This is one show that we couldn’t wait to see go. Disney’s ode to karaokes in non-English languages is leaving Epcot.
Back in February, That Park Place writer, WDW Pro, reported on reports that a guest survey was quietly occurring. The survey was all about a poorly received Harmonious show at Epcot, the replacement for Illuminations. Having a poorly received nighttime show at Epcot is a big deal because of how dependent the park — and all of its third party dining partners — are for keeping guests in the park on evenings.
Well, now it seems that survey was indeed a harbinger for what was to come. And on top of that, WDW Pro’s prediction that the infrastructure would stay while the show would change is also true.
Although Animal Kingdom’s Rivers of Light show was retooled and then cancelled after poor reception, we wouldn’t hold our breath for Harmonious to be dumped. Although it is likely to get a rework, the idea of its infrastructure being dumped is hard to believe. There’s a ton of money in that show. It’s more likely that, if the show is altered, the music and pageantry may change, but the tools for achieving it likely won’t. But even for Disney to have to ask if Illuminations was better is a concession of some sort. You don’t replace a decades-old show at tremendous cost with the expectation that you’ll soon be asking guests which is better.
— WDW Pro, That Park Place
Frankly, I’m pleased that Harmonious is heading out. The show is essentially a glorified Disney sing-a-long with some international languages thrown in to pretend everything is “global”.
When it came to our original review for Harmonious, we didn’t hold back:
So in summary, they’ve replaced a beautiful nighttime show at Walt Disney World about the unity of mankind into a Disney sing-along in different languages (but mostly English). They won’t do what I recommend, but I think they should just honestly fess up to the egg on their face, scrap Harmonious as it is, and go back to Epcot Forever during the 50th. Retool all the graphics, the narrative, create an original score, and come back with something befitting Epcot at night. As is, Harmonious is embarrassingly bad. When I wrote for Pirates and Princesses, I covered some of the Imagineers behind Harmonious and how they didn’t come across as competent on their social media posts. We can only hope that it’s limited to those who worked on this Epcot project, because otherwise we’re heading for pathetic additions for a good long while.
We’ll find out soon what is replacing Harmonious in 2023. The barges and the ring will remain, but hopefully the show itself is a huge improvement. The new spectacular is to be themed around “100 Years of Wonder”… and adding some new wonder to the park would be a step in the right direction.
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