CONFIRMED - Illuminations replacement

I hope they do it justice with whatever they replace it with. I was very nervous when they were replacing Wishes as that gave me a lot of the Disney *feels* but I think Happily Ever After is pretty great - and knowing it is the 50th for WDW and then the 40th for EPOCT not long after that, the optimistic part of me hopes they will create something unique and great for EPCOT. It won't be Illuminations, but Illuminations wasn't Tapestry of Nations and it was still pretty great. Really hope they don't just make it like Happily Ever After with a ton of IP and stuff - let it retain something unique and feel like a true "EPCOT show"

Illuminations didn't replace Tapestry of Nations, they were both new for the Millennium Celebration. Illuminations replaced an older version of Illuminations. And Tapestry of Nations was a parade, so a completely different thing anyway.

HEA seemed a little... half-assed to me, so I worry about a new Epcot show.
 
I hope they do it justice with whatever they replace it with. I was very nervous when they were replacing Wishes as that gave me a lot of the Disney *feels* but I think Happily Ever After is pretty great - and knowing it is the 50th for WDW and then the 40th for EPOCT not long after that, the optimistic part of me hopes they will create something unique and great for EPCOT. It won't be Illuminations, but Illuminations wasn't Tapestry of Nations and it was still pretty great. Really hope they don't just make it like Happily Ever After with a ton of IP and stuff - let it retain something unique and feel like a true "EPCOT show"
Very true. Must have faith that Disney will do their magic on this one.
 
Illuminations didn't replace Tapestry of Nations, they were both new for the Millennium Celebration. Illuminations replaced an older version of Illuminations. And Tapestry of Nations was a parade, so a completely different thing anyway.

HEA seemed a little... half-assed to me, so I worry about a new Epcot show.

right, thanks - brain fart

see, I think they did a great job with HAE and if anything is overdoing with how much they have and got top performers to do the theme song and tons of projections and way more fireworks than the show it replaced. Sure, it doesn't have the nostalgia of Wishes, but Wishes didn't have that that going for it when it replaced Fantasy in the Sky (I think that is what was right before it)
 
There is no way this is coming out "soon."

Epcot would be doing many, many test runs of this show before debuting it. These test runs would likely happen after park close and would be obvious (because of the sounds and the, you know, fireworks) to those is the area...which would then trickle down to various web sites and Twitter. So far, no one has reported any show tests, so this seems like it is pretty far off.

Tests for fireworks happened only a week or two before over night. I'd have to imaginer they recorded music much earlier than a month before. We saw behind the scenes videos in the weeks leading up but those can be recorded well in advance.

We were at the Contemporary the week before HEA debuted and they only had 1 night of fireworks tests that week (they put out a sign to let guests know what was going on). I don’t think they do that many tests where they actually shoot the pyro - probably too expensive.

We have not yet seen the full show. Once because of rain and once because of bad timing on our part. We plan to do it in May. I hope the show doesn’t switch over before early May. I also hope it doesn’t turn over shortly after we leave. We were in MK for the last weekend of Wishes and it was busy.

I really hope they don’t character it up. I’m hopeful they won’t since ROL is non-char. I also hope that if they do projections they are all the way around. I hope they don’t go from a show that can be seen anywhere on the lagoon to everyone camping out for the same 100 foot arc.
 


right, thanks - brain fart

see, I think they did a great job with HAE and if anything is overdoing with how much they have and got top performers to do the theme song and tons of projections and way more fireworks than the show it replaced. Sure, it doesn't have the nostalgia of Wishes, but Wishes didn't have that that going for it when it replaced Fantasy in the Sky (I think that is what was right before it)

More pyro and projections yes, but the song choices and transitions are sloppy and some downright odd. Wishes was better done in that aspect.

Remember when Tapestry of Nations became Tapestry of Dreams? :sad2: That's the sort of thing I'm really afraid of.
 


More pyro and projections yes, but the song choices and transitions are sloppy and some downright odd. Wishes was better done in that aspect.

