News Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious

techgeek

Well-Known Member
IllumiNations used to start an hour before park closing.

Oh well.

I seem to recall in the 80's and 90's that the pavilion lighting effects (popcorn lights and some color / pattern effects) would remain lit after the show, adding a bit of festive atmosphere to the rest of the evening.

The torches add a similar sort of vibe to pre/post show these days, but it was more immersive drawing you into exploring the pavilions and seeing them in a 'new light', rather than just focused along the promenade.
 

monothingie

Proxy War 2024: Never Forget
Premium Member
EC9E9152-5DBD-4C67-9684-DDD59F79D784.jpeg
I hope the final fountain show is more impressive than this. Hopefully just a test.
127D739F-C5B0-424B-B31A-239BEFC57C50.jpeg
 

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
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.
Funny. I was just thinking about the fact that there may not be a lot of good viewing angles for this. That could be disastrous from a guest satisfaction perspective.
 

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
View attachment 577128I hope the final fountain show is more impressive than this. Hopefully just a test.
View attachment 577129
Saw they were advertising for WS lagoon “barge hose holders”. Kudos where kudos is due. I figure 4 guys with garden hoses would turn this into a thing of epic beauty. I thought it might be fire hoses, but that flow rate would be ocular overkill.
 

mhochman

Active Member
Two quick pieces of context before my post: 1) I’ve been coming to Epcot since it first opened. As an 11 year old, I remember being a rarity (for my age group) for loving rides like motion, spaceship, and soon horizons. My friends all thought it was boring. But Epcot has always had a special place in my heart since pretty much day one. 2) while I absolutely love and respect the effort that (early) Disney put into hiding show elements and “out of place” features from other lands, I’ve also realized my part in suspending disbelief. No matter how masterful the early imagineers were, something would always creep in somewhere, and my mind did its part in blocking it out so that I could immerse myself in the story. We all do it, I’m not special, just saying that I can block out distractions.

All that said, this week was my first time back to WDW and Epcot in two years. I finally got to see for myself the barges in world showcase to assess, for myself, how the barges impact the views of world showcase. And my assessment is this: they are an abomination. No amount of pre-reading and picture viewing can prepare you for the awfulness these barges introduce. I was hoping y’all could were exaggerating, but you weren’t. That first view of all the countries to start your day, to get in the zone, to appreciate the effort that was put into building Epcot is totally gone. It is just beyond words how much the effed this up.

So I guess the only thing I’m contributing to this conversation is that, if you haven’t seen it yet and you’re hoping we are all just being bitter and exaggerating, we’re not. Be prepared to have your heart broken.
 

TikibirdLand

Well-Known Member
Ya know... with the lagoon fountains and the replacement of FoN and Journey of Water... all Disney has to do it keep adding water elements and transform Epcot into DisneySea Orlando!!
it would be FANTASTIC to have DisneySea in Orlando (or anywhere stateside). That place looks incredible! Maybe something I can save up for when I retire...
 
I have finally figured out what Disney is doing with this abomination on the lake. Disney created that eye sore out there to force people like me to drink more and stay in the shops to avoid looking at it. I mean if I drink more alcohol I spend more money, if I am then drunk and in the shops to avoid looking at the greatest mistake on a body of water since the Tacoma Narrows bridge I will spend more money. Also there is not enough fountain magic available to hide these beasts during the day. My first time seeing these in person all I could think was " MY EYES" like I had stared at the sun through a telescope.
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
There was apparently a invitation only special event for select travel professionals in Epcot 8/10 that involved what looked like a set-up similar to a Corporate Event Package with food (mainly desserts) and drinks including alcohol hostes lagoon-side in front of Italy. It included fireworks viewing. The individual that posted mentions it was a “thank you” and a way for Disney to practice the return of dessert parties.

What I found most interesting is the available selection of alcohol available was far beyond a single signature cocktail and the location used.

Could we expect to hear a return of dessert parties sooner than we think? Whenever they do make a return, could we see a move of the dessert party viewing location back to Italy? Or, is this not the dessert party as we know it and just Corporate Events practicing for their fireworks viewing package grand debut (which had been previously mentioned those opened a few months back with dates as early as October) and they kept it simple with just serving desserts?

Anyone that may have any additional info?

Post/Information was found on Facebook using #disneydessertparty or #epcotdessertparty
They ran Harmonious at about 12:45am - not sure if that was part of it.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
View attachment 577128I hope the final fountain show is more impressive than this. Hopefully just a test.
View attachment 577129

I finally saw the barges in person. I know I'm late to the party here. but the fountains are not enough to disguise how absolutely hideous these things are. They're massive and throw off the scale of everything and make it feel smaller. I can't fathom how nobody behind this project understood that the lagoon looking natural is very important to World Showcase's aesthetics and atmosphere. Most of the pavilions do not fully immerse you in their environment and have the lagoon in view in one direction.

I'm very happy to hear that the torches are staying, at least. At least they understood that.
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
I remember @marni1971 and other reputable sources mentioning that if they were to continue using them beyond Epcot Forever, they would need pricey repairs as they were at the end of their service life. So, if that's true, Disney actually spent money to keep using them.
They underwent refurbs in 2018 I believe. There was about a month or so without torches. Fuel lines needed replaced among other things.

Edit: I was off by two years but here it is: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/new...wcase-torches-undergoing-brief-refurbishment/
 
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