Rumors of Light (ROL discussion thread)

[ArielSRL]

Apparently my last post was deleted because I quoted someone who violated the filter. Was it @jlundeen with the series of special characters?

Me, too! And I don't remember what it was!

 

[senadler]

So after the initial "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" between the AK news and early morning on my one early MK day, I was determined to adjust plans and make this work. We added a day to our trip and moved to AKV for the new experiences at AK a couple of months ago. I am certainly disappointed in today's announcement, but we have never stayed there, and I am really excited to just spend time at the resort anyway.

I am also planning to adjust our MK day and might actually try and book the early morning. It is just myself and DS5 this day, and if we can take care of those rides with no FP, do one or two more before 9:30, and then grab a quick breakfast, I think it could be worth it. Now I just have to manage to get the reservation for early hours.

 

[horse11]

I wonder how much revenue loss Disney is really looking at. How much more do they make by guests staying in the park an extra 4 hours? Enough to cover all of the expenses for extra CM hours? (Apparently not or they would be opening AK for evening hours even without ROL.)

Of course many people booked trips with the intention of seeing ROL in April and May, but I suspect that Disney will still see most of that revenue. Because they waited so long to announce the delayed opening, many guests will make their trip as planned. There are certain to be more guests visiting in the next two months than there would have been if they hadn't announced that ROL would be opening April 22. Current status for end of April/ beginning of May is: no evening activities at AK, no fireworks at HS, no A&E or Soarin' at Epcot, no castle stage show at MK. These are all things which could have been experienced by visiting a few weeks later. IF we had known this in advance, I wonder how many people would have scheduled a May trip. I think Disney knows exactly what it is doing--running a business. I honestly believe they intended to have it opened by April 22, but I also think that the people in charge knew weeks or even months ago that it would not be opening until June. By delaying the announcement as long as possible, they minimize any loss of revenue while still saving on operating expenses.

Well as far as that loss of revenue if any seems to be made up for with the new PAID After Hours and the new Early Morning Hours at Mk. Honestly I have no choice BUT to go. Our air fare is non refundable and so is our vacation since I rented points from a DVC member. If not I would have canceled this trip or at least extended it. This may be the last trip to Disney our family will get or at the very least it might be a very long time before we can go again. It is not like we can just see these things later. I feel like I am living a nightmare. It really is unbelievable all the negative things that have gone wrong with this Disney trip in just the last two months all at fault of Disney. Again we have only been to Disney as a family one other time so I do not know if all this is normal but it just seems like one nightmare after another. Trust me I do not want to come across negative but how much more can we take??? I will continue to do my best in working out the best plan given the circumstances for my family. The good thing is I have sheltered them from all this. I did start showing them some things about ROL but not much. I do believe it will be us planners that will be most affected. What bothers me most it seems like May will be the worst time to go with all that is closed and unavailable so heart breaking. Today I mourn tomorrow back to planning.

 

[Princesses and Pirates]

Still so stinkin frustrated with Disney!! I just want to know what will be open and what won't be open for our late May trip. I booked this trip so long ago back when we had Star Wars Weekends. That was axed. Then oh Soarin will come out (although disney never officially said) and now, nope SHanghai has to get it first so it's in July. Oh by the way, we no longer offer your favorite fast pass of Wishes where your family can comfortably sit on the grass and enjoy the show without the crowds or the children on their parent's shoulders. Oh Rivers of Light and all nighttime entertainment will be open April 22 and now, NOPE we will tell you in late May when it might open. I know it's been stated before in this group but I'm so frustrated and I just needed to vent. I'm not happy and even tried to convince the kids not to go this summer, to take time off and head west to Disneyland. They won't hear of it and love their Disney but I'm done. This trip has been a nightmare to plan and it gets seemingly worse every day. Thanks for listening........ I'm so sad at the state of affairs at Disney.

I'm sorry.

 

[Princesses and Pirates]

Well as far as that loss of revenue if any seems to be made up for with the new PAID After Hours and the new Early Morning Hours at Mk. Honestly I have no choice BUT to go. Our air fare is non refundable and so is our vacation since I rented points from a DVC member. If not I would have canceled this trip or at least extended it. This may be the last trip to Disney our family will get or at the very least it might be a very long time before we can go again. It is not like we can just see these things later. I feel like I am living a nightmare. It really is unbelievable all the negative things that have gone wrong with this Disney trip in just the last two months all at fault of Disney. Again we have only been to Disney as a family one other time so I do not know if all this is normal but it just seems like one nightmare after another. Trust me I do not want to come across negative but how much more can we take??? I will continue to do my best in working out the best plan given the circumstances for my family. The good thing is I have sheltered them from all this. I did start showing them some things about ROL but not much. I do believe it will be us planners that will be most affected. What bothers me most it seems like May will be the worst time to go with all that is closed and unavailable so heart breaking. Today I mourn tomorrow back to planning.

