The first of five massive barges has made its way onto World Showcase Lagoon where it will be permanently installed in support of the upcoming Harmonious nighttime spectacular at EPCOT. The barge, which is one of the “smaller” perimeter barges, has a 25’ double-sided LED wall. The barge is an imposing presence on World Showcase Lagoon, but Disney will eventually attempt to hide the barges by creating daytime fountains when the barges aren’t in use. Here’s a look at the concept art for the daytime fountain look.

Of course, when night falls the four LED barges will provide a large area for Disney to tell a visual story.

Now, back to EPCOT for a look at the barge. Here’s a quick video of the barge from a few different vantage points around the Lagoon.

Here are some detailed photos of the barge.

Disney has added some signs around World Showcase Lagoon showcasing the upcoming Harmonious nighttime spectacular.

Here are probably more photos of the barge than necessary, but it does show off the engineering detail behind the barge.

If you’re worried about how the barge might impact your sightlines of the Swan and Dolphin, Swan and Dolphin Reserve, Tower of Terror, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure show building, Soarin’ show building, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind show building, or Test Track show building – fear not, those sightlines are largely preserved.

Of course, that’s more than a little tongue in cheek. These barges, when completely installed, will change the landscape of World Showcase forever. Again, seeing the barge fully exposed like this will hopefully be rare once Disney gets the fountains to turn on.

To provide additional context for the size of the barge, here’s a look at it from the air courtesy of Bioreconstruct.

“Harmonious” will bring to World Showcase Lagoon an innovative toolkit of massive floating set pieces that house a variety of show effects, including custom-built LED panels, choreographed moving fountains, colorful lights, lasers, pyrotechnics and more. 

The collective of the barges is referred to as the “compass”, with the center having a “great gravity screen” that is surrounded by four other barges that have giant LED screens as seen in the concept art below.

The show promises to be a beautifully crafted nighttime dreamscape of Disney music and images, reimagined by diverse cultural musicians and artists from around the world. It’s a transformative experience, where we can discover how Disney music has the power to inspire and unite us all. You can catch an early glimpse of concepts for the show now by visiting Walt Disney Imagineering Presents the Epcot Experience, located in the Odyssey Events Pavilion.

Harmonious will debut October 1, 2021 at EPCOT.

As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!