It was announced back at the D23 Expo in Anaheim at the beginning of September 2022 that after just one year, a new EPCOT nighttime show will replace Harmonious in 2023. This led many Disney fans to speculate what the replacement would be and would it finally mean the end of the infamous barges?
For anyone who is interested in the demolition of the Harmonious barges, further photos have appeared online which are embedded below.
Aerial look at demolition of a Harmonious barge. pic.twitter.com/TBKZRSJ7tH
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 21, 2023
Aerial look at the demolition of a Harmonious barge. pic.twitter.com/TeTUxgLRHl
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 21, 2023
Since Harmonious was performed for the last time on April 2, the infamous barges have began to be dismantled. We saw these photos posted by Bioreconstruct on April 14 in which you can see the demolishing taking place of the first barge. The work is expected to take a few weeks to fully complete.
Aerial look at demolition of the first Harmonious barge moved to the EPCOT backstage marina. Barge now divided.
1 Base
2 Sides, face down. LED panels likely removed first
3 Arm and its mechanics
4 Platforms. Stairs can be seen. pic.twitter.com/tYPyiwsk6i— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 14, 2023
Aerial look at former Harmonious in Showcase Lagoon. One barge has been removed to backstage marina area.
1 Small platform rising above pilings. Platform provided power and show control to the removed barge.
2 Distribution of power and control to the show. pic.twitter.com/XDP7LG0H9b— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 14, 2023
Harmonious’ place among Walt Disney World’s ever-evolving entertainment line-up had been a notable topic of conversation amongst parks fans since its debut, with many feeling that the new show was never a worthy replacement for its predecessor, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, which had been enchanting guests at EPCOT since 1999.
Harmonious was fairly doomed even before it began thanks to the arrival of the barges on World Showcase Lagoon which were described by many Disney fans as an eyesore especially in the daytime. Plans for a daytime use of the barges never came to fruition.
The beginnings of the dismantling and removal of the barges from the lagoon can also be seen in the photos posted at the start of this week start of this progress which have been posted on Twitter by Bioreconstruct.
As you can see work is being done to take down the lighting effects at night and the cranes are in the park in preparation for the taking down and removal of the barges.
Barges staged next to America Gardens Theatre. Used at night to strip show elements, like lighting and effects, from the Harmonious barges. pic.twitter.com/6FJWPqmY6I
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 8, 2023
Aerial look at the staging area for demolishing the Harmonious barges. Next to the EPCOT service marina. pic.twitter.com/Dpnf9nbGyq
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 2, 2023
Equipment on one of the barges staged to demolish Harmonious.
Note the Echo Barrier walls in background to mitigate sound levels. Prevent noise reaching EPCOT resort guests. pic.twitter.com/9s64Bj5FTN
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) April 8, 2023
The popular, Epcot Forever, has returned to fill the gap until the new nighttime spectacular debuts at EPCOT at the end of the year.
A rumor online back in October 2022 from wdwnt, is that the new nighttime spectacular for EPCOT could see drones used, similar to the very popular Disney D-Light Show at Disneyland Paris to celebrate their 30th anniversary. A video of the full show which includes 200 drones is embedded below.
The OCRegister also reported back in June 2022 that Disneyland were exploring ways to use aerial drones in nighttime entertainment so this is obviously something that Disney is researching heavily into. Drones were used in the temporary Starbright Holidays show which took place at Disney Springs in 2016.
So far, we still don’t have any confirmation from Disney that drones are going to be used in the new nighttime spectacular for EPCOT or indeed any other details regarding what we have to look forward to but it would seem to make sense that drones may well be used in some way.
Would you like to see Drones in the new EPCOT nighttime show? Let us know by voting in our poll below and by leaving us a comment on our news or Facebook page. We will keep you up to date with developments regarding the rumor that drones will be included here on Theme Park Tourist.
