Carousel of Progress is seemingly a ride that will never close. The ride was Walt Disney's baby and many of his close friends and associates claimed that it was his favorite ride that he ever had a hand in, and that it should never cease operating. If that was Walt's wish, it has been fulfilled so far. While it may not be drawing the same kind of crowds it was when it first debuted, it is still a mainstay in Disney World and offers up some prime nostalgia for the early to mid-20th century.
After Disneyland came into its own after a tumultuous opening, Walt set his sights on expanding Main Street U.S.A. in the late 50's. Walt planned to split the expansion into two distinct districts: "International Street" and "Edison Square". Edison Square would have show that starred an animatronic man named "Wilbur K. Watt" who would talk about the history of electricity in the home. Guests would go from showroom to showroom, with each one depicting a different decade, and look at all the new electrical wonders. This would culminate in a showcase of some fine electric appliances that just so happened to be made by General Electric. This plan fell through mostly due to technology limitations, though GE still wanted to work with Walt on something.
GE approached Walt a few years later to see if he would like to develop a show for their pavilion at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Walt leapt at the offer, especially since GE was fronting the bill for the project. Walt brought up his idea for the history of electricity show that he had planned for his park, and they loved it. Luckily for Walt, his imagineers had finally perfected the audio-animatronic technology needed to make the show come to life. Early on, engineer Roger E. Broggie came up with the idea to have the show instead be a ride of sorts, with the audience moving on a carousel from scene to scene instead of having them walk to each one. The decades used for the ride would be the late 1890's (Valentine's Day), 1920's (4th of July), 1940's (Halloween) and 1960's (Christmas). Rex Allen, famous singing cowboy and frequent voice-over artist for Disney, was pegged to voice Father, the main character of the show and narrator. Walt went to the trusty Sherman Brothers to provide a song for the show, something to bridge the gap between the different scenes. Walt explained to the brothers what the show was all about, and with that they came up with a song full of enthusiasm and hope in the future, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow". The show opened in GE's Progressland in 1964 and was one of the most-visited pavilions at the Fair. With the ride moving every four minutes from each of the six fixed stages, they had 200 people entering and exited at each increment. Even with this steady pace and large capacity, it wasn't unusual to see over an hour wait to get into the show. In the 1965 season, a canopy was built outside the ride to help keep the waiting crowds from burning up in the sun.
The show was such a success at the New York World's Fair, that the decision was made to make it part of the New Tomorrowland expansion at Disneyland in 1967, with GE sponsoring for ten years. Walt unfortunately didn't live to see the attraction open at his park, as he died seven months prior to its opening day on July 2nd 1967. The actual attraction was on ground level and a new theater that was near identical to the Progressland one had to be constructed to house the show. There were some slight modifications to the show itself, including getting a new voice for the mother, updating the "Christmas in the Home of the 1960's, as new technology had come out since it's first incarnation. Any mention of GE's campaign to promote their "Medallion Homes" which were houses built with everything hooked up to electricity (no coal/gas power), were also removed. In this incarnation, after guests were done with the show, they would go to the second story and watch a short presentation narrated by Mother and Father about Walt's Progress City, including an enormous model of the envisioned land. Progress City was based on Walt Disney's original concepts for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) and the Walt Disney World property. While the show was popular at first for all the people who didn't see it at the World's Fair, attendance started to dip in the early 70's, making GE feel like they weren't getting a good return on their investment. GE correctly surmised that the people going to Disneyland and seeing the show were mostly Californians and they had probably seen the show several times already. GE requested that Disney move the attraction to Walt Disney World in Florida to reach a wider group of people. Disney agreed, and the last showing was on September 9th, 1973, thus ended the six year run of the show's stay at Disneyland.The empty theater was quickly filled up in 1974 by America Sings!, a salute to America and its music.
Walt Disney World's Carousel of Progress debuted alongside Space Mountain on January 15th, 1975 in Tomorrowland. GE again agreed to sponsor the ride for ten years. Extensive changes to the ride were implemented this time around, including a kaleidoscope effect projected on the screens in the loading/unloading rooms being discontinued, a new song by the Sherman Brothers, "The Best Time of Your Life," Andrew Duggan took over the voice role of the father, and the final scene being changed to better fit the home of the 70's. GE looked at the original song and thought it was too much about the future, and they wanted people to buy GE appliances right now! In 1981, the last scene was changed to reflect the future according to people living in the 80's. I've seen enough 80's visions of the future in film, so I imagine the last scene was looking a lot like Blade Runner. GE's contract expired in 1985, and they decided it wasn't worth the investment anymore, so they bailed. Disney had to close the attraction for a short time so they could remove as many references to GE as they could. No free advertising! In 1993, the attraction had its final (so far) refurbishment. Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom was changing the theme to "The Future That Never Was," so the whole area took on a more retro-futuristic look. Gears and other mechanical symbols were featured throughout the land, so Carousel of Progress's outdoor sign was redone to feature gears to have it fit. The name of the attraction was also changed to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. The biggest changes of the refurbishment was the last scene, which now showed "Christmas in the House of 2000," and the voice cast being somewhat re-done (Mel Blanc is still noticeably part of the cast as Uncle Orville). Jean Shepard, best known as the adult voice of Ralphy in
A Christmas Story, now voiced Father, and Rex Allen, who had originally voiced Father, now voiced the grandfather in the Christmas scene. The song, "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" returned as the main song, making the focus of the attraction fit more into the promise of the future. A 4-minute pre-show video was also added to show guests how the attraction was built.
