Review: Epcot Forever

Disney Reviews 3

NOW IN THE JUKEBOX! Disney revealed the temporary replacement of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth last night. This nighttime show celebrates the past, present and future of Epcot.

I held a watch party on Facebook last night and was joined by other D-COTTERs. The debut was hosted by Disney Parks Blog. As I was sitting in my chair, the excitement built up more and more. The classic music was going to return and my younger self couldn’t help but do a happy dance.

The nighttime spectacular started promptly at 9PM. Thirty-seven seconds into the music track, you can hear Walt Disney himself say “We call it Epcot”. ???? And then he continues with “E-P-C-O-T” … “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”. Chills!!

The show includes highlights from “Tomorrow’s Child”, “Magic Journeys”, “New Horizons”, “Universe of Energy”, “Spark” (a Disney fan singalong), “Makin’ Memories”, the silly “Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit”, “Listen to the Land”, “It’s Fun to be Free” and the theme from the “Tapestry of Nations” parade.

At 3:26 mark a child says “Soarin’ to tower, we are ready for take-off”. Can you say… MORE CHILLS! We are then treated to some melodious chords from the original “Soarin'”. Then you see six sets of lit kites pulled above over the water. Jeremy Chase, producer for “Epcot Forever”, explains how “Each personal watercraft has a driver and then a kite pilot.” There two kinds of kites in the show, he said.

“The first one … almost reminds me of a jellyfish a little bit, but more undulating over the water, a little more soft movements,” Chase said. “Then the second one you saw really helped punctuate the story line of celebration.”

The last two minutes were a little awkward; Disney introduced “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. I’m not sure how this fits into the “Epcot Forever” theme. Perhaps they are trying to explain how there is a whole new world of changes coming to Epcot? The nostalgic feelings scampered away when I heard this. ????

Overall, it’s enjoyable and I look forward to seeing it in person. Epcot Forever is a temporary show until Harmonious (stylized as HarmoniUS) is debuted in 2020.

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By steve
Steve is the founder and administrator of D-COT. If anything breaks on the site, @TheSwedishChef is the founder and administrator.

3 Comments

  1. I agree with the part about “A Whole New World”, I thought it was an odd choice for the ending…

  2. I agree, the ending was odd and I wish they used the original scores, not the remakes. But Disney loves some remakes LOL LOL

  3. So glad you highlighted things in the show – those kites were amazing and I was with you – Walts voice was a highlight for sure!!
    Christine

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