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"

Gallery / 3 Photos
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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DisoneSep 29, 2025

lol. It's a secret that only my autocorrect knows.

MisterPenguinSep 29, 2025

What were you changing into at 10p?

DisoneSep 29, 2025

Every year, yup:). I miss when it used to be 10:00 p.m. clothes and fireworks during the summer and holidays.

DCBakerSep 29, 2025

As EPCOT park hours shift to 9:30pm during the International Festival of the Holidays, note that Luminous will also move to a 9:30pm showtime starting November 28:

SquishyAug 22, 2025

I noticed sometime this year they changed how they fire the comets from the center barge raised pole in the finale. Instead of them firing one after the other in a pattern with slow fuses they switched them to fire all at once in groups of 3. Before: Currently:

Disgruntled WaltJul 26, 2025

I rode three times just a few days before that and we missed final Kylo A-mode every time.

mattpetoJul 25, 2025

I do think Rise at DHS will get some love eventually.

TrainsOfDisneyJul 25, 2025

Yeah I saw them not working out there too. But my recent trip in summer they were all moving and all effects worked. It was glorious! Hard to pick an all time favorite for me…. Probably still Spider-Man at IOA or maybe Indy. Or even mummy with all effects. That was my favorite era of theme parks. Before video took over. I love physically effects like fire, fog, etc.

easyrowrdwJul 25, 2025

They didn't when I was there! :p But, seriously, I'm glad they've been fixed. I still think Rise (when it first opened) is the best attraction I've ever experienced. It'd be nice to see it return to its fully functional glory at WDW.

TrainsOfDisneyJul 25, 2025

They all work in California!

easyrowrdwJul 25, 2025

That's awesome. I haven't seen the blasters move in a long time. Hopefully the cannons get fixed too.

gerararJul 25, 2025

I rode twice last Wednesday (7/16) and every effect was working except the cannons. Probably the best I've seen it since 2021 when the cannons were in A-mode Lite. All the blaster spinners in AT-AT room, hand guns, Finn AA, probe droid, etc. My party and I went in standby line around 11am and the posted wait time was 85 mins, got to preshows in 70 mins. I also did single-rider later on in the day and the final Kylo AA switched to B-mode. But everything else was still working as earlier in the day.

easyrowrdwJul 25, 2025

Out of curiosity I looked at passes for ROTR and there's nothing available for today or the following five days. At $20+ a pop and currently a 2-hour standby wait, I don't see any way they retheme the ride. It'd be nice if they would fix the broken effects though.

Starship824Jul 25, 2025

I like that segment in theory but I just really hate that version of that song so it's hard for me to get invested, I actually think a simple piano version would be better, I really don't like the vocals but I'm probably in the minority in that. Edit: fixed the insane amount of grammatical errors I had! 😃😭