Epcot Forever Review: You Can’t Go Home Again
Epcot Forever is Walt Disney World’s newest nighttime spectacular, temporarily bridging the gap between IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, and HarmonioUS, which will debut in 2020. This review of the new show will take a long and rambling path that discusses the past, present, and my personal ruminations on EPCOT Center.
It’s always interesting to look at social media reactions to changes at Walt Disney World. What’s most fascinating here is that the Epcot Forever reviews I’ve seen have been mostly negative, but for very different reasons. Among the people I follow on Twitter, there’s near unanimous agreement that ending with “A Whole New World” is not only a mistake and unforced error, but a slap in the face to EPCOT Center fans.
On Facebook and Instagram, there seems to be a general sense of bewilderment about literally everything before the “A Whole New World” finale. What are those songs? What do they have to do with Disney? Why are they in this show? Beyond the technical side, there doesn’t seem to be consensus or much love for Epcot Forever.
It’s easy to forget the reality that there is no singular “Disney fan community.” That’s like saying there’s a single “politics community.” Rather, there are a bunch of distinct fandoms, each having very different interests and perspectives that are often quite insular.
Running this site, I see a range of planning-related issues and concerns, many of which would never otherwise cross my mind as they don’t personally interest me. On Twitter, I follow and engage with accounts that mostly pertain to history or the bygone era of Walt Disney World. Fellow enthusiasts of Country Bear Jamboree, EPCOT Center, and fellow members of the Demo-Pooh-blican Party who hold steadfast to the belief that Pooh was robbed of the presidency. You know, cool and totally normal stuff.
To illustrate the chasms between sub-communities, I never once saw conversation on Twitter about the recent ECV and stroller rule changes that generated over 200 comments on this blog post, and a flurry of outrage on Facebook. (I did, however, observe week 187 of the fierce debate over which Disney Springs parking structure is superior. Even the airport has weighed in.)
The point is that there is no specific archetype for the “Walt Disney World fan.” There are a lot of varied Disney interests, and quite often, those are at odds with one another.
The team behind Epcot Forever had an unenviable task–creating a show that would somehow work for new and longtime Epcot fans. We’re not just talking first-timers and frequent visitors; the divide here is more like those who had their first trip before or after the Millennium Celebration.
For me, this divide and the finale of Epcot Forever solidify an important lesson: you can’t go home again. We’ve discussed in previous posts why fans can’t let EPCOT Center go, and this is something with which I’ve grappled for the last several years. There was a point when I voraciously consumed Epcot rumors, holding out a flicker of hope that the park’s original vision would be restored.
It has taken me a while to come to terms with the reality that this will not be happening. When rumors emerged prior to the D23 Expo that Journey into Imagination would be reimagined in the spirit of the original, I had what you could call a momentary lapse of reason. I became foolishly optimistic and excited, only to be deflated when nothing was announced.
I’ve long wanted to believe that with more visionary leadership, Imagineers that strongly advocated for the park, or other variables, EPCOT’s original spirit and ambition could be recaptured.
However, so much has changed since the 1980s. Everything from our society’s view of theme parks to American corporate messaging to Disney’s leadership and vision are very different now than they were four decades ago. Even Walt Disney World’s visitor demographics have radically changed–to the point that some of the original park’s messaging would be difficult to pull off. Holding out hope of a return to EPCOT Center is a fool’s errand.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that and have mostly come to terms with the future of Epcot. It is never going to be the inspiring place that stirred a sense of inquisitiveness and imagination, making an indelible impact on me as a kid and young adult. That doesn’t mean tomorrow’s Epcot can’t be a quality theme park for entertainment and lighthearted fun. I’ll always have the memories, and soon, new ones of a totally different park.
My most vivid (and recent) memories of ‘old EPCOT’ are via IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. Even though I know I’ve seen it for the last time, I still haven’t totally come to terms with it ending. Part of that is undoubtedly because, as long as World Showcase exists, I can still put in my headphones and travel back in time for 68 minutes.
This is why I haven’t written an IllumiNations tribute post and…I don’t think I will. As much as the show deserves it, sitting down to write a long-winded eulogy sounds nauseating. It would make IllumiNations being gone “real.” Sorry, but that’s not really something I want to do right now. Along with Impressions de France, IllumiNations is the most meaningful present-day Epcot experience for me, and I don’t want to say goodbye completely.
All of this is a long-winded preface for what I guess is ostensibly an Epcot Forever Review.
Epcot Forever’s closest counterpart is “Remember… Dreams Come True” at Disneyland, an equally self-referential show that pays tribute to that park’s storied legacy. Aside from vastly different audiences, the key distinction between the two is that much of Epcot’s greatest music is gone from the park. Most of what isn’t gone is buried in unpopular attractions that are shadows of their former selves that newer visitors are likely to skip.
While original songs can absolutely work in a nighttime spectacular, I don’t see the potential for that with Epcot Forever’s potential source music, even if the show were executed flawlessly.
In an ironic twist, these songs are more like “theme park IP,” being used as a crutch for their baked-in nostalgia (among some guests). Divorced from their original context, they don’t have nearly (or any?) resonance for guests hearing these songs for the first time.