Remember when Tapestry of Nations became Tapestry of Dreams? :sad2: That's the sort of thing I'm really afraid of.


I just hope it doesn't get promoted as something amazing, but then due to technical difficulties we get "Illuminations: Alive with Magic" instead
 
Does anyone have any idea of when they think Illuminations will be replaced? I'm going to try my hardest to save up for a last minute trip. I probably won't be able to stay on property to save some money and I was looking randomly at some dates in May for a last minute trip but of course the values are pretty much all booked up. Once we get a solid date it may be easier to plan. So bummed that this is likely going away :(
 
Does anyone have any idea of when they think Illuminations will be replaced? I'm going to try my hardest to save up for a last minute trip. I probably won't be able to stay on property to save some money and I was looking randomly at some dates in May for a last minute trip but of course the values are pretty much all booked up. Once we get a solid date it may be easier to plan. So bummed that this is likely going away :(

I would guess that they would announce that a change was happening at least a few months in advance.
 
Since I haven't been back to Disney since 2000 is this the same Illuminations that was there when I worked there. If not what were the changes. Illuminations was my favorite firework/show. I will have to make a trip if they decide to change it.
 
Happily Ever After, I think is an amazing show, but with horrible execution, in that it forces everyone into that hub area, and crowd control is no existent.

My thoughts on a new Illuminations:

1) Don't mess up what already works. The torches and theme (and to some extent, the music, at least at the end of the show) should be incorporated into what ever show replaces it. Today, perhaps more than at any other time in the parks history, we need that message of coming together and being as one.

2) Learn from the mess that is created in the hub area during Happily Ever After, and do NOT move Illuminations away from the center of the lagoon. The sheer size of the World Showcase Lagoon, and the fact that the audience is spread all around it, allows for a much more controlled exit from the park after Illuminations is over.
 
I'm in the camp the sooner they re-do Illuminations, the better. The show is tired and old. However, I do think it had a good mood or theme to it. There's an emotional draw. So hopefully they settle on something appropriate for Epcot.

HEA is a disaster, IMO. It lacks emotional draw and has limited "best viewing" angles. It's just too busy and feels like a commercial. Sure - technically it's amazing. But just because you can use all the tech doesn't mean you should. Story setting is better - and quite old-fashioned!
 
I'm in the camp the sooner they re-do Illuminations, the better. The show is tired and old. However, I do think it had a good mood or theme to it. There's an emotional draw. So hopefully they settle on something appropriate for Epcot.

HEA is a disaster, IMO. It lacks emotional draw and has limited "best viewing" angles. It's just too busy and feels like a commercial. Sure - technically it's amazing. But just because you can use all the tech doesn't mean you should. Story setting is better - and quite old-fashioned!
Couldn't disagree more about HEA. It brings out so many emotions for me, and way more than Wishes ever did. I cry like a baby everytime the I hear the music for it. The story and the message behind it get to me. I get the viewing aspect, though the pyro is much better (and much more) than Wishes. So even if you miss the projections from afar, you still get an incredible show.
 
*Tears welling up in eyes as I bite trembling bottom lip*

I've only seen this show twice in my entire life, once at Christmastime and once at non-Christmastime, and I am absolutely in love with it. I watch it on Youtube all the time, or sometimes just let the music from it play in the background while I do other things online.

It better be there in June of this year so I can say goodbye to it. <3

That said, I was kind of worried about HEA when the rumors about it started, but I think it's great (minus being squished into a mob of people while watching it). But I didn't have the love affair with Wishes that I know many have had, so it wasn't so much about losing Wishes as just worrying that a show with a lot of projections was going to be a let down. It wasn't!

IllumiNations has been the final experience for both of my last two trips with my parents (2016 and 2017). I think that's part of why I'm so fond of it. It's the most prominent memory of the trip because it's the finale, so-to-speak. I also just love the atmosphere. Both times we watched from the FastPass area, and so it's not too crowded, we didn't have to stake out a spot and wait, and we're front and center for the show. I love the theme of the show, the heart of it, and yes, the music has a lot to do with that.

