IllumiNations: The SkyDance
While the rumors have been out there that the Illuminations show might changed next year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Epcot, new rumors popped up about the possible new date for the show and a new name: “IllumiNations: The SkyDance”! Don Dorsey might be attached to the project and if rumors are correct the show would replace “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth”, somewhere in 2009.
Personally this would make me happy as the current version is very close to my heart and I would hate to see it go, even if I know that the new version will be another masterpiece.
Picture from the Magic in Pixels
September 18th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
I love IllumiNations and hope that whatever changes they make will be subtle and tasteful. I hope that they really “plus it” instead of making change for change sake.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:32 am
From what we understand it will be a drastically different new show, which they have tested several times in recent months (quite late at night!). The current show has run for six years and the new one won’t come in until Oct 1, 2007. That means there is still plenty of time to enjoy the fantastic Reflections of Earth show, but it will change after that. I think you can be fairly sure the new show will be equally spectacular and stylish, though. Disney set a new benchmark with I:RoE and they realise they have to at least maintain that standard, so we are pretty hopeful the new one will be in keeping with what they established in October 1999.
September 19th, 2006 at 9:31 am
With Simon’s entry the rumored 2009 start date seems not correct and the previous 2007 rumor again more obvious. This means that I’ll have to make sure to return before 1st October 2007 so I can see the “old” IllumiNations before it is gone…
I will miss the show of today but do understand that they needed to, if changing the show, make a drastic change so it would not look different, but the same.
I am interested to see the new show but would not be surprised if a tear would come down my cheek when I’ll be watching the current Illuminations for the last time
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:28 am
I hope the new IllumiNations is as good as Reflections of Earth, if not, they will have to change it immediately. Or, there will be a public decrease, and fewer people will come to the park. I hope not! But, I trust Disney and I know they won’t spend a lot of money that’s not worth it.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:03 am
I’ve checked wikipedia and countless disney websites and even talked to some cast members at Epcot. As far as i know, no changes will be made to Illuminations.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
It seems Disney have pulled away from replacing IllumiNations for the time being in order to focus on up-dating other areas of the park which need it more urgently (like the big Spaceship Earth up-date and more restaurant upgrades). There WAS a new show for the 25th anniversary but, sadly, it was only on the day of October 1, when it was added on after the regular IllumiNations. It was an extra 10-minute show, heavily firework-orientated, and choreographed to old Epcot theme songs. Very impressive but, as it proved, only a one-off.
January 16th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
not to be contrary, simon, but the 25th anniversary tag was only about 4 minutes long. it was amazing and made the ground shake with the ferocity of the blasts. i am quite partial to illuminations as it stands, and as i said before, i hope that if they change it, it’s for the better and not for the sake of it.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Doh! You’re absolutely right, Tim. I’ve just timed it off the YouTube video of the occasion, and ‘We’ve Just Begun To Dream’ lasted barely 4min 30sec; I guess it just FELT like 10 minutes because it was such a spectacular finale! But I’m sure the preparation shows we heard from Epcot (about 6 months prior to the event at 12.40am!!) lasted longer than 4minutes, so I wonder if they still have another firework show up their sleeve?
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm
[...] than a year ago I already added a little entry in this blog about a possible new IllumiNations show being under development for Epcot. One of the people involved would be the talented Don Dorsey, who [...]