After the 9/11 attacks, Disney noticed that attendance was down all over the parks, but especially in Carousel of Progress, so they closed the attraction in October of 2001, saying that it would open seasonally from then on. This caused many frequent park-goers to panic about the ride's future. Luckily, the ride has been consistently open since 2003 and Disney claims it has no current plans to shutter the ride, though it is still listed as seasonal. The most recent change to the attraction was in 2016, when the gears in the front of the ride were changed and replaced with a newer, more traditional sign for the ride. Carousel of Progress is a conundrum in the parks. Disney has shown that they are not afraid to shutter fan-favorite rides in favor of "synergy," otherwise known as putting a Disney character as the main attraction of the ride. Carousel is becoming one of the few in the parks that is not tied to any characters and thus its existence will always be near the cutting block, no matter what Disney says to the contrary. Carousel is not a popular ride anymore. It is a fan-favorite, but you will definitely not see long waits to get inside. The issue with the ride is how fast it becomes outdated, and especially now it will get worse every year. The "Christmas in the House of 2000" scene features such "futuristic" gizmos as VR Games, HD Televisions, Flat Panel Displays, LaserDisc (HA!), and voice-activated ovens. All of those things are now reality, with voice-activated ovens being the newest, thanks to smart homes. About the only thing they could do now is make the last scene more in tune with the "Future That Never Was" theme and make it out there kind of things that are maybe(?) far into the future, but who knows. The likely reason that this ride hasn't been refurbished since 1993 is because no one outside of Disney is helping pay for it. Many a ride has been shuttered due to a loss of sponsorship, but Carousel is inexplicably still here. I've always made it a point to go to this attraction, mostly because I really enjoy the look back into the past, but I think I feel the same way about it as most: if I was pressed for time at the park, I wouldn't bother. That being said, Tomorrowland wouldn't be the same without this attraction, so I hope this is one that will stay open forever, as Walt would have wanted.
Carousel of Progress is seemingly a ride that will never close. The ride was Walt Disney's baby and many of his close friends and associates claimed that it was his favorite ride that he ever had a hand in, and that it should never cease operating. If that was Walt's wish, it has been fulfilled so far. While it may not be drawing the same kind of crowds it was when it first debuted, it is still a mainstay in Disney World and offers up some prime nostalgia for the early to mid-20th century.
After Disneyland came into its own after a tumultuous opening, Walt set his sights on expanding Main Street U.S.A. in the late 50's. Walt planned to split the expansion into two distinct districts: "International Street" and "Edison Square". Edison Square would have show that starred an animatronic man named "Wilbur K. Watt" who would talk about the history of electricity in the home. Guests would go from showroom to showroom, with each one depicting a different decade, and look at all the new electrical wonders. This would culminate in a showcase of some fine electric appliances that just so happened to be made by General Electric. This plan fell through mostly due to technology limitations, though GE still wanted to work with Walt on something.
GE approached Walt a few years later to see if he would like to develop a show for their pavilion at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Walt leapt at the offer, especially since GE was fronting the bill for the project. Walt brought up his idea for the history of electricity show that he had planned for his park, and they loved it. Luckily for Walt, his imagineers had finally perfected the audio-animatronic technology needed to make the show come to life. Early on, engineer Roger E. Broggie came up with the idea to have the show instead be a ride of sorts, with the audience moving on a carousel from scene to scene instead of having them walk to each one. The decades used for the ride would be the late 1890's (Valentine's Day), 1920's (4th of July), 1940's (Halloween) and 1960's (Christmas). Rex Allen, famous singing cowboy and frequent voice-over artist for Disney, was pegged to voice Father, the main character of the show and narrator. Walt went to the trusty Sherman Brothers to provide a song for the show, something to bridge the gap between the different scenes. Walt explained to the brothers what the show was all about, and with that they came up with a song full of enthusiasm and hope in the future, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow". The show opened in GE's Progressland in 1964 and was one of the most-visited pavilions at the Fair. With the ride moving every four minutes from each of the six fixed stages, they had 200 people entering and exited at each increment. Even with this steady pace and large capacity, it wasn't unusual to see over an hour wait to get into the show. In the 1965 season, a canopy was built outside the ride to help keep the waiting crowds from burning up in the sun.
