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EPCOT Forever Will Return Next Year!

EPCOT forever
Credit: Disney

EPCOT Forever is coming back in 2023, and this writer couldn’t be more excited! At D23, it was announced that Harmonious would come to an end at the end of this year to be replaced by an all-new nighttime show.  Between the end of Harmonious and the new show’s opening, however,  now it is being reported by Theme Park Tourist that  EPCOT Forever will make its grand encore.

The show initially debuted in October 2019 to fill in the time frame between long-time fan favorite Illuminations and Harmonious. When EPCOT Forever closed to make way for Harmonious, most assumed the show was gone forever. Especially since it wasn’t a very popular show with fans, it lacked the over-the-top quality fans have come to expect from a Disney firework show. What it did not lack, though, was that classic tug at the heartstrings that Disney has so expertly mastered. 

Put frankly, EPCOT Forever makes me cry more than Happily Ever After or even Wishes ever has. The show is a brilliant love letter to the fans who have grown with EPCOT and to a Park at a crossroads. It celebrates the history of the park and looks forward to its future. During a time of revitalization and reimagining in the Park, the show is a masterstroke. 

Exterior

Credit: cinemablend.com

Being roughly the same age as the Park, I grew up with EPCOT. In the early ’90s, the Park was a bright and shining example of the future. Always at the forefront of innovation, the Park amazed me with possibility. As I grew and changed, so did EPCOT. Until it didn’t. Somewhere along the line, the future EPCOT so adeptly predicted became the present. When that happened, EPCOT lost some of its magic. To those of us who were there and remember the Park’s golden age, though, we still hold onto that “one little spark” that stirred something inside us.

EPCOT forever

Credit: Disney

EPCOT Forever celebrates that with the themes from rides much beloved and long gone. The show ends with “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and the symbolism of this choice was not lost on me. Where “old EPCOT” was about technology and innovation, “new EPCOT” strives to be timeless and incorporate characters that will both be timeless and appeal to new generations. It truly is “a whole new world” for EPCOT and for that to be the show’s finale is beautiful. 

No date has been announced for exactly when Harmonious will end and EPCOT Forever will resume. We imagine it will be some time in March 2023 when Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration ends. Stay tuned right here because as soon as we know, you’ll know. Are you excited to see EPCOT forever return? Let us know in the comments. 

About Jill Bivins

Jill Bivins has been visiting Disney Parks since she was 2 years old and loves sharing her Disney adventures with the world. She likes to say Disney is in her blood and writing is in her bones — so any time she has the opportunity to combine these loves she is one happy camper! She has a deep abiding love for Epcot and as a die hard Star Wars fan has a serious love for Hollywood Studios as well. When she isn't exploring or writing about Disney Parks, Jill is homeschooling her 8 year old son, playing with her brand new baby son, or pretending to be a farmer on her family homestead (despite being unable to keep even a cactus alive). Find Jill on Instagram @minnieonmain.