Review: New ‘Epcot Forever’ nighttime show is a bridge to the future

The new “Epcot Forever” nighttime show which debuted yesterday at Disney World is intended as a placeholder until the permanent “HarmonioUS” opens next year. It is designed to be a bridge to the future.

We hope it is a bridge to something a bit more spectacular.

Filled with fireworks, familiar music, lasers and colorful glowing kites flying above the park’s World Showcase Lagoon, the show replaces the 20-year fan-favorite Illuminations.

The change is part of a massive upgrade happening now at Epcot, and it evokes a beloved past while pointing toward the future. As the new show opened on the park’s 37th anniversary, so did a new exhibit, Epcot Forever, displaying what is in store for the park.

Change is good. And to help those diehard fans who might have some trouble with the demise of Illuminations, Disney designed this nostalgic look back at Epcot as the exhibit helps us all to look forward.

The change in tone of the show was obvious even more before it started. The adult voice notifying guests when the show would begin has been replaced with a child’s voice, urging children to take their parents by the hand.

It is youthful voices that start the show of children singing “one little spark of inspiration” as fireworks burst into the sky. We are then taken on a musical journey through Epcot’s history with themes from previous Epcot attractions, pavilions and spectacles of the past, including the “Tapestry of Nations” parade that welcomed the new Millennium.

If  you are old enough to remember the songs and voices you might feel nostalgic. If not, you might look around and wonder what on earth is “veggie veggie, fruit fruit”? (It was part of the Kitchen Kabaret at the Land Pavilion from 1982 through 1984.)

While Illuminations had the globe as its centerpiece, the highlight of this show is the flight of LED kites that crisscross the sky to the music of  Soarin’ Around the World. The kites, pulled by jet skis, are phenomenal and provide a different dynamic than focusing on the globe in the center of the lagoon. They keep your eyes moving around the lagoon and bring that “awe” factor.

If you just want to see fireworks, this show does not disappoint. There were more fireworks lighting up the sky in this show than in Illuminations, which had its slow moments.

The theme of “One Little Spark” from Journey into Imagination is woven throughout the show, and the song reappears at the end culminating with a massive release of fireworks. Then, there is a change in music, and the song “A Whole New World” finished the show — to the confusion of many in the audience.

There is a whole new world coming to Epcot, actually, there are four worlds. The theme park is being divided into our neighborhoods – The World Showcase, World Nature, World Discovery and World Celebration. Even so, the choice of the song seemed a bit out of place.

We hope that next show will be a bit more “HarmonioUS.”