More hardware arrives in EPCOT's World Showcase lagoon for 'Luminous The Symphony of Us'

Oct 04, 2023 in "Luminous the Symphony of Us"

Gallery / 5 Photos
Luminous barges in World Showcase Lagoon - October 3 2023

Posted: Wednesday October 4, 2023 9:08am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

More hardware for the upcoming Luminous nighttime spectacular took to World Showcase lagoon last night for systems tests as preparations for the December 5 debut continue.

Luminous barges in World Showcase Lagoon - October 3 2023

Two of the barges were out in the lagoon, complete with six mini firework barges transported inside the main barges. Note that unlike Harmonious, Luminous hardware will be moved out of the lagoon during the daytime.

Luminous barges in World Showcase Lagoon - October 3 2023

Luminous features a large number of barges, with six main central platforms, each containing multiple smaller barges that will deploy out in a spoke design.

Luminous barges in World Showcase Lagoon - October 3 2023

Don't expect to see any full-scale rehearsals for the show just yet. Crews need to work through the new hardware setup and conduct tests on individual systems and pyro products.

Luminous barges in World Showcase Lagoon - October 3 2023

"Luminous The Symphony of Us" will officially debut to guests on December 5 at EPCOT in Walt Disney World. The new show is the long-term replacement for Harmonious and the interim EPCOT Forever show.

Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle recently said that Luminous will be a "Brand new show filled with fireworks, fountains, lasers, lighting effects. Fabulous Disney music. Luminous is going to touch your heart. And it's going to continue our long tradition of amazing nighttime entertainment EPCOT. I cannot wait for you to see it."

Luminous the Symphony of Us logo

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wbostic1214 days ago

How close are we to having Luminous officially overtake Harmonious in number of performances? I’m pretty sure it’s less than a month at this point, but I’m pretty sure someone on this thread would know better than I.

Chef idea Mickey`=14 days ago

I was lucky enough to able to get a glimpse of this from Riviera leaving there!

marni197115 days ago

I bet when they mixed that show for Epcots 30th they never thought it would get dragged out time and again.

gerarar16 days ago

DVC Moonlight Magic at Epcot was held the other night (4/30). The 5-mins firework show was pretty much the same show as last year. No changes in terms of Luminous barges usage – all were used for lights and fountain effects. An additional 2 WW3 barges and 4 regular barges were brought out to facilitate the pyro. Perimeters were also used again. There were some standard pyro swaps compared to last year like different colored comets and mines. Some fans got subbed. The finale also felt like it had more booms and crackles, imo. Timestamped livestream:

Chef idea Mickey`=Apr 13, 2025

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. 🔥

TouchdownApr 12, 2025

*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.

TTA94Apr 12, 2025

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.

TheMaxReboApr 11, 2025

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

jrhwdwApr 11, 2025

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 NericApr 11, 2025

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`=Apr 10, 2025

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.

jrhwdwApr 10, 2025

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.

stuartApr 10, 2025

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.

Epcot82GuyApr 10, 2025

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.