Rivers of Light General Discussion and Photos

[Ryan]

Very weird to open Twitter and see Rivers of Light as trending in top 10 in US.

Yeah, it's #10 for me

That's your tailored trends per your own feed. Rivers of Light isn't that interesting

 

[Andysol]

You guys are a little rougher on it than I am. As you all know- I'm a universal guy- although I do like Disney still (just not as much as I used to).
They clearly would have loved to have opened it a year ago and going 24 minutes instead of 15 would be their preference too.
It was really a result of incredible technology that simply wasn't ready for the big leagues yet. We might be years away, honestly. I swear these parks get so caught up on "technology" that they cause way more trouble than it's worth. Think of how long they could have employed 14 boat drivers with what these delays cost.

That all said- I actually liked it and I'm glad we got something. And something significantly better than JB (low bar). I was actually more nervous we would get absolutely nothing based on the complications with the tech. So the fact they pulled this off is an accomplishment for me. Understated elegance, like most things at DAK.
Hopefully in a few years we get something with a little more substance, but I'll take this for now.

 

[JoeCamel]

Well, at 15 - 18 mins they can fit in several shows each night even in summer and that should help with capacity. More like streetmosphere with seats

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I dont see the reduction of the show to 15 minutes as a failure as much as if that's the 15 minutes they chose what was in the other 11 minutes then?

 

[shiekra38]

I'm sorry but this is boring..

Just amazes me how the Tree of Life show is so much more compelling than this and it has projection and light as its only medium..This has moving lanterns, set pieces, fountains, lights, live actors, projection, and fire...yet, this is what we have?

I would love to see how awful the first cut was

 

[Tobias]

I dont see the reduction of the show to 15 minutes as a failure as much as if that's the 15 minutes they chose what was in the other 11 minutes then?

Looking around on twitter, apparently something that was changed/cut was the animal barges were introduced one at a time, instead of all coming out at once. Another person mentioned they felt what was cut were the "slower parts". So in one way that's a bit of a blessing, yet it also leans towards this whole show being flawed at the core since this trimmed version feels slow.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm with holding judgement till I see it in person, like Kong, Gringotts, etc. But when WoC opened I watched videos of that before I could go and found myself more captivated and excited than this particular RoL showing. It's still not done and wasn't the best filming of the show. Hopefully there is still more work to be done.

 

[shiekra38]

Another video...Turn up the quality

 

[adjjb]

That's your tailored trends per your own feed. Rivers of Light isn't that interesting

It actually was . Because I have the tailored trends default off and set my trends as United States Trends.

It wasn't high up on the list by any means, it was at the bottom, but it was there. Ir was probably at the time the show was finished and caused a spike.

 

[JoeCamel]

I'm sorry but this is boring..

Just amazes me how the Tree of Life show is so much more compelling than this and it has projection and light as its only medium..This has moving lanterns, set pieces, fountains, lights, live actors, projection, and fire...yet, this is what we have?

I would love to see how awful the first cut was

Went (dragged) to Shen Yun last week. Two hours of what looks like the same thing. Won't stop me from seeing it in person if the opportunity presents itself but I am not buying an AP to see this. Guess it is not my cup of tea. Now if they had bench service for alcohol I might think differently

 

[shiekra38]

Went (dragged) to Shen Yun last week. Two hours of what looks like the same thing. Won't stop me from seeing it in person if the opportunity presents itself but I am not buying an AP to see this. Guess it is not my cup of tea. Now if they had bench service for alcohol I might think differently

I've seen some arguments that not everyone is into the abstract artistry of the show...or, you just don't understand it, it's abstract...To which I would argue that a show such as IllumiNations in all reality is a pretty non-linear show, but it is regarded by some as the best evening show that Disney has ever created..It isn't abstract or deep....it's boring with a capital B

What frustrates me is I know Disney can do better, but they seem to struggle without shoving IPs in anymore...Heck, there is a better evening show IN THE SAME PARK..

If Busch Gardens had and evening show this is what I'd expect...It isn't terrible, it's worse....it's meh

 

[epcyclopedia]

Everyone ok with me calling it Wet Baskets the Musical now.. ?

 

[Nick]

I'll wait to see this in person, but I already feel like this is a show that will likely be heavily reworked over the years.

15 minutes is plenty of time for a show, but it also needs to be compelling enough to warrant the wait and from everything i'm hearing, they still have a lot of work to do to make this a "must see".

 

[Tobias]

I've seen some arguments that not everyone is into the abstract artistry of the show...or, you just don't understand it, it's abstract...To which I would argue that a show such as IllumiNations in all reality is a pretty non-linear show, but it is regarded by some as the best evening show that Disney has ever created..It isn't abstract or deep....it's boring with a capital B

What frustrates me is I know Disney can do better, but they seem to struggle without shoving IPs in anymore...Heck, there is a better evening show IN THE SAME PARK..

Totally agreed, over on other sites I'm seeing people throw the very lazy "You just don't understand it" excuse around. That the people disliking what they're seeing have no attention spans, and they need something big happening every minute, fireworks or IP's etc. An' that the show has "Understated Beauty", and it fit's the philosophy of AK perfectly.

Let's see, shows that I love and really enjoyed are Illuminations (Which feature slow sections, no IP's), the recent Holiday version of WoC (No fireworks, also slow sections, also far longer at 30 minutes or so.), as well as the former BraviSEAmo! (A show which definitely was slower and abstract, and was mainly no IP's save for a tiny intro cameo.) and Legend of Mythica (A 30-40 minute water pagent.). A key thing with all of those shows is they were able to captivate me in one way or another, and as long as I'm captivated I'll happy watch it no matter how long it is.

RoL on the other hand, just doesn't captivate me. The Shamans at the beginning of the float are instantly forgotten the moment they shift focus to the animal lanterns...which also end up forgotten when the show moves to the lotuses. The barges move around seemingly with no rhyme, reason or real sense of choreography. There doesn't feel to be any kind of hook, which I know for certain this is not a impossible task with animals. There are great animal docs which can bring out a wide variety of drama and emotions, and this show is taking no advantage of that. It's all one slow note, and that's not "Understated", that's boring. Though you could say it does fit the philosophy of AK...in the sense it's yet another thing where the concept is better then the execution. An' that pains me to say since I do like this park.

 

[darkridelover]

To me its like watching the globe section of Illuminations- Reflections of Earth for 15 mins. Boring and uninspiring.

 

[Speed]

 

[Nick]

The official first show will be Friday, February 17th.

 

[UNIrd]

Are they doing FP+ for this? Checked a few random dates and nada.

 

[Nick]

Are they doing FP+ for this? Checked a few random dates and nada.

Disney tends to open attractions without FP and add on later to give ops time to get used to the daily schedule and also give themselves a buffer in case of a failing with the attraction.

 

[Andysol]

It's showing up in the FP list but no availability.

Pricey Dining package might be the way to go these first few days if you're dying to see it and won't be back for a while.

Also- it's only going to be ONE show per night. Even at just 15 mins :/