Rivers of Light General Discussion and Photos

[epcyclopedia]

Are you sure? I know it is placed before the show on lake by a human driver, but during the show I thought it was remotely controlled.

Nope, that's why it parks at AA - so the driver can get on and off.

They're inside of what's essentially a tiny bomb shelter on the barge.

 

[epcyclopedia]

if the earth barge dies completely during the show, you'll see the rescue boat go out and pluck the driver off so they're not stuck there until the park is clear and the barge can be towed.

 

[WAJAS]

Nope, that's why it parks at AA - so the driver can get on and off.

They're inside of what's essentially a tiny bomb shelter on the barge.

Ya I edited my OP. You're right. The driver only uses an infrared guidance system as assistance. I thought it was a fully remote guidance system.
:doh:

 

[epcyclopedia]

The people who designed Epcot's shows were always very practical. Pay a human driver to move the barge around for less than the cost of some of the bigger shells used in the show or spend millions on automation that might not work...

 

[epcyclopedia]

"Clever girl..."

Know how all the bloggers had friends or snuck in to see the first night?

Just the "norms" will be seeing it tonight, so to speak. Invited CM's and their actual families that is. As far as the blogosphere is concerned this is yesterday's news.

 

[belloq87]

I'm feeling okay about the reception the show received last night. I think something technically impressive but low key is absolutely fine, as I don't believe a show that's bombastic would necessarily be appropriate for Animal Kingdom's overall vibe.

 

[Nick]

Well it's more complicated it seems than Kong. You have waves, floats producing thrust from fountains that then have to be stabilized, guided boats with actors, and all of these have to be synchronized and they cross paths all the time.

I am legit curious if this thing officially opens. Similar to how MM+ customized features were up for a week then taken down.

I, too, am curious if it will ever officially open. However, I have a feeling they will do public performances in a soft open fashion. Basically the point of doing that would be since the reliability is the biggest question, if it breaks down mid-show, guests can't complain because they walked right into a technical rehearsal and it also wasn't publicly advertised. It makes sense to go this route first if they show it to the public.

 

[Nick]

CM Preview went smoothly tonight with no stops. Reaction on Twitter FAR more positive tonight than last. It could be because tonight there's ACTUAL CM's there instead of the abundance of bloggers that were there last night, but the only criticisms (and same from last night) are it's a weak ending. According to some people over on Magic, Fire effects are being added to the show soon, so we'll see.

 

[JoeCamel]

CM Preview went smoothly tonight with no stops. Reaction on Twitter FAR more positive tonight than last. It could be because tonight there's ACTUAL CM's there instead of the abundance of bloggers that were there last night, but the only criticisms (and same from last night) are it's a weak ending. According to some people over on Magic, Fire effects are being added to the show soon, so we'll see.

I don't know about the blogger quotient, it seems they don't bite the hand that feeds them so I would expect them to couch their words toward the positive if at all possible in anticipation of future perks.

 

[Nick]

I don't know about the blogger quotient, it seems they don't bite the hand that feeds them so I would expect them to couch their words toward the positive if at all possible.

Eh, that's true in many cases, but it's 7 months after the promised opening date and the show didn't meet many people's expectations. Criticism is warranted in this situation.

However, like I said, it was 7 months of waiting and what exactly people's expectations were are unclear. If the show has an anti-climactic ending, then I can see why people would criticize it. Again though, that was basically "opening night". Hopefully things change for the better between last night and opening to the public.

 

[SeventyOne]

I don't judge anything until I see it in person. That said, there's no question any "sneak peek" audience is going to be more positive than the general public--more so when it's made up of bloggers or other people on the Mouse's payroll.

If the best thing that can be said by that crowd is that this is a technical marvel, it's going to bomb pretty hard with regular guests in 6 months.

 

[Nick]

I don't judge anything until I see it in person. That said, there's no question any "sneak peek" audience is going to be more positive than the general public--more so when it's made up of bloggers or other people on the Mouse's payroll.

If the best thing that can be said by that crowd is that this is a technical marvel, it's going to bomb pretty hard with regular guests in 6 months.