*Sigh* I'll try to trust Disney to develop a worthy replacement, but I'm sure going to miss it. :(
 
HEA is a disaster, IMO. It lacks emotional draw and has limited "best viewing" angles. It's just too busy and feels like a commercial. Sure - technically it's amazing. But just because you can use all the tech doesn't mean you should. Story setting is better - and quite old-fashioned!

Could not agree more. If whatever replacement they come up with for my beloved Illuminations is of the same caliber, I will be devastated.
 
HEA is a disaster, IMO. It lacks emotional draw and has limited "best viewing" angles. It's just too busy and feels like a commercial. Sure - technically it's amazing. But just because you can use all the tech doesn't mean you should. Story setting is better - and quite old-fashioned!

I am not a huge fan of HEA either. It is okay, but like you said, there is so much going on. I also don’t have a problem with the songs from Hunchback or Moana, but I just feel like they are way too long. They could have included a few more (and better, IMO) songs from other movies in there if they would have made those segments a bit shorter.

Love love love the “Go the Distance” part tho.
 
Couldn't disagree more about HEA. It brings out so many emotions for me, and way more than Wishes ever did. I cry like a baby everytime the I hear the music for it. The story and the message behind it get to me. I get the viewing aspect, though the pyro is much better (and much more) than Wishes. So even if you miss the projections from afar, you still get an incredible show.
Even my five year old gets tears in her eyes when I play the music from HEA. She can get so overwhelmed with nostalgia that she asks me to turn it off because it “makes her miss her family” (I played it in the car when her dad and sister were not there).

As for Illuminations, I liked it okay when I saw it several times previously, but I truly got to appreciate it for the first time when we did the Frozen dessert party last week. I’ve never had the chance to see Illuminations with that kind of amazing view, and it was so nice to eat and drink and sit at a table while watching. For anyone hoping to see it again soon, I can’t recommend the dessert party enough. The food is really good- much better than the HEA dessert party. I heard passers by laughing and pointing and saying, “Those people paid $80 for a drink and a cupcake.” I might have said that too- if I didn’t know how great the dessert party was and how special the view is. A true VIP experience.

At the party, I was talking to a CM who was telling me how wonderful Illuminations is and it is her favorite show. I casually mentioned that many people were sad that it was ending. Her mouth dropped open. She said she had never heard of such a rumor. She even came back later and said she asked the event manager about it and the manager knew nothing about Illuminations ending. I really don’t think the CM knew, but I wonder about the manager. I’m sure they can’t talk about such things until there has been an official announcement (unless this really is just a rumor).
 
Even my five year old gets tears in her eyes when I play the music from HEA. She can get so overwhelmed with nostalgia that she asks me to turn it off because it “makes her miss her family” (I played it in the car when her dad and sister were not there).

As for Illuminations, I liked it okay when I saw it several times previously, but I truly got to appreciate it for the first time when we did the Frozen dessert party last week. I’ve never had the chance to see Illuminations with that kind of amazing view, and it was so nice to eat and drink and sit at a table while watching. For anyone hoping to see it again soon, I can’t recommend the dessert party enough. The food is really good- much better than the HEA dessert party. I heard passers by laughing and pointing and saying, “Those people paid $80 for a drink and a cupcake.” I might have said that too- if I didn’t know how great the dessert party was and how special the view is. A true VIP experience.

At the party, I was talking to a CM who was telling me how wonderful Illuminations is and it is her favorite show. I casually mentioned that many people were sad that it was ending. Her mouth dropped open. She said she had never heard of such a rumor. She even came back later and said she asked the event manager about it and the manager knew nothing about Illuminations ending. I really don’t think the CM knew, but I wonder about the manager. I’m sure they can’t talk about such things until there has been an official announcement (unless this really is just a rumor).
Its not ending anytime soon. A replacement is still 1-2 years away.
 

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