EPCOT IllumiNations - The ORIGINAL - 1988 - Part 4 of 4

[shadowfox1383]

Wait for it! Here comes the crescendo! 3:05 YES!!! (Laughing maniacally) How beautiful! Is it not? (continues to laugh maniacally)

[shadowfox1383]

1:56 Hey, I believe that's the ending to the Firebird Suite.

[ajs41]

Thanks so much for posting this! We have a video of IllumiNations from February 1993. Do you know whether that was still essentially the same version as this video in 1988? Our first trip to Disney World and Epcot Center was in October 1988, followed by trips in Feb 1990, Dec 91-Jan 92 and Feb 93. We used to love the classic version of IllumiNations where music was played from a composer from each country and the lights of that country would come on at the same time. Shame they stopped it.

[nairda38]

The music stayed the same until the 25th anniversary edition.

What did change was the order of the countries. Whereas the original showed the countries in a clockwise motion around WS, later versions showed the countries in a zig-zag motion (I think the order was Jpn, Mex, Mrc/Fra, Chn, UK, Ger, Can, Ita, USA). Don't know what year they changed it up, though.

Another difference was that they upgraded the fireworks technology so that there were fewer errant shots (as seen in this video).

[ajs41]

Thanks for the reply. Some people in our family assumed the reason they changed IllumiNations in the 1990s was because there were too many dumb people who didn't understand anything about classical music and the different countries, etc. I don't know if there's any truth in that, but I loved the version from the early 1990s.

[cancerman50]

Yeah, I remember that zip zag fashion in 1997. However I can't find that anywhere on YouTube. This is the cloesest.

[cancerman50]

However I also now remember was green lasers from the American Adventure. It did turn out that we were there, unknownly, on their 25th aniversery. I wonder if that had anythign to do with it?

[dbuck12001]

Fantastic! Brings back many happy memories as this was the ILLUMINATIONS I saw first. It is the first and for me, the best.

[rackas321]

I love ROE but this one's nice too, and for the time it's amazing.

[pauld0672]

well it was interesting seein this as ive only ever seen reflections so i was excited at the chance of seein the original, however im so dissapointed at it, i no it was prob great bein there at the time but compared to reflections there are hardly any firworks, i think the new show is much more heart warming and makes a better message of we go on!!

[2136cass]

This show takes me back to my childhood. My dad would take us to the backgate of EPCOT, and we would wait for them to open the gates right before the start of the fireworks. We would rush in to get a spot to watch the magic.

I still love this version. I, too, liked how the countries were showcased. Being a youngster, I learned a little bit about each country and grew an appreciation for the world and for classical music.

Bringing back an updated version of this show would be fantastic!

[maxpower3333]

I saw this version many times. People loved it. 1st of all, unlike the current Illuminations, this version used WELL-KNOWN classic pieces music that people actually know. People would often whistle & clap along. And 2nd, during the part highlighting each country, you'd always hear cheers around the lagoon for particular countries. Americans would cheer loudly. IMO, this was the best Illuminations. It was a mistake to remove the part highlighting each country.

[ShieKra38]

To many screamers! This version is okay, but I still love ROE.

[holtskee]

I kind of miss the old Illuminations show as well. Granted it was no where near as spectacular as Reflections of Earth, but it was great at the time.

Perhaps after Reflections of Earth has ran its course they'll do an updated version of the old format, where the show samples each country of World Showcase.

[ce5k]

Thank you for posting -- this takes me back a few years. I recently saw the Epcot light show in January 2007. After seeing the original Illunimations in this 4-video series, I think the finale for the original is better than the modern version -- in particular, the choreography between the fireworks and music. The original had a better (Western Classical) musical composition as compared to the current offering.

[nairda38]

Having seen both live (in '95 and '00), I'd say that the original version of Illuminations was much better in person than Reflections of Earth. Reflections is good in a modern sense (in that it addresses global unity), whereas the original Illuminations emphasized diversity (through the showcase of each nation) and utilized Epcot's World's Fair feeling a little more.

[Dmare914]

I agree. If the Original Illuminations was still running, it would seem boring to us folks, but back then when fireworks were still kinda new, that would be considered an instant hit. Imagine Reflections of Earth being shown in 1988, the audience would be floored by it.

[Stfno88]

This show is kinda boring. I think Reflections of Earth is so much better. But I bet at the time people thought this was the best show ever.