disney world illuminations reflections of earth tickets

The pomp and circumstance of the whole show is fun, but I also tend to enjoy a quick peek behind the scenes. All around the World Showcase, you’ll see nineteen other torches all lit to celebrate the past and pay tribute to our roots. But my favorite part of the entire show is when the Globe opens to reveal that not only is it a globe, but it is also a lotus flower, complete with a Unity Torch to help commemorate the 20th century. Once the Earth Globe makes its appearance known in the second part of the show, it really hits its groove as all of the effects are working together at once. These effects are great, but none of them can quite match the splendor of the Earth Globe. Don Dorsey took his work from the previous shows and built upon it to create one of Disney’s most beloved nighttime spectaculars.įor those of you who never got the chance to see it, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth combined fireworks, lasers and music to create a spectacle that many consider to be their favorite at Walt Disney World. Luckily, Disney had a guy who had worked on most of the other nighttime spectaculars at Epcot as well as this other little thing, The Main Street Electrical Parade. With this score in hand, the show just needed a great director to step up to the plate and put everything together. Greenaway’s score has become iconic in the Disneysphere, right up there with other scores for shows like Fantasmic and Wishes. Upon finding that his schedule was too busy, he suggested his friend Gavin Greenaway take over. Now, who was behind this show to help make it the success that it was? To start, we have to thank Disney Legend Hans Zimmer … who didn’t actually do anything on the show, but he was asked to score it. On the other hand, Reflections of Earth was such a massive success that they dropped the 2000 moniker from the title and continued the show every night for the next 20 years. The park added a lot of cool experiences that year like the Millenium VIllage and Tapestry of Nations, but for the most part, they were limited-time events that didn’t stick around for too long. Reflections of Earth debuted as a part of the park’s Millenium Celebration to commemorate the beginning of the 2000s.

Amongst these shows, we got the first few iterations of IllumiNations, but none of them would compare to the show that debuted on October 1st, 1999, IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth. Over the years, various shows came and went through the park, with none of them really catching on because of their relatively primitive nature.

Over the years, we have seen a ton of attractions follow suit and open on that magical day of October 1st, with IllumiNations being no exception.Įarly in Epcot’s time, Disney realized that the park would benefit from a nighttime spectacular, so guests could watch Carnival de Lumiere and New World Fantasy in the first few years.

October 1st has always been the biggest day in Walt Disney World’s history as it saw the opening of the entire resort in 1971 and then EPCOT Center’s first day in 1982. My name is Cole, and it’s great to be back today as we look at the end of an Epcot era with the last show of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth happening in just a few hours.

Disney world illuminations reflections of earth tickets