The show was such a success at the New York World's Fair, that the decision was made to make it part of the New Tomorrowland expansion at Disneyland in 1967, with GE sponsoring for ten years. Walt unfortunately didn't live to see the attraction open at his park, as he died seven months prior to its opening day on July 2nd 1967. The actual attraction was on ground level and a new theater that was near identical to the Progressland one had to be constructed to house the show. There were some slight modifications to the show itself, including getting a new voice for the mother, updating the "Christmas in the Home of the 1960's, as new technology had come out since it's first incarnation. Any mention of GE's campaign to promote their "Medallion Homes" which were houses built with everything hooked up to electricity (no coal/gas power), were also removed. In this incarnation, after guests were done with the show, they would go to the second story and watch a short presentation narrated by Mother and Father about Walt's Progress City, including an enormous model of the envisioned land. Progress City was based on Walt Disney's original concepts for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) and the Walt Disney World property. While the show was popular at first for all the people who didn't see it at the World's Fair, attendance started to dip in the early 70's, making GE feel like they weren't getting a good return on their investment. GE correctly surmised that the people going to Disneyland and seeing the show were mostly Californians and they had probably seen the show several times already. GE requested that Disney move the attraction to Walt Disney World in Florida to reach a wider group of people. Disney agreed, and the last showing was on September 9th, 1973, thus ended the six year run of the show's stay at Disneyland.The empty theater was quickly filled up in 1974 by America Sings!, a salute to America and its music.
Walt Disney World's Carousel of Progress debuted alongside Space Mountain on January 15th, 1975 in Tomorrowland. GE again agreed to sponsor the ride for ten years. Extensive changes to the ride were implemented this time around, including a kaleidoscope effect projected on the screens in the loading/unloading rooms being discontinued, a new song by the Sherman Brothers, "The Best Time of Your Life," Andrew Duggan took over the voice role of the father, and the final scene being changed to better fit the home of the 70's. GE looked at the original song and thought it was too much about the future, and they wanted people to buy GE appliances right now! In 1981, the last scene was changed to reflect the future according to people living in the 80's. I've seen enough 80's visions of the future in film, so I imagine the last scene was looking a lot like Blade Runner. GE's contract expired in 1985, and they decided it wasn't worth the investment anymore, so they bailed. Disney had to close the attraction for a short time so they could remove as many references to GE as they could. No free advertising! In 1993, the attraction had its final (so far) refurbishment. Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom was changing the theme to "The Future That Never Was," so the whole area took on a more retro-futuristic look. Gears and other mechanical symbols were featured throughout the land, so Carousel of Progress's outdoor sign was redone to feature gears to have it fit. The name of the attraction was also changed to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. The biggest changes of the refurbishment was the last scene, which now showed "Christmas in the House of 2000," and the voice cast being somewhat re-done (Mel Blanc is still noticeably part of the cast as Uncle Orville). Jean Shepard, best known as the adult voice of Ralphy in A Christmas Story, now voiced Father, and Rex Allen, who had originally voiced Father, now voiced the grandfather in the Christmas scene. The song, "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" returned as the main song, making the focus of the attraction fit more into the promise of the future. A 4-minute pre-show video was also added to show guests how the attraction was built.
After the 9/11 attacks, Disney noticed that attendance was down all over the parks, but especially in Carousel of Progress, so they closed the attraction in October of 2001, saying that it would open seasonally from then on. This caused many frequent park-goers to panic about the ride's future. Luckily, the ride has been consistently open since 2003 and Disney claims it has no current plans to shutter the ride, though it is still listed as seasonal. The most recent change to the attraction was in 2016, when the gears in the front of the ride were changed and replaced with a newer, more traditional sign for the ride. Carousel of Progress is a conundrum in the parks. Disney has shown that they are not afraid to shutter fan-favorite rides in favor of "synergy," otherwise known as putting a Disney character as the main attraction of the ride. Carousel is becoming one of the few in the parks that is not tied to any characters and thus its existence will always be near the cutting block, no matter what Disney says to the contrary. Carousel is not a popular ride anymore. It is a fan-favorite, but you will definitely not see long waits to get inside. The issue with the ride is how fast it becomes outdated, and especially now it will get worse every year. The "Christmas in the House of 2000" scene features such "futuristic" gizmos as VR Games, HD Televisions, Flat Panel Displays, LaserDisc (HA!), and voice-activated ovens. All of those things are now reality, with voice-activated ovens being the newest, thanks to smart homes. About the only thing they could do now is make the last scene more in tune with the "Future That Never Was" theme and make it out there kind of things that are maybe(?) far into the future, but who knows. The likely reason that this ride hasn't been refurbished since 1993 is because no one outside of Disney is helping pay for it. Many a ride has been shuttered due to a loss of sponsorship, but Carousel is inexplicably still here. I've always made it a point to go to this attraction, mostly because I really enjoy the look back into the past, but I think I feel the same way about it as most: if I was pressed for time at the park, I wouldn't bother. That being said, Tomorrowland wouldn't be the same without this attraction, so I hope this is one that will stay open forever, as Walt would have wanted.
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