Disney Fans Severely Unimpressed With New Show Testing

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harmonious barges

Credit: Bioreconstruct

EPCOT has been under a large transformation for quite some time now. The entirety of Future World, which is the section that sits at the front of the Park, is still under massive construction, with walls hitting Guests the moment they walk in past Spaceship Earth. Although the construction may not be the most appealing at the moment, we know that it will one day be very well worth it.

Spaceship Earth
Credit: Disney

In the meantime, Guests can still enjoy all of the attractions in the area like Test Track, Soarin’, Living with the Land, Mission Space, and more. On top of that, all of the dining, like Space 220 is open, as well as the new Creations Shop and Club Cool. In the World Showcase, now that the France pavilion is complete along with Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, there is not much construction ongoing.

Spacehip Earth and Monorail
Credit: Disney

The biggest change in the area takes place in the lagoon, with the five floating Harmonious barges taking up the centerpiece of the Park. At night, the barges create a fantastic show driven by music and water effects, and during the day, there are 50th anniversary graphics on display — but not much else. When the concept of the barges was revealed, it was also revealed that a daytime water show would be available. Considering how hefty the barges are, the water show was key for many Guests to help distract from their grander, which many do not find so appealing during the day.

daytime epcot show
Credit: Disney

Now, months after Harmonious’ debut, we are still awaiting the water show. Photographer Bioreconstrcut recently caught photos of the show testing, which is something that happens from time to time, and it seems that fans are not impressed with what they are seeing.

Bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) took to Twitter to share a comparison of what was being tested versus what was shown on the concept art. Although the testing may not be the fully completed look, it is easy to see that one does not look like the other, and the Twitter thread attached showed that many noticed this as well.

Comparison of Harmonious concept artwork of daytime fountains, and a photo tonight during pre-show testing.

Benglesmith seems to be unhappy with the “finished” product.

And this is why people can’t take the “wait until it’s finished” crowd seriously when they start defending the Guardians ship support.

Brian LaFrazia (@BrianCPT) had a lot to say about this choice.

This was THE worst mistake they’ve made in a long time. They don’t usually miss quite like this. Even if the fountain looked like the artwork, it is still debatable if obscuring the views across the lagoon is worth it, nevermind seeing the metal monstrosities ALL DAY LONG. Awful.

Scott Geairn (@ScottGeairn) wishes that EPCOT had something more similar to World of Color at Disneyland Resort. Only issue with this idea is the lake is much deeper than Disney California Adventure.

Should drained some of the lake, installed a bigger version of “world of color” and kept the flaming lotus world. But instead we get an eye sore attached with low pressure garden hoses.

Otto Tieleman (@OttoTieleman) was thinking of a different way to increase the appeal of the barges.

What if they showed falling water on the screenzzzz. Sure it would be lame and cheap and lazy but that is all we can expect from the once world leader in theme parks.

Flagge33 (@F7agge) wants to see much more water effects go on display.

It’s like some middle manager with no experience in shows looked at the plans, calculated the nozzle spread to area needing to cover and only approved that amount. There needs to be at least 3x to 4x the number of nozzles to make this work.

Inceptionist123 (@inceptionist123) was left disappointed by what they thought the show would be.

Yeah, when they announced that concept my first thought was Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. Kinda dissapointed we didn’t get this epic feature to the world showcase.

The thread continues with Guests criticizing the barges, with some blaming Disney CEO Bob Chapek, and others just voicing their concerns. As we noted earlier, it must be mentioned that this is just testing, and does not reflect the finished product. It just seems Guests are getting antsy about the daytime show as it was expected to be completed by now, and there is no timeline as to when it actually will be ready for a performance.

epcot barges testing
Credit: Inside the Magic

At the moment, EPCOT is celebrating the Festival of the Arts (which ends today), and tons of construction is going on! Spaceship Earth now has the new Beacon of Magic lights illuminating the sphere and Future World is on the road to completion. Club Cool and the new Creations Shop is open to Guests as well as Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in the France Pavilion! Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will also debut this year! Plus, you can enjoy the stunning Harmonious show each evening!

What do you think of the testing on the EPCOT barges? 

Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Walt Disney World Resort’s four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!

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