I'm sorry.

The DVC rental should be awesome! Hope you enjoy the resort!!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Can't say I'm surprised, unfortunately. I'm doing a quick solo trip May 13-15. I was debating whether or not to go to AK or just enjoy the MK and EPCOT's F&G since I'm staying at the Poly and it's a very quick trip. This made my decision a lot easier! I think I will be relaxing at the Poly a lot more now, it will be my first time staying there - I'm going to soak it up, swim, enjoy Trader Sam's and Dole Whips and Wishes from the beach.

Really sorry for everyone who's affected by this delay.

I have another trip planned for mid-September, and I'm staying at the AKL for part of the trip. I really hope ROL and all other nighttime entertainment, restaurants, and attractions are up and running by then!

 

[Paigevon]

Well, rearranged AK day plan and FP+. It's AM EMH so 8 am - close planned now instead of middle of the day break. 6 pm close but we have a 5:55 Tusker House ADR. Maybe we'll catch some flickering lights on the way out..

Wish I had bought those 35%+ off Cirque du Solei giftcards... will be stalking that in the meanwhile, and maybe go to the 9 pm show with DH while MIL/FIL watch DD.


I'm so sorry particularly for those that won't be able to make it out again, or not any time soon.

I had to tell DH the news... you guys may recall this (RoL/AK evening activities) was the only thing he has said he was excited for.

He joked, "Well I don't even want to go now." and saw the immediate crushed look on my face, so he added, "Well, we can go for our birthdays in September, right?" and cheered me up. Previously when I told him I wanted to go to WDW again for our birthdays (1 week apart) he said "Eh we'll see.." So, at least DH and I can see it in September. And maybe with a Tiffins package. And hopefully DD and I will catch it in October during our 2 park day Halloween trip.

 

[DisneyDad2015]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I'm really not hurt or upset by the ROL news. Too many things in every day real life that I'll reserve my feelings of frustration and hurt for. In the grand scheme of things, ROL registers about a 0 on the importance scale. Anyway...

My AK day was set to be 4/25, and it still will be. I planned accordingly and as best as I could given the lack of any ROL news, and I left the evening open just in case there was no ROL fp+, ROL ADRs etc. I was thinking I'd just do Flame Tree BBQ for dinner that night if there were no ROL dinning packages. Now I suppose I may go to DS and eat at Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Pucks Express. Or maybe I'll park hop. Who knows? Whatever my family is in the mood for at that time, we'll do.

I still plan on having a great trip regardless of ROL. I would have gone with or without ROL, and I wouldn't dream of cancelling my trip just because of the ROL news that came out today. I'm going to be having a great time 18 days from now!

 

[horse11]

I'm sorry.

The DVC rental should be awesome! Hope you enjoy the resort!!

Do not be sorry it is not your fault and honestly there are people that face much worse. It helps to get the frustration out but as stated I will make this trip awesome for my family. I really wish I could get in the heads of some of the big shots at Disney

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I'm really not hurt or upset by the ROL news. Too many things in every day real life that I'll reserve my feelings of frustration and hurt for. In the grand scheme of things, ROL registers about a 0 on the importance scale. Anyway...

My AK day was set to be 4/25, and it still will be. I planned accordingly and as best as I could given the lack of any ROL news, and I left the evening open just in case there was no ROL fp+, ROL ADRs etc. I was thinking I'd just do Flame Tree BBQ for dinner that night if there were no ROL dinning packages. Now I suppose I may go to DS and eat at Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Pucks Express. Or maybe I'll park hop. Who knows? Whatever my family is in the mood for at that time, we'll do.

I still plan on having a great trip regardless of ROL. I would have gone with or without ROL, and I wouldn't dream of cancelling my trip just because of the ROL news that came out today. I'm going to be having a great time 18 days from now!

I think that is a great attitude to have. For us we will still have a great time but it was not just one event that has upset me it was MANY things. One can get over one thing, two things, possibly even three things but after several let downs or Disney's last minute interferences it gets a little hard to swallow especially if you are not able to go but once or twice.

 

[disneymath]

Just caught up on the past 20 pages or so and I can't help but be amazed at just how awesome the people on this thread really are.

