Rivers of Light...Yes or No?

[Madzac]

I wasnt expecting much when we went in July due to reviews and we almost skipped ROL. I am SO glad we didn't. It was our absolute most favorite night time show!! It was stunning. I wished we had had another night to see it again. I loved it!!

Now the new magic kingdom fireworks... definitely not wishes. It didn't do it for me.

Guess everyone is different!

 

[fla4fun]

It's your birthday so do what you want to do. Everyone here will be happy to give their opinion of which is best, but it's only best for them, not you. For example, I personally did not like Jiko, and loved RoL, so I would choose RoL. But if it was my birthday I'd probably be spending the day at Epcot, which is my favorite park, watching Illuminations, my favorite night show. Everyone is different.

It sounds like you put a lot of planning and thought into your birthday dinner. If RoL was really that important, you would have already made the changes necessary to see it. So I think you really prefer keeping the dinner plans as is.

I would recommend seeing RoL at some point though. You should judge it for yourself.

 

[kristenrice]

I'm 48 hours away from take off...

...and I still can't decide! I have our Jiko reservation at 8:30 and now I see that the AK is open until 9 AND there are now TWO showings of ROL that night.

Right now, I am leaning towards doing BOTH...the question now is, what is my best plan at this point? Should we just haul butt once the show lets out and beat cheeks for the exit, calling for an Uber on the way out so that we can make it back to AKV by 8:30? Or should I just cancel our Jiko reservation and hope we can get a walk-up after 8:30??

 

[cigar95]

It sounds like you don't have a RoL FastPass. That may end up making the decision for you, as the standby area often fills with folks who waited in line really early.

 

[wdwnut61]

I just saw this show for the first time a week ago; I'm really glad that we took the time. Here are a few pictures. It was visually stunning!

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I have to echo others your pictures are stunning.

 

[CJN]

It sounds like you don't have a RoL FastPass. That may end up making the decision for you, as the standby area often fills with folks who waited in line really early.

Does this hold true even when there are two shows? I’ve only been when one show is offered so haven’t seen what happens when there are two.

 

[Willlyb]

Honestly, this show is not worth the effort to fight the crowds, the FP (if you use one), or the time spent. In my family's opinion, it was just awful. At the end, we were looking at each other like, "ok, never gonna do THAT again".

Some people call it a "one and done", I think it's really a "none and done". Maybe, a "watch it on youtube and done" if you LOVE shows.

 

[Indio]

We saw parts of it while walking around the lake from Dinoland to Everest. After seeing those bits of it, none of our crowd wanted to go in and sit and watch it. So None and Done for us.

 

[imjustafatkid]

I wouldn't waste a fast pass or dining reservation on it. We went the week of Memorial Day, and it was broken more often than it was working. If I had held a fast pass all day just for rivers of light and then it didn't work, there would have been nothing they could have done to make that right. I'm not chancing it.

 

[JennyDrake]

ROL is a visual treat, it moves at a slow steady pace. The storyline (what story line??) is lacking and the music is lovely but nothing memorable. Everyone should see it ONCE, but _I_ would not stress about doing so.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

If you are able to see it then definitely try it once for yourself. It is a beautiful show; but like many others I agree that it isn’t one of Disney’s best night shows and we left the show feeling a bit underwhelmed.

 

[Brian Ball]

do I really need a dining reservation to get a chance to see rivers of light or is there enough places to see it from?

 

[wdw&sonny]

Saw ROL for first time in September. My problem with it...it's not very Disney. There was nothing memorable. No Disney music, characters, etc. Fantasmic and HEA draw from the memories of Disney film and music. ROL is original. I imagine, with time, the music and images may become memorable. But, for first time. It was not.