Except the preview audience hasn't been overwhelmingly popular. This is going to be a love it or hate it show. Someone compared the show to the globe portion of Illuminations. That person said they liked that part of RoE, but it is far from a favorite of many that see the show.

Also, I really don't think it's going to be 6 months until we see this hit public. While I think it unwise to guess a timeframe at this point, i've been hearing that if they felt good about the previews, we could see this before the end of the month.

 

[violarum]

If the song fades out in the end and feels incomplete, it could mean that they're still toying around with an actual finale. Disney knows how to end a show well.

I'm upset I couldn't go (3rd party wasn't invited) but you can tell that CMs are excited for this show. Nights at DAK are so boring, so we could really use the crowds.

 

[SeventyOne]

Except the preview audience hasn't been overwhelmingly popular.

That's my point. When the shameless shills like WDWTragic Steve can barely muster up the energy to offer a defense, I don't see it wowing the general public.

 

[SeventyOne]

I'm upset I couldn't go (3rd party wasn't invited) but you can tell that CMs are excited for this show. Nights at DAK are so boring, so we could really use the crowds.

I still say if a show based on a beloved IP like The Jungle Book couldn't convince crowds to stay past 5, a firew0rks-free, non-IP show isn't going to do much better. Conventional wisdom and crowd patterns don't change just because theme parks wish it so. It takes a Potter-level game-changer to shift things like that. This does not sound like a Potter-level game-changer.

 

[darkridelover]

I still say if a show based on a beloved IP like The Jungle Book couldn't convince crowds to stay past 5, a firew0rks-free, non-IP show isn't going to do much better. Conventional wisdom and crowd patterns don't change just because theme parks wish it so. It takes a Potter-level game-changer to shift things like that. This does not sound like a Potter-level game-changer.

I assume the "game-changer" draw will be night time Pandora and this will be an added experience at the opposite end of the park to spread out crowds. Jungle Book had two major things going against it, one being that is was a poorly executed and thrown together show, and two was the fact there wasn't a night time attraction spectacular enough to convince people to stay later.

 

[darkridelover]

The big question I have is: Could opening the Jungle Book show have actually hurt the perception of Rivers of Light in the casual visitors mind? To a lot of them it was simply the Animal Kingdom night time show. And when they're planning their trip this year could they just decide to skip it because they weren't impressed with it last year. Think about it this way, there are millions of people who come to MK every year and they stay to see the fireworks. To them, it's simply the MK fireworks. They don't know it's called Wishes, and for a lot of them if you changed the show they wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Nick]

I still say if a show based on a beloved IP like The Jungle Book couldn't convince crowds to stay past 5, a firew0rks-free, non-IP show isn't going to do much better. Conventional wisdom and crowd patterns don't change just because theme parks wish it so. It takes a Potter-level game-changer to shift things like that. This does not sound like a Potter-level game-changer.

Epcot has been keeping people until close for their "non-IP" show for as long as Illuminations has existed in it's different forms. This is not and IP vs. non-IP thing.

Let's also not forget Pandora hasn't opened yet. If Pandora fails to keep people at DAK into the night, then we should consider Pandora the failure as that was it's main job.

 

[Brian G.]

Epcot has been keeping people until close for their "non-IP" show for as long as Illuminations has existed in it's different forms. This is not and IP vs. non-IP thing.

Let's also not forget Pandora hasn't opened yet. If Pandora fails to keep people at DAK into the night, then we should consider Pandora the failure as that was it's main job.

Which is why Epcot is about to go all-in on being IP heavy? Epcot also is an exception compared to DAK.

Also, impressive fireworks.

and... the expectation was that this year's night offerings would help move the needle up for AK at night - and it didn't.

 

[Nick]

Which is why Epcot is about to go all-in on being IP heavy? Epcot also is an exception compared to DAK.

Also, impressive fireworks.

and... the expectation was that this year's night offerings would help move the needle up for AK at night - and it didn't.

IPs on the rides have nothing to do with Illuminations.

And yes that was the expectation this year and it failed. But the expectation was also that Rivers of Light would be working with all intended effects (Fire, Fog & Floating Lanterns - not present in CM preview) back in April.