EPCOT Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

From the video:

"It has such a power that you would never expect out of a theme park show or experience."

Nice way to denigrate theme parks, Disney.

Haven't Disney theme parks strived for depth and meaning since "here age relives fond memories of the past, and youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future"? Not to mention, you know, EPCOT Center?

I'll have what the imagineers in the video are drinking.

At least for me, and I'd even be willing to bet that most people who watched RoE felt the "power that you would never expect out of a theme park show or experience" during Illuminations.

But I'm a tourist, so what do I know?

 

[montyz81]

I wonder if Act 3 will include Illuminations like show and music elements?

 

[HauntedPirate]

From the video:

"It has such a power that you would never expect out of a theme park show or experience."

Nice way to denigrate theme parks, Disney.

Haven't Disney theme parks strived for depth and meaning since "here age relives fond memories of the past, and youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future"? Not to mention, you know, EPCOT Center?

It’s a lot of bluster from people who don’t have a clue what EPCOT Center was about. All the lines were likely written and/or approved by PR people, who also don’t have a clue what EPCOT Center was about. Most likely were born after the 94 “makeover”.

After watching that video, I’m not exactly expecting much “story” and a lot of movie IP tie-ins, but it’s not as though my expectations were high to begin with. Basically, HEA 2.0. The bar is set very low these days, so low one could trip on it, and sometimes TDO struggles to even reach that.

 

[Fe Maiden]

WDI once again proves they don't know how water works:

Who knew the Legion of Doom's headquarters was at the bottom of World Showcase Lagoon.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

At the end of the day, Harm will be a huge success among millennials, which seems to be Disney’s target audience these days. It’ll be bright enough, loud enough, tacky enough, contain enough Coco, Frozen, and Moana, and short enough to satisfy their attention span.

As long as guests are going “Wow! Bright! Noise! Color! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Loud! Disney! Sounds! Instagram! Sparkle! Bang! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Magic! Shiny! Disney! Wow! Instagram! Wow! Disney!” within the first 1 1/2 - 2mins of the show, it will be a success.

The bar is lower than low.

 

[wdwmagic]

Appears the daytime mode is still being worked on, it is not running this morning. Crews are still working on hardware issues.

 

[mightynine]

Appears the daytime mode is still being worked on, it is not running this morning. Crews are still working on hardware issues.

"What do you mean, this Klingon cloaking device I got off eBay is a fake? There's a certificate of authenticity and everything!"

 

[michmousefan]

I'll have what the imagineers in the video are drinking.

At least for me, and I'd even be willing to bet that most people who watched RoE felt the "power that you would never expect out of a theme park show or experience" during Illuminations.

But I'm a tourist, so what do I know?

Personally, sure, I'm looking forward to the new show, but I always come back to the fact that there will (likely) never be another Illuminations/ROE. And that's fine. One of the Disney nighttime spectaculars has to be the best of all time, the GOAT, whatever... and for those of us, that is/was/will be ROE.

So... very tempered expectations; I genuinely hope Harm has its own share of earned emotion and spectacle.

I'm mostly worried that once word gets out that the best viewing spot is directly in front of the Showcase Plaza area, folks are going to try to plunk down their chairs and what not at 4-5pm to secure a good viewing spot. That goes back to the well thought-out design on ROE: it was great from just about anywhere on the promenade; and there wasn't as much elbowing to find a good spot to watch the show. That new central ring really should be rotating.

Maybe my worries will be eclipsed once the actual show debuts. We'll have to see.

 

[marni1971]

Can we get off IP and how the Fountains looked today for once and hope/pray Harm. actually opens Oct 1st ??? With the CDC comments on Masks today, how do we know Entertainment won't be canceled again?!?!?!?! Yes it's only indoors, but this is NOT GOOD!

It’ll debut before then.

 

[cookiee_munster]

less is more?

