EPCOT Epcot Forever to debut as interim show before full Reflections of Earth replacement

[danlb_2000]

Very doubtful. I think they want everyone to forget about Harmonious. This shows already had more effort put in it for after hours events with it having anniversary tag ran as its' own show. With all lighting and fountains too.

I just watched EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation and they have a whole segment about Luminous being a part of the transformation but zero mention of Harmonious. As you say they clearly want people forget about it.

 

[Starship824]

I just watched EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation and they have a whole segment about Luminous being a part of the transformation but zero mention of Harmonious. As you say they clearly want people forget about it.

As someone who didn't get to see the special, how much of it was spent on luminous and it was the section actually good unlike the behind the attraction nighttime spectaculars episode. The thing about the behind the attraction episode that annoyed me so much was that they spent 10 minutes on harmonious and didn't even mention reflections of Earth at all.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

As someone who didn't get to see the special, how much of it was spent on luminous and it was the section actually good unlike the behind the attraction nighttime spectaculars episode. The thing about the behind the attraction episode that annoyed me so much was that they spent 10 minutes on harmonious and didn't even mention reflections of Earth at all.

No one would ever buy into any such reason why they would want to replace Illumination's or get rid for this!

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

The song from Aladdin was... problematic.

The song from PatF was way overcooked.

Aside from those the Beauty and the Beast/Out There, Music is my Language - Coco, Someday and Hercules/Go the distance. An After Hours presentation with only pyro may change audiences thoughts since the barges aren't there..

But if they were to pop in Epcot Forever for after hours like they do Enchantment then I'd be happy with that!

 

[Rich Brownn]

I just watched EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation and they have a whole segment about Luminous being a part of the transformation but zero mention of Harmonious. As you say they clearly want people forget about it.

It's our version of Light Magic <Whats that? Of course Disneyland never had a parade called that. What are you talking about -- its been erased from existence> LOL

 

[Bocabear]

It's our version of Light Magic <Whats that? Of course Disneyland never had a parade called that. What are you talking about -- its been erased from existence> LOL

I remember in the Von's grocery store in the town where I was living in California back then, had a gigantic medallion graphic of Light Magic Logo on the floor of the grocery store entrance and a bunch of ticket and product promotions tied to it... They were really planning on it being absolutely huge.... Even widened the path to Small World, added lighting rigs and raised viewing areas....Sadly it was gone before I even had the time to go see it....
It was probably also like our "Rivers Of Light" flop....

 

[Rich Brownn]

I remember in the Von's grocery store in the town where I was living in California back then, had a gigantic medallion graphic of Light Magic Logo on the floor of the grocery store entrance and a bunch of ticket and product promotions tied to it... They were really planning on it being absolutely huge.... Even widened the path to Small World, added lighting rigs and raised viewing areas....Sadly it was gone before I even had the time to go see it....
It was probably also like our "Rivers Of Light" flop....

The first night of Light Magic is legendary - and not in a good way. There are no references about it in any current material.

 

[Tom Morrow]

One thing that I like about Luminous is that it follows that old entertainment rule: Tell, don't show.

At least it has something to tell. The only thing Harmonious had to say was "subscribe to Disney+".

 

[SaveDinosaur]

At least it has something to tell. The only thing Harmonious had to say was "subscribe to Disney+".

Luminous still tells the same thing as Harmonious: subscribe to Disney+. The only difference between them is that management shoved in an exposition-heavy narration to try to justify a bunch of repeated Disney+ music in Epcot, and two original songs. It's still the same narrative and story structure, but in a more cynical way...

 

[HMF]

At least it has something to tell. The only thing Harmonious had to say was "subscribe to Disney+".

It still doesn't tell as much as Reflections of Earth did.

 

[HMF]

Luminous still tells the same thing as Harmonious: subscribe to Disney+. The only difference between them is that management shoved in an exposition-heavy narration to try to justify a bunch of repeated Disney+ music in Epcot, and two original songs. It's still the same narrative and story structure, but in a more cynical way...

Bingo!

 

[Tom Morrow]

Luminous still tells the same thing as Harmonious: subscribe to Disney+. The only difference between them is that management shoved in an exposition-heavy narration to try to justify a bunch of repeated Disney+ music in Epcot, and two original songs. It's still the same narrative and story structure, but in a more cynical way...

Luminous does have a unified theme and concept though with heartbeats. References to heartbeats and heartbeat visuals tie the show together in addition to the narration. Harmonious had no cohesive visual theme, every segment was not only musically and thematically separated from the others, but visually as well.

They also don't have the same "message" either. Harmonious was something something music connects us. Luminous is "the shared human experience".

I am IN NO WAY saying that either is anywhere near as good as Reflections of Earth. I was quick to hate on Luminous as being a rehash of Harmonious before seeing it. But I have seen it three times now and am 3/3 for it making me feel something, which is 3 times more than Harmonious ever made me feel anything. There IS more thought put into Luminous than it appears at a glance.

