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

[Homemade Imagineering]

Now if only they'd reconsider their decisions for the rest of the park moving forward. It would be great if they're using this buffer period to redevelop plans for something like PLAY, though I doubt it as they're probably far along enough into production to make any drastic changes. Then again, they're supposedly trashing a good amount of infrastructure for this show as has been previously rumored thus far, so I guess it isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility

 

[Cliff]

So wait,.....we are hearing the barges and AV hardware are all out for the new show?

We have (about) one year to wait for the new show. Here are the three scenarios I can think of.

1.) Barge/Screen hardware stays and Disney has 1 year to make new music and new video content to display in the existing equipment. This seems perfectly possible.

2.) Kill barges and screens and just have a show with lasers and fireworks? This is perfectly possible and easy to do in a year but without a story telling displays? I dunno....seems empty to me.

3.) Develop NEW barges that can move in and out of the China bridge? Or,...add engines and steering systems to the existing barges and screens so that they CAN move under the China bridge every day? Develop new, LARGE water screens and projectors that can raise up and retract?

I dunno if ANY of these things that fall into #3 can be built and finished in a year? Really? Wow,....I dont know how they are going to pull this off so fast unless it's going to be a super simplification idea of the new show?

 

[aladdin2007]

So wait,.....we are hearing the barges and AV hardware are all out for the new show?

We have (about) one year to wait for the new show. Here are the three scenarios I can think of.

1.) Barge/Screen hardware stays and Disney has 1 year to make new music and new video content to display in the existing equipment. This seems perfectly possible.

2.) Kill barges and screens and just have a show with lasers and fireworks? This is perfectly possible and easy to do in a year but without a story telling displays? I dunno....seems empty to me.

3.) Develop NEW barges that can move in and out of the China bridge? Or,...add engines and steering systems to the existing barges and screens so that they CAN move under the China bridge every day? Develop new, LARGE water screens and projectors that can raise up and retract?

I dunno if ANY of these things that fall into #3 can be built and finished in a year? Really? Wow,....I dont know how they are going to pull this off so fast unless it's going to be a super simplification idea of the new show?

worked fine for IllumiNations without barges and screens; with story, narrative, and focus of course. It can work again in a different show.

 

[TTA94]

If EF comes back in the summer due to the removal of the barges and to take them backstage for modifications, we really think they will have the modifications done and and the new show ready for a fall debut? I have my doubts.

 

[SoFloMagic]

There's barely enough room in the marina to hold everything. So if everything gets shifted to backstage in one night, that could mean it'll be a fast change. I'd imagine the pyro crews want their space:


Lets remember the middle ring is 3 barges bolted together:

See how wide it is compared to the tacos? That's not going to make it through the gap in one night unless they really hustle the teardown process. It needs to be moved out one section at a time:


Moving the ring backstage will require at least a few days. There's more to it then unbolt and move. There's pumps, electrical, and other doodads in there that need properly disconnected.

It's unbelievable to me that they wouldnt reuse some of this. I had forgotten the year of prewiring electric and pouring the concrete mooring sites. God what a waste. They can't just go back to nothing now, can they?

But I struggle to figure out what they'd use them for. Pyro is on the EF rafts now, right? Just a barge with an arm? That can't be a thing.

Drone landing platforms?
Water screens with an arm? At least they could justify the electrical... I'm sure they could use the LCDs elsewhere.

 

[TTA94]

I hope the new show will still have the fountains and lighting.

 

[GimpYancIent]

There's barely enough room in the marina to hold everything. So if everything gets shifted to backstage in one night, that could mean it'll be a fast change. I'd imagine the pyro crews want their space:


Lets remember the middle ring is 3 barges bolted together:

See how wide it is compared to the tacos? That's not going to make it through the gap in one night unless they really hustle the teardown process. It needs to be moved out one section at a time:


Moving the ring backstage will require at least a few days. There's more to it then unbolt and move. There's pumps, electrical, and other doodads in there that need properly disconnected.

But! Think of all the room there will be with the barges scraped.

 

[Cliff]

I think I heard somebody at D23 mention that the new show is "already in development".

Hmmm,..."where" is this happening? Does anybody know if there is any construction going on at that marina today? Maybe this is being done offsite? I just find in incredibly hard to believe that they would literally trash all this AV tech as fast as some are saying?

I really have to believe that it will be modified or repurposed for a new show. It took too long to make and cost too much money.

Maybe they will expand the marina to accommodate daily/nightly moving of this all this gear? If they just throw all this away, that would be stunning to me.

Admin,....can you tell us just a bit more?

