Rumors of Light (ROL discussion thread)

[COscrapper]

Just wanted to offer my condolences to the April/May peeps - what a letdown for you guys! Guess I won't have to worry about ROL dining packages on my ADR date in May...

A month behind does seem like a HUGE delay, sheesh! How hard would it have been to post that update a few weeks earlier, Disney?

 

[lugnut33]

So that means no ROL, no Frozen ride, and no new Soarin'.

 

[BoltzNBrew]

Oh boy....Starting to question if AK night activities will be ready by my October trip.

 

[walker0829]

So that means no ROL, no Frozen ride, and no new Soarin'.

 

[AngiTN]

2:30 was the earliest I saw on the site, but I'll call dining and hope for pixiedust

You can always walk up there. They never turn folks away. And you can get a Landry's Select card and you get seated over folks with an ADR. Cost $25 and they give you a $25 credit to use first time

Thanks hopper-- so plan on 3-4 weeks, I would guess, after the blog update - hoping for last week of June at this point

Best recent example is 7DMT.
They announced it on 5/2 (or so)
It opened 5/22 (or so)
FP opened on like 5/3 (or so)
I may be off by 1 day on those dates.
But point is, it was announced, FP opened and the attraction opened in 3 weeks time frame.
Entirely possible for same to happen with RoL.

 

[AngiTN]

I feel for everyone whose trips will be impacted by this.
And I get that stuff happens when you are in the final stages of production
BUT
-This is supposed to be part of the summer offerings and if it doesn't open till June (maybe) it feels like they are missing the boat with summer crowds
-I know many of you get to go multiple times per year but there are a lot of people who don't and for the people who won't be returning soon this would be hugely disappointing and frustrating. I mean the average family saves for awhile to go and Disney makes you plan everything so far ahead. Now they have kind of thrown it into disarray.
-Disney has always held itself to a high standard and this just seems like an epic fail.
-Disney is not going to change course when record crowds are headed into the parks. And I hate to say that money talks. My point is that the new norm of operations is going to be acceptable if people let it be. If people, en masses cancelled their April trips or went to Universal instead Disney would listen. But if record crowds keep coming in they have very little reason to change the pattern of behavior.
-I am not a negative person about Disney. I love it there. And I love that it makes my kids happy but I am also aware that my money and vacations can be spent at other places.
Rant over and I hope that everyone planning around this gets to do something special instead.

Just for the record, summer doesn't start till June 22 (or so, avg date of solstice)
So technically, June is Summer Offerings

 

[jeanico2000]

So that means no ROL, no Frozen ride, and no new Soarin'.

Frozen isn't going to open in May after all?

 

[sretav]

What a crap storm this turned out to be. I did not tell my child one thing about this event since I have been down the Disney path before. New Fantasy land opened two weeks after our first trip and 7dmt 10 days after our second. I am grateful to be able to focus on what I will get to do and see and experience on my trip. Now where is my bourbon?

Yeah, we never tell the kids much of anything about specific plans. We keep it at "We're going to Disney" and let them be excited about that so when things change no one is too disappointed. This will be their 2nd time to Disney. First time was April 2014 so just a few weeks before 7DMT opened and in the middle of the A&E craze. They were excited to see A&E in the parade but were never the wiser about meeting them at Epcot.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Just for the record, summer doesn't start till June 22 (or so, avg date of solstice)
So technically, June is Summer Offerings

True. And Disney is pretty... fluid as to what they consider summer!! Remember, SWW was "Summer 2015"!

And I say with bitterness: they also said SWW was "Coming Summer 2016!" Grrrr...

 

[andyman8]

Just for the record, summer doesn't start till June 22 (or so, avg date of solstice)
So technically, June is Summer Offerings

And coming "in" summer doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be open when summer starts; it could be anytime in summer, which ends in September. That said, I've heard some very interesting stories about this delay, but I would expect it to debut before Memorial Day still.

