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

[castlecake2.0]

I’d book that dessert party. Can Jeremy Irons be the announcer?

“As we usher in a new nighttime spectacular, on this, our World Showcase Lagoon”

 

[ToTBellHop]

I was always under the impression that the barges would be completely covered in water features during the day so you couldn't even see them. Oh how wrong that was...

That’s fair…the daytime fountains never working was definitely an unexpected development. They might have mitigated this issue a bit.

 

[marni1971]

How deep is the lagoon? If they just cut things off and let them sink, will they be submerged? They could even make a DPB post about the company’s environmentality and how in 20 years, the old Harm arms will be a coral reef! Epcot fans will eat that up and not even question whether coral forms in freshwater. Coral can grow in your bath tub if you are woke enough!

I forget the exact depth but not that deep.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It’s easy to forget execs (and us) were told it would look like this during the day:

There still would have been bad views from certain angles but nothing like we actually got.

 

[mikejs78]

So the question is will the new show be a real course correction or not?

 

[marni1971]

It’s easy to forget execs (and us) were told it would look like this during the day:
View attachment 666869
There still would have been bad views from certain angles but nothing like we actually got.
View attachment 666870

It didn’t take much to realise you’d need 5 Niagara Falls running constantly to make a dent in that.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So the question is will the new show be a real course correction or not?

The concept they’ve gone with is an improvement. I loved RoE so we will see how it compares to that but RoE wasn’t universally-loved.

I presume all will like the new show more than Harm and EF at the very least. Some things are unknowable though. I have to hear the score.

 

[vikescaper]

The concept they’ve gone with is an improvement. I loved RoE so we will see how it compares to that but RoE wasn’t universally-loved.

I presume all will like the new show more than Harm and EF at the very least.

How much of an improvement? 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%?

 

[J4546]

this is good news imo. glad to see higher ups making decisions that make the park better even if it does cost them monies

 

[ToTBellHop]

How much of an improvement? 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%?

Hard to say without seeing or hearing anything. Harm and RoL looked better in concept art than in person. And we don’t even have concept art.

 

[ToTBellHop]

this is good news imo. glad to see higher ups making decisions that make the park better even if it does cost them monies

I’m sure this comes from the Lightning Lane jar. We are buying ourselves fireworks.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

Where are people seeing sources that say that the barges will be removed permanently from the lagoon? I think this started as a fan rumor and was repeated so many times it feels like truth now. (Initial rumor likely goes back to a familiar site.). But I've not seen anything to confirm that. The barges are buggy (and an eyesore--but if Disney cared about that, they wouldn't be there at all). The only reason they would be removed, I think, is that if maintenance was too costly to keep them.

Steve and Disney Glimpses said it and they've both been right about things in the past (especially Steve). Disney Glimpses reported HEA before D23

 

[LittleBuford]

I really wish I could have seen the execs reactions when they first saw how ridiculous this looked in person. I’m glad they came to their senses with this.

It seems I’ll avoid ever having to see these monstrosities in real life, which I’m very pleased about. Have you heard many complaints from guests as a CM?

 

[LittleBuford]

That’s fair…the daytime fountains never working was definitely an unexpected development. They might have mitigated this issue a bit.

I’m not so sure. The idea that daytime fountains could disguise such large, dark objects was never convincing to me. You would have needed waterfall-levels of gushing to counteract them to any meaningul degree.

ETA: @marni1971 beat me to it and said it much better!

 

[WorldExplorer]

Meh. Even if the fountains worked, it's exchanging a unique, beautiful view of all the different nations for some fountains.

Better than the view of the barges, but hardly a good trade.

 

[castlecake2.0]

It seems I’ll avoid ever having to see these monstrosities in real life, which I’m very pleased about. Have you heard many complains from guests as a CM?

I’ve had a few “what are THOSE things?!” for sure. The complaint/feedback I get most is that world showcase doesn’t have enough rides. If they could add something small to Italy and UK I think that would really help balance things out, but that’s for another thread.

 

[doctornick]

.

Literally the worst condemnation of Harm to come from executives (including Chapek) is how awful the lagoon looks during the day. It’s surprising given that they approved this decision in the first place, but apparently they didn’t realize how bad it would be.

Fixing that issue is a directive they’ve given the team working on Harm’s replacement.

To be at least A little fair to the sharp pencil boys, I believe the original plan was for the barges to come out from backstage every evening. But they found they were too large for that to work effectively.

Then the plan was to cover the barges with water so they were prettier during the day. That never worked.

So we ended up with the abomination that we have now. But I’m not sure it would’ve been approved if the executives had known from the start with the appearance would be like

 

[doctornick]

I’ve had a few “what are THOSE things?!” for sure. The complaint/feedback I get most is that world showcase doesn’t have enough rides. If they could add something small to Italy and UK I think that would really help balance things out, but that’s for another thread.

Yeah, a Poppins ride in UK and just clone the Pinocchio ride in Italy and it would be a nice improvement in terms of “stuff” in WS to do.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The concept they’ve gone with is an improvement. I loved RoE so we will see how it compares to that but RoE wasn’t universally-loved.

I presume all will like the new show more than Harm and EF at the very least. Some things are unknowable though. I have to hear the score.

And some people did really like Harmonius', there are things to pull from it.

And there is definitely going to be "more Disney" in Epcot so I wouldn't expect something truly like RoE ...

BUT if they can find that right blend of utilizing the IP to tell a story with a clear message linking it to Epcot's theme AND have some original music to link the segments, etc. it can work

 

[DznyRktekt]

I guess I'm old, but to me "more Disney" is world showcase and RoE. Now it seems it means popcorn buckets and princesses.