Review: New nighttime EPCOT show Luminous is not for us

Disney’s new nighttime spectacular at EPCOT, Luminous: The Symphony of Us, had every chance to be, well, spectacular. In its search to replace the fan-favorite Illuminations: Reflections on Earth, Disney gave us one placeholder, EPCOT Forever, and a 50th-anniversary temporary show, Harmonious, that was panned for poor storytelling and for giving guests a permanent eyesore in the middle of World Showcase Lagoon. 

The 4 years since Illuminations ended and the copious constructive criticism of both those shows should have given Disney every opportunity to knock this one out of the park. 

Unfortunately, the new show is not spectacular. It suffers from too much narration, lacks a big “wow” moment and doesn’t give me that uplifting end-of-the-night feeling these shows normally provide.

As I often tell people when it comes to these “nighttime spectaculars,” if you are coming to see a lot of fireworks and don’t care about music or story, you’ll enjoy this just fine. If you want the feeling of hopefulness, the shock and awe of “I can’t believe I saw that” or a tune you’ll be humming as leave the park, you will likely be disappointed by Luminous.

Luminous uses the ebb and flow of life to share its message: beneath all the differences we may have with others in the world, we are fundamentally the same. This message and theme are very similar to Harmonious. There’s even a line the narrator says that when talking about the voices: “Each of us, a unique instrument playing harmony to one another.” Harmonious, however, did it better by bringing in multi-language versions of Disney songs.

This is a great message and one that is needed in today’s climate. One of the new original songs, “Heartbeat Symphony,” gives us the perfect hook, if you can hear it — “You are a part of me, and I’m a part of you.”

But the message gets diluted as the show uses the cycle of life to illustrate how we are all on the same journey and, thus, connected. Using new arrangements of Disney songs, each segment represents a stage of life:

• Birth – You’ll Be in My Heart” – “Tarzan”
• Family – “Proud Corazon” – “Coco”
• Friends – “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” – “Toy Story” and “Friend Like Me” – “Aladdin”
• Love – “So Close” – “Enchanted”
• Death and loss of another – “When She Loved Me”- “Toy Story 2” and “Remember Me” – “Coco”
• Community – “Into the Unknown” – “Frozen 2”
• Larger World Community – “I See the Light” – “Tangled”
• Human Connection – “Beating of our Hearts” – original song

The most jarring part of the show comes when the narrator introduces loss. It’s like in the “Barbie” movie when Barbie and her friends are dancing, and she suddenly stops to ask, “Do you guys ever think about dying?” The party screeches to a halt. I’ve got no problem with Disney dealing with death, that happens in almost every movie, but it’s a bit jarring at the end of a long, magical day at the park.  

There is a lot of narration in this 16-minute show. It’s needed because there are no projections to help guide you through the story and the musical arrangement doesn’t create much distinction between the songs to help you figure out what is going on. There is not a lot of range in the arrangements. It’s less like a symphony with various distinct movements and more like one extended song. 

As for the visual symphony, there is no “wow” pyrotechnic or water fountain moment. The closest thing is when fireworks are spit out toward the shores in the shape of hearts. There is a distinct lack of drama and the ending is a bit similar to that of Harmonious, but Harmonious did it much better. While I do not miss the large “Stargate” that was in the center of the lagoon, I do miss the four large projection screens that helped bring some visual distinction to the storyline of Harmonious.

I was hoping Disney would take to heart fan criticism of EPCOT Forever and Harmonious (though I liked Harmonious, with all its flaws), but it seemed to go from one extreme to another. While Harmonious lacked a clear storyline and the water projection screen was a fail, Luminous is too much talking and could really benefit from more visuals to give it a more distinct voice.