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

[MisterPenguin]

Maybe they learned that if you have an arcing fountain of water, that placing a light at the base of it won't work, since, unlike an arcing fountain of water, light doesn't arc (in Earth's gravity anyway... in a noticeable amount to human senses).

The reason why the Bellagio fountains light up when they arc is because there's a ton of lights in the water along the path of the arcing lights.

So, maybe... lesson learned.

 

[osian]

Probably a little off-topic, but also quite relevant...

I'm actually quite impressed with the engineering that goes into these barges. I'm sure they're not just knocked up overnight, but some team must have designed them. and thought of absolutely everything, all the nooks and crannies, walkways, access points, railings, anchor points for subsequent equipment that's going to be attached to them, passthrough holes, ducts, the outboard motors, plumbing, cabling, electrics (networking?) etc, as well as actually getting the things custom-manufactured (I mean, who does that?), so it's been planned for a long time. It's just general construction I guess, as I'm still dumbfounded how quickly buildings can go up (Communicore Hall, Poly DVC tower...) because there's a hell of a lot of infrastructure that has to be designed and put in, it's not just about building the walls. Mind blown. This is why I'm not an architect/engineer/builder.

 

[doctornick]

I still am a little bit surprised they didn’t keep the tacos. They, unlike stargate, were not restricting on angles. I visited Epcot with those installed and before stargate and they weren’t nearly as bad (and my main complaint was due to them not being off center of the lagoon.) I think maintenance costs killed them not the other objections listed here.

It’s the messed up daytime views that killed them as has been noted by insiders many times. They were very poorly received and even by “regular” guests not just fanatics on sites like this.

If it were an issue of costs, there’s no way that it made more financial sense to destroy what was there and build multiple new floats for a totally different show. At worse they would have just let them sit there and rot and used fewer of the features for a new show. That would have been the more affordable option.

 

[wdwfan22]

As much as people here love Illuminations, it was not considered a "must see" for first time Disney guests. Those folks expect fireworks and are pretty easily pleased. For example, I have been told that the scores for Enchantment amongst those who had never seen Happily Ever After were actually quite high.

In reality though, executive leadership touring EPCOT solidified the decision regarding the barges and Harmonious.

When illuminations ran the restaurants were full till 9 pm. Like it or not that didn’t happen with Harmonious.

 

[TTA94]

I think they said no significant fountain effects, why else would they need those barges. Moving fountains were those arms, I take it these fountains will be more like ROE which is fine. I think the top of the fountains are going to be the front, I wouldn’t be surprised if the barges were long like that to house projection for water images. I’m speculating and going by how some of these effects Disney has used work I know nothing.

Depends what their definition of significant is. The moving arms in Harmonious with fountains?The regular moving fountain heads found in RoL, WoC and Disneylands F!? Many here would disagree but I find standard fountains like those in WDWs F! to be boring. I’ll gladly take it over no fountains at all in this new show but surely they can do better than that. Unless moving fountain heads are high maintenance? I know there have been reports of those breaking over at Disneyland.

 

[gerarar]

Depends what their definition of significant is. The moving arms in Harmonious with fountains?The regular moving fountain heads found in RoL, WoC and Disneylands F!? Many here would disagree but I find standard fountains like those in WDWs F! to be boring. I’ll gladly take it over no fountains at all in this new show but surely they can do better than that. Unless moving fountain heads are high maintenance? I know there have been reports of those breaking over at Disneyland.

They are high maintenance hence why they got rid of like 70% of the moving fountains in DL's F! and switched them to static fountain heads instead. And they're very basic static heads, not like the powerful ones found in WDW's F! or WoC or similar.

WoC is actually still looking good since it returned. Maintenence on that has been so much better than pre-closure (for some odd reason, but I ain't complaining lol). I recently counted maybe 3 broken out of the dozens, which is a better ratio of like 12+ broken moving heads back in 2019.

 

[Squishy]

They are high maintenance hence why they got rid of like 70% of the moving fountains in DL's F! and switched them to static fountain heads instead. And they're very basic static heads, not like the powerful ones found in WDW's F! or WoC or similar.

WoC is actually still looking good since it returned. Maintenence on that has been so much better than pre-closure (for some odd reason, but I ain't complaining lol). I recently counted maybe 3 broken out of the dozens, which is a better ratio of like 12+ broken moving heads back in 2019.

Did they actually switch the heads themselves or just manually adjusted the position until they get the approval/budget to fix them?

 

[Starship824]

Did they actually switch the heads themselves or just manually adjusted the position until they get the approval/budget to fix them?

To me it looks like they just manually adjusted them to that position but I don't really know, I don't understand know why only the middle set is being used during Wondrous Journeys.

 

[gerarar]

Did they actually switch the heads themselves or just manually adjusted the position until they get the approval/budget to fix them?

I'm pretty sure they switched the heads themselves. They drained the area around the side fountains for a couple days and then they were static when turned on.

Also after this happened, the middle set was completely fixed, which led me to believe they reused parts from the side fountains for the center moving set.

