then than it is now by a long shot.

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, I recall that, didn't last long, didn't work out well, and park attendance was lower then than it is now by a long shot.

I believe they cut back on Fantasmic because attendance was down, as opposed to attendance being down because of them cutting down on Fantasmic (although I'm sure some of that happened as well).

It happened in the years right after the housing collapse.

 

[Tomh]

I believe they cut back on Fantasmic because attendance was down, as opposed to attendance being down because of them cutting down on Fantasmic (although I'm sure some of that happened as well).

It happened in the years right after the housing collapse.

I didn't mean to imply that the lower attendance was due to the cuts in Fantasmic. I believe it was quite the opposite, they cut the Fantasmic showings because of the lower park attendance, which was a result of the collapse of the housing market. However, even with the lower attendance, the limited showings of Fantasmic didn't work out well, or last long, and park attendance today is significantly higher than it was back then. I think it likely that they will need to have this show basically every night if they want it to really draw people to AK.

 

[bemccar1]

SO MANY CHANGES IN WDW!! Now that I haven't (gasp!) been in the World since Summer 2012, I feel like I am out of my element.

Hopefully we get some details beyond "Spring 2016" soon!!

Right now I have a late Jiko reservation for after our AK day in mid-May. Ideally, there would be a Rivers of Light dining package at Tiffin's when it opens up, then I would bump Jiko to our arrival night dinner and not worry about timing as much.

If ROL is anything like Disneyland's World of Color, I think it will be more than worth to scope out a spot to watch, even if dining packages/Fastpass+ don't end up happening (though I can't imagine why they wouldn't).

That being said, hopefully entering the seating/standing area will be a lot less hectic than WOC!

 

[LinderInWonderland]

We are going in mid-May. I have a free night left open currently in case RoL is open by the time go. Our morning/early afternoon that day is at Epcot. If RoL happens, we will go to AK after a park break. If no, we will go to Disney Springs. I have noticed that AK is open until 6p or 6:30p during our vacation, so I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[rteetz]

SO MANY CHANGES IN WDW!! Now that I haven't (gasp!) been in the World since Summer 2012, I feel like I am out of my element.

Hopefully we get some details beyond "Spring 2016" soon!!

Right now I have a late Jiko reservation for after our AK day in mid-May. Ideally, there would be a Rivers of Light dining package at Tiffin's when it opens up, then I would bump Jiko to our arrival night dinner and not worry about timing as much.

If ROL is anything like Disneyland's World of Color, I think it will be more than worth to scope out a spot to watch, even if dining packages/Fastpass+ don't end up happening (though I can't imagine why they wouldn't).

That being said, hopefully entering the seating/standing area will be a lot less hectic than WOC!

March is very likely, April is almost certain so you will get to see it in May.

 

[Spork24]

We're going to use park hoppers and do animal kingdom just like we normally would, park open until mid afternoon and then do naps and then Disney springs for dinner that night. We will come back another night just for rivers of light.

 

[KateP85]

March is very likely, April is almost certain so you will get to see it in May.

Hmmm, I've heard March from a CM friend too, but I wasn't sure how reliable that was. Maybe more so than I thought!

As far as I know, Tiffins is still scheduled to open April, and I'd just assumed they would host a dinner package. But if RoL opens first, I wonder if it will just be FP and stand by or if there will be a dinner package elsewhere.

 

[rteetz]

Hmmm, I've heard March from a CM friend too, but I wasn't sure how reliable that was. Maybe more so than I thought!

As far as I know, Tiffins is still scheduled to open April, and I'd just assumed they would host a dinner package. But if RoL opens first, I wonder if it will just be FP and stand by or if there will be a dinner package elsewhere.

Tiffins is supposed to open as close to rivers of light as possible as well as the night safaris. They are all supposed to open at or around the same time.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Tiffins is supposed to open as close to rivers of light as possible as well as the night safaris. They are all supposed to open at or around the same time.

Which makes the thought of exclusive seating for dinner packages seem all the more likely.

 

[gorjus121]

We are hoping the same, that ROL will be open for our end of April trip. Not holding my breath. Was there a thread created in these forums that will alert everyone when it does open?

 

[mrzrich]

I've heard rumors that ROL will run multiple time a night. I think the number that I heard was 3 times a night.