Illuminations Gone? Epcot news/?'s

[DanMan]

Well, I just took a trip over the weekend to disney world and of course had a great time. We ended our vacation in Epcot, my favorite park. In my eyes, you can't close a disney vacation with anything other than Illuminations, but will I have to adjust to something new?
I was talking to a disney cast member there about the park and whatnot, and she told me that since GE has dropped sponsorship of the show, disney is seriously thinking about dropping Illuminations in the near future (possibly any day now!! ). She says she doesn't know how likely it is that such events will occur, but she said it is a serious contemplation right now.
Also, I was speaking to another disney worker about Mission: Space and she said that it was definately postponed by the Columbia disaster and it will open the latest by June or July. As for the new hotel? She said with the war looming over the horizen, disney park attendence will be dipping and the hotel may not open for a long while.
One last thing, in Epcot, Germany, China, and more noticibly Italy are going through some rehabs. Basically, half of Italy is closed and being worked on. All the signs say regarding the refurbishment say, "we are building the future epcot." Does anyone know what they are doing?
Alright, I think I've said enough. My main concern is that I love Illuminations and it would totally suck if the show ended. Adios

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I can see IllumiNations changing its format and being renamed (T.O.N. / T.O.D.) but ending - NEVER !!!

 

[Epcot is my fav]

could you imagine Epcot without IllumiNations.....that would be sooo BAD.......i mean first hearing about SE being replaced by timer racers....now this....

 

[JEDI1138]

Take a chill pill. Disney has Illuminations advertisement on Vehicles and Bill boards. They are pushing it right now since 100 years ended. Also Flower and Garden is coming up.

 

[Shaman]

Doubt it

I really doubt that Disney would do away with one of the only things this park has that keeps people in, or coming back in the evenings. :lookaroun Think about it, what other park in Orlando can measure up to THE fireworks and laser show that is IllumiNATIONS. GE dropped sponsorship, so what! Someone else is bound to jump on the bandwagon. IllumiNATIONS is one of the best attractions at Disney, and I truly doubt no matter what, that they would completely do away with it. Perhaps they will change it around, anything more drastic would be difficult to swallow as a IllimiNATIONS fan. Remember Disney goal is to keep people in the parks the whole day, taking away IllumiNATIONS, why else would you stay the whole day, especially now when the park is falling apart. (And I know its off topic, but Disney shouldn't even be thinking about doing away with IllumiNATIONS, instead they should think about removing the eye sore that is the Mickey hand, and the "epcot" name off SE.) Just some thoughts. :brick:

 

[JeepGuy77]

I doubt Illuminations would be dropped, however I've heard from cast members Disney is considering running it only a few nights a week if crowds drop.

 

[djmatthews]

A note about the "hotel", I assume Pop Century, now WDW has a more or less finished hotel waiting to be opened, wouldn't it make more sense to open P.C. and shut down a moderate or two as a cut back, posssibly do and re-hab??? A cheaper hotel is likely to be more appealing to travellers?!?!

 

[WDW1971]

This doesn't sound like trustworthy information. I mean, one of the new commercials features a brother and sister watching Illuminations together...at least I think it's Illuminations...

Sounds like a CM having fun at your expense.

 

[Maerj]

Illuminations is also featured on all them brand spankin' new DVDs that they have been sending out. I can't see em getting rid of that show, especially since it is so popular. Only doing it on special nights? Well... maybe, at least until this war business is over.

I agree with the above posters that say this CM was having a lil fun at your expense. I hope you didn't give them a WWWD? pin! :lol:

 

[jcrb]

It not going to happen. One - once every park is closed - a majority of people go to Epcot. Two- looks at all the promotion there doing for Illuminations right now.

 

[Michael72688]

delaying the opening os M:S cause of the shuttle, yes the shuttle disaster was sad but it was over a month ago and to delay a ride that has nothing to do with the Space Shuttle Comlumbia is stupid!

 

[kennyj29]

Mission Space

I read that mission space was most definitley not being postponed!! I can't remember where but it was definitley right after the Columbia disaster and they said it would not postpone the opening at all!

 

[Passport]

I go to Epcot almost every week. There is always something covered up being refurbished. Italy seems to forever be in the works and when the tarps and fences finally come down, I can't tell the difference.

 

[bhg469]

Originally posted by JeepGuy77
I doubt Illuminations would be dropped, however I've heard from cast members Disney is considering running it only a few nights a week if crowds drop.

this makes the most sense, its like 20,000 a show. i can see them doing it more as it gets busier and if they get another sponsor even more.

 

[CTXRover]

I don't see them getting rid of illuminations. As far as I know, there has been some sort of a night time show at Epcot from the beginning (I can't remember, but I think there was a show in the lagoon by another name before "illuminations").

I know GE has dropped sponsorship, but how much does it cost to do Fantasmic or Fantasy in the Sky every night (I think FITS happens every night?? )? I imagine that the major cost of a show like Illuminations is in the design of it and making some of the effects like the "air cannons" to shoot off the fireworks, the "spinning earth" and the torches. That's already been done so I imagine it doesn't cost much more each night than Fantasy in the Sky or Fantasmic (when several shows a night a play).

 

[DisneyWonders07]

Bring down Illuminations: Reflections of Earth?! NEVER! As other people have said, it's one of the only thing that draws people to Epcot at night. Besides, even if they were to drop the show I think they would've been a bit wiser to drop it right after sponsorship was dropped by GE. Another thing, don't forget, Easter's coming up really soon, and Easter is one of the most crowded times of the year! I doubt Disney wants to take any chances whatsoever! I seriously doubt that Disney will take away Illuminations: Reflections of Earth for a VERY long time. :animwink:

 

[wdwjmp239]

Originally posted by DanMan
Well, I just took a trip over the weekend to disney world and of course had a great time. We ended our vacation in Epcot, my favorite park. In my eyes, you can't close a disney vacation with anything other than Illuminations, but will I have to adjust to something new?
I was talking to a disney cast member there about the park and whatnot, and she told me that since GE has dropped sponsorship of the show, disney is seriously thinking about dropping Illuminations in the near future (possibly any day now!! ). She says she doesn't know how likely it is that such events will occur, but she said it is a serious contemplation right now.
Also, I was speaking to another disney worker about Mission: Space and she said that it was definately postponed by the Columbia disaster and it will open the latest by June or July. As for the new hotel? She said with the war looming over the horizen, disney park attendence will be dipping and the hotel may not open for a long while.
One last thing, in Epcot, Germany, China, and more noticibly Italy are going through some rehabs. Basically, half of Italy is closed and being worked on. All the signs say regarding the refurbishment say, "we are building the future epcot." Does anyone know what they are doing?
Alright, I think I've said enough. My main concern is that I love Illuminations and it would totally suck if the show ended. Adios

Oh wow! I didn't think Epcot would go as far as to drop Illuminations with the GE sponsorship. You would think they would just change the show narration a little and not show the GE logo on the barges.

As far as the signs go -- you see those on the construction walls -- even if they're repaving the ground.. you'll see that sign

 

[TheOneVader]

NO!!! They can never close IllumiNations! I LIVE for IllumiNations!

 

[Katherine]

I love illuminations it's so magical and cool!! I really hope that this is not going to get the green light.

 

[Badger Brent]

Get real, RoE is going nowhere in the near future. Take this out of Epcot and you have nothing to keep you interested into the night. I love Epcot, but if they took this away, forget about it!!:hammer: