Disney has experienced its share of controversies over the past years.

Within the parks alone, controversial changes have been made when it comes to rides (removing some and replacing them with new attractions), photos (adding in automated photo boxes at certain PhotoPass locations), and fireworks (removing fan-favorite fireworks shows much to the dismay of those loyal followers). But soon, some hugely controversial things in EPCOT will be going AWAY.

What is the one thing that nearly EVERYONE hates in EPCOT? We’ll give you a hint — it’s what some consider to have been the UGLIEST EPCOT transformation. If you guessed the Harmonious barges, you’d be…RIGHT!

But now we’ve got HUGE news about those barges!

During the D23 Expo in 2022, Disney announced that EPCOT would be getting a NEW nighttime spectacular in 2023. We now know that April 2nd, 2023 will be the LAST performance of Harmonious in the park, and EPCOT Forever will then return to the park on April 3rd while Disney prepares for the new show.

But what will happen with the Harmonious barges? Disney revealed that they would be conducting a phased removal of fireworks platforms following the end of Harmonious. And we were able to confirm that yes, this means the Harmonious barges are being REMOVED!

What exactly is a “Harmonious barge” you ask? Well, as part of the 50th Anniversary, EPCOT got a brand new fireworks show — Harmonious. Many of the show’s main elements come from the barges that were placed in the middle of World Showcase Lagoon.

These barges house special effects for the show including custom-built LED panels, moving fountains, lights and lasers, and some pyrotechnics. And yeah, the center one sort of looks like a weird alien spaceship.

Many fans have complained about these barges because they block the view across World Showcase Lagoon to the other countries.

The barges were set to have fountain effects during the day, which would have perhaps improved their appearance. While we saw the fountains testing, the fountain daytime look never became a true reality for these.

Instead, we mainly saw them feature 50th Anniversay displays or other things of the like.

But it seems like the barges will be disappearing in the near future, once Harmonious comes to an end. Remember this is set to be a phased removal, so it could take some time before these barges are fully removed. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more details on that and let you know what we find! Stay tuned for the latest news.

For more fireworks updates, check out the posts below:

• NEWS: END DATE Announced For Disney Enchantment Fireworks Show in Magic Kingdom
• BREAKING: OPENING DATE Announced for Happily Ever After Fireworks in Magic Kingdom

Click here for more about the return of EPCOT Forever!

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What do you think about this change? Tell us in the comments!

The post The One Thing in EPCOT That Everyone HATES Will Finally Be Removed first appeared on the disney food blog.