News EPCOT's Harmonious to be replaced with new nighttime spectacular Luminous

[Squishy]

One thing I will give Harmonious is it felt the show was closer to you since the barges were taller with big screens & more powerful fountains.

 

[HMF]

For those that know, is Luminous still doing good in popularity? I do wonder how many would rather have Harmonious back, using the existing infrastructure, if the option was there.

I would rather have Reflections Of Earth back.

 

[TTA94]

One thing I will give Harmonious is it felt the show was closer to you since the barges were taller with big screens & more powerful fountains.

One of the negatives with Luminous. More barges and fountains would help a lot. Plus fire effects. Hopefully one day they will get it right.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

One of the negatives with Luminous. More barges and fountains would help a lot. Plus fire effects. Hopefully one day they will get it right.

By Bringing back a creative fireworks show and call it Illuminations: Eternal Flame it evokes a sense of enduring, spiritual illumination, often used to represent the divine spark or inner wisdom that guides and inspires us all...

 

[peter11435]

I'm not arguing with you. I'm arguing with them

I know you're just advocating for their position. Me however, I'm not buying their position. Honestly it's only two more barges than what illuminations had. It's a mentality not an impossibility.

It’s not the number of barges that makes the difference.

Again. They would rather bring them in. It’s easier, safer, and requires less man power to bring them to the marina. It’s more hassle and more costly to leave them in the lagoon

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Luminous is probably the only reason I still have an Annual Pass. Having a show that tells a creative story with genuine emotional highs and lows that ties to collective human themes is what EPCOT was all about for me - and what made it (previously) my favorite place on earth. HARM was a Disney concert, not something creative. It was big, flashy and empty. To several people's point, many guests want that. "They just want to have fun." And, I would put money on a decent portion of Disney management views that as the core Disney Parks audience. And, their view is likely 4 parks focused on that is their goal. The question becomes, if you build it 4 times, will there be enough people who just want 4 flavors of the same thing. Or, does diversity in offerings actually contribute to the current and historic audience numbers Disney Parks have seen.

 

[Jedi14]

Luminous to me, will always be a downgrade to Harmonious. Especially because there’s a show with the same premise that does it better with Momentous.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Luminous to me, will always be a downgrade to Harmonious. Especially because there’s a show with the same premise that does it better with Momentous.

Interesting take. I find Momentous to be much closer to HEA than Luminous, though I certainly see where you are coming from. The big difference is HEA, Momentous and most castle shows are focused on the viewer as an individual. It's YOUR life, YOUR hero journey, etc. Luminous feels much more about the collective human journey. How we are one of many instruments. Not to say there aren't big overlaps in those themes - rather the intended focus of the show. That's why Luminous works so well at EPCOT (and likely only EPCOT).

Now, Luminous having a bit more of Harmonious' budget for effects, rewrites, etc. - that's a different story. "Fully Funded" Luminous would have been incredible (likely with enough left over to install a fountain and a couple pretty decent refurbs!).

 

[marni1971]

I would rather have Reflections Of Earth back.

Amen. But at least Luminous is better than Humungous. It’s not prefect by a long shot but is a vast improvement on the previous main show.

I’ve been paying a lot of detail to the current show recently. There’s so much subtle detail in there that can be missed if the atmospherics misbehave.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

Amen. But at least Luminous is better than Humungous. It’s not prefect by a long shot but is a vast improvement on the previous main show.

I’ve been paying a lot of detail to the current show recently. There’s so much subtle detail in there that can be missed if the atmospherics misbehave.

Yes. I seem to catch something new almost every time (and probably go to see it twice a month at this point). So much symbolism if you pay attention! That's one of the parts about the show I love most.

 

[Disone]

It’s not the number of barges that makes the difference.

Again. They would rather bring them in. It’s easier, safer, and requires less man power to bring them to the marina. It’s more hassle and more costly to leave them in the lagoon

That's the part I absolutely do not believe. Except the safety part. I would think it has to be more safe to reload them in the marina backstaged and it would be to bring the fireworks out to where they are parked in the middle of the lagoon.

But painting the picture that the Walt Disney company is willing to do something less safe and cost them more money, Just to ensure that they do not interrupt the guest flow?

Yeah for me, I'm not willing to buy that. If it was costing them more money to leave them out there they would interrupt the guest flow in a heartbeat without any hesitation. They did for decades and the amount of time the additional hardware would take for luminous cannot be consequentially longer than illuminations.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[mattpeto]

Amen. But at least Luminous is better than Humungous. It’s not prefect by a long shot but is a vast improvement on the previous main show.