Edit: even digging a little deeper, the pyro in Luminous is presented in a visually artistic and interesting way, whereas in Harmonious the pyro was kind of just constant accents to whatever the barges were doing. I know that sounds pretentious, but it was just immediately apparent to me that more thought was put into the presentation of the pyro in Luminous than Harmonious. Luminous paces itself with what it shows you, Harmonious was on full blast the entire time.

 

[MTBaymax]

At least it has something to tell. The only thing Harmonious had to say was "subscribe to Disney+".

Hot take.

Every nighttime spectacular - 90% of them, anyway (which wasn’t the first 35 years of Epcot nighttime events, Rivers of Light 1.0, or BraviSEAmo), has IP baked into it. Anyone could look at them with today’s cynical eye and consider the same “subscribe to Disney+” statement.

Execution makes the difference.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Hot take.

Every nighttime spectacular (which wasn’t the first 35 years of Epcot nighttime events, Rivers of Light 1.0, or BraviSEAmo) has IP baked into it. Anyone could look at them with today’s cynical eye and consider the same “subscribe to Disney+” statement.

Execution makes the difference.

I agree that it really is the execution. Luminous is of course an IP heavy show, but the selections to me feel tastefully chosen to support the theme of the show. In some instances they are even recontextualizing the songs. Harmonious just felt like a random greatest hits playlist, but in different languages, because Epcot.

 

[SplashJacket]

I agree that it really is the execution. Luminous is of course an IP heavy show, but the selections to me feel tastefully chosen to support the theme of the show. In some instances they are even recontextualizing the songs. Harmonious just felt like a random greatest hits playlist, but in different languages, because Epcot.

The lack of screens/projectiojsin Luminious also helps.

In HEA, the projections, screens, and lyrics mean that even if you’ve never seen the movie or recognize the song’s melody, you the IP is being shown to you.

In Luminious, unless you recognize the specific melody, there’s no chance you’ll know it’s related to a Disney movie.

In Harmonious, the screens showed you the content/IP because the content/IP was the focus.

In Epcot Forever, sure, it doesn’t tell you “This is Aladdin,” but the unmodified lyrics just plopped from the movie into the show create a disjoint.

The song is telling a story from Aladdin, even if it’s tangentially related to the story Epcot Forever was trying to convey.

To me, the only relatively jarring song is “You Got a Friend in Me” but the rest fit perfectly.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The lack of screens/projectiojsin Luminious also helps.

In HEA, the projections, screens, and lyrics mean that even if you’ve never seen the movie or recognize the song’s melody, you the IP is being shown to you.

In Luminious, unless you recognize the specific melody, there’s no chance you’ll know it’s related to a Disney movie.

In Harmonious, the screens showed you the content/IP because the content/IP was the focus.

In Epcot Forever, sure, it doesn’t tell you “This is Aladdin,” but the unmodified lyrics just plopped from the movie into the show create a disjoint.

The song is telling a story from Aladdin, even if it’s tangentially related to the story Epcot Forever was trying to convey.

To me, the only relatively jarring song is “You Got a Friend in Me” but the rest fit perfectly.

I completely agree. You've Got a Friend in me is very out of place (in addition to overused at the parks) and I wish they would consider swapping it out.

 

[Squishy]

I completely agree. You've Got a Friend in me is very out of place (in addition to overused at the parks) and I wish they would consider swapping it out.

That's probably one of the only few upbeat parts of the show, show would get even more depressing if they remove it unless they swap it with a villain scene featuring Bob Chapek trying to blow up Epcot with flame throwers and intellectual property.

 

[Tom Morrow]

That's probably one of the only few upbeat parts of the show

Ehh. I dunno. The show is mostly upbeat. I think the segment about losing someone goes harder than people expect a Disney fireworks show to go, and that might be why people feel this way. I actually love that segment and think it was somewhat bold of them to include it.

There's also plenty of other happy songs they could have used. YGAFIM is jarringly out of place in addition to overused in the parks.

 

[Andrew25]

Ehh. I dunno. The show is mostly upbeat. I think the segment about losing someone goes harder than people expect a Disney fireworks show to go, and that might be why people feel this way. I actually love that segment and think it was somewhat bold of them to include it.

There's also plenty of other happy songs they could have used. YGAFIM is jarringly out of place in addition to overused in the parks.

Agree - the show is at the same pace as HEA... outside that one middle segment. Don't really understand the argument of the show feeling slow/depressing lol

If it was more upbeat people would be saying it's a party atmosphere that doesn't fit Epcot lol

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I do wish they would have had a "know yourself/learn what our own instrument can do" that leads into You've got a Friend. While Friend Like Me is visually very cool, it is the one that sticks out most. And, I do agree the upbeat portion there could be a bit fleshed out. Something like Almost There, Try Everything, On My Way, etc. (Go The Distance or How Far I'll Go also, though that's leaning into HEA territory a lot).

As a staunch I:ROE fan (still my favorite Disney Parks attraction of all time), Luminous does get a lot more right IMHO. And, it's nice to have something more reflective vs. "party".