Harmonious barge removal at EPCOT - one down and six to go

Apr 11, 2023 in "Harmonious"

Gallery / 6 Photos
Harmonious barge dismantling - Germany barge removed - April 11 2023

Posted: Tuesday April 11, 2023 9:22am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Germany Harmonious show platform is the first to be removed from the World Showcase lagoon at EPCOT as work continues dismantling the now-retired hardware.

Harmonious barge dismantling - Germany barge removed - April 11 2023

The fin-shaped "taco" facing Germany was the last of the Harmonious barges to be installed in April 2021.

Harmonious barge dismantling - Germany barge removed - April 11 2023

Assuming the reverse sequence will be used to clear the lagoon, we should expect the central ring "icon" barge to be removed next, followed by France, then Canada, then Mexico.

Harmonious barge dismantling - Germany barge removed - April 11 2023

Estimates suggest the lagoon should be free of the Harmonious barges within the next month, clearing the way for the continued development of the new EPCOT nighttime spectacular debuting fall 2023.

New 2023 EPCOT firework show concept art

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Chef idea Mickey`=5 days ago

Some might say the normies today are about the familiar characters and IP. Oldies fandom and nerds would say "otherwise" keep Epcot, Epcot. Then there's the whole Iger/Chapek retransformation of Epcot with being more kid family friendly and Disney. I suppose Luminous gives out for us both. Illumination's 2.0 isn't unlikely, had the budget for Harmonious been saved a much bigger Luminous or Illumination's 2.0 would fit the bill, if you don't have a Globe, you got Spacship Earth, however you can't do Illumination's greatness without the inferno erupting fire. 🔥

Touchdown5 days ago

*Cough* Animal Kingdom *Cough* Park a barge in the middle of the lake, add some fountains and flamethrowers/roman candles nearer the seating. Boom AK has a proper night show again. Keeping the drones to just AK makes that show unique and more desirable.

TTA945 days ago

If there’s more planned than just a few song swaps I wonder if they might look to the new show coming to Paris. It appears somewhat similar in terms of fountains but it will also include water screens and drones. Hopefully add in fire effects as well. I know many on here believe drones=less fireworks. Question is could they operate drones in WSL safely? I feel like Epcot would be the safest park for drones over the others.

TheMaxRebo6 days ago

For what it is worth, below are the ratings for the last three nighttime shows at EPCOT per Touring Plans. Luminous seems to be about equal to Illuminations (though that showed higher ratings amongst older guests whereas Illuminations is more evenly split) and both higher that Harmonius (though that did better with grade school kids) I think the issue with Hamonious (more than just the ratings out of 5 stars) was the active complaints they got about the barges during the day and that the angles to properly see it weren't good for a lot of the upcharge viewing areas - dining areas (so restaurants complained), the private party areas, the firework cruises that parked over by the bridge to France, etc) - so there was a direct monetary impact Harmonious doesn't have those issues and ratings seem good enough that it doesn't need to be replaced - tweaked, sure, but not replaced

jrhwdw7 days ago

IDK if I like the word: Bully.....Esp if DE "had to go"......... It really didn't work at Epcot....We got Luminous after EF 2023 and still no Tags outside of July 4th/NYE

Giss Neric7 days ago

If fans were able to bully Disney for HEA to return, then why can't they bully Disney for Illuminations 2.0? Does Luminous have a high customer satisfaction rate? From what I've been hearing from people who watched it personally, this show is quite polarizing.

Chef idea Mickey`=7 days ago

I use to thought POE was an Illumination's ROE special especially that it hasn't returned so it was a thing revolving with the Earth Globe, however given now that Spaceship Earth is now a revolving Globe in itself it doesn't need it.

jrhwdw7 days ago

I picked F&W because of Epcot's Birthday. Crazy that we haven't seen POE Tag since 2018! Epcot had to know it was popular.

stuart7 days ago

Hopefully the Heartbeat of Freedom tag finale returns to the middle of the lagoon this year. It lost a lot of it's 'wow factor' being behind the American Adventure. The hogmanay one just there i'm sure was over the middle of the lagoon.

Epcot82Guy7 days ago

I think there are arguments either way - and I think that supports the point. It's a matter of WHEN not IF for these. Plus, you could easily tie them into the SSE seasonal displays. Make it kind of a package thing, adding to the carry through of the EPCOT anthem into Luminous. It is one thing where they have cohesive theme from the redo in a very compelling way.

jrhwdw7 days ago

Epcot should be F&W. IDK what POE Tag is waiting for.....

Epcot82Guy7 days ago

If there were changes, I would push for festival/holiday tags. POE is a slam dunk waiting to happen. Heartbeat of Freedom goes right in line with the story (or any version of it). You could easily do a creative original one (or, ugh..., Disney medley) for F&W and F&G. A version of the EPCOT Tag for FOTA. They could also be reserved for weekends or certain days to save costs, if needed. You have a relatively easy way to plus the show and adjust those as needed.