We were minding our own business this week, deep in a very important debate about whether the new crepe at Les Halles is better than the old one (jury is still out), when the Disney Parks corner of the internet collectively lost its mind over a 45-second ABC News promo video. Not because of what was on screen. Because of what was playing underneath it.
That music. That specific music.
If you have ever stood on the edge of the World Showcase Lagoon at night and felt something shift in your chest during the finale of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, you know exactly what we are talking about. Gavin Greenaway’s score for the beloved EPCOT nighttime spectacular that closed in 2019 is playing in full orchestral glory behind ABC’s promotional spot for “Disney Celebrates America 250,” the network’s upcoming 24-hour July 4th live broadcast. The comments section did what the comments section does.
Before the speculation machine goes into overdrive, we are going to give you the full picture. Because this score has a history that is wilder and more interesting than most people realize.
So What Is the Actual Broadcast?
“Disney Celebrates America 250” is a 24-hour non-stop live event airing July 4, 2026, across essentially every platform Disney owns. We are talking Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic all carrying simultaneous coverage throughout the entire day.
David Muir, anchor and managing editor of World News Tonight with David Muir, leads the whole thing. He is joined by ABC News correspondents, ESPN commentators, and National Geographic Explorers reporting live from all 50 states. The day is built around entertainers, athletes, historians, and explorers celebrating America’s 250th birthday. And it ends, because of course it does, with live fireworks from both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.
This broadcast is the grand finale of a Disney Celebrates America initiative that has been running since Veterans Day 2025, announced back in October of last year. On the parks side, Soarin’ Across America opened at EPCOT for a limited run tied to the anniversary. Disney has also been running America 250 programming for military families throughout 2026. It has been a whole thing, and July 4th is the crescendo.
Here Is Why the Music Choice Makes Complete Sense
Okay. Deep breath. Here is the part that is going to reframe this entire conversation.
Greenaway’s IllumiNations score has not been sitting quietly in a Disney vault since the show closed in 2019. It has been working steadily for 25 years, and ABC specifically has used it more than once before. The first time was for ABC 2000 Today, the network’s millennium broadcast that followed the New Year around the globe on December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000. That broadcast even included footage of IllumiNations itself. ABC came back to it for ABC 2002. Then used a version of the theme during televised coverage of both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Then again for ABC’s broadcast of Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009.
And it goes beyond ABC. A Disney-produced Customs and Border Protection welcome video called “Welcome: Portraits of America” has been playing in most US airports for years, using Greenaway’s score as its soundtrack. Millions of international visitors have been welcomed to the United States by this music and had absolutely no idea it came from an EPCOT nighttime spectacular.
Let that sink in for a second. This score has been used for a millennium countdown, two presidential elections, a presidential inauguration, an airport welcome video shown to millions of international travelers, and now a 24-hour America 250 broadcast. That is not a coincidence. That is Disney repeatedly reaching for the same piece of music because it consistently delivers exactly the feeling they need for the biggest possible moments.
Who Actually Wrote This Thing
Gavin Greenaway is a British Emmy Award-winning composer and conductor. He wrote the complete score for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, including the two songs most fans know by heart: “We Go On” and “Promise,” both performed by vocalist Kellie Coffey. The full orchestral score, titled “Reflections of Earth,” was recorded at Abbey Road Studios because of course it was.
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth ran at EPCOT from 1999 until September 30, 2019. It was followed by Epcot Forever, then Harmonious, and now Luminous: The Symphony of Us is what plays over the lagoon. The show has been gone for almost seven years. The music refuses to retire.
What This Means If You Are Heading to EPCOT
We know what some of you are already hoping. We are not going to fan those flames, because the honest answer is that this is not a signal of anything returning to the park. Greenaway’s score appearing in a broadcast promo is consistent with a pattern that has been going on since 1999. It tells you the composition is exceptional. It does not tell you anything about EPCOT’s nighttime entertainment calendar.
What is actually at EPCOT right now is Luminous: The Symphony of Us, and if you have not seen it yet, it is genuinely worth your evening. The America 250 programming adds texture to the visit this summer, Soarin’ Across America is running at the Land Pavilion for a limited time, and the July 4th fireworks broadcast from the resort is going to be the kind of thing people talk about for a while.
For the guests who had their best Disney memories standing at that lagoon watching IllumiNations close out the night, hearing that score come out of a television speaker in 2026 is its own kind of gift. Greenaway wrote something so good that it keeps getting called up for the moments that matter most. That is the legacy of a show that earned every bit of the love people still have for it.
Heading to EPCOT this summer and want to know what to eat, what to see, and how to make the most of the America 250 programming while you are there? Drop your plans in the comments. This is genuinely what we love to help with.
