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

[Vinnie Mac]

I donno, I think it is a pretty sad sight. Yes they were a mess in the lagoon in the daytime, but there was a huge amount of effort put into getting these working by a lot of dedicated people. To see it go without being reused and scrapped after such a short time is a shame.

I'm happy about the barges being removed but I do consider this a bit of a sad loss. You can tell how passionate some of the people behind this show were (especially with the music). Even with the Disney+ special. Crazy to see it retire so soon

 

[Vinnie Mac]

I have a feeling though that the lesson learned will not be a positive thing for us fans. I think we will see much simpler, far less ambitious shows in the style of EPCOT Forever, and anything more will be viewed as too risky and expensive.

This, in a way, reminds me of the situation with Rivers of Light. Ended up receiving poor review and the lesson that Disney took from it was that non-IP concepts for show no longer work well.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

That would be nice. I remember catching a glimpse of Rivers of Light (We Are One) while on Everest and it was pretty beautiful from up there, so I'd imagine something even more grand like WoC would be even better.

The show itself was.... different. The soundtrack was one of my favorites for any Disney nighttime show ever. Very ROE and Millenium Celebration-esque.

Would love a WOC with that type of soundtrack perhaps in Epcot though.

 

[marni1971]

Honestly, the only lesson they need to learn is to not ever create hardware that a) has to be permanently anchored in the lagoon and b) is horribly expensive to maintain. Harmonious is only a disaster because of the poor decisions made with the infrastructure. Even if the show had been an absolute dud, reprogramming it would have been much less of an issue had they focused on making multi-purpose, movable hardware.

The show had several identified problems.

 

[nickys]

I have a feeling though that the lesson learned will not be a positive thing for us fans. I think we will see much simpler, far less ambitious shows in the style of EPCOT Forever, and anything more will be viewed as too risky and expensive.

Does that mean they’ve changed the plans for the new show? I’m sure you said a while back that you had high hopes for it.

 

[note2001]

Tangent warning - grab your protractors:

I love the Electrical Water pageant. It's always been there since I can recall and I have many memories of sitting on the beach at Fort Wilderness watching it with my parents. I don't ever want to see it go away or change significantly...

BUT...

The barges need modern updates very badly. The pixelated look is quaint, at best. I want to see them updated so that the dragon looks like it is rising out of the water, splashing ripples with an almost believable quality to it (can be graphics, not water pumps).

Would love to see the technology used on the Harmonious barges transferred to the 35' tall barges there. Lighter weight for towing of course.

Will an update like this ever happen? No, not without there being a driving money maker behind it - Disney is fearful of anything that will not make money on paper. They squash imagination before it has the chance to grow.

 

[wdwmagic]

Does that mean they’ve changed the plans for the new show? I’m sure you said a while back that you had high hopes for it.

Yes, its looking like it will be a very simple show.

 

[TTA94]

Yes, its looking like it will be a very simple show.

So basically just fireworks like Epcot Forever?

 

[Squishy]

So basically just fireworks like Epcot Forever?

Think harmonious but with one main flat barge with LEDs & fountains on them and multiple smaller flat barges scattered around with spotlights on them.

 

[nickys]

Think harmonious but with one main flat barge with LEDs & fountains on them and multiple smaller flat barges scattered around with spotlights on them.

Please tell me the barges won’t be out on the lagoon all day.

 

[Starship824]

Please tell me the barges won’t be out on the lagoon all day.

Let’s hope that’s the one thing they learned their lesson from.

 

[montyz81]

The show itself was.... different. The soundtrack was one of my favorites for any Disney nighttime show ever. Very ROE and Millenium Celebration-esque.

Would love a WOC with that type of soundtrack perhaps in Epcot though.

ThAt is what harmonious was supposed to be. The sad part about this is they could have easily done an upgrade to illuminations in terms of hardware (the harmonious loop would have worked great as long as it could have been moved in every night).with better fountains additional perimeter fountains more perimeter launches, more perimeter lasers. They could have upgraded the song, etc. all for much less than it cost for Harmonious. And people would have been happy right up to today.

 

[TTA94]

Think harmonious but with one main flat barge with LEDs & fountains on them and multiple smaller flat barges scattered around with spotlights on them.

Yikes. I was at least expecting a new set of RoE type barges with updated fountains and lighting.

 

[Rteetz]

At this rate just leave Epcot Forever

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Let’s hope that’s the one thing they learned their lesson from.

Yes, you'd hope at the very least there may be some appreciation that theming and aesthetics matter in there theme parks and can't just be completely discarded when coming up with new entertainment.

That said, they appeared to know this in the past and then suddenly didn't anymore, so who knows to what extent the message will stick this time around.

 

[ParksAndPixels]

At this rate just leave Epcot Forever

PLEASE NO! I liked the idea of Epcot Forever, but It’s a filler show at best. I never missed ROE. Epcot forever is disappointing.

 

[Rteetz]

PLEASE NO! I liked the idea of Epcot Forever, but It’s a filler show at best. I never missed ROE. Epcot forever is disappointing.

The sounds of this new show doesn’t seem any better.

 

[Disone]

I feel so indifferent towards this whole thing. To me, Harmonious is a show that served no purpose beyond just existing. Did I enjoy the soundtrack? Sure. Did it belong in EPCOT? No, I don't think so. Did that stop me from listening to the soundtrack in my car on my commute home from work? Definitely not. It had its moments.

I'm not happy or sad to see it leave. If anything, I'm celebrating the removal of the barges more than the departure of the show itself. It was doing the bare minimum to justify its existence in that park, but it's nowhere near as bad as some people were making it out to be. As others have stated, it needed some tweaking like an overarching score, and adjustments made to the "story" to help the flow. I think it's arrogant to assume that "nobody will miss it" because although I may not myself, I can at least acknowledge the fact that people did enjoy it. It was an objectively bad show but it's done and over with, there's no need to insult the intelligence / taste of those who may look back fondly on it.

I just wanted to post this again. Esp the last part....

'there's no need to insult the intelligence / taste of those who may look back fondly on it."

 

[trainplane3]

Yes, its looking like it will be a very simple show.

I look forward to the return of Epcot Forever in a year then. I like EF but it really screams temporary show in it's current form.

What are Don and Gavin up to nowadays? It's getting pretty obvious that current teams can't make a nighttime spectacular that works for all guests.

 

[MaximumEd]

Disney, after ripping out Harmonius…