 

[culturenthrills]

After seeing the dress rehearsal of Tokyo DisnySea - Sea of Dreams that got posted on YouTube(btw this show is going to blow everyone away, the tech is amazing, the original theme song is beautiful and the show is moving and stunning) I really wonder if they are going to go with the moving LED barges this show has. The LED screens on the barges can raise and lower and the barges also have fountains. Also, the centerpiece permanent barge uses circular led screens that can raise and lower which would solve any sightline issues. I guess we will see. And please bring back an original theme song for this new show.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

worked fine for IllumiNations without barges and screens; with story, narrative, and focus of course. It can work again in a different show.

The fountains, firework platforms, the globe, and the inferno barge are all considered barges and the globe was a screen.

 

[Vinnie Mac]

I think I heard somebody at D23 mention that the new show is "already in development".

Hmmm,..."where" is this happening? Does anybody know if there is any construction going on at that marina today? Maybe this is being done offsite? I just find in incredibly hard to believe that they would literally trash all this AV tech as fast as some are saying?

I really have to believe that it will be modified or repurposed for a new show. It took too long to make and cost too much money.

Maybe they will expand the marina to accommodate daily/nightly moving of this all this gear? If they just throw all this away, that would be stunning to me.

Admin,....can you tell us just a bit more?

I feel like by "in-development" they mean the concept of it is already set and all that needs to doing is music, set building, and pyro chorography.

 

[Figments Friend]

Guests don’t care if they see fireworks with cartoons or fireworks with proper meaning.

They need to do it right again for those who do care.

This.

Right here.

-

 

[Figments Friend]

About EF returning -
This seems to allude to the much anticipated removal of the floating hardware used in connection with 'Mistake On The Lake'.
This would be a moment even more glorious and joyful then the removal of 'The Wand' from SSE in 2007.

Oh please let this be so.....

Having said that -
How would you feel about Epcot Forever becoming a 3.0 by reusing the 'taco' screens to project images during the nostalgic audio?
Abstract images, or vintage film/ video segments?

Let's hear it.

-

 

[ToTBellHop]

I feel like by "in-development" they mean the concept of it is already set and all that needs to doing is music, set building, and pyro chorography.

It will use new tech that does not need to wait until next spring to enter production, too.

 

[wutisgood]

I have to say I am absolutely shocked if the barges are going already

They must have cost a pretty penny

They spent allegedly a crazy amount of money on the rivers of light floats and that show is gone. Even knowing that I would be shocked these are being cut. In general I would rather Disney spend money on increasing ride capacity over fixing a show that many people still do like even if most people don't like the daytime view.

 

[trainplane3]

But I struggle to figure out what they'd use them for. Pyro is on the EF rafts now, right? Just a barge with an arm? That can't be a thing.

The barges have pyro as well. In the arms, along the railings, and on the tops of the screen sections I believe.

The arms are so neat on paper but in practice they add nothing. I don't know how they managed that but they really don't matter. I need to find a true B-mode show where the center barge is basically offline and arms are locked. Surprisingly, the show is better.

They spent allegedly a crazy amount of money on the rivers of light floats and that show is gone. Even knowing that I would be shocked these are being cut. In general I would rather Disney spend money on increasing ride capacity over fixing a show that many people still do like even if most people don't like the daytime view.

They really wasted no time with it tossing it too. One moment it was fine, the next it was stripped with the animal tops in a field.

 

[gerarar]

I need to find a true B-mode show where the center barge is basically offline and arms are locked. Surprisingly, the show is better.

I was there Christmas 2021 week, and the center barge was pretty much offline; no screen, arms, projections, etc. Pyro still shot out of the arms, and lights still worked however.

However, they were locked in the up/out position? Not the other B-mode locked configuration where they point inwards, like they're wrapping the stargate.

 

[Surfin' Tuna]

The barges are being removed next spring. Any future hardware will not be permanently docked in plain sight.

This is what I meant when I said it wasn't about what left but what stayed gone. They are removing the barges for the return of EF, but one option had some of them returning. This coming from a reliable source does make my heart happy that maybe a final decision was made I hadn't heard.

 

[mattpeto]

This is what I meant when I said it wasn't about what left but what stayed gone. They are removing the barges for the return of EF, but one option had some of them returning. This coming from a reliable source does make my heart happy that maybe a final decision was made I hadn't heard.

The barges can return after EF as long as they go backstage each night.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The barges have pyro as well. In the arms, along the railings, and on the tops of the screen sections I believe.

The arms are so neat on paper but in practice they add nothing. I don't know how they managed that but they really don't matter. I need to find a true B-mode show where the center barge is basically offline and arms are locked. Surprisingly, the show is better.

I thought the concept was cool, and probably looked great in the computer simulation, but the arms never wowed me. Lose the stargate, make the screen barges skinnier by removing the arms, and they could recoup 65% of their investment by reusing the 4 screen barges… all while being able to easily store it away during the day in the existing backstage space.

Getting rid of the stargate alone might solve the backstage storage problems, and the site line problems during the show.