EPCOT Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious

[scottb411]

Universal cinematic celebration?

Hummmmm..... I mean it's an okay show. I don't think it's something that Disney had to respond to.

My kids never saw ROE but they would probably rate the Universal show over it. I don’t feel that way but they probably would with the Trolls and Minions segments.

 

[Disone]

I just don’t understand why this show has no original song(s). I kept expecting some sort of original HarmonioUS theme song to bring everything together, but nope.

When did it become fashionable for transitions in a show to mean “fade to black…now a different thing entirely?”

this is technically impressive but soulless. Felt like I was thing a new technology demonstration at a trade show. The tech is cool, but there’s no artistry. To misquote another property’s franchise, they got so caught up asking themselves if they could do it that they never asked themselves if they should. Does it make sense here, how do we use these new toys to tell a more compelling story instead of just showing off our latest big $$$ spend.

I like the show and also I agree with these critiques.

A harmonious theme song to transition between the different song segments would have gone a long way.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I like the show and also I agree with these critiques.

A harmonious theme song to transition between the different song segments would have gone a long way.

That’s my big issue. I could more easily accept how it flows (or doesn’t) if there was something memorable bookending the show.

Kicking off with Circle of Life / Vuelie and concluding with Hunchback isn’t it.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I liked it myself, I think it might still get some more tweaks as well.

 

[HauntedPirate]

They spent a fortune on this. If the public responds like they did to RoL, we won’t ever get another nighttime show dime from Chapek. Bah.

And he still won’t have the slightest clue what the actual problem is. (Hint: it’s the space between his ears)

Edited to joke about: “We put ‘How Far I’ll Let It Go The Distance’ plus lots of other movie songs and clips in the show, why isn’t it wildly successful?!?!”

 

[HMF]

Pretty much what I predicted and /or feared five years ago. Hopefully won't last 20 years.

Decline of a Dream

The Long, Slow Decline of Walt Disney World's Epcot

vocal.media

 

[Lil Copter Cap]

After seeing it live tonight, I’m in alignment with most: highly disappointed and Spaceship Earth’s post-show reveal was the highlight.

There is nothing timeless or memorable about Harmonious. The technology is impressive. But it’s a jukebox mega mix of Disney songs.

It has a strong beginning and ending. Everything else is just a disjointed mess.

On the way out of the park tonight we heard a woman heckling Bob Chapek as he and Josh walked across the entrance plaza. Such a mess.

 

[MouseMelly]

Youtube Roasts are entertaining:

"There was a really good fireworks show tonight at Walt Disney World that used songs from Hercules, Hunchback, and Princess and the Frog. There was also Harmonious."

"I now understand why they got rid of Happily Ever After. The songs from that show just went to EPCOT."

I had this exact same, puzzled feeling. The only thing that remotely felt like Epcot to me was the varying languages. And even then... how superficial is that? I'm sure it'll be fun to see with the family in person, but way too much "glitter" to stand the test of time IMO.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

So was this show worth completely ruining the views around world showcase?

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

So was this show worth completely ruining the views around world showcase?

On the bright side, the operators of La Cantina de San Angel must be appreciating the subliminal increase in taco sales.

 

[TTA94]

Honestly don’t know how I feel. Kinda what I expected though. A WoC wanna be, and should have been with flat fountain barges. The soundtrack is not memorable, not catchy or a ear worm and it’s overall disjointed, which is what I had feared. Overall it is what it is. Will they change it? Highly doubtful. The average guests will love it for sure. IMO the soundtrack needs to be redone. Visually it’s fine.

 

[HauntedPirate]

On the bright side, the operators of La Cantina de San Angel must be appreciating the subliminal increase in taco sales.

They could also be benefiting from increased margarita sales to numb the pain after people see the apparent mess of a show Harmonious has been reported by many to be? Just a thought.

 

[HMF]

While I understand that upper management want's EPCOT to be a more family friendly park, since it's inception it has always been a free thinking environment. I think Walt wouldn't be happy to see EPCOT be turned into another Magic Kingdom. EPCOT's original Imagineering Team wanted the park to be freethinking free flowing and to always progress with new ideas, not just Disney IP's in every corner. EPCOT is my favorite park and Illuminations had a very special place in my heart. Sure there was the sad Super Bowl Halftime show with the Millennium Celebration cast. But it had soul, it had a meaning that true I was once young and didn't understand.

When I was assigned to the EPCOT team, I learned the true meaning of Illuminations, I cried, I laughed with amazing ICP's and CRP's from every corner of the world as we all joined hand and hand and sang. I met my now wife thanks to her time at the Mexico Pavilion and proposed to her just as We Go On started playing. Sure like mine there are countless other stories, but another IP filled story in a lagoon surrounded by nations of the world just doesn't make me scream enjoyment.

EPCOT is a land of discovery, of science, and of beauty from world cultures to the plants at Living with the Land. Harmonious doesn't make me feel like I'm sharing love of culture or uniting the planet after the greatest Pandemic in a century. Illuminations for all it's banter, for all it's low grade tech gave us hope and peace for a world where we could all make friends and be friends. In my years with WDI, I have met so many incredible people from all over the world. But Illuminations, that was an experience in which I cried as I said goodbye to so many dear and close friends. Where I started my journey with my now wife, and what is the soundtrack I play every morning whilst going to the office.