 

[Kevin-brownie]

At the end of the day, Harm will be a huge success among millennials, which seems to be Disney’s target audience these days. It’ll be bright enough, loud enough, tacky enough, contain enough Coco, Frozen, and Moana, and short enough to satisfy their attention span.

As long as guests are going “Wow! Bright! Noise! Color! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Loud! Disney! Sounds! Instagram! Sparkle! Bang! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Magic! Shiny! Disney! Wow! Instagram! Wow! Disney!” within the first 1 1/2 - 2mins of the show, it will be a success.

The bar is lower than low.

I think you got the wrong generation of people. Outside of that, I agree.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I think you got the wrong generation of people. Outside of that, I agree.

Nope, I meant millennials. Not much of a difference between them and children under 10.

 

[SpectroMan93]

Nope, I meant millennials. Not much of a difference between them and children under 10.

Quite a broad statement to make for an age group that ranges from 25-40, which likely includes a large portion of people on this forum, but okay sure.

 

[Kevin-brownie]

Nope, I meant millennials. Not much of a difference between them and children under 10.

That is hilarious! There is a noticeable gap in age here considering that millennials are born between 1981 to about 1996/7ish. At least I can speak for myself as a millennial by saying that I hope the new show is great and if I could have things my way, it would be without IPs. But I digress, and totally okay with learning to agree to disagree.

 

[Kevin-brownie]

Quite a broad statement to make for an age group that ranges from 25-40, which likely includes a large portion of people on this forum, but okay sure.

This was my thought too. Thought I was crazy for thinking it for a second. People often seem to call out millennials for so much.

 

[marni1971]

View attachment 575307

less is more?

Not to mention only 20% of guests will get to see the “more” image.

A full on large inflated sphere with back projection a la Tokyo with a rotating ring would have worked wonders.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

At the end of the day, Harm will be a huge success among millennials, which seems to be Disney’s target audience these days. It’ll be bright enough, loud enough, tacky enough, contain enough Coco, Frozen, and Moana, and short enough to satisfy their attention span.

As long as guests are going “Wow! Bright! Noise! Color! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Loud! Disney! Sounds! Instagram! Sparkle! Bang! (Enter latest popular IP here)! Magic! Shiny! Disney! Wow! Instagram! Wow! Disney!” within the first 1 1/2 - 2mins of the show, it will be a success.

The bar is lower than low.

I have mixed up Millenials and Generation Z.

Millennials grew up (if we generously apply that term...) on Mermaid, BatB, Lion King. They have kids and a house and Apple products. Some going on forty, born as they are between 1981 and 1996.

Gen Z grew up on Frozen and populate TikTok, and have a brain hardwired by flash content to a maximum six second attention span. They are dumb beyond measure but then manage to make six figure sums from publicly displaying their stupidity. Born from 1996.


It's not all bad. One can equally well argue that I'm slow and need more than six seconds to understand anything because that's how impulses worked during my formative years.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Eeehh...it sucks.

On the bright side, the barge blocks off the view of Spacecube GotG, so it's a net plus!

 

[Sir_Cliff]

A lot of Grandpa Simpson energy on this thread.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Yeeah, the age argument is extremely weak as there are plenty here & in other places that are in their early-mid 20s (myself included) or slightly younger that genuinely love, get, and are passionate about the values & spirit EPCOT (and WDI in general) held & showcased in the past, aswell as the quality of the attractions from the parks past thanks to plenty of online documentation, recorded ride thrus, etc, despite not being born in that time period.

The truth of the matter is, it all comes down to upper management and the way they market certain aspects of the company, take advantage of the simply unknowing or folks’ general nostalgia of the brand overall & good word of mouth & legacy of their past quality & legacy. And while yes, you can put part of the blame on the fact guests keep paying.. It still ultimately falls on upper management’s lack of care.. thankfully though, now there are a lot more people I think that are becoming more & more aware of the way the company is not honoring their golden values, etc. and are supporting the competition more & more instead. Despite the competitors not being perfect.. they’re doing a better job at upholding their standards & improving upon them than Disney is atm.