I’ve been paying a lot of detail to the current show recently. There’s so much subtle detail in there that can be missed if the atmospherics misbehave.

How many iterations of Illumnations did we have before we ended up with the farewell version?

I wonder if some some musical changes and a fire barge would bring it a step closer.

 

[TTA94]

How many iterations of Illumnations did we have before we ended up with the farewell version?

I wonder if some some musical changes and a fire barge would bring it a step closer.

Music changes, fire barge, more fountains closer to guests. I know some are in love with the theme songs for Luminous but imo the only good song is “One Heartbeat” in the post show. I have tried very hard to like the other two and I just can’t.

 

[marni1971]

How many iterations of Illumnations did we have before we ended up with the farewell version?

I wonder if some some musical changes and a fire barge would bring it a step closer.

After Laserphonic there were 3 base versions of IllumiNations. RoE changed quite a bit in visuals over its run; shell changes and cutbacks, timings, new lasers etc. Top of my head I can think of at least a dozen noticeable changes over the years.

 

[Giss Neric]

Am I the only one who does this but when I do watch Luminous on Youtube, I just watch the beginning and finale. I find the middle boring. I also felt that when I watched it in person.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Am I the only one who does this but when I do watch Luminous on Youtube, I just watch the beginning and finale. I find the middle boring. I also felt that when I watched it in person.

I love or the last 6 minutes - from about the Frozen part onward, when the fireworks get bigger, etc.

I like the 2nd original song a lot but don't care for the first. The very beginning with the countries saying "welcome" is fine but otherwise find the first 12 minutes very boring

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Music changes, fire barge, more fountains closer to guests. I know some are in love with the theme songs for Luminous but imo the only good song is “One Heartbeat” in the post show. I have tried very hard to like the other two and I just can’t.

I like the 2nd original song (the finale one) but don't care for the first one

Do think the Exit music (the One Heart Beat, one little spark, etc) is the best part of the show overall

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Luminous is probably the only reason I still have an Annual Pass. Having a show that tells a creative story with genuine emotional highs and lows that ties to collective human themes is what EPCOT was all about for me - and what made it (previously) my favorite place on earth. HARM was a Disney concert, not something creative. It was big, flashy and empty. To several people's point, many guests want that. "They just want to have fun." And, I would put money on a decent portion of Disney management views that as the core Disney Parks audience. And, their view is likely 4 parks focused on that is their goal. The question becomes, if you build it 4 times, will there be enough people who just want 4 flavors of the same thing. Or, does diversity in offerings actually contribute to the current and historic audience numbers Disney Parks have seen.

Interesting - I found Harmonius to be more specific to EPCOT, with referencing to the different countries and using different languages with the idea that music unites us and inviting engagement with people of other cultures and engagement with those cultures. Really don't see that fitting at other Disney parks

Luminous has a storyline but it isn't uniquely EPCOT to me, it could also fit anywhere. Also don't find it particularly creative - not a new idea/concept.

There are definitely logistic challenges with Harmonious and didn't like the barges being out but I find it to be a superior show

 

[osian]

Interesting - I found Harmonius to be more specific to EPCOT, with referencing to the different countries and using different languages with the idea that music unites us and inviting engagement with people of other cultures and engagement with those cultures.

It was the other way around. It was inviting (or forcing) people from other cultures to engage with western, Disney-ified culture.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I guess it depends on personal taste and your view of the Parks/EPCOT. The overarching theme of EPCOT is what has always resonated with me. The whole is far more important than the sum of its parts. It's not about random individual countries. It's about a collective representation of human achievement and culture. It's inspiring us to keep building as a humanity, showcasing key features. Not to say there weren't flaws in that story or design. But, that always felt like the intent. No other park did that. Luminous' story about each human's life, and how it comes together with all other human lives - past, present and future - to create one thing (a symphony here) is what makes it so EPCOT. And, it hits many of the emotional highs and lows of a life in a very profound way.

If Luminous played at Disneyland, DCA, etc., I think I would agree it would be weird and kinda boring. I think what it represents in the context of EPCOT (both in concept and physically watching it "around the world with people from around the world") is what makes it feel so compelling to me.

And, I should say I never loved the original Illuminations incarnations that much. HARM feels like a Disney version of that. Random showcases for the countries we picked. I:ROE felt like the big step toward a collective "world/humanity" story. And, Luminous feels like the spiritual successor to that for me.