Even in the face of truly disappointing, distressing, frustrated news, the general mood is still so friendly and compassionate. While some very genuine criticism has been lauched at Disney, no one has turned on each other. That's really something all things considered.

I'm generally more of a lurker, but definitely happy to be part of this thread 500+ pages and 10 000+ Posts in!

 

[rteetz]

This might be over-parsing what is undoubtedly a PR-driven statement, but I read the word "by" in "[w]e'll share more information about timing on the Disney Parks Blog by mid- to late May" to mean "any time between now and mid- to late May" rather than "in mid- to late May."

Like I said earlier. Once they get the tech issues figured out and the show runs flawlessly they will announce an opening date. That could be two weeks from now or maybe a month from now.

 

[Paigevon]

Like I said earlier. Once they get the tech issues figured out and the show runs flawlessly they will announce an opening date. That could be two weeks from now or maybe a month from now.

I quoted your post in between classes to respond to, but the quote disappeared by the time I got around to responding.

I am very cautiously agreeing. I'm thinking they likely gave themselves a large window in which they can be positive it will be ready without the massive amount of pressure via blog hijacking, daily phone calls, e-mails to George... lol. A little part of me is hoping there will be a break through and it will be running by 5/2. And if not, we're blessed that we'll be going back sooner than later.

I was less disappointed with the announcement until after I saw the new paid morning hours were on our 1st park day that I also have a BOG pre-park open ADR for. Then everything felt like a let down for a little while. I know it will be a magical, wonderful family vacation regardless, though.

 

[BrittyRo]

This is my hope. They are buying themselves time. If they get it ready earlier then that's a plus for them and they've kept people off their backs. Maybe they actually learned their lesson from this fiasco.

I'm still holding out hope that this is true. I'm hoping that as someone else said they claimed they'd have an update "BY mid-late May" which means that it could happen any time before that. I think late May early June people are now the unsure ones... I feel disappointed now but the optimist in me still has a shred of hope for my trip at the end of May I guess my first ticker is just pathetic looking now....

 

[DisneyDad2015]

So I admittedly don't know a ton of Disney's "inner workings", and I really don't care to be honest.

But I was just wondering, could Staggs announced resignation yesterday and today's ROL news have any correlation? Just seems like very coincidental timing. Did Staggs have any part in ROL?

 

[Paigevon]

I'm still holding out hope that this is true. I'm hoping that as someone else said they claimed they'd have an update "BY mid-late May" which means that it could happen any time before that. I think late May early June people are now the unsure ones... I feel disappointed now but the optimist in me still has a shred of hope for my trip at the end of May I guess my first ticker is just pathetic looking now....

Well... the participants of this thread have vowed to create our own miniature rivers of light. Look for buttons, shirts, glow sticks, animal finger puppets, and water guns any time between now and RoL launch... and maybe even continued afterwards.

 

[horse11]

So I admittedly don't know a ton of Disney's "inner workings", and I really don't care to be honest.

But I was just wondering, could Staggs announced resignation yesterday and today's ROL news have any correlation? Just seems like very coincidental timing. Did Staggs have any part in ROL?

I mentioned this as well. Seems to close for comfort if you ask me.

 

[Under the Library]

And I'm still floatin' on the Denial River... Hoping it will be ready by May 3rd. Hahaha...sob

 

[KristiK]

I quoted your post in between classes to respond to, but the quote disappeared by the time I got around to responding.

I am very cautiously agreeing. I'm thinking they likely gave themselves a large window in which they can be positive it will be ready without the massive amount of pressure via blog hijacking, daily phone calls, e-mails to George... lol. A little part of me is hoping there will be a break through and it will be running by 5/2. And if not, we're blessed that we'll be going back sooner than later.

I was less disappointed with the announcement until after I saw the new paid morning hours were on our 1st park day that I also have a BOG pre-park open ADR for. Then everything felt like a let down for a little while. I know it will be a magical, wonderful family vacation regardless, though.

Do you have a link to the early morning hours days? I'm way behind. Lol.

 

[Naomi Rohrbaugh]

Well, I guess as a very small consolation prize, I can finalize my plans, and someone must have cancelled their Tusker reservation when they heard, so now I have a 6:30pm Tusker lol

I dumped my Tusker House dinner when I saw the news. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

[jlundeen]

Apparently my last post was deleted because I quoted someone who violated the filter. Was it @jlundeen with the series of special characters?

yep... they told me that was a no no...sorry folks....I was trying to no be offensive.