EPCOT Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious

[George]

I’m a fan of “lagoondoggle”.

Very nice. I'll put you on retainer.

 

[Thelazer]

Worldy?

 

[MaximumEd]

Worldy?

Nessie’s country cousin.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I'm a young twenty-something gay man with a disposable income, my bf and I have large followings on social media--we are Disney's new targeted demographic. After our visit this week, we have no interest in returning or passing down this tradition to our kids or encouraging other family members to go. Disney is not worth the money, and it is not what it used to be.

Keep in mind when you're a targeted group, you're also a target for manipulation. Sadly, it works both ways.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Move the harmonious barges to AK and have 2 shows per night. Add some drones (no fireworks but maybe combine some of the ROL boats too) that could be a nice night show with the right music and flow plus would make the world showcase lagoon picturesque again

Bring back illuminations and redo the water barges to be better/newer tech

 

[bcoachable]

Move the harmonious barges to AK and have 2 shows per night. Add some drones (no fireworks but maybe combine some of the ROL boats too) that could be a nice night show with the right music and flow plus would make the world showcase lagoon picturesque again

Bring back illuminations and redo the water barges to be better/newer tech

I think that would (have been) be amazing-

 

[trainplane3]

Move the harmonious barges to AK and have 2 shows per night. Add some drones (no fireworks but maybe combine some of the ROL boats too) that could be a nice night show with the right music and flow plus would make the world showcase lagoon picturesque again

Bring back illuminations and redo the water barges to be better/newer tech

That part is gonna be a lot harder to do now.

 

[Sam Magic]

Keep in mind when you're a targeted group, you're also a target for manipulation. Sadly, it works both ways.

Exactly.

It's crazy to see how Disney has manipulated and marketed itself towards my demographic. They play to the most base instincts, immaturity, and longing for nostalgia. This isn't so different from their marketing strategies in the past, but what is different is how Disney utilizes social media and lifestyle culture to advance those aims.

We have friends (straight/gay/Christian/non-religious) who have all be targeted by Disney marketing. Interestingly, our single gay friends seem to be targeted the most via Instagram and Twitter, and the message/narrative pushed essentially is "we know your life is unhappy, come to Disney and forget the pain." It's rather pernicious and sad.

All of this talk and my feelings following our trip have pushed me to consider writing a few articles about these issues.

 

[Tom Morrow]

It's like you have never ridden Jurassic Park River Adventure, Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black: Alien Attack, E.T. Adventure, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Both Potter Dark Rides, Cat in the Hat, or have walked through Poseidon's Fury. All of these attractions have proper build up concerning pacing and story placement. Even their former attractions like Back to the Future: The Ride, Jaws: The Ride, Kongfrontation, Terminator 3-D, and Earthquake all were cases of perfect use of pacing.

Sure, rides like The Simpsons Ride and Transformers are "balls-to-the-wall" in terms of pacing but they make close to an equal balance to the more standard paced rides that I mentioned above.

To say that Universal's attractions besides Spider-Man have no pacing is a extreme deliberate oversight on the same level as "Universal only builds screenz rides".

I would have to disagree regarding Skull Island - if the outdoor portion is skipped you're pretty much thrown right into it. A better version of the ride would have the two screen scenes before the main screen not be about you getting attacked because that's what the main show scene is all about. That said, it's one of their better modern efforts in terms of pacing. I'd also disagree on Gringotts and Forbidden Journey, which are chaotic the entire time. It seems like beginning with The Simpsons Ride and forward they've have been unwilling to budge from this formula. I'm not saying that the rides are bad - I actually like Transformers a lot. But Transformers is a ride where getting thrown right into it works well but that isn't appropriate for every experience. It also creates fatigue when you ride several rides of this nature in a row.

I have to wonder how much of this push for theme park entertainment to be like this is over concerns of people losing interest. Streaming services and the popularity of "prestige TV" have shown that audiences are willing to wait through a slower burn if the payoff is good.

