Rumors of Light (ROL discussion thread)

[KMWoolley]

I like your comment, Keith. Here's what I just posted, but I doubt they will let it through:

I echo other comments here. After the hard marketing of ROL and night time activities at Animal Kingdom, and waiting two months, all the while being told time and time again by phone CMs and Blog posts that details were coming SOON, even VERY SOON, the news yesterday that this has been totally pushed back until sometime this summer is very disappointing. This news was only trumped by the release of the Early Morning Magic availability, which will definitely impact our end of April vacation.

To be required to plan for dining, FPs weeks and months ahead of a visit and then have changes like this happen two weeks before our vacation is not only disrespectful of your guests, but diminishes the Disney name.

I've been a life long Disney fanatic. After yesterday's announcements, I'm rethinking future trips. Thanks for bursting our Disney bubble. No Pixie Dust here!

Great comment and I agree 100%.
To finish my venting, I just sent another letter to George, covering most of your points listed above.
I have also challenged him to read the Comments that did get through on yesterday's Blog and keep in mind that the most negative ones never even got past the Moderator. I expect to get another empathetic phone call back, with 'promises' that my concerns will make it up the line, but honestly, unless I get a call from George himself, I really don't think that is going to happen.
I'm getting more and more cynical when it comes to Disney and I don't like it.

 

[Benihana]

Which stage is anger. That's where I'm at now. Guess it's time for another walk, but it's cold here. More anger.

This!!!

Hey - I will be at AK that day and at TH at 6:10.

I guess we will both be experiencing AK After Dark that day! I will be one with the Rumors of Light button asking Donald for my dining package tickets.

 

[Cluelyss]

It can potentially save you a TON of time in line. I've heard you can still preorder up to the same day. If you have a smartphone, you could ask the kids for their orders the morning of your BOG ADR.

Yep, you can order or edit your order right up until your ADR time. When you check in there will be 2 lines, one for those that preordered and one for those that didn't. The preorder line has always been shorter (by a lot) when we've gone. And you can still make changes when you "confirm" your order inside if someone has a last minute change of heart!

 

[Cluelyss]

Pulled this from a FB site....anyone heard any rumors about the lights coming back? The location is "Muppets Courtyard" so must be a new link?

Figured we needed a new rumor to chase now

 

[KMWoolley]

Not sure if it has been posted, but it looks like ROL has been pushed to a summer opening. I read there will be an "update" in mid May.

you're kinda new here, aren't ya...

 

[gwynne]

Same for me. After going multiple times a year for almost 20 years this is the one trip where I am not excited about planning. With decreased park hours(I know those might change), delayed openings (ROL & AK nighttime, FEA, Soarin'), no SWW, and all the new paid for events they are throwing out there to mess up our plans, it is just discouraging.

Since we go so often we are a little more flexible, but we still like to have a plan. I know we will have a great time and I am excited about going but trying to plan with all the changes going on is very hard.

It is frustrating and hard. They tried to sell us on the great advantages of all the planning and then...we have to come up with new or alternate plans as Disney adds and subtracts from the schedule. All that planning is work. That's not a vacation.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Sooooo, I'm at 9 days. Officially single digits. Aaaaand, my trip is kind of a mess!

I'm thinking I'm going to try to pull it all together today and finalize some plans! I mean, I don't want to rush into anything, and who knows what tomorrow will bring, but that's what I'm thinking.

hmmm, and I have all this money saved for preview parties and I find myself wanted to find something fun and new to spend it on! What is wrong with me?? (but I am taking suggestions again...)

 

[gwynne]

View attachment 160601
Pulled this from a FB site....anyone heard any rumors about the lights coming back? The location is "Muppets Courtyard" so must be a new link?

Figured we needed a new rumor to chase now

I tried typing Osborne into the Disney Parks search box, nothing came up. Guess we'll have to stay tuned and see if it's something or not.

 

[elmoandzoey]

Yep, you can order or edit your order right up until your ADR time. When you check in there will be 2 lines, one for those that preordered and one for those that didn't. The preorder line has always been shorter (by a lot) when we've gone. And you can still make changes when you "confirm" your order inside if someone has a last minute change of heart!

