We visited Animal Kingdom Tuesday to see the latest progress on Rivers of Light. If you aren’t up to date on this attraction, this is the first ever nighttime show for Animal Kingdom, and the first part of Pandora that we get to see. Disney has their official info here. I won’t go into all the details on what the show is supposed to be. Disney has promoted the heck out of it, telling us all how amazing it will be. The actual details of how we can make plans to see it have been remarkably absent from their media and press.
The Rivers of Light Waiting Game
The rumor mills have been going crazy. First was word of a special ticket event for Rivers of Light that would premiere the show. It was supposed to be announced and begin selling tickets weeks ago. Many people began frantically watching the site for updates, knowing that the event would sell out in moments. We don’t know why exactly but the opening event never happened. There were several different rumors floating and I never heard anything concrete from a reliable source, but we do know that it was apparently was cancelled.
The show is officially set to open on April 22nd (Earth Day) and will probably soft open or at the very least have previews for the cast members prior to that. At this point that’s really all we know. Now the concern for many has been getting fast passes for Rivers of Light, or securing dining reservation as part of a package that guarantees you a seat. People who are visiting this spring are very anxious for these. Why? Because the seating for the show is 5000. This means that it’s highly likely that not everyone who would like to see the show will get in. It’s going to be ridiculously popular, especially in the first opening months. Even with multiple shows per night, if you are visiting for one week you only have one or two nights available for you to see the show. If it fills up you missed your chance. So Fast Passes or dining packages will be key for many to see it, and also gives them peace of mind knowing they will definitely get in.
The problem is they haven’t been released, nor has Disney even said when or if they will. So it’s a waiting game that has frustrated many. This is the true downside to the Fast Pass system. It has forced vacationers to plan their trips 3-6 months in advance but doesn’t leave room for last minute changes or additions. I truly don’t have a solution to this problem, and I’m glad I’m not Disney trying to figure it out. 🙂 I don’t think there is a simple solution. But I really hope they get some newer Rivers of Light info released soon because I fear the frustration for many is causing them to rethink the frequency of their trips here.
So let’s look at some of these pictures! The amphitheater type seating for the show is completed and the lighting is in place. You can see how pretty the area is in the opening picture above. The animal floats that we saw being tested were of a Tiger, Owls, and Elephant. They look to be carved out of stone and are surrounding with torch type lights. Everything is built to look very organic and natural. The floats are movable in the water and they seemed to be testing their movements, monitoring them from boats and moving to hit various marks that I assume will correspond to happenings in the show.
Click on any picture to open a larger gallery slide-show.
[supsystic-gallery id=16 position=center]