 

[ChrisFL]

People have mentioned what would work if they did a specific Disney character from each of the countries featured in the World Showcase (or close enough)

What's surprising to me is that there aren't really any famous Disney movies that take place in Japan, so unless they did something like Studio Ghibli or go crazy and feature San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6....not sure what else they would put. Just a random thought....did I miss any?

 

[Lora Baines Bradley]

Saw the show tonight. It’s…not great. Another standard clip show. Is it just for the 50th or is it permanent? I was in the minority that loved Epcot Forever which was just a clip show too, but of Epcot songs so it gets a pass lmao.

Also pretty sure an audio box was out where I was standing because it was awfully quiet and for a show so focused around music, it should envelop you.

At least the lights on SSE are absolutely phenomenal and the best thing they’ve done at the park in the past 5 years (besides Figment’s christmas sweater.)

 

[wtyy21]

Saw the show tonight. It’s…not great. Another standard clip show. Is it just for the 50th or is it permanent? I was in the minority that loved Epcot Forever which was just a clip show too, but of Epcot songs so it gets a pass lmao.

Also pretty sure an audio box was out where I was standing because it was awfully quiet and for a show so focused around music, it should envelop you.

At least the lights on SSE are absolutely phenomenal and the best thing they’ve done at the park in the past 5 years (besides Figment’s christmas sweater.)

It is a long-term permanent replacement of Illuminations Reflections of Earth.

 

[Lora Baines Bradley]

It is a long-term permanent replacement of Illuminations Reflections of Earth.

Well, I just said some non-family friendly things under my breath.

The ending is alright- but jesus could they have tied the original song in before the ending? it’s just so disjointed and dare i say boring. At least with epcot forever you had the jet skis and some decent pyro.

 

[cookiee_munster]

The arms are really a head-scratcher. I think if we have to have them, they might be better without the edge lighting...so you don't see the arms themselves, but can see the water/lighting/effects that they create. (Trying to picture this in my head and unsure whether I like it or hate it.)

The arms. The massiveness off the barges and the stargate are one thing. But the arms, just add to the absurdity of it.

 

[MisterPenguin]

People have mentioned what would work if they did a specific Disney character from each of the countries featured in the World Showcase (or close enough)

What's surprising to me is that there aren't really any famous Disney movies that take place in Japan, so unless they did something like Studio Ghibli or go crazy and feature San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6....not sure what else they would put. Just a random thought....did I miss any?

Not a movie, but the Sinbad ride in Disney Japan is very popular and has a catchy earworm of a song (in Japanese) from Menken: Compass of Your Heart, which fits the theme of WS perfectly.






Unfortunately there's no *good* English recording of it worthy of just dropping into the park... yet.

 

[wtyy21]

Not a movie, but the Sinbad ride in Disney Japan is very popular and has a catchy earworm of a song (in Japanese) from Menken: Compass of Your Heart, which fits the theme of WS perfectly.






Unfortunately there's no *good* English recording of it worthy of just dropping into the park... yet.

If there is already Japan Pavilion at EPCOT, why the Sinbad ride were never built here?

 

[Incomudro]

The arms. The massiveness off the barges and the stargate are one thing. But the arms, just add to the absurdity of it.

Excellent post.
As a guy who's horrified at houses that are decorated for Christmas like the image on the left, I'm dumbfounded when I see and hear people go nuts over decor like that.
And yes, that's what I'm getting from this new show and all of it's hardware.

 

[James Alucobond]

The ending is alright- but jesus could they have tied the original song in before the ending?

The closer isn't original. It's from Hunchback.

 

[cookiee_munster]

If there is already Japan Pavilion at EPCOT, why the Sinbad ride were never built here?

What the hellicopter does sinbad have to do with Japan???

 

[Bocabear]

"If there is already Japan Pavilion at EPCOT, why the Sinbad ride were never built here?"

Because the ride does not take place in Japan, but in the Japanese Disney Seas Theme park...in the Arabian Coast section of the park.
It could be shoehorned into Morocco, but I doubt they would ever spend that kind of money to do a long animatronic spectacular like this ride in the US... Sadly.