Epcot’s new fireworks show, Epcot Forever, debuts tonight, just in time for the park’s 37th birthday on Oct. 1. The Disney Parks blog will live stream the debut starting at 8:50 p.m. EDT.
In the coming years, Epcot will undergo a massive overhaul, splitting its Future World half into three distinct parts and introducing new attractions.
The first of these changes comes with the brand new fireworks show. Epcot Forever replaces 20-year park staple IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. The award-winning Illuminations was a heralded park icon to many theme park guests. Originally set to just show during the new millennium, IllumiNations follows the journey of the Earth’s creation. The show became so popular that it continued after 2000. IllumiNations closed its curtains with one final performance on Sept. 30, live streamed on the Disney Parks YouTube channel.
Unlike IllumiNations, which really went deep on the whole “the Earth was born out of the chaos of the universe” theme, Epcot Forever is less existential. As its name implies, it’s designed to be a reflection of the park, taking guests through the past, present, and future of Epcot. It will not, however, be a permanent fixture — or one that’s even around for very long at all.
In fact, Epcot Forever is a placeholder, keeping guests entertained until the real replacement for Illuminations rolls around. Called Harmonious, the actual big replacement will be a celebration of Disney music, with a new Epcot theme by Captain Marvel composer Pinar Toprak. A preview image for Harmonious reveals characters integrated into the design, something consistent with many of Epcot’s planned revamps, which will incorporate characters, both from classic Disney properties and new IP, into rides and attractions. Harmonious is set to debut in 2020.