Rivers of Light Previews to Begin Next Week Possibly; New Details and Concept Art for Tiffins at Animal Kingdom

Rivers of Light Previews to Begin Next Week Possibly:

The amazing new nighttime spectacular at Animal Kingdom, "Rivers of Light", previews will begin next week according to WDW News Today and an internal document that is being passed around Disney. According to the document it would begin with an Animal Kingdom cast members only preview next week on April 6th. All other cast member previews will follow on April 8, April 9, April 12, and April 13. 

An Annual Passholder and Disney Vacation Club preview will follow the cast member previews with a special preview for up to 4,000 guests on April 15th. Normal AP and DVC member previews will be held on April 16 and 17. 

This will all lead up to the Press event on April 19th and the show opening to all guests on Earth Day, April 22nd. Also according to the document the show will be shown twice nightly at 8:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

New Details and Concept Art for Tiffins at Animal Kingdom Released:

Tiffins will be the newest table-service restaurant at Disney World when it opens this summer in Animal Kingdom. The 252-seat restaurant will open in the Discovery Island area of the park. The name Tiffin comes from the Indian word for a lunchbox used by travelers also a mid-day meal. 

The restaurant will open daily for lunch and dinner with a menu inspired by many locations around the world including Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. When guests enter the signature restaurant they will be greeted by a detailed map of the world to help experience world travel. Around the restaurant will be bold artwork derived from sketches, journals, and research from those who created the park. 

The Disney Parks Blog and Emily O'Brien, Walt Disney Imagineering executive show producer of Animal Kingdom shared this on Tiffins and what guests will experience:

“Tiffins is the signature restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, celebrating the culture of design and research that went into creating this unique park,” said Emily O’Brien, Walt Disney Imagineering executive show producer for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.O’Brien describes the interior design as “a gallery you can dine in with artwork that is a direct result of travels to Africa, Asia and South America which influenced the design of the park.” The ideas of the park’s design team, including sketches, photography, architecture and textures, are all presented in a way that is uniquely Disney.“All the senses are explored and turned into amazing works of art,” said O’Brien. “The galleries, or dining rooms, focus on Asia [Trek Gallery with 74 seats] and Africa [Safari Gallery with 64 seats], and the third [Grand Gallery with 114 seats] pays homage to animal species that the Disney Conservation Fund works to protect.”

The travel-inspired artwork includes a static, three-dimensional piece that features prayer flags blowing in the wind. “As our research team traveled up the high mountains of Nepal, the winds were strong,” explained O’Brien. “The prayer flags are rarely seen hanging, they are always blowing.” This portrayal of the motion is realistically captured in the display which will hang above a corner booth in the Trek Gallery.“Tiffins is not about a make-believe place, it’s about real people and places,” said O’Brien.Disney’s Animal Kingdom is about the intrinsic value of nature, transformation through adventure and a personal call to action, and the adjacent Nomad Lounge brings into focus these core values. With beautiful waterfront views, the lounge focuses on storytelling, and also on guests’ travels, with large banners as “artistic representations” of answers to travel questions written on the perimeter wall. For instance, “what do you always do when traveling” or “what was your most adventurous moment?”“We’re trying to tell the story of how guests can make a change,” said O’Brien. While the answers of Disney experts are displayed, guests also have the opportunity to purchase a tag that supports the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and to write their own answers to the questions to display above the bar– a way to share their own travel stories “so they can be a part of the story,” said O’Brien.

The Disney Parks Blog said they will be sharing the menu for Tiffins very soon as well the partnering lounge right next to the restaurant also opening up called, Nomad Lounge.