Maybe I'm that rarity, but I was truly hoping Harmonious would live up to it's name and unite the World Showcase the same way illuminations did. Maybe that's just me, maybe it's my fellow Cast Members, but this, this didn't feel like we could join hand and hand and go on. I wanted that, we all wanted that especially after the most difficult year for a majority of us Cast members. 50 years of the WDW isn't the same as we would wish with all the restrictions still in place. Harmonious was a chance at showing the world you could forget for a moment, and breathe. Disney lost that chance the moment this project was approved and not Illuminations 2.0

Very eloquently put.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

They could also be benefiting from increased margarita sales to numb the pain after people see the apparent mess of a show Harmonious has been reported by many to be? Just a thought.

Every ticket at La Cantina that includes a taco plate and margarita is ~$30, and that's not even looking at the TS restaurants or margarita stand. Big win for the Mexico pavilion!

 

[HauntedPirate]

Every ticket at La Cantina that includes a taco plate and margarita is ~$30, and that's not even looking at the TS restaurants or margarita stand. Big win for the Mexico pavilion!

Synergy!!

 

[HauntedPirate]

I went to Twitter to see all the DisTwitter people gushing about this show. I’m still looking for more than a scant few.

 

[waltography]

I really, really wanted to like this show... and I guess I'd need to be there in person to really get the full picture, but what I saw was disappointing.

It's like they learned all the wrong lessons from World of Color and thought people came to watch the screens and not the fountains, when in fact the best parts of World of Color were when the fountains were extensions of the characters. The infrastructure's incredible, but it also gives away pretty much everything within the first minute and struggles to create new pictures with the limited range of those arms.

I really liked the music within each segment (although some choices like the discordance in the beginning and the rondo in the Hunchback sequence were odd), but agree there was no through line. Some of it even sounded like music you'd hear at the end credits, which was odd given how much they highlighted the music as a focal point of the show.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Here is our first video of Harmonious.

Much better video than the Park's live stream. The Park's live stream had me doubting if there were any fireworks since they piped just the music and no ambient sounds (except crowds cheering at the end of each section), and the close up of the barges cut out all the fireworks.

After seeing these two videos my impressions:

Fireworks were OK to good. Not very spectacular or special, but not bad.

There was a lot of mushy, overlapping, overkill in both the music and the barges and lighting.

First: the light show: Really good at times, and also really bad at times. The bad times were when there were too many colors used all at once. Not pretty at all. Like a kindergartener's hand painting in which they used all the colors and it was a muddy mess. The good times were when the lighting effects were understated, mostly monochrome, and gently moving (as what happened with the softer, slower music).

Also, for every nighttime show everywhere: Please stop using lasers to create more than 2D static images. They can't draw moving objects or animation without a strobe effect which is freaking awful. Just. Stop. It.

Second: the music: Can't even say it was *really* good at times. There were some good spots. But then, it became too over-orchestrated. Too much of a diva riffing on top of an orchestral mess. The mash-up of How Far I'll go and Go the Distance started out OK, but then became the visual equivalent of an ink blot. I did like they recorded the music with new singers and not just lifted from the soundtracks... except they *didn't* rerecord "Out There" with the wicked fast vibrato. Worst is that the singers of the Hunchback music in other languages imitated that insane vibrato. You don't sing every syllable with a strong vibrato. Just. Stop. It.

I'll defend HEA's narrative arc. I'll do the same for Harmonious if I ever find one. <burn!>

I thought that they might make an effort to pay tribute to each of the World Showcase pavilions. And they came close with representations for Mexico, China, America, Morocco, France, and UK. Oh and the African Outpost got a huge shout out with a tribute to the country of Africa!

Greece and India also got represented! Two new national pavilions confirmed!!

But poor Norway, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada were left out in the cold. All the Axis Powers!!!

I know that Frozen is often seen as overplayed, but... c'mon. Into the Unknown would have been perfect. And it's already recorded in like two dozen languages. If you're going to please the crowds with IP... there's some low hanging fruit that's also really good.

 

[waltography]

First: the light show: Really good at times, and also really bad at times. The bad times were when there were too many colors used all at once. Not
I know that Frozen is often seen as overplayed, but... c'mon. Into the Unknown would have been perfect. And it's already recorded in like two dozen languages. If you're going to please the crowds with IP... there's some low hanging fruit that's also really good.

Frozen got all of about ten seconds with the Vuelie in the intro, which honestly could've been a great starting point if it didn't have that off-putting Loki episode 6-esque layering going on.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I know that Frozen is often seen as overplayed, but... c'mon. Into the Unknown would have been perfect. And it's already recorded in like two dozen languages. If you're going to please the crowds with IP... there's some low hanging fruit that's also really good.

Speaking of no-brainer IP integrations, I'm stunned they didn't fast-track an Encanto segment, as the signature song is clearly a banger. Could have lifted it straight from the soundtrack.

Hopefully Harmonious follows in World of Color's footsteps in that it'll be updated periodically. Given that there are literally no transitions between segments, shouldn't be too difficult.