That's nice to know, thanks for the heads up! I guess I will ask them like an hour before we go what they want to eat and then order from the phone. There's enough standing in line for the rides, if I can skip standing in line for food, I'll gladly skip it!

 

[ArielSRL]

I haven't read through the comments today but has anyone seen this: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...s/osborne-family-spectacle-of-dancing-lights/

I'll be back in a bit to catch up. Just saw this and wanted to post.

 

[KMWoolley]

Sooooo, I'm at 9 days. Officially single digits. Aaaaand, my trip is kind of a mess!

I'm thinking I'm going to try to pull it all together today and finalize some plans! I mean, I don't want to rush into anything, and who knows what tomorrow will bring, but that's what I'm thinking.

hmmm, and I have all this money saved for preview parties and I find myself wanted to find something fun and new to spend it on! What is wrong with me?? (but I am taking suggestions again...)

I have no doubt you will still have a great trip.
Club Villain got me interested and willing to pay a little more. It has gotten great reviews.

 

[Benihana]

On a slightly positive note, I was just able to score an 8:25 BOG breakfast for my new MK day Thank you SO much to the person who suggested the touringplans Reservation Finder. It worked like a charm within days. Too many pages to scroll through and find that post! I'm sure the sudden availability means there must be a Morning Magic event planned for that day, but oh well. I actually did want to try the breakfast at BOG and I suppose that might mean I will be able to get on some early rides for "free." I wonder if they will be able to distinguish early ADR guests from MM guests.

 

[Clumsy_Chica]

I think I've reached the depression stage of grief. We'll be there 4/22 - 4/24, and originally selected this weekend because of projected low crowd levels. Then ROL was announced and I knew crowd levels would go up, but ROL was worth it to me so I didn't worry.
NOW I'm fretting about the raised crowd levels, with no ROL, no nighttime AK anything, and probably looking at a surge of locals before EMM hits the next week. I feel so horrible. My husband scraped together so much money so that we could do this (this is the most expensive trip we've ever done, and it's only three days ) and so that I could have my Kidani Village Savannah dream room. I'm worried that he's going to be miserable with the crowds. Wishing we hadn't spent so much money on me.

That said, my itinerary is done. I finished it up last night and decided this morning that I'm not messing with it anymore no matter what happens. I'm just wishing everything works out.

4/21 Get off work, go home and finish packing. Drop our puppy off with MiL so she can puppysit. Drive over to Ramada Kissimmee Gateway for the night, we'll probably roll in around 10pm. It's 2.5 miles from AKL, so it'll be a short trip in the morning.

4/22 Hop over to Kidani early in the morning, they'll text when our room is ready. Take the bus to Epcot for F&G. Probably have an afternoon break in there back at the hotel if our room is ready. 8:30 dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel so that we can watch Illuminations from the windows (I'm actually super stoked for this, I've never had dinner during Epcot's fireworks)

4/23 Magic Kingdom. No dining reservations or anything because I'm expecting it'll be packed and we'll probably want to leave to go back to the hotel during the day. We're GOING to see the projection show on the castle and Wishes, though. This is not up for debate

4/24 Check out of Kidani by 11:00am. Bus over to Animal Kingdom. Lunch at Yak&Yeti @ 12:30. We'll probably stay until close riding Everest as much as we can. Then bus back to AKL Jambo for our farewell dinner at Jiko, 7:35. Pick up our car and head home.

Alright, so it's going to be an awesome trip. But I still can't help but feel a little deflated.

 

[jeanico2000]

TheFloatingBear, I was so looking forward to seeing you gently drift down the ROL in your honey pot...

 

[gwynne]

Sooooo, I'm at 9 days. Officially single digits. Aaaaand, my trip is kind of a mess!

I'm thinking I'm going to try to pull it all together today and finalize some plans! I mean, I don't want to rush into anything, and who knows what tomorrow will bring, but that's what I'm thinking.

hmmm, and I have all this money saved for preview parties and I find myself wanted to find something fun and new to spend it on! What is wrong with me?? (but I am taking suggestions again...)