 

[Angeliki19]

I'm sorry for all of you April/May people! How frustrating.

Does anyone know how many minutes the show is supposed to be? I thought I saw 15 somewhere... seems really short?

 

[thornton0511]

I totally agree. At least we have an update, but I was hoping to have my plans finalized by the time I picked FP+ time on April 10th. Now just need to keep fingers crossed that it's open by the time we go in June and hope we don't get caught up in preview events if they have those.

So sorry for all the April & May people this will affect - hope you guys hang with us while we wait for information.

lol I seriously was up until midnight last night making our FP selections! This is totally my luck with timing....ah well back to the drawing board ( I do love to plan and re plan so it's all good)

 

[capegirl]

makes you wonder if they have to completely overhaul something...

Same thought. I'm thinking this delay is more than 'technical difficulties'.

 

[Supermom3]

I'm in jury duty, and just had a chance to check this thread. I'm so sad!

I'm still hoping for our AK day on May 29th, but not holding my breath. Looks like it's time for a back up plan.

 

[AngiTN]

Just got to vent for a second--- I know I usually try and keep it light in here--we all do--- but I feel for the April and May people --- I mean I am sorry -- I know unforeseen things happen, but why would Disney set a firm date, if the project wasn't ready to roll ? Isn't the normal protocol to make sure all is ready PRIOR to setting a date --- and officially announcing it ?

I can tell you that this is the first time Disney announced an opening of a major entertainment/attraction so early. I was surprised when they did. It's usually only a couple of weeks before they open that they announce. I think they were trying so hard for an Earth Day opening that they got carried away. We always have rumors but nothing concrete from Disney that early.

I'm sure we won't see official announcement of anything else months in advance

I'm also sorry for everyone coming in April/May and those that planned to come specifically for RoL.

Yeah, it was quite out of the ordinary for them to announce so early and that is what made me think it was a sure thing. If they usually know 2-3 weeks out if they could announce something 6 weeks out it must be no problem. Shows how wrong I was.

And it says that they won't post more about the delay until mid to late May?!?!?! So they are more than one month behind??? UGH!!!

That is what boggles my mind the most. Not that they are running behind but they are so far behind they are at least a month behind. And that they didn't know that before, even as far back as when they announced the debut date. Things are not a month late and you just figure it out

Frozen isn't going to open in May after all?

No date was ever given for the opening of Frozen activities. Posts by bloggers/planning websites doesn't count. They are guessing just like the rest of us are.

 

[thornton0511]

So that means no ROL, no Frozen ride, and no new Soarin'.

I think it just means look to DBP for updates for coming soon attractions and experiences

 

[MMlovesDisney]

Bummed, but the ROL didn't exist when we booked our trip, so we didn't plan on it initially. But, now we are not sure what to do for our AK day for dinner. Current time shows the park will close at 6:00 PM. Are we assuming all the nighttime activities will also wait until ROL opens (would seem odd to open some activities and pay for staff when the main attraction isn't ready).
If you are not eating dinner at AK, where do you go for dinner? We are staying at POR. Maybe Boma? Seems like anywhere else will be tough to get to from AK.

Well what we did last trip and likely again this trip is once we were done at AK we headed over to Disney Springs. There's quite a bit to see and do (and eat) over there, especially now. We are not park hoppers so we have more limited options. You could also do dinner at any of the resorts.

 

[disfamz]

I'm sorry for all of you April/May people! How frustrating.

Does anyone know how many minutes the show is supposed to be? I thought I saw 15 somewhere... seems really short?

22 minutes. They announced that somewhere along the line..

 

[wdw4rfam]

Little off topic, but when is soarin and frozen scheduled to open as of now?

 

[Lesverts]

I moved my trip to June to avoid the Frozen opening and hope for Rivers of Light/Animal Kingdom stuff. But oh well. Maybe they will be ready by the start of June but I think July 4th-ish is probably more likely.