VIDEO - First full-scale test of Walt Disney World's new 'Luminous' nighttime spectacular at EPCOT

Nov 05, 2023 in "Luminous the Symphony of Us"

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Luminous the Symphony of Us - Show test

Posted: Sunday November 5, 2023 9:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

With just a month to go until the debut of EPCOT's new nighttime spectacular 'Luminous The Symphony of Us,' Walt Disney Imagineers carried out a near full run-though for the first time late last night.

Luminous the Symphony of Us - Show test

Taking place after the park closed just after midnight, the run-through gave us a look at the pyrotechnic design and some of the lighting effects visible above the tree line.

The 'Luminous' audio was masked by loud background music being played at International Gateway, but some of the new soundtrack could be heard in the distance.

There are two new original songs and new arrangements of Disney movie songs including:

"I See the Light" - Tangled
"You've Got a Friend in Me" - Toy Story
"You'll Be in My Heart" - Tarzan
"Proud Corazon" - Coco
"Friend Like Me" - Aladdin
"So Close" - Enchanted
"When She Loved Me"- Toy Story 2
"Remember Me" - Coco
"Into the Unknown" - Frozen 2

For a better listen of the show's music, see last week's post with a behind-the-scenes look at recording the 'Luminous The Symphony of Us' soundtrack.

The runtime of 'Luminous' is around 16 minutes based on last night's test, which puts it slightly shorter than the 20-minute runtime of 'Harmonious 'but longer than the 12-minute-long 'EPCOT Forever,' which 'Luminous' replaces.

Unlike 'Harmonious,' 'Luminous' will not use any video displays and returns to the successful formula of IllumiNations, with fireworks, lighting, and fountains. Although it is difficult to gauge the quantity of fireworks in use, from this test, 'Luminous' appears to have more pyro than either 'EPCOT Forever' or 'Harmonious.' The test also confirmed the continued use of the lagoon seawall perimeter launches, which were fired numerous times at the show's beginning and finale.

Luminous the Symphony of Us - Show test

Although this test was close to being the entire show, there is more to come, including a center barge, which we have seen in recent concept art. This seventh major show platform is not yet in the lagoon, and is likely to play a significant role in the show's finale.

Watch the video below to see 'Luminous The Symphony of Us.' (4K YouTube)

'Luminous, The Symphony of Us' will debut at Walt Disney World's EPCOT on December 5, 2023.

Luminous the Symphony of Us logo

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TheCoasterNerd3 days ago

The fantasmic changes are temporary. Everything that was and more will return. They just wanted the show back at all. In addition, we have 4 viewing areas for our fireworks each with different show elements such as lighting, projections, and now even a second soundtrack. You have... one? two? viewing areas. Also yes you were just unlucky. That's not normal hours.

ToTBellHop3 days ago

Last time I went, both parks were 10-8. Guess I was unlucky! I wasn’t at all impressed with DL’s nighttime offerings but that’s a matter of preference. They keep making their Fantasmic! worse.

TheCoasterNerd3 days ago

Fireworks are on weekends most of the year, but that's just because of a legal issue with daily fireworks, not Disney themselves. They offer WoC (usually twice) every single night at DCA as well. They have two parades, Fantasmic, fireworks, and on nights without fireworks, still a stunning projection show. The projections (unless the projectors are under their occasional maintenance) are every night. Still, longer hours. Also when does it open at 10? I've never seen that. On a Thursday in November (November 17 2023) it was still 8-12 and 8-10. Even in January, it's still 8-10, which is an hour longer than WDW.

jrhwdw3 days ago

Very Fair

ToTBellHop3 days ago

To be fair, DL closes early with no fireworks and opens at 10 am on weekdays for most of the year. WDW deserves much criticism by they should be lauded for offering nighttime spectaculars in 3 parks 365 nights a year. It took DL a year to bring F! back with Maleficent in B-mode…

jrhwdw3 days ago

And F! hasn't changed their Schedule since the early 90s since DL went down to 2 a night. Also, every time MSEP returns, it falls back into the old Schedule....

jrhwdw3 days ago

Ah........ We'll see what MK comes up with......

TheCoasterNerd3 days ago

I've always thought MKs hours were dumb. 9am-10pm? Yet another reason I prefer Land, where hours are 8-midnight usually. So nice to be able to do hours of rides afterwards with minimal waits (after the families have gone home post-fireworks). I find it ironic that Disneyland's SECOND GATE is open an hour longer than all of Magic Kingdom