We booked the Tea at the Beach Club Crescent Solarium It's available limited dates, but it looks like fun.
http://allears.net/news/top-news.htm?id=2688

 

[Benihana]

View attachment 160601
Pulled this from a FB site....anyone heard any rumors about the lights coming back? The location is "Muppets Courtyard" so must be a new link?

Figured we needed a new rumor to chase now

This made me LOL.

 

[HopperFan]

Holy crap, I miss one day and the thread leaps about 50 pages!

I'm not surprised it's all delayed, that's how my friend made it sound. She's one of the few whose really relieved, she was dreading having to put something out there that wasn't ready, and it sounds like this gives them plenty of time to fix all the issues. She kind of made it sound like Joe Rohde might have been the one to finally get them to put things on hold; she said even he saw how things were progressing and voiced his concerns.

Having said that, even as a local I'm annoyed, so I can't imagine how those planning trips must feel This and the Frozen stuff and Soarin' and the new no-longer-free EMH events makes planning so hard, and I know lots of people have worked hard to get all their ducks in a row only to have plans messed up.

In other news, I ordered my RoL t-shirt, DS3 has a t-shirt and Grayson has a onesie! So if you see us walking around the parks, come and say hi! My shirt is bright pink, DS3's is white, and Grayson's onesie is blue. DH wanted nothing to do with them Something about 'unprofessional.' Party pooper.

Yeah .... I think once I saw Rhode was at AK and AKL I figured that this was going to get either a thumbs up or thumbs down and we'd finally have our answer. Can't help but think they should have started testing this long ago, it's not like the lake and structure under the water weren't ready for that. Oh well, maybe Disney has learned that since they rarely finish on original time frames .... don't get excited and DON'T POST an opening date until you have cleared all the hurdles and everything is on point. It surely wasn't worth the backlash .... enough of that already.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Which stage is anger. That's where I'm at now. Guess it's time for another walk, but it's cold here. More anger.

Well, the stages or phases of grief are more of a guideline for feelings one might experience - it is perfectly normal to move back and forth between these feelings in a more fluid fashion.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I have no doubt you will still have a great trip.
Club Villain got me interested and willing to pay a little more. It has gotten great reviews.

Others have mentioned this so I may look into it!

 

[gwynne]

I think I've reached the depression stage of grief. We'll be there 4/22 - 4/24, and originally selected this weekend because of projected low crowd levels. Then ROL was announced and I knew crowd levels would go up, but ROL was worth it to me so I didn't worry.
NOW I'm fretting about the raised crowd levels, with no ROL, no nighttime AK anything, and probably looking at a surge of locals before EMM hits the next week. I feel so horrible. My husband scraped together so much money so that we could do this (this is the most expensive trip we've ever done, and it's only three days ) and so that I could have my Kidani Village Savannah dream room. I'm worried that he's going to be miserable with the crowds. Wishing we hadn't spent so much money on me.

That said, my itinerary is done. I finished it up last night and decided this morning that I'm not messing with it anymore no matter what happens. I'm just wishing everything works out.

4/21 Get off work, go home and finish packing. Drop our puppy off with MiL so she can puppysit. Drive over to Ramada Kissimmee Gateway for the night, we'll probably roll in around 10pm. It's 2.5 miles from AKL, so it'll be a short trip in the morning.

4/22 Hop over to Kidani early in the morning, they'll text when our room is ready. Take the bus to Epcot for F&G. Probably have an afternoon break in there back at the hotel if our room is ready. 8:30 dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel so that we can watch Illuminations from the windows (I'm actually super stoked for this, I've never had dinner during Epcot's fireworks)

4/23 Magic Kingdom. No dining reservations or anything because I'm expecting it'll be packed and we'll probably want to leave to go back to the hotel during the day. We're GOING to see the projection show on the castle and Wishes, though. This is not up for debate

4/24 Check out of Kidani by 11:00am. Bus over to Animal Kingdom. Lunch at Yak&Yeti @ 12:30. We'll probably stay until close riding Everest as much as we can. Then bus back to AKL Jambo for our farewell dinner at Jiko, 7:35. Pick up our car and head home.

Alright, so it's going to be an awesome trip. But I still can't help but feel a little deflated.

Even after all the ups and downs, your plans are awesome! A farewell dinner at Jiko will be the perfect way to end your trip.