Plus the side fountains have a "different" look and water pressure to them. Look more ordinary imo.

Here's the analysis I did on them last year. They've been like this for almost a year now.

Also after some digging, I think there's no chance the side fountains move ever again. The fountain heads they replaced with on the left/right side are much different than the heads found in the center set.

Notice how these are raised much higher and in a static position:
View attachment 681668
View attachment 681669

But the middle one that do move are much lower and partly submerged, and "bulkier" in a way.
View attachment 681672
View attachment 681673

So it seems like the side ones aren't actually in a B-mode state, they are just like that and will be static non-moving fountains from now on. We'll only have the center set for some dancing fountains for the foreseeable future..

 

[TTA94]

Slightly off topic but did the Harm post show music ever come out? I know there’s a clear recording out there but it’s not source.

 

[mattpeto]

I want to call out a few interesting things @wdwmagic called out in his latest article.

• Unlike Harmonious, the new show will have minimal daytime intrusion of the lagoon view, with hardware being brought in and out of the lagoon before each performance.
• Disney says that the show will feature lights, lasers, and fireworks. We do not expect to see drones or video projections. Fire effects and fountains remain a possibility but are not confirmed.
• Some fans may be concerned that this show is heading in a similar direction to Harmonious, but as more details are released in the coming months, we expect a positive outlook on the soundtrack.

I find myself getting more optimistic about this show.

ETA: I don't know anything about the pyro tech, but whatever they are building looks pretty cool. It's a little bit flipped from the typical Disney script, "we tell you about what we are doing and then we start cutting back or eliminating projects". They are building these barges openly and we don't have a name or much details about the show.

 

[SoFloMagic]

I want to call out a few interesting things @wdwmagic called out in his latest article.

• Unlike Harmonious, the new show will have minimal daytime intrusion of the lagoon view, with hardware being brought in and out of the lagoon before each performance.
• Disney says that the show will feature lights, lasers, and fireworks. We do not expect to see drones or video projections. Fire effects and fountains remain a possibility but are not confirmed.
• Some fans may be concerned that this show is heading in a similar direction to Harmonious, but as more details are released in the coming months, we expect a positive outlook on the soundtrack.

I find myself getting more optimistic about this show.

ETA: I don't know anything about the pyro tech, but whatever they are building looks pretty cool. It's a little bit flipped from the typical Disney script, "we tell you about what we are doing and then we start cutting back or eliminating projects". They are building these barges openly and we don't have a name or much details about the show.

Using the Universal script for once. Just let the product speak for itself.

 

[flynnibus]

Maybe they learned that if you have an arcing fountain of water, that placing a light at the base of it won't work, since, unlike an arcing fountain of water, light doesn't arc (in Earth's gravity anyway... in a noticeable amount to human senses).

It does with laminar flows where the light can bounce around in the stream. Where it doesn’t is when the stream is broken up like a spray fountain because the light doesn’t have a continuous reflective conduit.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It does with laminar flows where the light can bounce around in the stream. Where it doesn’t is when the stream is broken up like a spray fountain because the light doesn’t have a continuous reflective conduit.

I look forward to future epic fountain shows made up of only laminar flow fountains!!



Actually, it'd be neat to see...

 

[TTA94]

Using the Universal script for once. Just let the product speak for itself.

Maybe, or it could be they have been deliberately holding off announcing details because they need something entertainment wise to talk about in September.

 

[Goldmorgan]

EPCOT's Harmonious to be replaced with new nighttime spectacular in 2023

EPCOT's Harmonious to be replaced with new nighttime spectacular in 2023

www.wdwmagic.com

I guess Disney decided to abandon the idea that the world showcase is not the "world" anymore and turn the nighttime show into another Magic Kingdom show with Disney songs. I guess the last true EPCOT show was reflections of earth. Harmonious failed in the EPCOT tradition since it drug Disney songs into the show, I assumed that is why it failed. Sigh, this is very disappointing information on the format of the show. I was hoping they would stay away from the Disney movie songs (leave them to the MK, AK, and Studios) and keep a more global aspect of EPCOT.

 

[mattpeto]

Maybe, or it could be they have been deliberately holding off announcing details because they need something entertainment wise to talk about in September.

I really thought we would get details soon, especially if they are starting the new show on 10/1.

But I'm starting to think the show details will be a bullet point at Destination D23 right here:

• EPCOT: Always in a State of Becoming – A look into the design and ideas behind the transformation of EPCOT and its new neighborhoods, attractions and experiences. Explore the legacy of the park and discover more about the collaboration between Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney World Resort throughout this ambitious process. Highlights include details uncovered by the Marty Sklar Archives and the inspirations that have guided the evolution of Disney’s first park without a castle.

 

[wdwmagic]

I really thought we would get details soon, especially if they are starting the new show on 10/1.

 

[Squishy]

Is it still happening in October or did it get pushed back?

 

[SoFloMagic]

Is it still happening in October or did it get pushed back?

They've built two of serven barges. It would be a miracle of this was ready for the start of festival of the holidays. Maybe we'll get a date at mini d23