VIDEO - Epcot Forever nighttime spectacular to debut October 1 2019

Apr 10, 2019 in "Epcot Forever"

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Epcot Forever concept art

Posted: Wednesday April 10, 2019 10:19pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has announced this evening that the all-new "Epcot Forever" nighttime spectacular will debut on October 1 2019.

Epcot Forever concept art

Epcot Forever will feature fireworks, lighting, lasers and choreographed, special effects kites, accompanied by a stirring collection of songs that paints a colorful picture of Epcot. Disney Parks Live Entertainment is collaborating on the show with noted conductor and composer Don Harper, who is producing all-new arrangements of classic Epcot tunes to weave into the soundtrack of “Epcot Forever.”

Don Harper is credited with work on the scores for National Treasure, Training Day, Armageddon, The Rock, Twister, Broken Arrow, Assassins, and Speed. In the theme park environment, Harper recorded the soundtrack for Fantasmic! at Tokyo DisneySea and most recently, for Rivers of Light at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Epcot Forever concept art

“Epcot Forever is a celebration of what Epcot has been and what Epcot is going to become,” said Alan Bruun, show director for Disney Parks Live Entertainment. “Music is the star of the show, and we use songs going back to the very beginnings of Epcot to music in the park today – from attractions, spectaculars and other shows – and put them into a fireworks spectacular on the lagoon every night. Guests are going to hear music they know and love but in a whole new way.”

Epcot Forever concept art

In this video, you can hear some of the music from the new show and see test footage of the new kites that will be part of the show.

The current Epcot nighttime spectacular, “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth,” will end its 20-year run on September 30 2019.

After it launches October 1, “Epcot Forever” will continue into 2020, when it will then make way for the debut of the next Epcot nighttime spectacular as part of the park’s multi-year transformation.

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Chef idea Mickey`=May 11, 2024

A Whole New World as a song is telling about going sharing that there's a whole more new world out there in the world to explore. Aladdin to Jasmine For Epcot Forever they took it in Walt's passion at the time to share everyone of a whole new world place he has envision for Epcot his experimental prototpe community city of Tomorrow. Walt to everyone Having Walt narrate between this summons why they used it... in the beginning it plays only instrumental

Chef idea Mickey`=May 11, 2024

If your watching this anywhere outside the parks especially on the docks around Crescent Lake people would start leaving assuming the show is over when that middle segment hits 🤭 til they get to the Yaht or Beach Club entrance and BOOM! 😏

Chef idea Mickey`=May 11, 2024

Thiss!! Definitely which in no doubt they were cautious then it would become Harmonious II without the Taco Barges. The problem is not upbeat song(s) but it being Disney IP upbeat songs when it comes to an Epcot show. Epcot Forever was more upbeat but the difference every most upbeat portion was from original attractions that represented EPCOT it's spirit and was nostalgically fitting for there uniquely!

Chef idea Mickey`=May 11, 2024

I tune out when You've Got A Friend in Me plays because it stops being Luminious for a bit and into Disney IP. That song is perfect for HEA or Hollywood Studios not Epcot. I would think this segment should be about being a kid - teen years so if you see it based by Andy playing as a kid is the only way to glide through it. Do you want to build a snowman (being a child) , any other song that themes to being a kid-teen be the only replacement. 🤔 I'm actually surprised now Circle of Life isn't in this but then again would that be too Animal Kingdom centric even if it fits life.

wbostic12May 10, 2024

I agree that maybe a new song would be good, but Hercules and Moana have been done so much lately that I feel like another song could be good. On the tone argument (and I know it’s been said before), people that say that shows should be only fun should also understand that mix magic has been running for 6 years at Disneyland.

Epcot82GuyMay 10, 2024

I do wish they would have had a "know yourself/learn what our own instrument can do" that leads into You've got a Friend. While Friend Like Me is visually very cool, it is the one that sticks out most. And, I do agree the upbeat portion there could be a bit fleshed out. Something like Almost There, Try Everything, On My Way, etc. (Go The Distance or How Far I'll Go also, though that's leaning into HEA territory a lot). As a staunch I:ROE fan (still my favorite Disney Parks attraction of all time), Luminous does get a lot more right IMHO. And, it's nice to have something more reflective vs. "party".

Andrew25May 10, 2024

Agree - the show is at the same pace as HEA... outside that one middle segment. Don't really understand the argument of the show feeling slow/depressing lol If it was more upbeat people would be saying it's a party atmosphere that doesn't fit Epcot lol

Tom MorrowMay 10, 2024

Ehh. I dunno. The show is mostly upbeat. I think the segment about losing someone goes harder than people expect a Disney fireworks show to go, and that might be why people feel this way. I actually love that segment and think it was somewhat bold of them to include it. There's also plenty of other happy songs they could have used. YGAFIM is jarringly out of place in addition to overused in the parks.

SquishyMay 10, 2024

That's probably one of the only few upbeat parts of the show, show would get even more depressing if they remove it unless they swap it with a villain scene featuring Bob Chapek trying to blow up Epcot with flame throwers and intellectual property.

Tom MorrowMay 10, 2024

I completely agree. You've Got a Friend in me is very out of place (in addition to overused at the parks) and I wish they would consider swapping it out.

SplashJacketMay 10, 2024

The lack of screens/projectiojsin Luminious also helps. In HEA, the projections, screens, and lyrics mean that even if you’ve never seen the movie or recognize the song’s melody, you the IP is being shown to you. In Luminious, unless you recognize the specific melody, there’s no chance you’ll know it’s related to a Disney movie. In Harmonious, the screens showed you the content/IP because the content/IP was the focus. In Epcot Forever, sure, it doesn’t tell you “This is Aladdin,” but the unmodified lyrics just plopped from the movie into the show create a disjoint. The song is telling a story from Aladdin, even if it’s tangentially related to the story Epcot Forever was trying to convey. To me, the only relatively jarring song is “You Got a Friend in Me” but the rest fit perfectly.

Tom MorrowMay 10, 2024

I agree that it really is the execution. Luminous is of course an IP heavy show, but the selections to me feel tastefully chosen to support the theme of the show. In some instances they are even recontextualizing the songs. Harmonious just felt like a random greatest hits playlist, but in different languages, because Epcot.

MTBaymaxMay 10, 2024

Hot take. Every nighttime spectacular - 90% of them, anyway (which wasn’t the first 35 years of Epcot nighttime events, Rivers of Light 1.0, or BraviSEAmo), has IP baked into it. Anyone could look at them with today’s cynical eye and consider the same “subscribe to Disney+” statement. Execution makes the difference.

Tom MorrowMay 10, 2024

Luminous does have a unified theme and concept though with heartbeats. References to heartbeats and heartbeat visuals tie the show together in addition to the narration. Harmonious had no cohesive visual theme, every segment was not only musically and thematically separated from the others, but visually as well. They also don't have the same "message" either. Harmonious was something something music connects us. Luminous is "the shared human experience". I am IN NO WAY saying that either is anywhere near as good as Reflections of Earth. I was quick to hate on Luminous as being a rehash of Harmonious before seeing it. But I have seen it three times now and am 3/3 for it making me feel something, which is 3 times more than Harmonious ever made me feel anything. There IS more thought put into Luminous than it appears at a glance. Edit: even digging a little deeper, the pyro in Luminous is presented in a visually artistic and interesting way, whereas in Harmonious the pyro was kind of just constant accents to whatever the barges were doing. I know that sounds pretentious, but it was just immediately apparent to me that more thought was put into the presentation of the pyro in Luminous than Harmonious. Luminous paces itself with what it shows you, Harmonious was on full blast the entire time.