News Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious

[trainplane3]

You know…it’s an eyesore…but I seriously wondered if fountains would have made it a bigger one?

why do I get the feeling that they didn’t notice just how bad it ruined the sight lines until it was in?

…that is is an inexcusable WDI Fail if so

There's really no excuse when you know they modeled all of this stuff up in cad (or whatever standard the industry uses) and did concept art/studies on visual impacts. Probably was deemed "acceptable".

Remember, they centered the whole show using the tech they had available:

Oh...

Also, the fabric on the ring sags when it gets wet too.

 

[mlayton144]

Couldn’t they just have updated/ improved illuminations , and saved a boatload of money in the process ?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Why not just go with their solution to everything creative now? A giant screen projection to hide them...

…with little mermaid and frozen music?

…it could work

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Couldn’t they just have updated/ improved illuminations , and saved a boatload of money in the process ?

Perhaps…but I bet that hardware needed to go anyway.

they just can’t be this stupid and misguided.

blame Bob (either)…the reason Disney parks have staying power is NOT because they blast songs from animated movies at you at every turn.

but the beach house in Malibu was paid with cash…so what does it matter in 10 years?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I could be persuaded that, with only a few weeks to go, signs have been removed because they won't be needed once the show is running, and that action was completely separate from any fountain decision.

Or maybe they don't want to use daytime mode for fear of "disappointing" guests since Epcot Forever doesn't have any fountains, and showing them during the day might make people question why they aren't used at night.

But, yeah, they've probably thrown in the towel and have given up on masking the stupid oil rigs. Because it's not like they're still working on the daytime version - we saw them running daytime mode last month, so the programming is there and could presumably be turned on right now. The fact that it hasn't says it all.

And, as pointed out, it's not like daytime mode improved things. If anything, it made it worse.

What an utter embarrassment. "Mistake on the lake" indeed.

 

[UNCgolf]

I've said from the very start that the fountains were, at best, going to do nothing to hide the barges, and, at worst, would actively draw attention to them and/or make them look worse, so... not surprised.

 

[happybear025]

…with little mermaid and frozen music?

…it could work

They could charge you on the New Genie plus for the privilege of sitting in a roped off area to watch it. The 2pm showing of Frozen available now! for just $22 per person

 

[CJR]

I have a feeling Harmonious won't be around as long as Reflections of Earth was. It hasn't even started yet and there's issues. Nevermind that it won't be as good unless you're standing in certain spots, which will no doubt become upcharges.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I've said from the very start that the fountains were, at best, going to do nothing to hide the barges, and at worst, would actively draw attention to them and/or make them look worse, so... not surprised.

It’s really an eyesore…

I can’t believe that the concept of looking across the lagoons to see the pavilions was “frivolous”…

…they spent about a billion in 1980 dollars to build that place…nothing was “accidental” except the popularity of figment

 

[marni1971]

Can’t polish a turd.

 

[James Alucobond]

As expected. This is the aspect of the EPCOT rework that I find most unforgivable because it’s utterly unsalvageable. Sure, it’s sad to lose half of CommuniCore, but its replacement will at least be attractive even if not as functional. Sure, the Guardians box and the cutout skyline in Ratatouille are ugly, but I can imagine countless ways they could be mitigated if budget is ever allocated. Harmonious just can’t be fixed. It’s too unwieldy to move backstage, and literally nothing can camouflage it. We just have to wait for the show to die.

 

[durangojim]

Can’t polish a turd.

Mythbusters actually proved you could. Although it would be more interesting to see if they could figure out a way to make these monstrosities disappear during the day.

 

[SplashJacket]

Part of me thinks the sign showing the daytime fountains will just walk off at some point never to be heard from again. They seriously can't run them if they're going to behave the way they have during past daytime testing. It's even more of an embarrassment than the barges just sitting out there unadorned.

Man did you call it.

 

[MaximumEd]

Mythbusters actually proved you could. Although it would be more interesting to see if they could figure out a way to make these monstrosities disappear during the day.

Me: Quickly searches Amazon for several 55 gallon drums of “turd polish” and types in Epcot’s shipping address.

 

[mlayton144]

What’s really stupid is that one would think the fountains would be closer to the lagoon perimeter to block the tacos and stargate than being part of the tacos themselves , no way they would hide the tacos in present form. Another thing I don’t get is why they painted them black … just horrific

 

[wdwmagic]

What’s really stupid is that one would think the fountains would be closer to the lagoon perimeter to block the tacos and stargate than being part of the tacos themselves , no way they would hide the tacos in present form. Another thing I don’t get is why they painted them black … just horrific

They are black for nighttime performance. Show lighting illuminates them after dark, so black is the best way to reduce that.

When they were originally designed they were not going to be left out in the lagoon.

 

[DznyRktekt]

To get these backstage, would the access and bridge require modification? Is that all that keeps them in the Lagoon?

 

[VJ]

I remember seeing videos of guests openly groaning when they heard the child announcers when Epcot Forever first performed. I prefer Corey Burton's mysterious and deep voice over a group of children talking like were in Kindergarten.

Jim Cummings was the narrator for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, not Corey.

 

[James Alucobond]

To get these backstage, would the access and bridge require modification? Is that all that keeps them in the Lagoon?

Pretty sure the storage area itself would need to be expanded. As I recall, they had to move three out to the lagoon to have space to finish the last two during construction.

 

[Nottamus]

water shortage in Orlando area strikes again…