With that in mind, Walt Disney World had a couple options with the show. The first would be phoning it in and going heavy on EPCOT Center fan service. This could’ve been accomplished by simply mixing together an extinct attraction medley. Given the 25th and 30th Anniversary tags, we know this is possible.
However, the downsides to this are two-fold: leading EPCOT Center fans on with a false sense of optimism and eliciting a bewildered “HUH?” reaction from anyone who didn’t visit the park prior to around 2000 (perhaps earlier). It’d alienate newer guests, but the diehards would love it.
The next approach would be to take a mix of old and new, the latter including things like Test Track, Mission: Space, and music from intellectual property already in Epcot–basically, more than just Soarin. This is the middle ground route, and I’m not sure anyone would’ve loved it, but the show itself probably doesn’t alienate anyone either.
In fact, end it with ‘We Go On’ or ‘Tomorrow’s Child’ and it probably is a mostly feel-good show for the old-timers, while perhaps confusing newer guests. (Or, end it with ‘Let it Go’ to appeal to first-timers while trolling the longtime fans, who’d be even more irate than with the current Epcot Forever.)
The approach Walt Disney World took is an interesting but bold one. The first 8 or 9 minutes of Epcot Forever’s 11-minute runtime deliver an ambitious form of fan service.
It’s surprisingly not phoned in. I don’t agree with a lot of the creative choices, but more effort was put in than simply mixing theme songs.
I’m not sure why the decision was made to feature the voices of children, both in song and pre-show announcements, so prominently. There’s a certain dignity a show about EPCOT Center’s history could have, and that choice demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the park. (It’s like the IllumiNations Farewell merchandise all over again.) Perhaps this was a conscious decision, an effort to tug at the heartstrings of parents who have no attachment to the music? The same move did work for Wishes, after all.
There’s also arguably a pacing issue with the flow of the music. This probably reads as quite the ironic complaint coming from someone who loves IllumiNations, but I think Epcot Forever could benefit from being faster-paced and snappier. Transitioning between so many songs of different styles could be challenging, but fan-made EPCOT mixes have handled this well using dialogue and other techniques.
My biggest disappointment, of all things, is the pre- and post-show music. This is supposedly an original loop for Epcot Forever, but you wouldn’t know by listening. It’s upbeat and fun–but also dreadfully generic. I don’t think anyone listening to this will say, “oh yeah, this is very Epcot.”
There are parts that sound a lot like the background music used at Disney Springs. I guess maybe Walt Disney World management wants to get people out of the park as quickly as possible rather than lingering to enjoy the ambiance and a delightful music loop. (That’s a joke–late dining reservations make Epcot a park that will never clear quickly.)
On the plus side, the visuals of Epcot Forever work pretty well. There are a lot of lasers and spotlights, which are used to varying degrees of success depending upon the cloud cover and smoke (same with IllumiNations). There’s also a greater variety of pyro (and it’s more vibrant) than in IllumiNations, which makes for a more photogenic show.
Then there are the kites. I’ve seen daytime harbor shows with jet skis and kites before, but these are a whole different level of mesmerizing. There’s nothing else happening on the lagoon during these two segments, but that’s just fine. These kites carry Epcot Forever and provide a nice change of pace from the pyro. I hope these are ‘proof of concept’ for HarmonioUS, because it’d be unfortunate if they’re only ever used for a temporary show.
With all of that said, I mostly love the first 8 minutes of Epcot Forever. When it comes to this park’s music, I’m an easy mark. I joked when the show was announced that I was really looking forward to listening to the music I hear daily on my phone’s playlists–but once again inside the park and set to pyro. That was only half in jest; there’s a lot of baked-in nostalgia for me with these songs, and the bulk of the show felt like a delightful stroll down memory lane.
Then the finale happens, which snaps me and most other EPCOT Center fans back to reality. Even though the altered lyrics of “One Little Spark” provide an apt transition, it feels abrupt and jarring, and is absolutely not what most long-time EPCOT Center fans first expected from a nostalgia-heavy show.
Ultimately, we should’ve seen this coming. Watching the full 12-minute projection-mapping show in the Epcot Experience serves as a “nice” appetizer for Epcot Forever, as offers a similarly blunt presentation about the park’s future. Neither are the feel-good offerings of faux-optimism about the park’s direction that EPCOT Center fans would like.
Personally, I would’ve loved to bask in the comfort of nostalgia and what once was for just a few more months as a way to ease out of IllumiNations. Yet, the finale of Epcot Forever is more honest. It bridges the gap between the past and what the future actually holds, rather than romanticized daydreams of fans still yearning for a promising or cohesive vision. Epcot Forever leaves no room for ambiguity and underscores exactly where the park is going. It may not be the message many of us want to hear, but maybe it’s what we need to hear…for the times they are a-changin’.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Epcot Forever? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I just wish I could have seen it. The beautiful, glorious, grand nine pavilions that once ringed Future World. I was lucky to experience a bit of it; Maelstrom is but a blur, but I remember Energy clearly, and thank god for the Land, Spaceship Earth, and even the reduced Imagination. Thank you Disney for playing this music in the park. Just give us a real Figment and we’ll be happy. Is it wrong that if I had a time machine I would go back to early 1994 to see it all at its peak? Perhaps. But the carousel turns and life moves on.
