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

[marni1971]

When it opens, if you still feel how you do now, remember your first port of call should be guest relations.

 

[cosmicgirl]

Okay I can see that if you guys are analyzing those stills, then the video of the new show obviously hasn’t been released. Thankfully I did a terrible recording of it for you all to analyze the crap out of. You can thank me later

Thanks for posting that. And for not editing out your reactions.... when the preview started that nooooo was perfectly aligned with what was coming out of my mouth.

For 23 years I've been trying to convince people who've never been to a Disney park that is it's so much more than the princesses and parades they believed it to be. This feels like the beginning of an era in which they're right and I'm wrong. I grew up with the movies and love them (including the music) but I adore the parks because they don't need the movies or the music. Knowing what's ahead is going to make saying goodbye to RoE even more difficult.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

When it opens, if you still feel how you do now, remember your first port of call should be guest relations.

I think by then it will have a Fastpass+ Option to have to wait in the massive line just to get to the front desk...

 

[Jwhee]

Any chances this show will include the Millennium Celebration soundtracks?

Or are we looking at just 80s Epcot?

 

[christine7257]

I wonder if the interim show will have holiday tags or not worth developing for a ~year show?

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I agree with you. I just think those days are in the past. If the sales figures from the Everest gift shop we’re higher than maybe it’d be a different story but I think that will go down as the last IP-free attraction in Disney history. (Unless I’m forgetting a more recent one)

In Asia they've built multiple IP free attractions since but at WDW for sure EE is the last probably for at least a decade more.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

If Epcot Forever ends with Tomorrow’s Child, it would be really moving. Imagine Tomorrow’s Child playing throughout World Showcase.

I’m not sure if I could handle Horizons music, though...

 

[Tavernacle12]

Honestly given the description of the new 2020 show being a “celebration of Disney music” I can’t see any way for it to be conceptually salvaged, but it would sting *ever so slightly less* if they incorporated part of the ROE score into it

Does anyone know if any of the score is gonna be salvaged at all?

The only possible way I can see the 2020 show being redeemable is if they actually have all the songs sung in their native languages and use them as a jumping off point for visuals based on the nation they represent instead of the movie they’re from.

Like during the Hercules song they show mythological creature and Greek architecture and history, and during Moana the floats look like Polynesian boats.

I will also give it a shot if it’s hosted by the Three Cabelleros who want to explore the other cultures of the world.

 

[DisneyGentlemanV2.0]

Thumbs up on the temporary show. Thumbs down on the permanent replacement. It sounds exactly like Happily Ever After.

More like Crappily Ever After...

 

[TwilightZone]

Epcot has never been about music.

I dunno, ever pavilion had it's own song back in the 80's

 

[TPC]

I meant it more that epcot was never about Disney film music. It had it's own unique feel and charm about it

 

[Thelazer]

If Epcot Forever ends with Tomorrow’s Child, it would be really moving. Imagine Tomorrow’s Child playing throughout World Showcase.

I’m not sure if I could handle Horizons music, though...

Those who stayed after ROE on the 25th, got a little preview of this.... (mostly music preview that is..)

 

[Ninja Mom]

This I. P. approach is not looking promising. I had hoped that Illuminations would be replaced with a worthy successor that would inspire and get me in the "feels". I'm not seeing the need to put forth yet another Disney I.P. promotional effort. There is enough of that in the parks already.

Disney needs to innovate and transcend, not rehash and re-market. We've seen that show many times in many different incarnations.
If this is all they've got or care about then it is beyond sad. Please, NO more promotional commercials in place of real entertainment.

I felt like I was watching a re-imagined Fantasmic.

And if this sneak peek is off the mark then Disney marketing needs to get their act together and provide better, more accurate communication or stay silent.

And to think how great Disney used to be... and to see what it is becoming now, is almost unbearable.

~NM

 

[samantha521]

So I know this is a almost certainly a pipe dream and that Disney is probably going to go through with their 2020 monstrosity, but I feel like the answer to ROE’s problems would just be to use the new tech from their 2020 plans to just tell the story of ROE better.

I feel like the best option for a new show would be to keep the score from ROE, but instead of relying on the globe to do the visual narration (I’ll admit the globe tech is old and it’s hard to see details of what’s on the screens a lot of the time), they can use the new semi circle/circle screens/barges (sorry I’m not super well versed in technical show terminology) from the 2020 concept art. And instead of just showing various documentary style shots from around the world like they do now, they could create an original animation (preferably the old school 2D animation imo as opposed to Pixar esque) to literally tell the story that ROE currently symbolically tells - like a short animated film created specifically for ROE that tells the story of humanity coming together over time to advance progress. The improvements would be A) That it’s on newer tech obviously so it’s easier to see, and B) That it spells out the meaning of ROE for those visitors to the park who wouldn’t otherwise get it. Heck, I’d even be okay with them throwing in *a few* IP cameos into this kind of animation sequence (e.g. say that one of the scenes is about the spread of knowledge across the globe, if they had some cameo of Belle excitedly reading a book about “far off places” that could potentially work. Or if they make animation showcasing architectural achievements around the world, if like Mulan makes a cameo on the Great Wall or something. I’d rather have no IP at all, but if it absolutely HAS to get shoved in to the new show I feel like this would be the way to do it.)

Then the show could close out with an updated version of We Go On (maybe a version that overlays the song being sung in multiple languages - basically the only semblance of a good idea to come out of the new 2020 show), and the screens would transition from the animation sequence telling the story of the world to actual video shots of ~real people~ from around the globe

And I’d still want a torch emerging at the end from one of the barges

Ofc this is never gonna happen but. If they really needed to change the show and stuff IP in it I feel like this would be the least intrusive way to do it

Honestly, if they just kept the score I could forgive most of their other sins.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Here's the thing, the projectors and the tech for this show appear to be a significant step up from Illuminations. If they could just use them the right way this would have some promise.

 

[LSLS]

It's funny to me. If I'm reading the thread right, it's a pretty universal response of "I like the idea of Epcot forever" and "The 2020 replacement is such a bad idea." It seems like such a slam dunk to me that if you are going to incorporate all the ip into the park rides, throw the die hard fans a bone and give them the show at night. Seems like an easy way to appease both the historic fans of the park and the new fans of ip.

 

[devoy1701]

Interesting that they feel the need for an interim show before the New new show. I like the idea of a temp "ode to Epcot" show. Don't like that I see animated characters in the concept art for the yet-to-be-named New new show.

 

[devoy1701]

It's funny to me. If I'm reading the thread right, it's a pretty universal response of "I like the idea of Epcot forever" and "The 2020 replacement is such a bad idea." It seems like such a slam dunk to me that if you are going to incorporate all the ip into the park rides, throw the die hard fans a bone and give them the show at night. Seems like an easy way to appease both the historic fans of the park and the new fans of ip.

well none of us want the permanent replacement show to just feature IP.

 

[Prototype82]

I better enjoy what's left of Rivers of Light while it lasts...

 

[TTA94]

If Epcot Forever does include the kite thing. I’m guessing that’s where the drones would come into play. That could be quite awesome if they did a tribute to Tapestry of Nations in the sky