Rivers of Light....

[mshanson3121]

I agree not everything needs to be Disney characters. I think Disney characters at something like ROL would be out of place. AK is not that kind of park. Epcot isn't really either which is why Illuminations fits there.

Agree. It wasn't Disney characters that felt lacking to me. Just... something. Though I also didn't realize the floating flowers are the "pre-show". Though that begs the question, they says it's a 15 minute show, but is the reality that it's just a 5 minute show, with 10 minute of.... four floating lotus' preshow? The 5 minutes at the end, I love (based on the video, of course). The rest? Meh. Why couldn't they have done more with the entire 15 minues?

 

[Sweettears]

Agree. It wasn't Disney characters that felt lacking to me. Just... something. Though I also didn't realize the floating flowers are the "pre-show". Though that begs the question, they says it's a 15 minute show, but is the reality that it's just a 5 minute show, with 10 minute of.... four floating lotus' preshow? The 5 minutes at the end, I love (based on the video, of course). The rest? Meh. Why couldn't they have done more with the entire 15 minues?

I think rteetz explained it well in that there initially where other elements first designed to accompany the flowers. These didn’t work properly but they decided to proceed with the rest of the show anyway.

 

[mshanson3121]

I think rteetz explained it well in that there initially where other elements first designed to accompany the flowers. These didn’t work properly but they decided to proceed with the rest of the show anyway.

You would think they would have continued to strive to come up with something else. Though given what a fiasco it all was, I suppose they figured it was better than nothing.

 

[HydroGuy]

Agree. It wasn't Disney characters that felt lacking to me. Just... something. Though I also didn't realize the floating flowers are the "pre-show". Though that begs the question, they says it's a 15 minute show, but is the reality that it's just a 5 minute show, with 10 minute of.... four floating lotus' preshow? The 5 minutes at the end, I love (based on the video, of course). The rest? Meh. Why couldn't they have done more with the entire 15 minues?

I guess I did not take it as a pre-show. It is just a peaceful, colorful display. Not meant to blow people away. I enjoyed it. Some others do. Some don't.

What is nice is they built a place to sit and watch the show. That is well done IMO. I never felt crowded as some others have reported. I myself have seen it twice. The first time was just a couple weeks after it first opened.

If you go not expecting an over-the-top, blow-you-away experience, then it might work for you too. There have been lots of posts here about Illuminations, to which I myself compared ROL. I guess if someone thinks Illuminations is too slow and a bore and they always skip it, then it might be best to skip ROL if one is really on the fence. I would say folks who enjoy the pace of Illuminations and the subtle messages of celebration would be more likely to enjoy ROL. Illuminations of course does have some fireworks that just would not work at AK. But ROL has water screens that would not work at Epcot because of the size of the lagoon.

Good luck getting it figured out!

 

[HydroGuy]

You would think they would have continued to strive to come up with something else. Though given what a fiasco it all was, I suppose they figured it was better than nothing.

I suspect that was at least a part of it. Why go back to scratch and set the show back further than before? They moved forward as best they could. They can build from here if they ever want to try.

 

[ITALIANNYC]

I was in Disney when this debuted and gave up my fast pass two years ago due to the horrible reviews.

Going back this year and I guess it’s still horrible lol

Go figure

 

[rteetz]

You would think they would have continued to strive to come up with something else. Though given what a fiasco it all was, I suppose they figured it was better than nothing.

They still have the lanterns and hope to use them eventually. It just wasn't something they could get going if they wanted a show to debut.

 

[rteetz]

I was in Disney when this debuted and gave up my fast pass two years ago due to the horrible reviews.

Going back this year and I guess it’s still horrible lol

Go figure

Its not horrible IMO. I would suggest you go in and see it for yourself before deciding whether its horrible.

 

[rteetz]

Agree. It wasn't Disney characters that felt lacking to me. Just... something. Though I also didn't realize the floating flowers are the "pre-show". Though that begs the question, they says it's a 15 minute show, but is the reality that it's just a 5 minute show, with 10 minute of.... four floating lotus' preshow? The 5 minutes at the end, I love (based on the video, of course). The rest? Meh. Why couldn't they have done more with the entire 15 minues?

There is no preshow really. The entire show is 15 minutes. I guess you could say the actors walking through the stands are a reshow but not really. Originally the show was 18 minutes.

 

[PetePanMan]

We went in with low expectations given mediocre reviews (at best) but our group of 4 was pleasantly surprised. Visually it is quite impressive.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I’d prefer an animal themed world of color....this show was so disappointing with all the hype that surrounded it

 

[mshanson3121]

They still have the lanterns and hope to use them eventually. It just wasn't something they could get going if they wanted a show to debut.

What are they waiting for?

 

[Moliphino]

What are they waiting for?

Getting them to work correctly.

 

[85glht]

I watched a couple of videos (from official sources) online, one from March and one from October, and quite honestly, I thought it was boring as all get out, at least for the first half. It seems the first 10 minutes or so are just watching the lotus flowers float around? One video showed a couple costumed performers up in the seating area, but even they weren't really doing anything spectacular, just moving slowly, smiling and waving at guests. That was it that I saw.

I know it picks up at the end with the water projections etc..., but my word, is it really that slow in person for the first half? Or is there something I'm missing? And if it is really that slow... what the heck were they thinking? Surely they could have done better than that!

Anyways, interested for feedback, and based on what I watched, I'm really disappointed. We were really looking forward to this, and based on what I saw, I doubt we'll bother. The kids gave up after a few minutes of watching slow moving flowers do nothing.

My wife and I saw this for the first time this past December.... we ended up walking out. Seemed boring to us... That being said, I would never discourage anyone from going to see any attraction for themselves. I always encourage others to go and see for themselves..... unless it is a fast moving, potentially sickening attraction which I would offer caution...

 

[mshanson3121]

Getting them to work correctly.

I wonder, are they actually still working on them?

 

[hertamaniac]

We thoroughly enjoyed the show and was fortunate to have a seat right next to where an actor came down and posed for a photo. But, since they don't have the traditional fireworks/booms, it does seem somewhat anti-climatic.

 

[rteetz]

I wonder, are they actually still working on them?

That’s a good question I haven’t heard about them recently.

 

[mab2012]

Hmmm. We only have bandwidth for 3 evening shows (kids will get really really tired). HEA is a must do and since we’ve only seen parts of Illuminations it’s a must do also. I gave the kids the choice of ROL or Star Wars. Much to my surprise they chose ROL (I cut them out of the will). I’m a little worried now that they won’t like it. Although they like the water parade so lack of a story apparently isn’t too big an issue for them.

Anyone have kids in the 5-9 age range who liked it?

My kids both enjoyed it last year at ages 8 and 11. The 11-year-old more than the 8-year-old, but I think that was more about personality than age. We will watch it again during our upcoming trip.