We were there in early December and I had no idea what was coming the first evening we were in Epcot. My first visit to EPCOT Center was shortly after it opened and then my daughter was born in 1983 and my son in 1986 and we moved to the Florida panhandle in 1993 and my kids literally grew up with the original EPCOT Center. This was a time when the soundtracks were so great that you left the party singing all the songs. Some may call them silly, but to this day, we LOVE the soundtracks. We MISS Malestrom and not being the first to pass this way. We mourn the loss of Kitchen Cabaret and Veggie, Fruit, Fruit and we (mostly me) still sing Tomorrow’s Child at the end of Spaceship Earth and “Just Listen to the Land We All Love” whilst riding the boats in the Land. So my daughter, her best friend and I were eating in India inside because it was chilly that night in December and Epcot Forever was going on. When we stepped out, my daughter shouted “Mom, they are playing Veggie, Veggie Fruit, Fruit!” I nearly died right there. We returned the next night so I could see the entire show. For us, the emotion of it was over the top. For my nephew, who had been to MK as a very young boy and EPCOT as a toddler, had no such memories or attachment. My other “daughter’” had never been there. But they saw how taken we were and I think it rubbed off! the show itself was also well done. I get the Whole New World thing – they were emphasizing that Epcot is moving forward not back. That We will never again hear “Energy, you make the world Go Round,” or smell the oranges at the end of Horizons, nor hear Walter Cronkite say “Yes, Tomorrow’s Child,” as our time machines wind down the inside of Spaceship Earth. We’ll only see the Living Seas pre-show when it rained and it rained and it rained (the deluge) on YouTube and though the track is the same, the trolls of Malestrom will never send us back, back, over the falls. There are attempts at nostalgia to keep us traditionalists happy- you can hear a little of the “Imagination” tune and Figment is still around and now, with this show, you can relive some of those happy songs we all love. So I’m personally glad to see this show and I hope we never lose sight of the original attractions of EPCOT Center. They may seem antiquated by today’s standards and don’t get me wrong, we LOVE Soarin, Mission Mars and Test Track but we loved the EPCOT of decades ago. It was our first love – our best love. And for others that feel as we do – DO NOT miss the preview Center at the Odyssey. The posters paying tribute to beloved attractions we will never see again are worth the price of admission. I’m excited to see what’s next but I will always miss the original soundtracks from this awesome place!
I’m chiming in late as I was trying to avoid spoilers prior to seeing Epcot Forever for myself. I couldn’t completely avoid spoilers and the general negative reviews the show seemed to be getting, so perhaps that influenced my opinion – I really liked it! Perhaps I was expecting a 3/10 show and I got a 6/10 show so I was pleasantly surprised (while if I was expecting 10/10 and got a 6/10 I’d be disappointed).
I wore out my 1983 Epcot cassette tape, so I really enjoyed hearing all the songs. My wife (1996 first visit) did not know nearly as many and did not enjoy the show as much as I did.
There is a Wheelchair area near the Rose and Crown Pub in England. It’s roped off for Wheel chairs. Just an FYI – there is a limited number of non-wheel chair people that can sit with him.
Saw the Illuminations finale.Sept 30… sadness and tears thru out Epcot.. saw Epcot Forever next night.. lackluster … Maybe I have seen Illuminations and played the CD too many times.. but I was very disappointed . Illuminations is a tough act to follow..
Just back from our annual Epcot trip. I have to say I enjoyed the fireworks. I thought they were well choreographed and the addition of the kites was effective. I also liked the fact that the view was not as restrictive as when Illuminations used that big globe. As for the music that did not seem to be part of Epcot, given the narration, I am wondering if this was perhaps a sample of some new music that will be incorporated in the newly imagined pavilions. I have to agree about using the child voices to narrate. I am wondering if this is part of a push to make Epcot more little kid friendly. I noticed this year that there were not a particularly large number of kids as compared to the other parks.
Any hints on where is a good place to watch the fireworks with a person in a wheelchair? Our son cannot stand and no matter which park, people love (I think some make it their mission) to stand as close to in front of him as possible with their butt as close to him as possible not kidding! They effectively make themselves a human wall that he can’t look over.
Of course we have to move, even if we have been in that spot waiting for an hour…can’t wait longer than that since we have to take him to the hotel resort bathroom before we go to the fireworks.
I see that fast pass is available for viewing
We first went to EPCOT in 1983 and I too mourn the passing of the first fireworks show (1812 overture ending was without compare!) and the original park. It was the favorite of my boys as they grew up so we probably spent more time there than any other park. I remember our despair when we thought Figment was going away. So I love the music at the current show (well, not A Whole New World) and Walt Disney’s voice is the best! I just want younger folks to know that things always change, only dead things remain in memory the same and the next generation will embrace the new.