A second nightly Rivers of Light showing has been added at 8:30pm on Saturday, February 18th and Sunday, February 19th, 2017 due to guest demand. These are in addition to the already scheduled 7:15pm showings.
FastPass+ reservations are open for these additional shows now. No additional dining packages have been released at Tiffins or Tusker House, however.
UPDATE: An 8:30pm show was now also added for Friday, February 17th, 2017.
Our latest photo report brings us to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to see the latest progress on Pandora: The World of AVATAR, Rivers of Light, and more around the park. Let’s take a look…
Wild Places and Parking Spaces
The large dirt barrier behind Pandora: The World of AVATAR is still quite visible from outside of the park. Trees should be planted here fairly soon.
I didn’t realize that they had installed electric vehicle parking at Animal Kingdom, but it is there, located just behind the handicap section.
Pandora looms in the distance…
Pandora: The World of AVATAR
The AVATAR area continues to speed towards an expected May 2017 opening, although Disney is just saying Summer 2017 at this point.
Pandora, as seen from the top of Expedition Everest.
If you want more photos of Pandora: The World of AVATAR, be sure to check out our latest post on it here. Also, the video update below:
Wings and Things
The former Terra Treats allergy friendly menu is gone, replaced by beer and wings (for the most part)…
The clearly labeled display wings… I’m not sure of there real order is that small, but if it is, it is $2 a wing.
Meanwhile, the Harambe Popcorn cart is now selling merchandise: music CDs and binoculars.
Rivers of Plight
On most days, the Discovery River Theater is open for guest seating. It’s starting to sound like we won’t see Rivers of Light until AVATAR opens though.
All of the FastPass+ signage is up and ready to go when the time comes.
If you haven’t seen our video of the show being tested earlier this month, take a look below:
Concept Art for Flight of Passage attraction, Pandora: the World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park
Since the Flight of Passage attraction was announced, we have wondered how Disney would achieve such an attraction, where guests were promised that they would get to ride on a “real Banshee” from the AVATAR film series. Well, the following image was sent our way courtesy of an inside source and is a screen cap of some footage of Imagineers testing out the new ride which will open with Pandora: the World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this Summer.
Now, obviously, it is not the clearest image, but so is the nature of such leaked things. You can see that 2 people are mounted on a Banshee creature and are riding the attraction with the large Soarin’ type projection screen in front of them.
It might be possible to seat more than two guests on each, but it is unclear due to the clarity of the image. I would assume that children 7 and under would need to ride with someone 14 or older, as is the rule with many other attractions at Walt Disney World.
This is the structure to which the dozens of Banshees will be mounted, holding guests while they fly in Flight of Passage, Pandora: The World of AVATAR
We were promised that we would be able to feel the Banshee breathing and all of its motions below us when we ride the attraction. Based on the leaked image above, I may actually believe the Disney PR machine for once. If each guest really is boarding their own personal animal, I think we are in for something truly amazing. I think even the most bitter AVATAR project detractors will have to look at this as impressive.
But what do you think? Are you excited for Flight of Passage and Pandora: The World of AVATAR?
It’s hard to write these stories over and over as Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom has been continually delayed since its original debut date was set for April 22nd, 2016. I know we have told you many times that the show was near completion, and in most recent times it has been, but for one reason or another, Disney has refused to debut the show. There were even cast member previews in early December, but there has not been a word about any further performances since then.
Well, it appears as if cast members staffing the show have been scheduled to work at the Discovery River Theater as of next week. What this means exactly is unknown (even to the cast members involved at this point), but many rumors are pointing to a February 12th (or roughly around that date) debut for Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom. We don’t expect any big hoopla by Disney should the show debut now, but based on the PR fiasco it has been up until this point, who could blame them?
As always, you can take this with a grain of salt when it comes to this show, but something is definitely happening at the Discovery River Theater next week (and hopefully it isn’t The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic). We will keep you in the loop as we find out more in the coming days.
Even though I panned it unmercifully in our review, one of the staples of Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom has been its signature and exclusive barbecue sauces. Well, one of those sauces will soon be no more…
According to cast members at the establishment, the regular barbecue sauce is in short supply and should be running out soon. The cast members stated that they were informed that it will not be restocked and instead they will simply be distributing only the Heinz Barbecue Sauce packets. The sweet and spicy sauce made just for the restaurant will remain, however.
I prefer the sweet and spicy sauce myself, but I know that many will miss this exclusive sauce at Flame Tree Barbecue. Will you?
It’s time to check in on the latest progress on Pandora: The World of AVATAR at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where more and more details are being revealed and Disney is preparing to illuminate the massive land in the evenings for guests. Let’s check it out…
From a far, we can see the entrance to the land just over the bridge, as well as the floating mountains, but not really much else.
The second set of construction walls was open for some reason, giving us a glimpse further inside.
Sadly, all we can see is a construction fence.
There is one structure on the horizon, one we suspect to be a restroom facility, but we could be wrong.
The strange plant structure by the entrance continues to get new details added each time we visit.
For a better look, please check out the video provided below:
Upon returning in the evening, we could see that all of the lighting on the bridge to Pandora was turned on.
I will say, if the level of detail on the bridge and the strange plant structure are any indication, then we are really in for something special here.
As we were leaving the park, we noticed that a projection mapping test was taking place on the floating mountains above the land. We suspect that there will be a nightly lighting show much in the same vein as Cars Land, but this one using projection mapping technology similar to the Tree of Life Awakenings and Once Upon a Time.
It may be just a grid now, but some bright, bioluminescent projections could really make this something special to behold every evening in the park.
So, who’s excited to visit Pandora this Summer? What part of the project are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below!
While visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday, I was surprised to see that the viewing area for Rivers of Light was open for guests to explore, perhaps offering a seating area for some nearby eateries.
Ae we explored, we noticed that techs for the show were out and turning things on.
After playing with the two boats for a while, things went quiet, so we left.
As evening fell, it was clear that the animal lantern barges had been rolled out, but they were not illuminated yet.
However, once 7:30PM hit and the park closed, the boat and two of the animal lanterns illuminated.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the show will debut soon, but it is a pretty decent sign at least.
We also have a video of the test to share with you:
Pandora: the World of AVATAR is nearing completion at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and now some of the strange elements we have seen covered for many months are starting to be revealed. In our latest video update, we take a look at the entrance to the land, the bridge to enter it from Discovery Island, and more work happening on the floating mountains above the land. Take a look for yourself:
A rather interesting new item appeared today in the Shop Disney Parks app…
It’s a light-up totem pole representing the Rivers of Light nighttime show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The below picture shows the glow wan illuminated.
Why suddenly start selling merchandise for a show that has been delayed for so long? Well, we can only assume that the nighttime spectacular will finally debut soon at thew park, just a few weeks after cast members were the first to see it in late-November 2016.
We expect a starting date announcement soon from Disney, but as you know with this show, something could always happen between now and then…
No release dates for these items are available as of yet, but their existence now seems to confirm that the debut of the show is at least within sight now.
